A Travel Series, By Kimberly Teichrow { part 5 }

Welcome to part 4 of my travel series on Disneyland – I’m hoping that by sharing our family’s experience, you’ll feel a bit less overwhelmed with planning your own family’s vacation – and be able to tailor to your own family’s personality. Check in often and follow our family’s experience, including a selection of our favorite photographs!

Planning Ahead: “Super Tip”

We are fortunate that friends of ours are quite the Disney connoisseurs – and gave us a money-saving, vacation enhancing Super Tip, which I’ll get to in a moment.

One aspect of the Disneyland experience, and by Disneyland, I mean the bigger Disneyland resort area – including California Adventure and Downtown Disney, is how many layers of experiences one can have. Layers upon layers.  And, they can be tailored to your family’s personality.

Classic Disneyland - It's a Small World

If this is your first trip to Disneyland and it’s a short one, odds are your trip will be packed with hitting the classic highlights – such as riding Space Mountain, getting dizzy on the Teacups, or visiting the princesses.  Given a bit more time you may find yourself exploring deeper, and checking out Tomorrowland’s House of the Future, or CA’s It’s Tough to be a Bug. From fulfilling to building traditions, it seems each family has its own agenda in terms of how they explore Disney.

Once you’ve had your fix of all of the Must-Do’s, its time to check out another layer of Disney: Hidden Mickeys! Disney Imagineers have built fun directly into the architecture and landscaping of the Disneyland Resort. You can check out the book: Hidden Mickeys Guide: A Field Guide to Disney’s Best Kept Secret by Steven Barrett as your guide! The classic Mickey shape has been sprinkled (with Pixie Dust, I’d imagine) throughout the parks, and it’s your job to find them! We hadn’t discovered this particular experience until our second Disney trip just this year. We brought the guide with us and spent the last 2 of our 6 days at the park finding hidden Mickeys at the areas we happened to be in. Once we got the hang of it, and knew (relatively) what we were looking for – it was pretty fun. Hidden Mickeys can be as little as a small classic Mickey head and ears shape on one of the many coats of armor decorating the waiting area the Matterhorn, to large wheels arranged in the classic head and 2-ear in the middle of the Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Can you see it?

I admit, they can be tough, and a guide book is a good way to go. What’s nice about this particular book, is there are several sections, based on how you want to discover the Hidden Mickeys… either with less direct clues, an area-by area scavenger hunt, or obvious, “look for this” clues that lead you directly to them. We haphazardly went through a bit of each section. On our drive home, we each found ourselves instinctively searching for more Hidden Mickeys – in fact, our youngest son found one while blowing our glass floats in Newport just last month (on one of the propane valves)!

Hunting for Hidden Mickeys is a fun experience you can have while at the parks themselves, and you get to take the memories of the hunt home with you. One layer of Disneyland that is both an experience and a souvenir are trading pins. Pins have always been at the Disney parks, but in 1999, as part of the Millennium Celebration, pin trading was introduced. It has certainly flourished and the number of pins available is impressive. You’ll notice while at the parks, that many of the cast members (employees) wear lanyards around their necks, or a square piece of material on their hip with several pins attached. If a cast member has a pin that you want, and you have a pin to give back to them… they are obligated to make the trade!

Showing off our pins, including Grandma's first 2 pins!

This brings me (finally) to my Super Tip! Our Disney-savvy friends instructed us to search on Ebay for “Disney trading pin lots” and purchase trading pins before our trip. While the pins at the parks range from $7-$20 (and more…) each, we managed to purchase a “lot” of 40 pins for only $39. Forty pins, you say? Yup! Each of our boys started out with 20 random pins from the Ebay purchase. You don’t need that many, of course… but I’d argue its more fun if you do. Just don't forget to make your purchase far enough in advance of your trip, that they arrive before you leave (obvious, I know... but I fell into that trap - and had them mailed to our hotel in Anaheim because I'd waited too long)!

