Here is a picture slide show of our time in Hawaii.
Tyson and Sophia Hawaii Trip Pictures, posted with vodpod
Jeri, Alan, Sophia and Tyson Gamblin at WSADA 2012
Tyson and Sophia at the WSADA Fairmont-Kea Lani Maui
Sophia’s baby bump
At Mama’s Fish House Maui
Sophia Gamblin Baby Bump
Wow, it has been a long time since I have updated my blog. For those who follow me… cough, cough, OK I understand that when I write these I am not writing for any particular audience. If anything this Blog is for me to track events in my life and update some of the things I do at work. A lot has changed since I wrote last. Sophia and I have a dog and most importantly Sophia is pregnant with our first child. It is going to be a girl, so I better get used to a lot of pink, dresses and bows.
So I promise I will be updating this blog more now… (NO FINGERS CROSSED)
Sophia and I made the trip down to Southern California to go to my favorite place on Earth which happens to be the Happiest Place on Earth, Disneyland. When I was in college I had a year round pass to Disneyland and this is odd because I went to school at Central Washington University. I would make at least 2 trips down to California a year so I could go to Disneyland. In college we would make the journey south via car but this time we decided to save a full days worth of time by flying.
Since graduating from college I have been absent from Disneyland for 2 1/2 years. For some that may seem like not that long but for me that is a very long time to be absent from Mickey. Sophia on the other hand has not been to Disneyland since she was 10 so in a way it was like going for the first time. We made the trip down south not only for Disneyland although it was a huge bonus we went down for my brother-in-laws graduation from UC-Irvine (Go Ant Eaters!). Here is a little video of him getting hooded!
It was so nice to go down to California because we definitely were missing the sun. This May and Junes weather has been awful so seeing the big yellow thing in the sky was nice. We flew in Thursday night so we had all day Friday to go to Disneyland. Before we got into the park I bought an app for my phone that shows you the wait time for rides, it actually worked very well. The only downfall about the app was I was always on my phone and I would see that Space Mountain would shut down every other hour.
We had some rough luck with rides breaking down. We were on the platform for Thunder Mountain railroad when it closed down. Some of the changes to Disneyland is the comeback of the 3-D adventure of Captain EO. Seeing Michael Jackson as the space captain promoting peace and love was life changing! The Jungle Cruise offered some new jokes, Indiana Jones line is still extremely long. I am still disappointed in Pirates of the Caribbean when you enter the village there is that new smoke screen of one of those computer generated captains from Pirates of the Caribbean 2 or 3 I do not know which movie it was because I did not even see #3. When riding the Matterhorn you are putting your life in Walt Disney hands as it is one of the most sketchy rides ever.
The ride of the day without a doubt was at California Adventure and it was Toy Store Mania. It is a 3-D game where you play carnival games with your goal of scoring the most amount of points. I was happy with my score of 75,000 points as it was the best out of our group. The guy next to me on the ride scored the days all time high of 425,000 points. How he did that I have no idea but after seeing what he looked like and how he ran up the stairs to get back in line it makes complete sense on how he scored 425,000 points.
Saturday we drove down the 101 as far as Laguna Beach. After our stroll through beach towns we made the trip back to Irvine to see Robert’s graduation. Next think you knew it was Sunday and we were heading on back home to rainy Enumclaw.
Sophia and I are going to Disneyland on Friday this week and we can not wait! We are ready to get away from this rainy weather and finally get into some sun and of course go to the Happiest Place on Earth!
So the question is what ride do we go on first!?
“What do you like better, Christmas or wedding season?”
“Yes, um, the answer would be wedding season.”
- Wedding Crashers -
Rule #16: Give me an up-to-date family tree. That was your mistake. You made me look like an idiot.
Rule #76: No excuses. Play like a champion!
Rule No.5: “You’re an idiot”
Every time visiting my parents it is always an adventure with Zolie the wonder dog around. That dog brings in so much energy in the house. It is funny to see my mom who is a neat freak have cups, chew toys and stuff animals with heads taken off all over the floor.
Here is a little video that I have taken of Zolie while visiting my parents.
This blog post comes just after Sophia and I just watched the Disney Movie “Up” which was hilarious when the dog would yell, “Squirrel” or “Point.” Zolie will occasionally just stop dead in his tracks and point. It is so funny to watch a puppy run around because it is ADD in action as nothing can keep its attention more then 10 seconds. He is all over the place.
