So I'm not Houdini...

But I still make magic! At Disney-MGM Studios we showkeepers get to do random "Magical Moments" with the guests. A MM consists of playing a random type game, usually with a child you see sitting down with his/her parents that looks bored. For our MM's we usually tote with us a basket of fruit and two garbage pickers... The game I usually choose to play with the munchkins is were I "spill" the fruit on the ground and then challenge the children to a race to see who can get the most fruit in the basket. For their participation the child recieves a certificate, with their name on it, that makes them an "MGM Junior Showkeeper"!
Today I was assigned to do a MM at around 5pm. I first found a little girl named Kassandra who reminded me A LOT of my niece Jordan. She had so much fun picking up the fruit that it was hard to get away! She was so sweet though that I let her race me about 3 times before I had to call it quits. Normally I try to do more than one magic moment while I'm out, so I set off to find another munchkin. Five o'clock is a hard time to do a MM because there aren't that many kids just sitting around. A main reason being that their parents are either ready to leave or are looking for a place to eat supper. After searching a bit though I am joined in my Magic Moment quest by a friend who is also a showkeeper. My fellow co-worker and I wander a bit more before we come across another unsuspecting victim...uh, I mean guest. This young man's name was Joshua and he was very shy, but with a little coaxing from us and his mom he decides to play. For being such a quiet lad he was very focused on beating the poor custodian...by 2 fruit at that! I was so close! It was rigged I tell ya' and my co-worker was in on it too! *mumbles under breath*
All in all it was a pretty good day. Here's a couple pics from events I didn't cover in the past week...

Went to this place Tuesday...

With these people...

and rode this.

It was very tempting...

And this poor confused custodian came to ask us what time the 3 o'clock parade ran.

I've been seeing them everywhere since I got here and finally I could take it no longer. For $3.75 you are MINE, Tropical Fruit Smoothie!

Wednsday I got to play at Animal Kingdom with my Aunt Vanetta, Uncle Andrew and cousins Jeremy and Shana who were here for a convention! And no, it was not raining. I took this picture after we got off of the "Kali River Rapids" It took most of the day for us to dry off.

This is what I look like trying to get the camera back from Jeremy after "Kali".

...and these are our butt prints on a bench.

We also visited the natives of the park.

...and shockingly enough got Mr. Andrew on this:

...but not this:

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Well, I'll be signing off for now. "Have Magical Day!"

-Jenn

It's the truth; it's actual...

Hello my lovelies.

Welcome to the super-stupendous after-Valentine's mega-post!

My apologies for not updating lately. We have a lot to cover, so let's get started.



Epcot! Becca and Thomas went all around World Showcase at Epcot last week.

Here's your requesite Becca with food picture. This time it's a churro, a delightful Latin American fried pastry similar to a funnel cake. Available in Mexico, among other places.





Squirrel wants churro.....



Thomas and Becca with Pooh and Piglet. Cute. Yes. Cute.



Becca demanded that the Sheriff from Robin Hood sign her autograph book.... or else....



C'est une jolie image, non ?
(This is a pretty picture, no?)

Leaving Epcot, there are a number of feral felines that congregate around our apartments. Somehow, um, err, mysteriously a small silver can of cat sustenance might have happened to appear near some of them while we just happened to have a camera handy.



How about some random costume pictures?

Becca got transferred from Animal Kingdom Custodial to Tusker House restaurant, also in Animal Kingdom. She has two costumes, the first one for front counter service (minus the athletic pants underneath):



The second one is her "chef" costume for working in the kitchen.



And here's a random Nikki pic.



She got an extra shift at Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique in Downtown Disney. She loved her costume. She makes a cute little fairy.....

For Valentine's Day, Thomas and Becca had both Valentine's and the day after off together, so we enjoyed a very nice "mini-vacation."



To start, we went to Port Orleans Riverside Resort to Boatwright's Dining Hall where Thomas works to have breakfast.




Why is it called Boatwright's? Because inside they are building a boat of course! :)





After breakfast, we took the ferry boat down the Sassagoula River to Downtown Disney to do some more shopping before our 40% holiday discount ended.

We went to Magic Kingdom after that to shop a little more and go on a couple rides, including Mickey's Philharmagic and...........

SPLASH MOUNTAIN!!!



'Twas very good, as always.

Then we went home for the evening to watch LOST. We rested and relaxed the morning after Valentine's, and went out to dinner at Crystal Palace-- A Buffet with Character back in Magic Kingdom again.

Guess who the characters there are?

Pooh:




Piglet:




Eyeore:



And Tigger:



It was kinda chilly, and we got new coats, so, here's a pretty pic of us in front of Cinderella's Castle.



And finally, a bit of randomness. For all you hunters out there. There are ducks EVERYWHERE. Such as these:




Take care now, byebye then.

T.

