Discoveryland

Our first venture into Discoveryland was accidental, and fortunate. On our first afternoon in Disneyland we were speaking to a couple who had some fast-passes to the 'Buzz Lightyear' ride. They were heading back to their hotel and kindly gave us the passes to use. We had no idea what the ride was like.  The allocated time was after dinner. and we gratefully accepted them without knowing what this ride was. After dinner, and our first Buzz Lightyear ride, we were hooked and we came back again and again.

Part of the hotel deal, was vouchers to have breakfast in the Park before general opening times. We thought we would get to meet some of the characters at our table, but we were wrong (must be that German to English translation again!) 

The restuarant was Bella Notte Pizzaria, from The Lady and the Tramp. Breeakfast was croissants and cereal, (not pizza).  Just around the corner from the restaurant was Discovery Land, so we were able to have our first ride of the day on the Buzz Lightyear ride without waiting too long! 

 

Phil trekked off to Space Mountain (minimum height was 132cm). The boys and I went to the Orbitron, similar to the Dumbo the Elephant ride, but in rocket ships. The boys could control going up and down. Cameron loved to go up high, and then drop down quickly. 

We watched the "Honey I shrunk the kids", 3D movie. Alexaner didn't like this very much.  

Next was the Star Wars virtual flight similator, where we took a spaceship to Endor.  Cameron didn't look tot keen throughout the ride, but he told us later that he really liked it. He looked quite scared throughout the ride.

Then it was back to more Buzz rides and Big Thunder rides.

To Infinity and Beyond.

We kept going back for Fast Passes for the Buzz Lightyear ride. It was so much fun. Each time we ony had to line up for 10 minutes. This ended up being Cameron's favourite ride in all of Disneyland! We did it so many times, we lost count. 

You travel around a track in little wagons, each with your own laser gun. There are many scenes and targets and as your laser hits a target, it registers a score. It was awesome, even for the adults. 

Cameron, a very big Buzz Lightyear fan, was a pretty good shot, and racked up very good scores. During the ride your photograph is taken, at the end of the ride the photos are printed with your total score.  (we bought a couple of these) .This was a great ride! 

 

Adventureland

With Phil playing on the Indiana Jones Roller Coaster (minimum height was 140cm), I took the kids to some of the other areas of Adventure Land. 

There was the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. We climbed up into the tree house to see how the Robinson's would have lived. Adventure Island was full of secret caves and pirate hideouts to wander through and get lost in, and a couple of playgrounds for the kids to have some free play in.

Later in the day we returned to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and we only got a little bit wet. The boys thought this was hilarious

Frontierland

We started day 2 with the Steam Train ride around the park. We were hoping to do 1 1/4 laps and end up in Frontierland, but we were kicked off after 1 lap and had to walk from Main St.

The day was sunny and not too cold. No jackets in sight! First stop was the haunted house, "Phantom Manor" and Thunder Mesa Paddle Wheel River Boat, 

We had an hour Disney wait for Big Thunder Railway- the runaway mine train roller coaster. This was Cameron's first roller coaster ride (he didn't want to go at Legoland earlier in the year). Cameron sat with me whilst Alexander & Nicole sat behind us. I had to make encouraging and excited sounds the whole way around and keep a close eye on Cameron to ensure he was OK. No problems, also no desire to ride it again! 

We then watched a stage show with Goofy cooking some Halloween 'pumpkin soup' which the boys really enjoyed. It also gave us a chance to rest our feet for awhile.

Halloween in Disneyland

Disneyland was taken over by the Pumpkin Men, and they tried really hard to take over Disneyland and paint the town orange.

Our kids don't know much about Halloween, but they enjoyed looking at all the pumpkins and other spooky displays. 

Main Street USA in Disneyland is lined with shops to buy Disney products! It is also the street where the daily parades are held. The parade we saw focused on Halloween, and the boys thought it was great.

The boys wait patiently for the parade to make its way up to where we were waiting.

 

Fantasyland

The first place to visit in Disneyland with kids of 6 and 7 is Fantasyland. All of the Disney classics are represented here: Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Snow White etc. 

It is also where the rides are not so 'thrilling' so a good "land" to start. There were big crowds, and we had to endure long queues (45-60 minutes), but that's Disneyland! The boys were really patient. Pinocchio and Snow White rides seemed confused in their stories, and they were really a bit baffling. Peter Pan was great, everyone's favourite so far- but the biggest queues. 

 

We did the Alice in Wonderland maze (good fun), 'It's a small world' (someone's idea of torture to have Munchkins singing the same thing over and over whilst you are stuck in a boat) and Nicole and the boys did the Tea Cups. Phil is not a big fan of rides that just go around and around. The boys liked the 'Dumbo the flying elephant' ride. 

 

The Opera House painted on the wall as you leave "It's a Small World"

We had dinner in the park at a buffet-style restaurant, very good quality but Disney prices.  The continued our experience until about 8.00. After this, we walked back to the hotel (about 1.5km), checked in, and collapsed into bed!

Disneyland Paris

It is very hard to get used to these European school terms. 3 terms for the school year, and half way through each term, there is "half term holidays" for a week. I think the longest they are at school before a break is about 6 weeks. I don't know how families where both parents work manage this? We have about 4 more weeks of holidays here than we would in Australia.

This half term we decided to take the kids to Disneyland Paris. We have been promising the kids that we would go there once they were old enough. After some research on the internet, we thought once Cameron turned 6, he would be able to go on most of the rides. 