We bought the boys each a lanyard at the parks, but you could certainly get one less expensively beforehand. There were a handful of pins the boys thought they wanted to keep, and it was their responsibility to keep track of their special pins, and pins they wanted to trade. I loved that the boys had their eyes out all of the time, looking for pins to trade, which opened up doors for them to make conversation with the cast members. The interactions were often humorous and cast members always very friendly and happy to make the transaction with them (I’m pleased to say there are no exceptions in our experience).

Each year we let the boys choose a very special pin to purchase for one of their souvenirs – something that they hadn’t traded for, and something that reminded them of our experience at Disneyland. I’ll admit that I’ve got the bug as well… the boys (my husband included), even bought me my own lanyard and a few pins to get the trading started.

It seems like as soon as you think you know it all about Disneyland, the Imagineers have left something behind to grab your attention yet again, and bring you back into the many, many layers of Disney.

Previous Article: Part 4

Planning Ahead: "Buying Tickets"

Up Next: Part 6 - 

Planning Ahead: “Techy Tips”

Kimberly Teichrow, staff photographer for True North Parenting, lives in Bend, Oregon with her family. They love to take adventures, and Kimberly loves to capture them through her lens.

Volunteers Needed for Habitat for Humanity's Women Build Program

As part of Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build program, Bend Area Habitat for Humanity (BAHfH) will begin building a home for Lorinda Harris and her two children on Saturday, May 7 from 8:45 a.m. – 3 p.m. at 2871 Spring Water Place in Bend. Bend Area Habitat for Humanity is looking for a crew of women volunteers to help build the home. Volunteers do not need construction experience and all of the tools will be provided by BAHfH. The Women Build will continue every Saturday until the completion of the home later this summer.


The Women Build program, underwritten by Lowe’s, brings women from all walks of life together to learn construction skills and then use those skills to be part of the solution to poverty housing. Bend Area Habitat for Humanity received two grants totaling $20,000 from Wells Fargo & Company and Lowe’s to build the house.

For more information please contact:
Robin Cooper

Community Outreach Manager
Bend Area Habitat for Humanity
1860 NE 4th St., Bend, OR. 97701
(541) 385-5387 ext. 229 office
(541) 508-8681 cell

2011 Salmon Run Set for Saturday, May 7

Now in its 22^nd year, the Salmon Run is one of Central Oregon’s longest standing and most anticipated 5K and 10K run or walk events.  The event starts at 9am and ends around 12noon.  Pre and post-race activities include warm-ups, food, vendor booths and an awards ceremony.  A kids’ fun run makes the event something special for all ages.  Salmon Run is also a great training run for the Pole Pedal Paddle, two weeks later, ass the course is very similar to the PPP course


Early registration is underway at www.envirocenter.org.  Late registration begins April 23^rd, when prices will increase by $5.

A Travel Series, By Kimberly Teichrow { part 4 }

Welcome to part 4 of my travel series on Disneyland – I’m hoping that by sharing our family’s experience, you’ll feel a bit less overwhelmed with planning your own family’s vacation – and be able to tailor to your own family’s personality. Check in often and follow our family’s experience, including a selection of our favorite photographs!

Planning Ahead: “Buying Tickets”

First of all, you’ll want to think about how long you’ll be spending in Southern California, and how many days of your vacation you’ll want to spend in the parks itself.

There are several factors to consider, including time of year – which can have a big impact on the crowds at Disneyland. You can find attendance charts online, but generally when school is out, it is more crowded. Don’t be too afraid of the crowds, however. I’m not sure there is a company out there as prepared to handle crowds as is Disneyland, it is truly impressive. Granted you’ll need to have a good attitude and be prepared for lots of bodies around you, but it is certainly manageable.

We found a good deal on our park hopper tickets online, and through the Disney site. It seems that their special rates on their online purchases vary, so check back often to see current specials. Park hopper tickets allow the ticket holder to “hop” between Disneyland and California Adventure as many times as your feet can handle.

