Continued from last week’s Throwback Thursday. In this episode I reveal the knockoff TMNT-shirts. 

After the family visit to the beach our trip to L.A. expanded to Anaheim where we stopped at a little out of the way spot you might have heard of, Disneyland. For some reason, I don’t quite remember why or how, but my mom had gone with some friends to Disneyland without us some months before our eventual trip. Afterward she endeavored to get us there. I recently discussed this briefly with her, she mentioned that when she got back she told my father, “We have to go, Cesar’s going to lose his mind.” I’m both paraphrasing and translating from Spanish, but my love of all things Disney was always understood. In the above photo my younger brother and I pose for my mother while my older sister and father ride Splash Mountain. I have vague memories of Disneyland at that time, this photo included. My clearest memory is of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Being a bit of a wuss, I was glad to be off the hook on some of the scarier rides. Being tall for my age allowed me to get on the Big Thunder train. I wasn’t very thrilled about that and I distinctly remember watching my mother and younger brother watching us forlornly leave the platform wishing he could ride as I forlornly watched back wishing I didn’t have to. Obviously I loved the ride and it has remained one of my favorites, sadly it is currently closed for “refurbishment”. This one’s for Big Thunder, may he return to us soon…