Welcome to the Badlands

We were looking through old photos and we found this video of Saffron.  This was from our trip last year when we stopped at Badlands National Park in South Dakota.

Here's a transcript:

Welcome to the Badlands.  It's very rocky and some plants live here and my Dad and Mom think it's called the Badlands because cows will just fall off and fall off of tables.  And we like to have a clear view of part of the Badlands.  You saw your view, don't you.  We can walk around a see a viewing and we can go around and walk on the Badlands.  But it says be careful and watch out for rattlesnakes.  Now this is the end, goodbye!

I'm pretty bad at filming, but I think Saffy has a future in television journalism, don't you?

Disneyland morning – day four

For our last day of Disneyland we entered in under the train station, strolled through Main Street USA, and then passed the castle into Fantasyland.

Miles, Lisette, Ian and I love riding the Matterhorn in the morning.

   

We made sure to ride Dumbo and the Carousel again for Saffron.  

 

 

Ian tries valiantly to pull the sword of the stone.

Beautiful weather, lovely blue sky, light crowds, happy kids; it was a perfect morning at Disneyland.

Disneyland evening – day three

Karen and Wendy left earlier in the day, but we were all glad that we still had a day and a half left; we still had too much stuff to do.  We went on Pirates of the Caribbean and walked around New Orleans Square.   

    

I had originally planned on taking more photos, but early on in our trip I decided I had to take it easy with the camera because I was afraid I was missing it all.  It’s really nice to have photos to look back and remember your vacation, but you don’t want to miss it because you’re glued behind a lens.

So not all of the photos matched exactly what we did.  We went over to the Matterhorn just before dusk and caught a ride.  Then I snapped a few shots of Fantasyland at dark.  Disneyland is so stunning at night.

King Arthurs Carousel

The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party

Sleeping Beauty’s Castle

We went to Space Mountain, while Melinda and Saffron rode Buzz LIghtyear yet again.  Then we all went on Star Tours together.  We all enjoyed Star Tours, even Saffron.  At the exit they had a Star Wars gift shop, and had a kiosk where they insert your face into a Star Wars scene. The photographer was really nice (and a good salesman) and it looked like fun so we said, “Why not?”  Saffy wouldn’t let him take her picture, but it’s just as well, because the 4 person pictures looked more generic than the one we got.  We actually didn’t plan on getting the picture, but it was so cute with our three oldest kids all grown up and fighting for the Rebel Alliance that we couldn’t resist.

They had a build–it-yourself lightsaber station that the kids ere entranced with.  Ian decided to buy one with the money he had saved.  But it was almost closing time and we still couldn’t figure part of it out, so we got one of the workers to enlighten us in the finer points of light saber construction.  When we walked out of the shop Tomorrowland was deserted.  It’s so much fun to wander around Disneyland at dark when the crowds have all dispersed.  We walked down Main Street USA and stopped off at the Penny Arcade to get a few more pressed pennies.  Only one more day.

Happiest Pennies on Earth

This year at Disneyland we had a lot of fun collecting pressed pennies. During the past few years we picked up some pressed pennies at Yellowstone and at the aquarium, and we thought it would be fun to collect pennies at Disneyland. I found a website, parkpennies.com that actually has all of Disneyland’s pressed coins cataloged.

Did you know that midway in 1982 they stopped making pennies out of pure copper, and instead made them out of zinc and only copper-coated them? I had a jar full of pennies, so before we left the kids helped me sort out all of the pre 1982 pennies. Then we cleaned them by soaking them in a solution of vinegar and salt, which makes Hydrogen chloride (an acid). We also went to the bank and got 3 rolls of quarters to put in the machines with our pure copper pennies.

We bought a souvenir book for all of our pressed coins. We even pressed a few quarters and nickels. The kids had fun putting in the coins, pressing the buttons and watching the gears move as they flattened the coins. We filled up the book all except for one slot. Here are some of our favorites:

Disneyland morning – day three

Wendy and Karen had to leave at noon to catch their flight, so we headed over to DCA to catch a few more rides before they left.  We all got in line for Soarin’ Over California, but Saffy wasn’t so sure she wanted to go on it.  She was fine until they pulled her out of line to check her height and then she flipped out.  She was NOT going to let that guy measure her.  So I took her out and we found something a little less intimidating for her to ride on.

Disney stock photo of Soarin’ Over California

We met up again over at the Paradise Pier section to go on the new Toy Story ride, Midway Mania.

Mr. Potato Head was really cool, he asked Saffron who her favorite Toy Story character was.  She told him it was Buzz; he was only slightly indignant that it wasn’t him. 

