The other day a friend gave me a T-shirt that I just had to write about. The caption says "Freaky Tiki Trio" and it features 3 Polynesian-style characters on the front in odd positions.

Steve enjoys his new shirt!

To the non-Disney theme park fan, this may just seem like some artsy, tiki-inspired shirt. But those of us in the know recognize that this shirt's design is actually a tribute to two iconic theme park attractions… The Enchanted Tiki Room and The Haunted Mansion.

Compare: Hitchhiking Ghosts vs. Freaky Tiki Trio

The 3 tiki statues on this shirt are actually references to the 3 Hitchhiking Ghosts found at the end of The Haunted Mansion, as you can see illustrated above. Thus the description as a "Freaky Tiki Trio." Even the back of the shirt somewhat references The Haunted Mansion by using the phrase "We've been dying to luau!" — this is a callback to the line "We've been dying to meet you!" at the end of the Mansion.

Overall, it's a clever design for a non-official Disney shirt… and it looks sharp too! If you'd like your own, pick one up at Tikified.com. And to the friend that sent it my way… thanks again!

Theme Park Thursdays feature photos from one of our theme park adventures in the past.

Hey, We're Here!

I took this self portrait shortly after we arrived for the first time at the Magic Kingdom during a December 2009 trip. Yeah, I'm excited.

Meanwhile, I just have to wonder what Amy is pointing to in the background as my parents attentively listen. No doubt it's probably some useless piece of Walt Disney World trivia I've rambled about over the years!

Wesley's 1st Valentine's Day

Wesley is excited about his first Valentine's Day!

Last year I wrote about a card Amy & I received from our alma mater, Taylor University. Since we are both alums, the pitch encouraged us to give financial support to Taylor, as even though we are married, it would actually inflate the alumni giving numbers by counting as two gifts.

This year, Taylor decided to play up Valentine's Day a bit more, but delivered the same questionable plea. It sure is nice to be remembered by your place of higher learning around a Hallmark holiday, isn't it?

Seriously, Swallow Robin Hall?

Theme Park Thursdays feature photos from one of our theme park adventures in the past.

The Portal (2011)

This is the portal from the Caribbean Plaza area of Adventureland into Frontierland at the Magic Kingdom, transforming from an exotic locale into something a bit more Western rustic.

One thing I have always loved about Disney theme parks is the attention to detail and theme, and more importantly, how those transitions between themes take place. You can see a hint of both Adventureland and Frontierland style in this shot from January 2011.

A 2005 photo I took at Disney's California Adventure — in the rain — was recently featured on the web show Communicore Weekly.

Steve's Winning "Fuzzy Photo"

Named after the section of Epcot that used to sit right behind Spaceship Earth (now known by the name Innoventions), the show is hosted by George Taylor (of Imaginerding.com) and Jeff Heimbuch (of MiceChat.com), two Disneyphiles I've gotten to know via Twitter thanks to my passion for Disney trash cans.

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10 years ago, on 02/02/02 at 2:02 p.m., Amy & I got married!

Amy & Steve (2002)

Back then, we streamed our wedding live over the Internet via RealPlayer. Yup, RealPlayer! Who even uses that anymore? It's funny to think that all the servers, cameras, and technical setup we did back then to pull that off can pretty much be replaced with an iPhone running Ustream today.

Amy, Steve, & Wesley (2011)

Hard to believe it's been 10 years, but I'd do it all again (well, maybe not the part about shooting our wedding on S-VHS… I still need to convert the ceremony to digital!)  And these days, we've got our hands full with a new member of the family to keep us on our toes.  Let the festive 02/02 celebration commence!

P.S. Our anniversary also marks the 10 year milestone for SteveandAmySly.com… so I guess it's a "Happy Blogoversary" as well!

Our son Wesley is now 6 weeks old, so we thought it would be a good time to update some of the moments we've been having with him so far…

"Houston, we have smiles!"

Bath time is awesometime

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Theme Park Thursdays feature photos from one of our theme park adventures in the past.

Backseat Driver (2011)

This is the view from the backseat of an extended length golf cart at the Coronado Springs Resort at Walt Disney World. You can see one of these carts in action via this video I shot in 2006. Coronado is a convention resort with rooms very spread out on property. Thus, they will often provide you a ride for your luggage via these motorized machines.

The carts don't really fit the Southwest/Mexican theme at all, but when you have a ton of stuff to haul, they do come in pretty handy — though I say get off your butt and walk! Today's photo was shot in January 2011 as we were leaving a conference that was held at the resort. We used the cart because of the need to transport the contents of an entire exhibitor booth.

If you look carefully, you can see my reflection in the mirror above the driver (I'm wearing a yellow jacket!)

Theme Park Thursdays feature photos from one of our theme park adventures in the past.

Smaller Guests Enter First (2009)

You never get any benefits when you are small… unless you ride Snow White's Scary Adventures, because then you can enter first! Of course, the real purpose here is to prevent you from falling out of the ride and dying, so I guess that's a good thing. It won't matter much soon, anyway, as this ride is slated to be removed as part of the New Fantasyland Expansion at Walt Disney's World's Magic Kingdom.