In 2010 we spent one day exploring San Diego, but otherwise spent a full 6 days at Disneyland & California Adventure. In 2011 we were on a tighter schedule – sandwiching our visit between two Saturday basketball games… and still bought the 6-day pass. We spent four full days at the park, and used the other two days on our arrival and departure days – as a great excuse to stretch our legs after and before a long ride in the car.

At the time we purchased our tickets, we discovered that the difference between the 4-day and 6-day park hopper pass was not very much, in fact  $54 total for the entire family of four. For us, simply having the option to spend all 6 days at the park was a wonderful tool to help us take our time and not worry about pushing too hard to make sure we got the most out of our trip. Actually, it really helped us get more out of the trip, because, as I’ll elaborate later in the At the Park articles, having a good attitude went a long way to making a marathon at Disneyland a wonderful and magical adventure. So, head over to the Disney ticket site (or your favorite travel agent) and crunch the numbers… you may find that the option for additional days is worth the investment.

We found it convenient to buy our tickets online. There are lots of resources, but we went directly to the Disneyland website, and printed them out at home. Once at the park, you can go straight to the entrance of your preferred park, and they’ll exchange your printed ticket for the smaller “real” ticket that you keep for the duration of your visit. 

You do NOT need to trade it in at a ticket sales kiosk, simply go straight to the gates - and get ready to have FUN! 

Previous Article: Part 3

Planning Ahead: "What to wear (bear with me)"

Up Next: Part 5 - 

Planning Ahead: “Super Tip!”

Kimberly Teichrow, staff photographer for True North Parenting, lives in Bend, Oregon with her family. They love to take adventures, and Kimberly loves to capture them through her lens.

Week of the Young Child

The Week of the Young Child, now in its 40th year, is an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The purpose of the Week of the Young Child is to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs. The 2011 Week of the Young Child is April 10-16 and the theme is Early Years are Learning Years.

For a complete list of events visit http://www.deschutescountykids.com/.

Staying Sane?

You have responsibilities at work, schedules to keep on track, relationships to maintain, children to parent, bills to pay, dogs to feed, rooms to clean, teeth to brush, air to breath!! AAHHH! Some days we feel it more than others. Maybe it's the weather, the moon, or the zodiac... whatever the case, the ebb and flow of life can raise us up or smack us down.

How do you do it? What stretches out the good times or pulls you through the crunch times? Do you run an extra mile? Schedule a massage? Maybe catch up with some friends, or hole up with a book? Revel in your children, or send them off to Grandma's!?

Is it enough to be heard, acknowledged, and understood? Share your secret for sanity, somebody could use it!

Earth Day Parade Workshops

The Environmental Center is hosting mask making and drumming workshops in preparation for the upcoming Earth Day Parade on Saturday, April 23rd. Artist Debra Fisher will lead mask making workshops at The Environmental Center on April 6th and 20th from 2:00 – 5:00pm and on April 16th
from 12:00 – 4:00pm. There is a $5-$10 sliding scale fee for materials and instruction. People of all ages are invited to create their own personalized masks to wear with their costume at the Parade.

Drummer Brennan Morrow will lead two drumming workshops at The Environmental Center on April 8th and 18th from 5:00-8:00pm to fine tune this year’s parade beat. All ages and skill levels are encouraged to participate!

The 12th annual Earth Day Parade will once again kick off the Earth Day Fair with children and adults dressed in a costume of their favorite species or representation of the natural world. There are three parade rules: no written words, no motorized vehicles and no live pets.

The parade will be held in downtown Bend with staging at 10:30am on Louisiana Avenue next to McMenamins. The parade will begin at 11:00am, winding through downtown Bend and ending at the Earth Day Fair on Kansas Avenue in front of The Environmental Center in downtown Bend. This is a free event.

For more information call 385-6908 x 15 or visit www.envirocenter.org.

