Best~Day~Ever Part 1 of 3

Memorial Day 2011, May 30th

In a spontaneous and slightly disruptive move, our family threw caution to the wind and took a sudden trip to New Hampshire...a trip that, according to my horoscope for May, was "imminent"....indeed.  We hatched the travel plans while on a routine trip to the hardware store where we bought some coolant and windshield wiper fluid.  As we sat in the Benny's parking lot...David adding the fluids and me and the children chatting...the idea came up about a road trip.  The kids latched onto the idea and soon we were headed home to pack an overnight bag.  A few quick checks of hotels near Storyland and we had nailed one for the right price and proximity to our destination.  I recommend them if you are ever heading to Glen NH:

http://www.villagermotel.com/

The children enjoyed the amenities there:

These photos are of Annika and Lex playing in their large playground.  The manager Semi and her husband are friendly and very accomodating and their grounds and rooms are very nicely maintained and clean.  They had everything we needed for the lowest price around. 

We left Warwick RI at around 2:30 sunday afternoon and drove for 4 hours to get to Bartlett.  We fueled up at an Irving gas for $3.77 gallon just before arriving at our motel.  This location was wonderful...sandwiched between the National Forest and Attitash Mountain Ski resort, we were 5 miles from Storyland.  We checked into our hotel at around 6:30...grabbed some dinner at DQ and then took a nature walk around the property at The Villager.  After showers, we hit the sack for a full day of park time coming the following morning.  In the morning, we had a free continental breakfast...coffee, juice, milk and we even made our own waffles!  It was a really great stay!

We left around 8:30 am to head to storyland, fueling-up before we arrived at the park.  Thankfully the gas station near Storyland sells amazingly strong coffee which we tanked-up on as we waited in line to enter the park.  It was a real storybook moment for me when the doors opened because we were all forming one line to enter, and then several little huts that lined the entrance suddenly opened and created about 6 registers so we were in the park at 9am with no wait.  We had a wonderful Guest Service person named Phil who didn't charge us for Alex.  We were so grateful!  Phil really made the start of our day extra happy.  We have been inside Storyland before (last August) and that time was our first visit so this year, I knew how my kids and David would react and what they would need and want.  I packed towels, clothing changes and I MADE Annika wear her swimsuit under her outfit.  She objected while she was dressing that morning but later enjoyed it a lot!!

The first character we encountered as we entered the park and took a left to head toward YumYum Junction and the Antique Cars Ride, was Mother Goose..a white-haired lady in a rocking chair holding a puppet goose.  She was so adorable we just had to say hello.  They choose such friendly people to play the characters in the parks...she let Lex hold her goose.  It was the only way we could get him into the picture!

After leaving Mother Goose, we stopped by the Drivers License Booth to make Lex his first Drivers License.  Annika still has one from last year.  throughout the park there are wonderful animatronic puppets with stories to tell and anectdotes.  These two fellows in the car had me laughing with their Canadian accents talking about "ca's"...not a New York Accent, it was definitely further North!!  They were silly and add to the charm of this nicely kept Amusement Park.

We decided to ride the Antique cars first.  On our maiden visit, we circled the park from the right to the left and the cars were our last ride.  At that time we waited about 45 minutes to get on and the park was about to close.  On this trip we paired up:  Annika with Mom and Lex with Dad.  The kids got to "drive" the cars.  Lex had a purple car and Annika's was hot pink.  I personally love the sculpted course with the details like the covered bridges, Gas Station, cows and Moose...

So cute...but then, I sort-of have a thing for cows.  The park is pretty small and on Memorial day weekend it had just opened...it was open from 9 to 5.  There are plenty of shows to see inside the park.  There are about 5 places to see performances.  The only performance we were really interested in, and it is a MUST SEE...I LOVE THESE FOLKS...the Hannaford Circus.  They are 4 or 5 families who perform wonderfully every year!  We are huge fans of the Alvarez family Gymnasts.  The Children who are about 12 are Ariana and Gianni and they perform with their Mom and Dad.  We are not allowed to photograah inside the tent so I have no pictures, just warm memories!

The biggest draw for Lex was the Train ride which circles the park allowing you the best view of everything, and a nice break if your feet are tired.  For Annika, what she most enjoys is meeting the Princess, riding the boats and playing in any type of squirting water.  Fortunately for her, there is a small water park called Oceans of Fun and another fun little water-spurts spot near Dr. Geyser's Raft ride where the kids get soaking wet!  Of course, there is also the Raft ride itself where we rode twice and DID get soaked!  David enjoys the Antique Cars and the Circus.  He took Lex on the Buccaneer Boat while I took Annika on the Swan Boat.  We pretended our ships were attacking one another (boys against girls)!  After we got off the boats we met to ride the carousel.  I didn't take a picture, but the carousel is an unsusual rocking-horse style.  There are only 2 like it in existence and the sister to the one at Storyland is in Munich Germany...a fact I found very interesting.

As for me, aside from just watching the kids have a great time, I LOVE the views from the rides.  My favorite ride in the Park is the Polar Coaster, which Lex came on with me and Annika is too scared to ride again.  I also really enjoyed the Flying Fish ride which I went on with Lex because Annika refused to ride.  I originally objeted to riding the Balloons but even though it was a long wait to board and unboard, the views proved to be my favorite part of the whole day.  Go figure, huh?  The thing you nearly didn't do turns out to be the highlight of your day.  Check out the photos I got from up there...they are my favorite part of the park trip.

We left the Park at 4:30, ending our day with an ice-cream cone for the ride and some fudge for Daly who we left at home.  David bought the kids a toy and we drove the 4 hours back...which took 5 hours because of traffic.  The drive home was my favorite part because I love looking at the mountains glistening in the fading sun of a glorious day away from home.  It was so fun to be at home one day and in New Hampshire the next and then home again!  I love how days like that make you realize that you are powerful and free and can take life...and get what you want and need out of it!  I will end today's blog 1 of 3 with my favorite Mountainviews from the drive Home.

~Namaste