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.

A Travel Series, By Kimberly Teichrow { part 1 }

Fun with the family on Thunder Mountain Railroad! March, 2011

When researching our family’s Disneyland adventure last year, I was completely overwhelmed by the amount of information online about how to plan our trip. I diligently made notes, bookmarked websites and tried in vain to procure a decent map of the parks in order to plan our attack. I managed to pick up a few trip-enhancing tips from my research – but in the end, the experience of having been through it was way more informative than simply reading about it. 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.

We had so much fun in 2010 that we went again in 2011! When else are the kids going to have the Disney sparkle in their eyes – and want to hang out WITH mom and dad?

Check back to The Map over the next few weeks, and follow our family’s experience, including a selection of our favorite photographs! I'll cover lots of topics - all based on our family's experience.

Planning Ahead: “Where to Stay – location, location, location!”

Click on the graphic to view larger!

I had visited Disneyland several times growing up, but the general layout was still a bit fuzzy in my head – despite the satellite view maps I could view online. I wondered which option would be best, to splurge and stay at a Disney hotel (there are three, and I assumed close to the parks), stay at a “good neighbor” hotel (which are near the parks), or bargain hotel and use the Disney parking lots and trams or ART (Anaheim Resort Transit) to actually get to the parks.

I’ve made this graphic of the area around, and including Disneyland/California Adventure to give you a sense of how far you need to walk or drive or shuttle in order to get to the business of having fun in the parks. It is based off of a map, so it is generally to scale, and is intended to help give you a mental overview. What is important to understand is that in order to get into the parks, you have to get to the Plaza between Disneyland and California Adventure – indicated in white. There is an entrance from the Grand Californian as well, and can be taken into consideration if you are getting tickets for both parks.

The orange areas indicate two of the drop-off areas for the parking lot trams or transit buses. When it is busy – the crowds waiting for these shuttles can be significant.

Crossing Harbor Blvd. from our hotel.

For our family, I feel like there is a finite amount of energy we are capable of, before complete exhaustion or meltdowns (for both adults and kids!). When making our hotel decision, I decided that spending a portion of that energy on simply getting to the entrances or back again at the end of the day wasn’t worth the savings of bargain hotels. We chose the Park Vue Inn, indicated in a lovely teal on the map. You can see that in order to get to the park entrances, we walked just about as far as the folks riding the shuttles, and we didn’t have to wait for the shuttle to arrive, and wait for each stop in between the park and our stop. Also, taking a mid-day break wasn’t a huge ordeal as well – which saved us from having to pack around extra clothes for the evening. There are tons of hotels along Harbor Boulevard – a whole string of them… The Park Vue is one of the closest to the only crosswalk to get to the parks, and I have to say, that at the end of our day, I was thankful to not have to walk any farther than we did. As far as cost, I felt it was very competitive, and way less expensive than the Disney Resort Hotels. While staying on a Disney property would have been fun, there was plenty of entertainment at the parks, and our hotel room served as simply a bed, and a place to shower. Had we needed it, it would have also served as a pool-break during the mid-day crowds or heat. 

Where ever you decide to stay on your Disney holiday – be familiar with how to get to and from the park, and gauge your activities accordingly. If it takes a longer time to get back to your bed, and the kids get overtired easily – it might be smart to call it a day sooner, rather than later! While our boys are troopers, we did run into a couple of evenings where my husband had to carry our 80 pound “baby” part of the way home, and we were quite thankful it wasn’t that far away.

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


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.

Hypnosis Therapy for Kids

From the office of Steven Davis CHT:

With my opinionated 11 year old, I've tried every kind of parenting style from permissive to consequences, all attempts to influence him externally, and mostly ended up with my being exasperated! I was looking for a way to have the change be motivated internally by him. When I started using hypnosis to help him see himself walking into class with his homework completed and feeling empowered, he embraced his homework. Or to see himself doing well in rock climbing, (even though he has low tone) it became more enjoyable for him. Or to allow himself to drop into sleep at night instead of having exaggerated worries when he is tired and needs sleep, it worked. Hypnosis is very effective with kids. They have active imaginations and easily join the process, which allows their unconscious minds to supply and implement solutions to their challenges. Fears, phobias, self esteem, learning challenges, and behavior challenges are all candidates for hypnosis.



Spring Break Special $20off kids hypnosis treatments



Thanks,

Steven Davis
www.kids-thriving.com

TRUE NORTH 900 Wall Ladies Night Special

Ladies night at 900 Wall tonight! Give them the promo password - "Galactic" and receive your first ladies night drink for $1. This is a social network special shared via True North and fans...so share it too! Come join us for a drink then boogie down to Galactic!

SAVING GRACE TO HOLD VOLUNTEER TRAINING TO ASSIST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS

Saving Grace will hold its semi-annual volunteer training over the course of three weeks during the month of April starting Saturday, April 9th through Saturday, April 30th. The FREE 35-hour training, which will be held over a series of Tuesday and Thursday evenings and three Saturdays, will prepare volunteers to work directly with the individuals Saving Grace serves.

After the training, volunteers will be able help with a variety of things including; answering hotline calls, assisting shelter residents, facilitate support groups, work with children, and assist at the courthouse.

The mission of Saving Grace is to provide comprehensive family violence and sexual assault services and promote the value of living life free from violence.

For more information or to register for this training, please call Sarah Jade at 541-504-2550 x2 or e-mail sarahjade@saving-grace.org

Head Start is now enrolling children for the 2011-2012 school year

NeighborImpact’s Head Start Program is dedicated to helping ensure that children ages 3 and 4 from low-income families are ready for school. The Head Start Program is now accepting applications for the 2011-2012 school year. Head Start builds success for children through child focused, family-centered services that enhance social competence, school readiness and overall health and well-being. Children are provided a free high quality preschool education which includes individualized curriculum, nutritious meals, health and developmental screenings, and transportation. Head Start Classes are available throughout Crook and Deschutes counties. Space is limited.

Cascades Academy of Central Oregon Presents: Race to Nowhere, March 14th at The Tower Theater

Race to Nowhere examines the high-pressure culture that is prevalent in our schools and our children’s lives. The film features the heartbreaking stories of young people who have been pushed to the brink, educators who are burned out and worried that students aren’t developing the skills they need, and parents who are trying to do what’s best for their kids.




Hundreds of theaters, schools, and organizations are hosting community screenings during a six month campaign to screen the film nationwide. The film raises important questions about the high stakes college admission process, stress related illness and depression, the current shift toward “teaching to the test,” and growing data showing that students today are increasingly disengaged from their learning and unprepared for college.