About The Environmental Center

The Environmental Center’s mission is to embed sustainability into daily life. We translate sustainability into practical action in order to create a healthy future for people and the planet.

Our programs incorporate education and advocacy to advance our vision of a sustainable Central Oregon. They include: zero waste of materials, energy and water; advocating for a regional public transit system; youth education; advocating for and supporting sustainability initiatives by local governments and businesses, and operating a community campus that demonstrates sustainability in action.

Find us on the web at www.envirocenter.org or at our public facility at 16 NW Kansas Avenue in downtown Bend, Oregon.

Week of the Young Child 2011

Celebrating young children, their families, and those who care for and educate them

By Anna Higgins

In our budding anticipation of spring, we will unite as a community in celebration of our young children and families during the Week of the Young Child, April 10-16. This nationally recognized week invites families, organizations, and businesses to join together to deepen their understanding and appreciation of the importance of children’s early years. During the Week of the Young Child, Central Oregon families will be encouraged to play together and learn together because as we do these things, we grow together.

Thank you for joining the Deschutes County Children and Families Commission, Early Childhood Action Team in partnership with Central Oregon agencies, organizations, businesses and professionals in celebrating the 2011 Week of the Young Child. We hope you will take liberal part in the offerings of the week. Be sure to visit www.deschutescountykids.com  for all the week’s happenings.

Photo by Kimberly Teichrow Photography

A Travel Series, By Kimberly Teichrow { part 3 }

Welcome to part 3 of my travel series on Disneyland – I’m hoping that by sharing our family’s experience, you’ll feel a bit less overwhelmed with planning your own family’s vacation – and be able to tailor to your own family’s personality. Check in often and follow our family’s experience, including a selection of our favorite photographs!

Planning Ahead: “What to wear (bear with me)”

Matchy matchy is not typically in my vocabulary. As a photographer, I tend to shy my clients away from uber-matching outfits. I feel the same way about my boys, and particularly when packing for our 2010 trip to Disneyland during the Spring Break season. Then I thought about it: Spring Break crowds. Swarms of people. Keeping tracking of my 2 boys. It would be so much easier to pick them out of a crowd if I could easily recall what they are wearing. I began to view the outfits as more of a security measure, than a fashion statement.

L-R: Red/Blue day, Brown Day and Solid Green/Blue with Subtle-Designs Day!

I don’t claim this idea as my own. Some families go whole-hog with the outfits, custom “Thompson Family Vacation 2010” shirts in a bright, sunshiny yellow, khaki shorts and tennis shoes – all 15 of them. This is certainly a fun and festive way to keep track of your troop, but not necessarily an extreme you need to go to, in order to keep your flock from getting lost in the crowds.

Camo-Day, versions 2010 and 2011!

Since both of our trips took place in March, the timing was such that local stores had spring t-shirts and shorts out, and on sale. One store in particular had a great deal on mix and match shirts, 2 for $10. We needed to stock up for summer anyhow, so I wasn’t too worried about picking out 3 sets of coordinating shirts for the boys. They already had matching shirts from other events (our Aikido dojo, and Seattle Mariner’s t-shirts), which gave us 5 days worth of fresh shirts – and the odds were in our favor that we could repeat an outfit at least twice. At least I was hoping the stains would be kept to a minimum. I wasn’t concerned with coordinating shorts – as that wasn’t typically something I’d look for the first-scan through a crowd. If you plan on adopting this idea, think about outfits that you'll be able to remember, and recognized at a glance.

I love the colors of this photo -
simple, and less cluttered than if they'd
been wearing busy shirts. 

The happy accident that happened by coordinating the boys’ outfits, is that our family photos turned out even better than if they’d been wearing over-cluttered t-shirts with logos or cartoon characters.

Here are a few more ideas on crowd safety for your youngsters:

Business Card – I tucked a business card of mine in each of the boys’ pockets each day. I’d written out my husband’s name and cell number as well on the back, just in case my phone wasn’t working or got lost. We talked to the boys about what to do if they got lost, and made sure they knew where the business cards were.