Late Night Blog

Ah! I just finished writing my essay for philosophy. YAY!!! And what's even better? My two days off are back again! How'd my last week go? Pretty well. Friday I voluntered to stay late to work during a convention (Why, i don't know), but it worked out in the end because around 8:30 the convention was last-minute canceled and we were turned loose early!! But the best part was that we still got paid for the whole convention time we would have been there (till 11:30). It was awsome to get back home and randomly look at my watch and think "Hey, I'm not at work, but I'm still getting paid!" (The moral of this story kids: It pays to volunteer)

I have made friends with a squirrel. He lives on Commisary Lane at MGM and frequents the tables outside ABC to cleanup crumbs after people leave. We are such a good team. I sweep, he picks up what I miss. We had a rocky start to our relationship though. I think I accidentally cleaned up his supper one day and he threw a peanut shell out of a tree at me. (He missed, heehee) Today I saw him playing chicken with a stroller, but when he saw me he hopped over to a tree to watch what I was going to do with my dustpan half full of popcorn. I was curious as to how brave this little fella was so I kneeled down, put my hand out, and clicked my tongue at him. He came up slowly, until he was a few inches from my hand! I heard a dad tell his kids, "They must be friends." It was then that I realized we were being watched by the random people who were going down the lane too. I didn't want any of the kids to think I was trying to feed him so I stood back up and continued my walk as he went back to his tree hopping. It was then that I also saw one of the manager peoples walking down the lane who had seen the whole thing. He smiled, laughed and said something I didn't quite catch, so I guess he thought it was funny. *whew!*


Last night I worked another convention (this one was NOT canceled). Basically a group of 3000 cheerleaders/dancers and their chaperones rented out part of MGM from 8pm till 1am (yes that's not a typo, we had to deal with them for 5 solid hours) They mainly stayed at Sunset and rode "Tower of Terror" and "Aerosmith's Rockin' Roller Coaster" for a while and THEN they discovered us...A DJ was set up at the "Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Show" with lotsa "hip" dance music (Brought flashbacks of some of the dances at HCC). Me and another guy were in charge of keeping the nearby restroom clean as well as cleanin out cans and any other random trash that might collect up in there. It was kinda fun watchin' the "dancers" try to dance. (Sometimes even scary...scratch that, MOST times even scary) Some of our icon showkeeper peeps had been sent over to sunset to help while the crowds where over there, but they eventually migrated with them back over to epic as the night wore on. I think the late hours was beginning to tell on us too. It started with the manager jokingly telling a couple of us that we could go down and try to "busta-move" if we wanted. I'm pretty sure he was kidding but...all of us that were working were under thirty and...like I said, the late hours were telling on us. I go on my break with a friend and when we get back, here comes two of my cohorts laughing out of epic. They busted somethin' but I doubt it was a move. Yep, they had been on the edge of the dance floor and had created a new dance move that they called the "custodial sweep". I wish we'd been allowed to bring cameras to work cause this would have been the no.1 reason why. lol! The night ended peaceful enough. I got back to the apartment by 2 and had to wake up at 8 to go back to work today. But, like I said, I have two days off!

Well, it's almost 2:30 now so I should probably go on to bed. Shalom to y'all in MS! Love you, and I'll talk to some of you on the phone soon.
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--To Justin: take it slow!! don't make me have to come back early.
--To Jed: I'm still going to read your book. I promise!
--Jeremy and Rebekah: put a brick on that boys head! He's not allowed to get bigger until i get back!
--Ethan: Obey your mom. (but give your daddy heck!)

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--EDIT--
Here's my costume. Don't I look adorable!

I forgot to mention in my earlier ramblings... One of our custodial things to do is to offer to take pictures of families/groups if they want us to. I had a little dude come up to me a couple of days ago, and I thought he wanted me to take a picture of him and his friends. When I reached for the camera though he said "No! You take a picture with me!" and he handed his camera to his friend. So, yep, somewhere out there, there is a picture of me and some random guy in front of "Star Tours". I felt like such a celebrity.

---Jenn

A hunting I will go.....

G'day, Blogophiles.

Got a bit of an adventure for you today! Come along with me as we go hunting for the elusive Beccarillis Custodialalis, last seen somewhere in Animal Kingdom, and said to be going extinct!! Let's get going!

The hunt began in Camp Minnie-Mickey, last known whereabouts of The Becca. Realizing my tracking skills may be inadequate for the task at hand, I enlisted the help of some locals.



They were, however, barely even concentrating on their fishing adventure, much less my jungle trek.

Continuing on through the underbrush, I came upon a stream, and on the other side, a troop of Junior Woodchucks out on a hike.



They were friendly enough but provided me with little assistance on my search.



Seeming as good a direction as any, I followed the sign. It, however, led me not to a lion, but to a small owl with a woman on its foot.



The woman paid me no attention, and the owl kept turning away, so I continued on.

Just then, I spotted something off in the distance! Could it be?!?



Hmmm, no. Not a Becca, but instead a giant mouse. First a tiny owl, then a giant mouse. What sort of strange jungle is this??

Ah, finally, a park ranger! Perhaps he can help!



Hmmm, no. Too busy to help. Oh well. The hunt continues.

Wait!!! Off in the distance!! No, it's not a giant rodent this time!! It's a.......it's a......



IT"S A BECCA!!!



She's emerging from the crowded jungle! I fear she has spotted me, and I fear for my safety...



She's coming right for us!! Cute, but deadly.



Wait, maybe, just maybe, this excellent example of a Beccarillis Custodialalis is a peaceful creature after all. Well-dressed, kid-friendly, and oh so cute, maybe we can survive the jungle hunt for The Becca after all.

Before being able to head home, though, first I had to make it out of the jungle. And, as sometimes happens in a rain forest, well, it started to rain. A lot. On me. A lot.



But have no fear my intrepid trekkers, we have made it out safe and sound, if not a bit moist.



The Becca was so cute in fact, I decided to bring her home with me. I don't recommend this for those of you reading at home, but I am a professional, trained to handle dangerous Beccas.

That's all for now, my lovelies. Take care.

T