The ride was great fun! You get 3-D glasses and you ride through a colorful Toy Story setup with big screens where you shoot darts at balloons, ring toss at the little green aliens all in 3-D.  It was really entertaining; we all loved it.

     

Saffy went on King Tritan’s Carousel and then we all went on Heimlich’s Chew Chew train over in Bugs Land.  Of course we couldn’t miss the Mission Tortilla factory tour (they have free samples you know – very tasty.)  Then we took a tour of the sour dough bread bakery, they only gave us a little stingy sample, but I went over to the store at the end and bought a fresh loaf and we all shared it.  It was only 5$ which is a quite a bargain for Disneyland, and it was oh so good.

 

It was as very warm day so Karen and Wendy decided they didn’t mind getting wet, so Miles and I went over to Grizzly River Rapids with them.  We put all of our cell phones and cameras in a zip lock bag and we got strapped in.  It’s like your basic raft ride, just on steroids.  It is themed really well, and it has some really steep drops.  We got completely soaked!  But it felt nice since it was such a warm sunny day.  We said goodbye to Wendy and Karen and then checked out the Blue Sky Cellar which had models and sketches of the upcoming extreme makeover of California Adventure.  The Cars Land addition and the Little Mermaid ride look really amazing.

We headed back to the hotel and I had a nice nap.  Ian and Saffron shared a Disneyland lollipop stick.  We were happy that we still had a day and a half left before we had to go home.

Disneyland evening – day two

Our favorite hotel to stay at is the Anaheim Desert Inn and Suites, which is right across the street from Disneyland.  The rooms are nice, the price is great, and most of all, it’s a short easy walk to the main entrance.  It’s perfect for catching an early afternoon nap.  After our siesta today we headed over to Disney’s California Dentures.  We took Karen and Wendy over to the Hollywood Tower Hotel, which is our second favorite hotel.  We would stay there but the elevators are too unpredictable, and Lisette is scared we will get sucked into a vortex or something.  Where does she get such silly ideas?  She must watch too many old TV shows from the early 60’s.  No more late night Twilight Zone episodes for her!

 

We stayed and the California Misadventure park to catch the Pixar Play Parade.  It was pretty entertaining, and Melinda saved us a great spot at the start of the parade route, since she stayed behind with Saffy who doesn’t appreciate creepy old hotels.

 

We headed back to Disneyland and enjoyed the lights come on Main Street USA.

I missed going on Big Thunder Mountain yesterday, so we got in line for it again tonight.  Lisette, Miles, and Ian really love Big Thunder, and it’s especially fun at night when the tunnels are all dark.

Melinda again saved us a great spot to view Fantasmic!  I didn’t get very good pictures, but it was a great show.  It had Mickey, fireworks, movie clips projected on water screens, barges with princesses and screeching monkeys (on separate barges).  Although, thinking about it, it might be more entertaining to put the screeching monkeys on the same barge with the princesses.  Hmm…  Oh yeah, it also had Peter Pan fighting Hook on a pirate ship, a giant fire breathing dragon, witches, fire on the water, and a grand finale with all the Disney characters waving from the Mark Twain.  Oh yeah, more fireworks. Pretty fun stuff.

Disneyland morning – day two

Today (Tuesday February 3rd) we woke up bright and early and crossed the drawbridge, passed through Sleeping Beauty’s Castle to Fantasyland.

Saffy refused to go on Peter Pan’s Flight once she saw King Arthur’s Carousel, so I went with our eager equestrian while everyone else flew over the rooftops of London to Neverland. Saffy and I had the whole carousel to ourselves, so she selected the special stallion the princesses always ride.

We all met up again and took our magic feathers and soared in the sky with Dumbo. Wendy and Ian led the way and Miles and Melinda followed.

Saffron and Ian knocked on the White Rabbit’s cottage, but he was late for something. Ian and I spun madly out of control at the hatter’s party, while the girls took a more relaxing cup of tea.

Wendy and Karen took Lisette, Miles, and Ian through the Storybook Canal and enjoyed the Lilliputian villages. Melinda, Saffy and took a ride on “the little train who could”; Casey Junior’s Circus Train.

After a wild ride with Toad we headed to Toon Town for a crazy spin with Roger Rabbit.

After exploring Mickey Mouse’s house and Donald Duck’s Boat we took the train over to New Orleans Square to catch some hot jazz, and then we made our way to Adventureland to brave the dangers of the Jungle Cruise.

Whew! What a morning! Back to the hotel for some chow and a little R&R.