Dog Tags – literally! I saw another great idea on our 2011 trip. One mother of two younger kids had her contact information engraved on little dog-tags, and had clipped them onto her children’s shoes. You can order these online, or find the kiosks at either a pet store, or even larger grocery stores.

Phone photo – Finally, each day once we were dressed for the day, I snapped a photo of each child with my phone. That way, in the event that one went missing, I had a current photo of what he looked like, as well as what he was wearing. You can certainly accomplish the same thing using a digital camera, or even having a Disney photographer take your picture at the beginning of the day and keeping the Photo Pass handy (more on the photo pass later!).

Thankfully, I didn’t have to use any of these precautions, but I felt better knowing our bases were covered.

Previous Article: 

Part 2 – “Wings or Wheels – how to get there”

Up Next: Part 4 - 

Planning Ahead: “Buying Tickets”

Kimberly Teichrow, staff photographer for True North Parenting, lives in Bend, Oregon with her family. They love to take adventures, and Kimberly loves to capture them through her lens.

A Travel Series, By Kimberly Teichrow { part 2 }

Welcome to part 2 of my travel series on Disneyland – I’m hoping that by sharing our family’s experience, you’ll feel a bit less overwhelmed with planning your own family’s vacation – and be able to tailor to your own family’s personality. Check in often and follow our family’s experience, including a selection of our favorite photographs!

Planning Ahead: “Wings or Wheels – how to get there”

This question of whether to drive or fly can certainly be influenced by factors somewhat beyond our control… like a strict budget. If you are lucky enough to truly debate – here are a few thoughts on each option – weighted heavier on the driving aspect, as that was our choice.

Wings. The Pro’s & Con’s.

You’re there faster (nice!). You could have a flight delay or worse, cancellation (bummer!). If you are focusing your vacation simply at Disneyland the immediate area – you really won’t need a car. You may wind up spending more on food or snacks… as it is a bit more challenging to hit the market for sundries.  If you do want to wander around Southern California – you’ll be renting a car.

Wheels. The Pro’s & Con’s – and a few Teichrow road trip tips.

First of all, let me share that our boys are currently 7 and 9 years old. We’re (way) out of diapers, and their attention span is longer than a single 30 minute TV show (we used to measure time by Dora’s – or the amount of time it took to watch one Dora the Exporer show).  Having stated all of that, we’re not afraid of a 30-Dora Road Trip (each way)!

From Central Oregon, Anaheim is approximately a “30-Dora” or 15 hour road trip. We break it up into 2 days, as we’ve had to depart mid-day each of our 2 trips. We over-nighted in Redding one year, and Sacramento another – depending on when we were able to leave town. This year, we arrived in Anaheim from Sacramento around 4pm on a Sunday, and were able to spend about 6 hours at the park on our first day in town. Disneyland closed at midnight that day – and we welcomed the opportunity to walk around after two days in the car. Not to mention, the boys were obviously insanely excited to be there, and we didn’t have to delay the Disney-gratification long. Last bonus – We managed to see the fireworks show that night, the only evening it was available, as in the off season they only show it during the weekends.

Onboard entertainment: The boys really enjoy books on tape. In fact, one 8-hour road trip I took with them by myself up to Washington, they spent 7.5 hours of it listening to a Harry Potter book straight through. I was quite impressed, and found it hard to be too disappointed that I couldn’t listen to my photography podcasts! We’re currently into Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series – in fact both my husband and I enjoy them as well – and when the boys are not engaged in a movie or knee deep in another distraction, we listen to books as a family.  When the boys are tired of listening to books, and ready for a change, they typically turn to movies. We try to bring a decent variety, so they don’t get bored of only one or two movies. Redbox has been great – as it is a very affordable and convenient way to treat the boys to a “new” movie while on the road.

