I heart HSM3

Both of my nieces have their birthdays in November and since they get soooo much stuff for their birthdays and for Xmas, Uncle Dave has put a moratorium on buying them gifts that you wrap - and instead all gifts are now experience-based/event-oriented/quality-time presents.

Last year for their birthdays I took them to see High School Musical (1&2) ON ICE. Oh yes, the Disney producers sifted all of the magical moments from the first two movies and condensed it down to a single ice extravaganza. I knew my nieces loved HSM so thought this would be a fun gift.

Well, on the day of the ice show, they forced me to watch BOTH movies, back to back, so I'd be up to speed on the complex characters and intricate story lines. So as a good uncle, I sat through 6 hours of HSM - watched both movies and then sat through the 2 hour ice show that recapped everything I had just seen. PURE MAGIC.










Advance to this year, and when I saw the commercial that High School Musical was coming to the silver screen, and premiering in late October, I knew I had the makings of their next birthday gifts.

So I got tickets for opening weekend and we made a day of it. The movie was - well - created for young girls... and they LOVED IT. They said it was, by far, the best of the trilogy. I thought it was super cheesy and a bit phony but I'm not the target audience so it really doesn't matter what I think.








Afterwards, it was off to a dinner of their choice. The little one (7-yr) screamed "Burgers! Let's go to Red Robin!" So Uncle Dave obliges and we trek to the nearest one. But on the way, they kept talking about how much they loved the songs, so luckily right next door to Red Robin was a Blockbuster so we popped and got the HSM3 Soundtrack.










Then at Red Robin, they opened the CD and of course inside was a double-sided, fold-out poster of the cast - which they bickered about which one of them was gonna get the poster. Ah, sibling rivalry. Oh, and then the little orders pizza...wtf?

I really like these types of gifts cuz we get to spend some quality time together. I really enjoy it - and I think they do too. I think, once they're older, they're gonna totally dig having the cool gay uncle!

Oh, and on that note, my 12-yr old niece said that she's voting NO on 8, and in her own words, when asked why she would vote no, she said "Because it doesn't affect me, and everyone should have the right to marry whomever they want. Me and my friends at school want Ellen to marry her girlfriend." So now my brother and sister-in-law are going to have "the talk" with her soon and let her know about her very special uncle. I'm excited...and nervous... but mostly excited.