Storyland Travelog - August 21-23

We decided a family vacation was in order since the last trip we took as an entire family was a year ago. We heard from some friends about a place up in New Hampshire called Storyland. Basically, it's Disneyland for younger kids; aimed at ages 0-12 yrs old with the strongest target being the 6-yr old.
Thursday, 4:30pm - we gather the troops and head out. A 4 1/2 hour drive, made easier by allowing the kids to watch "Cars", and delayed slightly by the treasure hunt we found ourselves in (searching for the hotel in the dark). We arrive at the Merrill Farm Resort and check in. First impression: cozy and quaint. Grandma and Grandpa get the queen bed downstairs, the rest of us get the loft with two full beds. A phone call later, we get the promised porta-crib. Then, Jonathan and Tom become my heroes by carrying the rocking chair up the stairs so I have a place to nurse the baby at night. David goes into the porta-crib and the girls into one of the beds. Jonathan and I go downstairs to enjoy a little TV with his parents while waiting for the kids to fall asleep. 6 trips later to put the kids back in bed and only 1 of the 3 is asleep. Isabelle and Miriam are having fights over where the exact middle line of the bed is. Jonathan crashes on the other bed. I feed baby and whisper furiously at the girls some more. Miriam seems to have issues with gravitating toward the nearest warm body. I give up and tell Isabelle to go sleep with Daddy. Emily ends up in the carseat and I take the bed with Miriam. I keep waking up during the night thinking that Emily will be hungry... but she remains asleep. A miracle has occurred. She slept the entire night and didn't wake to eat until 7 the next morning. Meanwhile Miriam has taken her place for waking me up by continuing to gravitate toward the nearest warm body... mine. I hope that whomever she marries later in life likes to be hot and likes having legs and arms strewn over him throughout the night.

Friday morning - Everyone conviently wakes up at about the same time. We head to the continental breakfast. Not a great spread, but the 5 varieties of homemade muffins are quite tasty, and they had hot chocolate so I'm a happy camper.

We decide to check out the downtown area in the historic town of Glen, New Hampshire. Oops, wrong turn. It's a good thing we didn't discover we were going the wrong direction for about fifteen minutes or we never would have discovered the cool little train place.

Ah, aren't they cute?

Next stop, Zeb's General Store. Who would think a store could be so cool?

Inundated with maple syrup products, salsa samples, a 70 ft long candy counter and fun paraphanelia we were happy to spend some of our hard-earned money appeasing the kids with a new toy for each of them, appeasing Jonathan with Pineapple Salsa, and me with, um, a happy family. :)

Lunch was at the Homestead Restaurant... an old house passed down from generation to generation since 1852. Yummy food and great character. I pat myself on the back for choosing such a fine establishment.

Then back to the hotel for naptime. Jonathan, Tom, Sandy, and Isabelle go canoeing in the Saco river with no camera (sorry). Isabelle, though enthusiastic, wasn't as skilled in her paddling. Poor Jonathan.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to Storyland I go. They have a terrific deal there... buy tickets after 3pm and you get in the next day too.



We check out the Mother Goose storybook area first. Yep, bad Mom here. My kids didn't know most of the stories. Luckily, they were excited to see all of the animals, whether or not they knew the live sheep was there for "Baa, Baa Black Sheep" or the spider was hanging off the tree to represent "Little Miss Muffet." I mean, hey, its a spider. That's cool, right?


Somehow Sandy and David got the fast boat. They were doing circles around us. This ride ended up being Isabelle's favorite.

Saturday morning - we head back to Storyland for a fun-filled day.

It's a good thing she is just so adorable because I wasn't feeling too kindly toward her that day. First, she wants to be held. Then she wants to eat. Then she has a blowout. Then eats some more... and spits up all over the place. Only 2 hours later and of course she is absolutely starving right when we are nowhere near a mother's room. Yep, get this. At Storyland they have a mother's room attached to each restroom with rocking chairs for nursing mothers. Too bad there's no A/C. Blissful rocking in a beautiful breeze through the open windows you might think, and you would partially be correct. Unfortuantely, not all of the mother's rooms had such wonderful orientations. Sweltering, that's what I would call it. Nursing is hot business anyway, especially with an oven for a baby up against you. Then add stagnant heat and humidity. I was a geiser of water which tickled as it trickled down my back and front and forehead and nose, and you get the picture. And when I return from feeding this entity that seems to always be attached to me, what do I find? Jonathan with an ice cream cone. Again. Every time I turned around, he had another one. And the one time I attempted to buy one, did I actually get to eat it? Of course not; the kids confiscated it after only two bites on my part. They were pretty cute with their mouths open and pleading like baby birds.

The hats made it easy to find them each time I returned from the mother's room.

It's amazing how exciting driving a car is until you have to do it everyday.

Ah. Waiting in line is made easier through more appeasements bought at Zeb's the day before. Rock candy, yummy!

Who can roll a rock weighing several tons? Our kids can! With the nifty help of water. Float a rock on a thin bed of water and watch it spin.

I am conveniently feeding the baby as they go around and around and around. I used to have a solid stomach. Not anymore. Oh the changes that occur to your body after you have your first baby. I've become a boring adult now. For shame. ;)

Got milk?

Jonathan's version of watching the baby... lay down with an ice cream in hand.

Resting up at the end of a long day.

A circus, a train, roller coasters and sidewalks spewing water. What's not to love about Storyland? Saturday night we head back to Connecticut, stopping for pizza, and watching "High School Musical" in the backseat before the kids zonk out in blissful exhaustion. A successful and fun trip for all.