About 6 weeks before we left for Disneyland, I did my homework. I checked the website for the park, and wrote down all the rides and which movies they related to. Thankfully my friends Chantal, Sonia and Michelle came to the rescue and let us borrow their Disney dvd's and story books that we didn't have. We got the kids to watch Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio, The Lady and the Tramp, Aristocrats, Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan and so many more before we headed off to Paris. We had lots of the "modern" dvd's, like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc, but none of the "classics" This proved to be really helpful, as we went through the different rides, the kids knew the characters and the story lines of each story. It made the rides more relevant, and they were able to point out a lot of the characters.  I was really pleased that the hard work before the trip paid off.

The Disney hotel we stayed at was called Sequoia Lodge.. For anyone interested in Trivia Nights, here is a fact Alexander worked out himself . 

"Mum, the word Sequoia has every vowel in it" 

The hotel was quite nice, and it's themed as the Wild West. It was very comfortable. At breakfast each morning a couple of different characters would wander over to each table for photos.This is where we got to meet Eeyore, Goofy and Pluto. 

Sometimes you have to get the boys to pull a silly face, before they sit still for a "nice" photo!Thank goodness for digital cameras, and I don't have to pay money to have these silly pictures developed. just hit that delete button! :)

 

Here is a photo of Phil and the kids outside the front of Disneyland. Mickey Mouse is made of shrubs and bushes of different colours. Unfortunately the very front of the building of the main Disney hotel was under renovations, hence the lovely grey fabric over 2 sections of the hotel.  

No Muggles in this house!

For 2 euros, the kids can dress up in Halloween clothes at school today. This is how our blond and brown

hair boys left for school today.

Ron Weasley, and Harry Potter.

Alexander's friend Emily is going as Hermoine, and Isaiah is going as Harry Potter.

Cameron's friend Jemimah is Hermoine and BJ is Harry Potter too.

They both wanted to be Harry!

The smell of fresh bread in the morning...

I got the bread machine out for the first time since we have been in Berlin. 

The local supermarket has bread mix suitable for the machine, so I have been buying this. 

I set the timer on the machine the night before, and at 6am, the bread is finished, and we wake up to the smell of freshly baked bread, and it is ready for school lunches.

Phil, Back to 'Normal'

Following our holiday in Australia, and plenty of visitors, we are now settling back to 'normal'. 

This is also happening on the work front. Since returning from Australia I have travelled to: 

Bad Saarow (outside Berlin) .

Romania: A quick trip with no time for anything but work. A brief late-night visit to the casino was enough to give me nicotine poisoning (I had the shakes and couldn't sleep). There was so much smoke it even drove a smoking colleague from Germany into giving up! 

Serbia: A really good trip, with a late afternoon dash to the local golf course. We played until we could see no more (but the sounds of our balls crashing into the trees in the rough carried all too well!). We only managed to get 7 holes completed, but I shot 40 for these, and hit 8 trees as well! Too bad we didn't finish at a decent time so we could at least get nine holes in, but that's the way it goes.

Turkey: Fast and furious! Two 11 hour days with dinner after, and a final day of 8 hours before rushing to the plane (if driving in Istanbul traffic can ever be considered rushing!) However, there is so much to do I think I will need to go back in January for a week.... Terrible weather - Rain, wind and cold. Great food - kebabs on the first night and seafood by the Bosporous on the second! 

In the coming weeks: Russia,, France Malaysia, Vietnam, Austria and possibly Finland.

 So, it's back to normal - or rather, back to absolute madness.

Gallery Hopping

Since the boys have gone back to school, I have decided to visit more art galleries 

Here are the galleries I have been to in the past 6 weeks. I let the mums from school know that I am going, and anyone is welcome to join me. 

Rembrandt:- Quest of a Genius 

I went to this one with Ann from school. The audio guide for this exhibition was brilliant! 

  

East German Museum 

The GDR ceased to exist 17 years ago.This museum shows everyday life in the GDR. It is an interactive museum, and was really interesting. Cotton was not widely available behind the wall, so most clothes were made from polyester. The clothes had an awful feel to them. I hate to think what it would be like to wear them every day, especially in Summer. I went to this museum with Sonia, Michelle, Jacqui and Wendy, it was a great insight to what life was like behind the wall. Note....lots of nude swimming in Summer! 

  

Art Forum The 11th ART FORUM BERLIN - showing contemporary art, fresh, energetic, full of quality - the best artists and their galleries from Berlin, Germany, Europe, the USA,Latin America, Asia and Australia. I went to this one alone.

Museum Berggruen Picasso – The Draftsman The Museum Berggruen is celebrating its tenth birthday with an exhibition of Pablo Picasso's drawings. Since the opening of the museum in 1996, this artist - who has shaped the visual concepts of the 20th century like no other - is the central focus of the presentation "Picasso and his Time" which 1.5 million visitors have already seen. None of the mums were interested in this one either. I am guessing they are not a fan of artwork after 1910.

Bike Riding & Squirrels

The weather has been great for bike riding.  Even the squirrels are out and about. Graeme managed to get this photo before he scuttled off again

We are seeing heaps of squirrels around as the chestnuts and acorns are all falling from the trees.

 

  

Granma and Grampa visit...

We have had Granma and Grampa come and go for the past 5 weeks. 

They were here for the first week of their holiday, Denmark for a week, back to Berlin or a week, England for a week, then back to Berlin again. In between this they have caught the train to Hamburg and Dresden for a quick tour. 

Here is Cameron watching Grampa fix the glider that Grampa gave him.

Cameron takes a break with Granma, from trying to catch butterflies with his net. 

Phil, Alexander and Granma outside our place. Before election day, all the parties were out handing out balloons, badges, and lollies. A walk to Theodore Heuss Platz meant the kids got heaps of freebies.