It's been a busy week! Our trip to Story Land went great. The 3+ hour drive up into New Hampshire's White Mountains went fairly quickly, and the kids had no idea where we were going until we were about 20 minutes from the amusement park! We went straight there, since they have a deal where you can come to the park after 3pm, stay until closing, and then come back the next day on the same ticket. It was nice to have a few hours to check the place out and get the lay of the land. As we expected, Niko took a little while to warm up to things, so that extra time was helpful for him, too. But by the end of the first three hours, both kids were super excited to come back the next day!
Once the park closed at 6pm, we grabbed some pizza for dinner and then went to check into our hotel. The kids were so thrilled that there was an indoor pool to play in, so they quickly changed into their suits and went for a swim! While swimming, they noticed the (free) 9-hole mini golf course on the property, so that was next. We all went to bed around 10pm, and the kids slept well (I didn't, but I have this thing about pillows that are too fluffy... I should have brought my own!).
The next morning, after showering and eating breakfast, we made it back to the park in time for the 9:30 opening. Because we already had our tickets, we didn't have to wait in the loooong line to get in-- we got to go in through a different entrance, which meant we had the park almost to ourselves for a while! Both kids had been begging to ride on the antique cars, so we went there first (and again several more times...). After that, we were going to go on the log ride, but Niko decided it was too scary and too wet. So Gus and Maya went on it, though she didn't particularly like it. The rest of the day was a blur of rides! We went on tons of them together, but Maya was even brave enough to go on the BIG ride-- a wooden roller coaster that I actually felt was too scary, too (and I like roller coasters!). She cried after that one because it was SO scary, but she recovered quickly. I was impressed that she even wanted to go on it in the first place!
Anyway, here are a bunch of photos. They are pretty self-explanatory, I think!
We stayed at the park ALL DAY... we walked out just a few minutes before it closed at 6, grabbed a quick dinner at the Dairy Queen down the street, and then drove home. It was exhausting, and the kids were wired (WAY overtired but refusing to sleep), so that was super fun. ha! Still, we made it! And both kids have been saying how much they want to go back, so maybe we will do it again next year! Maybe we will even stay longer-- that whole area is so pretty. It's right around the corner from where we went camping a few weeks ago. Big mountains, beautiful lakes, and dense forests-- can't complain!
In other news... our butterflies had emerged from their chrysalides earlier this week, and we decided it was time to release them the other day. It was great! They didn't all fly out at once-- instead, they came out one at a time, and most of them landed on the grass nearby. The kids were able to hold so many of them! They LOVED it!
We've also been hard at work on home improvement projects, since Gus took the entire week off. Our screened-in porch is now, in fact, screened in! It is all cleaned up and bug-free! So we have a nice outdoor space that we can enjoy without being eaten alive by mosquitoes, which is great. I did all of the work on the screens themselves, but Gus made the door. The trim around the windows still needs to be painted, and I am going to make vinyl window covers so we can still use the porch in the winter, but look at it already! I really want to get some nicer furniture for out there, but our old patio set will suffice for now.
Once he finished the door for me, Gus finally resumed work on his chicken coop. And he made huge progress this weekend! We just need to get some sand to fill in the entire run area. But the coop itself is now on an elevated platform, and the nesting box is accessible by reaching out of a dining room window. This will be so much nicer when we need to collect eggs in the winter! It also gives the chickens more room to run around underneath it. So, more chickens may be in our not-too-distant future. We'll see! Our little helpers were eager to help their daddy "do construction." :)
School starts in just over two weeks, and I'm feeling an overpowering need to have everything organized and DONE. I doubt it will all happen, but the ideas are flowing-- maybe the mudroom will finally get done! :)
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