I have been slacking on posting this blog… I am sorry for it coming so late.
Deck The Hall Ball 2009
On December 15, 2009 Sophia and I went to 1077 the end Deck The Hall Ball concert at the WaMu Theater in Seattle. I have to admit over the past years I have sort of tuned out traditional FM radio stations due to either my iPod or XM satellite radio. When I was in the high school The End was my radio station. Over the past few years The End has gone through some restructuring and they sort of went off my radar with their music selection. They went so far off my radar that they were not one of the pre-set 6 in my car. The End is making a comeback for me and I love every second of it. They are playing my style of music again, finally. Deck the Hall Ball was really what brought me back to 1077 and put them back on my top 6 in my car.
The concert lineup for Deck the Hall Ball when it was announced all I cared about was Muse. Muse was going to be in town! I love Muse. I do not buy too many CD’s a year but the new Muse CD’s was one of the few that I went out and bought for 2009. While I was so excited to see Muse I sort of passed over the other bands. Here are some of the other bands that were in attendance for the show Vampire Weekend, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, Metric and 30 Seconds to Mars.
We got tickets to go to the show as Andrew Gamblin and his girlfriend Stephanie bought his ticket for his birthday. It was a surprise for him so I had to keep it on the down low for a couple of weeks that we were all going. So I had the rough job of chaperoning my high school brother and girlfriend. Sophia had to work so we missed Vampire Weekend but got to see Phoenix. Phoenix was awesome! Little did I know that they are French (I will not hold that against them). Phoenix was so much fun live that I had to get there CD (got it for Christmas). Following Phoenix was Metric and to be honest I had only heard a few Metric songs but I am a sucker for a girl in a rock band. Following Metric’s stellar performance was 30 Seconds to Mars. I have never been a huge 30 Seconds to Mars fan as I feel like they are the screamer rock band that wants to have a boy band N’Sync cult following. I would not mind 30 Seconds to Mars if it were not Jared Letto’s ego. While he is on stage I am surprised he does not have a mirror for himself so he can give himself an occasional wink.
Sophia with cousins Otto and Jasper
After 30 Seconds to Mars departed the stage it was time for the band of the night. Most of the bands only played 30 minutes sets which sucked. Muse on the other hand played for a solid hour, a mix of old stuff and their new stuff from their most recent album “The Resistance.” They played there most recent hit Uprising which was expected along with a couple of other songs from their new CD. Other greats included Starlight, Supermassive Black Hole and Knights of Cydonia and stuff that was on there Absolutions CD. For a 3 person band Muse rocks live is one of the best bands I have seen live. I was ecstatic to hear that they were planning on coming to Seattle in April in 2010! Tickets that I have already bought!
Thank you The End for finally reaching out to me and bringing me back to the great station of 1077
Here are some videos of the night the audio sucks and so does the clarity but still whatever!
The Gamblin Family at the Nutcracker
Some of my earliest Christmas memories are going to the Nutcracker. I remember I had to dress up along with being painfully bored in clothes that were so uncomfortable. The worse part as a little demon child was watching people dance, ugh so boring!
The only parts of the Nutcracker that remained with me was when the cannons went off and the big creature came out dancing in the second act. Now at age 25 the whole Gamblin family went to the Nutcracker. It was Hillary and Andrew’s first Nutcracker I somewhat feel like I am to blame for my families absence at the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Nutcracker.
It has been quite some time since I was last at the Nutcracker and of course the things I looked forward to again where the cannons going off and the dancing monster in the second half. As a kid the Nutcracker painfully went slow but as an adult it was not that long at all. YES for being a grown up!
For Christmas all of the Gamblin kids and their significant others are home for the holidays. It was a lot of fun to have the whole Gamblin crew together in Seattle and go to the Nutcracker together. Of course there was some drama where my mom thought the Nutcracker was at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall instead of McCaw Hall on Mercer Street by the Space Needle. So we had 15 minutes to get our car out of the parking garage and across downtown Seattle to McCaw hall, someone we made it.
A day in Seattle would not be complete without shopping but since Sophia and I already had our shopping done it was fun to walk around Seattle at night to see all the Christmas decorations.