Heading south - out of Central Oregon

Print a Map! While you certainly can track your progress on a hand GPS or fancy phone, it’s been fun for our kids to track our progress by simply crossing off towns on a map. Since they’ll be marking it up, I simply print a map from Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/), with our route highlighted. Depending on how it prints, I’ve added a few towns or landmarks if there is a particularly long stretch without anything interesting (like the stinky cow-smell near Harris Ranch!). I’ve also added the exit numbers – and the boys have to count down to the Anaheim exit. From Central Oregon, once you hit Interstate 5 at Weed, the exit signs all have the mile-post numbers on them. With mileage starting at the Mexican border, the numbers will start quite high, 747, and the exit for our hotel is 109. If you’re feeling ambitious and your kids are at the right level, you can turn it into a math game… How many miles from this exit until we arrive at our Disneyland exit?

The Mom-tographer's idea of fun and games.

More fun and games: Now, I’m not great at reading or writing in the car – so I shy away from games where I have to participate in that way… but here are a few ideas that most kids, in one way or another, can manage on their own:

Scavenger Hunt

You can come up with your own, or print off a road trip scavenger hunt from one of these sites:

Family Fun 

Road Trip Planning

License Plate Game

A classic – you can print of a list of all 50 states, or a simple map, and mark them off as you find them, or find an app for your fancy phone. I list my favorite apps in an upcoming section, called Get Techy! Here are a couple of resources to print your own:

National Atlas (this is a great site for customizing maps to view/print):

More US Maps: http://www.united-states-map.com/

Enjoy the view. Central Oregon is beautiful – but I love the rolling hills of the I-5 corridor in California. I grew up in Stockton, and the scenery has a certain sense of nostalgia for me, particularly the stretch south of Stockton, through Kettleman City – as that was my childhood “over the river” to my grandparents in Santa Barbara. That same stretch is one of the most fertile valleys, and if you are lucky enough to travel in the spring – you’ll be treated to an explosion of tree blossoms!

Pack an ice chest & pantry box! We leave town with a good supply of drinks, minimizing sugar and caffeine – as a buzzed child contained in a car for 15 hours isn’t a pretty sight. But, we do push the fluids – as a dehydrated road-tripper can be prone to headaches and a generally “yucky” feeling. Personally, I’d rather make the pit stops for stretch and bathroom breaks, than try to “camel-up” and push the travel too hard. We still manage to make good time. In addition to the beverages, we pack at least one full deli-style picnic. This supply of “real” food gets us over the minor hunger bumps… and we manage one significant meal-break at a sit down restaurant for both the break from the road, as well as a full, mostly-balanced meal. This works great for our family, but of course, your family’s methods will vary, depending on the ages of your kids, as well as eating habits. Putting the “pantry” items in a clear plastic tote keeps any crushable snacks intact, and keeps them organized in one place.

Our Road-Trip-Ready Pantry-box contained:

Trader Joe’s Lite Kettle Corn

Turkey Jerky

Granola Bars

Chips

Licorice (a Teichrow road trip tradition)

Various wheat-free crackers (While I’m not allergic to gluten, I do avoid wheat if I want to feel good… )

Crystal Light packets

Hoagie roll buns

Paper towels, a small supply of additional Ziploc bags, a couple of plastic knives, a small cutting board and one sharp knife for cutting apples – all kept together in one large Ziploc bag.

Our Road-Trip Ice Chest contained:

100% Juice Capri’s Suns

Water bottles

Diet Pepsi’s (the driver’s caffeine fix)

Coconut water (my favorite – and so good for you!)

Deli Meat and Salami, Assorted sliced cheeses

Apples

Carrot sticks

Previous Article: Part 1 - Planning Ahead: "Where to Stay - location, location, location!"

Up Next: Part 3 - Planning Ahead: “What to wear (bear with me)”

Kimberly Teichrow, staff photographer for True North Parenting, lives in Bend, Oregon with her family. They love to take adventures, and Kimberly loves to capture them through her lens.