If you hang around our family, or this blog, long enough you will have no trouble figuring out that we are Disneyland fans.  Let me think of a stronger term…fanatics.  We love Disneyland.  We have often talked about how Disneyland takes us to another land and it’s the land of our childhood.  Raising six kids with Disney movies and trips to sunny California (thank you soccer and baseball trips), we have created more than a few memories inside the park. 

I remember on one trip, we had been inside the park so often and had completely satiated our need to ride the rides.  One morning at the hotel my oldest pulled out a map of Disneyland.  He tore the map into “lands”.  The family brainstormed a game we could play together.  In the end, we all put our names in a hat and drew out teams.  Two people per team.  The rules were a simple game of hide-and-seek.  Once we had our teams, each team drew a folded “land” from the torn-up map.  Each team had to start in their land, ride one ride and then they could move about the park in any manner they chose.  If you found another team you took a photo of the team and sent it to the group.  That team was then “out”. The last team standing received some prize and I don’t think any of us could tell you what the prize was. 

I’ll never forget hiding behind a large tree near The Haunted Mansion with Michael and us both looking at our phones only to see a photo of our backsides as we hid behind the tree.  We had come out of hiding long enough to stand in a line to get a pass of all passes during the year of a million dreams.  We knew the risks.  We accepted them and we paid the price. If I’m not mistaken, Tod and Keven won The Game that day.  In all fairness, Tod had his wallet and he and Keven got new shirts and hats to go full incognito.

I don’t know when our tradition of stopping at The Bengal Barbeque started, but it was around this time.   Often, now, you will hear one of us say “hey, I am stopping at The Bengal BBQ for a banyan, I will catch up to you”.  Just as often that person is followed by several others to grab a skewer of meaty and saucy deliciousness.  We all have our favorites.  So much so that Lacey stopped at Town Hall and requested the recipe.

Earlier this week we celebrated Katey’s birthday.  For a family who is on a Disneyland Diet (due to Covid-19), it seemed appropriate to celebrate in Bengal Barbeque style.  Lacey has made a few adjustments to the recipe because that is what we do. It was delicious! As we reminisced about Disneyland and Katey we played music from the Tiki Room and Indiana Jones and hoped that some of those present would be able to use their season passes soon.

Here’s to family memories, holding out hope, great memories still to be had, season passes, and a family who is always game to be a child again.  Oh—and to the creation of The Game which will stand in Balser history forever.

Hope you have fun whipping up these magical skewers and don’t forget to turn on the tiki music.