Bright-eyed & bushy-tailed, waiting in line for Storyland
The boys love roller coasters, especially Parker. As soon as we got off, he said, let's do it again! So we did!
These swan boats were not intended as bumper cars, but with Parker in the driver's seat, you never know...
Watch out for that spider, Miss Muffit!
This was one of the last pictures of the day at Storyland, and you can tell that the boys are starting to feel tired!
Parker got to pick the last ride of the day, so he picked the Cuckoo Clockenspiel, or something like that
Here's Brandon at Santa's Village... next stop, the log flume!
I loved this cool monorail that ran around Santa's Village - nice for a break between the more high energy rides, and it gave you such a nice view of the park
Antique cars - a classic
Not sure how Chad got this mid-roller coaster-ride shot, but I'm pretty impressed
Parker and I took on Brandon in a race for the finish in these rafts - somehow I always ended up soaking wet after each run
Giant swings - another classic ride
This was a really fun ride called the Peppermint Twist, and for some reason, it never had any line... at one point, we rode it 4 times in a row. I guess it looked kind of scary, so maybe the younger kids weren't into it.We got back yesterday afternoon from our fun-filled long weekend in New Hampshire! This was our traditional spring trip up to visit Chad's Aunt & Uncle, Margaret & Lou, and to go to Storyland, which is an amusement park geared toward the under-10 set. This year, we went even a little bit crazier than normal and also spent a day at Santa's Village, which is pretty similar to Storyland, except that instead of a Mother Goose / Fairy Tale theme, it has a Christmas theme. I thought the whole Christmas thing would be pretty cheesy, but in fact, Santa's Village is actually kind of pretty... lots of evergreen trees and definitely a more relaxed pace than Storyland. We are all kind of split over here on which park we like better, but as you can tell from the pictures above, we had a blast at both.
We arrived at Lou & Margaret's Friday afternoon and just kind of relaxed - played in the backyard, ate a big dinner (they always feed us so well when we visit) and spent time catching up. On Saturday we conquered Storyland, and when it closed at five, we met Lou & Margaret at a nearby Mexican restaurant for dinner. I have very vivid memories of the last time we were at that restaurant because I was pregnant with Parker at the time and dealing with an extremely constipated Brandon - ah memories, like the corners of my mind. Anyway, I tried to put that out of my mind and enjoy the meal, and I was successful. Sunday, we drove up to Santa's Village, which was about an hour north of Lou & Margaret's house. One of the reasons we had never been up to Santa's Village before is because of the drive, but it turned out to be gorgeous, going right through the White Mountain forests and conservation areas. At the end of the day, we drove back down and had dinner (grilled fish for me and steak for everyone else) at L&M's house. And the next day we drove home pretty soon after breakfast.
The kids had so much fun riding all the rides every day and were thrilled to be sharing a room and having a sleepover each night... which means that it took them a while to settle down every evning, even after spending all day running around amusement parks. I tell ya, I was pretty beat after all day at the park, so I don't know where they get all their energy from! Another thing they really liked was something they did at Santa's Village. When you first arrive, you go to this alpine, old-fashioned schoolhouse and get a necklace with a punch card on it. Then, you have to run around the park and find all 26 elves (one for each letter of the alphabet). At each elf, you insert your little punch card and get stamped for that letter, and then when you finish the whole card, you get a prize. The boys really loved running around and looking for all the elves. They are also into the big rides - the roller coasters and such. I was pretty impressed that they never got scared while waiting in lines for anything... sometimes you would see kids just burst into tears or they would have to stop the ride for a crying child.
Anyway, we had a GREAT weekend! I think we all wish we could have stayed a day or two more... we still had a wish list of things we wanted to do, like mini-golf, go to the outlets (okay, that was just on my wish list), go for a hike. It's such a fun area up there, and it's nice that we get to spent time with Lou & Margaret a couple times a year AND stay in such a cool spot. It's a win-win. But, now we are back and gearing up for the last couple weeks of school! It may have felt like summer around here for a couple months now, but summer doesn't truly arrive until school's out!
We arrived at Lou & Margaret's Friday afternoon and just kind of relaxed - played in the backyard, ate a big dinner (they always feed us so well when we visit) and spent time catching up. On Saturday we conquered Storyland, and when it closed at five, we met Lou & Margaret at a nearby Mexican restaurant for dinner. I have very vivid memories of the last time we were at that restaurant because I was pregnant with Parker at the time and dealing with an extremely constipated Brandon - ah memories, like the corners of my mind. Anyway, I tried to put that out of my mind and enjoy the meal, and I was successful. Sunday, we drove up to Santa's Village, which was about an hour north of Lou & Margaret's house. One of the reasons we had never been up to Santa's Village before is because of the drive, but it turned out to be gorgeous, going right through the White Mountain forests and conservation areas. At the end of the day, we drove back down and had dinner (grilled fish for me and steak for everyone else) at L&M's house. And the next day we drove home pretty soon after breakfast.
The kids had so much fun riding all the rides every day and were thrilled to be sharing a room and having a sleepover each night... which means that it took them a while to settle down every evning, even after spending all day running around amusement parks. I tell ya, I was pretty beat after all day at the park, so I don't know where they get all their energy from! Another thing they really liked was something they did at Santa's Village. When you first arrive, you go to this alpine, old-fashioned schoolhouse and get a necklace with a punch card on it. Then, you have to run around the park and find all 26 elves (one for each letter of the alphabet). At each elf, you insert your little punch card and get stamped for that letter, and then when you finish the whole card, you get a prize. The boys really loved running around and looking for all the elves. They are also into the big rides - the roller coasters and such. I was pretty impressed that they never got scared while waiting in lines for anything... sometimes you would see kids just burst into tears or they would have to stop the ride for a crying child.
Anyway, we had a GREAT weekend! I think we all wish we could have stayed a day or two more... we still had a wish list of things we wanted to do, like mini-golf, go to the outlets (okay, that was just on my wish list), go for a hike. It's such a fun area up there, and it's nice that we get to spent time with Lou & Margaret a couple times a year AND stay in such a cool spot. It's a win-win. But, now we are back and gearing up for the last couple weeks of school! It may have felt like summer around here for a couple months now, but summer doesn't truly arrive until school's out!
1 comment:
Lou and I are always so happy to see Chad, Beth, Brandon and Parker. It's wonderful to watch the boys grow-up. And Chad and Beth are especially 'GREAT" parents. Kudos to both of you. Have a happy and healthy summer and as Brandon and Parker said 'See you in the fall'!
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