At the Nutcracker
Mustaches are sexy
This was my first Seattle Auto Show. I really did not know what to expect, so I was going in with an open mind. I was really excited to see the Fisker Karma. I have read so many things about the car and seeing one in person was one of the main reasons why I wanted to go to the Auto Show. I dragged Sophia along and sort of made it my date day. I told her if she went with me I would take a full day of Christmas shopping with her. Sophia was great at the car show as she would jump in cars and tell me what she liked. Of course I would tell her at times Sophia you will never get that car. I think it was really hard for her when I told her that marrying a Gamblin that her chances of getting a Volvo or Audi or slim to none.
What I was so excited and shocked to see at the show was a Cadillac Converj. I could not believe it. I just wrote a lengthy blog on the Cadillac Converj as General Motors just announced that they will be putting the concept into production. It was great to see the car in person. I was a little disappointed not to see a CTS coupe, I thought for sure they would have one. Seeing the CTS Sport Wagon in person was great as well as I have blogged about that car as well.
I got to see my first Buick Lacrosse in person and actually sit in the seats. I am very excited with the direction Buick is heading. Of course I was praying a miracle would happen and a Buick Regal would be there. I thought I would never say that Buick has a great upcoming line up of young and aggressive vehicles.
The Chevrolet Exhibit was huge and you could tell that they were searching how to fill it. I understand that importance of having your vehicles there but an auto show is an auto show. I was really surprised to see a Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Concept there. I had to explain to Sophia that was the car in Transformers 2 where they could have made an amazing car chase vs the Audi R8 but it lasted 10 seconds during the movie. I also liked how they lined up the Corvette’s all in a row. It started with the Stingray concept to the Corvette ZR1, Corvette Z06 and then the Corvette Grand Sport.
Other vehicles that were nice to see in person where the Porsche Panamera, Cadillac SRX, Hyundai Genesis Coupe, Infiniti G37 and the whole Audi exhibit.
While coaching football it is very difficult to find time to hang out with Sophia. With both of us working and coaching at the same time every time I get home I am to exhausted to do anything besides sit on the coach and watch television. Not the best way to start your first few months of being married. I am hoping after football that we start doing fun married couple things… we will see.
So the other week I told Sophia we are going on a date. We decided that we wanted to go see a movie. When we both saw the preview for Where the Wild Things Are we were so excited as this was a favorite book of ours growing up. I liked it even more because the theme song during the preview was from one of my favorite bands The Arcade Fire.
So here is my lame attempt of a review. There are some movies that you go away saying to yourself I want to see that again and yes I will pay $9 (plus another ticket then add the popcorn you are $25). Then there are the movie experiences where you are indifferent you are trying to find a reason to love it and then at the same time you are trying to find a reason why you didn’t like it. You know what type of movies these are when someone asks you, ”so how was the movie?” Your response consists of a shoulder shrug a sigh and something like it was alright. You try to explain what you didn’t like first and then what you liked second. The other type of movies are the rare cases of a movie where you walk out thinking to yourself how in the world did that film get financing to be even considered a movie. The movies I can not stand are the ones where you walk out thinking to yourself that was an amazing movie with a great storyline, acting was wonderful but the ending or there was just one scene that ruined the whole movie.
As you can see I am avoiding the point of my official review of Where the Wild Things Are. Should you go and see it in the theaters and pay the $25? As Sophia would say, save the $25 and use that $25 to see Twilight a second or which will be in her case a third time. I would not recommend going to see Where the Wild Things Are in the theaters it is worth using Netflix. Here are the pros and cons of the movie. The costumes I thought were great, I thought colors and scenery where great. The music in my opinion carried the storyline through out the movie and made it fun to see giant furry costumes jumping on each other.
After the movie Sophia and I were discussing if the movie followed the book exactly as we had not read the book in forever. So we called Sophia’s mom and had her read the book to us while we drove home. After a few minutes of listening to the book I realize that it was a big stretch to make this into a full length film. So here is my criticisms of the movie the plot was missing something. I do not know what exactly what it was missing but it just missed that excitement or that attachment issue. The costumes were great, the characters were fun but that was about it. I just felt like it was a fun movie with big furry giant creatures and a little boy running around with not much depth.
As you can see this is one of those movies where I shrug my shoulders while trying to find a reason to love the movie and also trying to find a reason not to hate it. I knew going into this that I would not be very concrete in my review. I can only tell you this the movie is not worth going to see in the theaters save the money and take your wife, girlfriend or sister to Twilight.
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