We spent the weekend up north, in Bartlet. Sunday morning looked ominous in the rain department, but we threw caution to the wind (what rebels!) and took the boys to Storyland in Glen, NH. It's like a miniature Disneyland, designed specifically for 1-5 year old demographic. What a blast! The boys loved it.
They had an antique German carousel, miniature roller coasters, a tiny castle, an house-sized pumpkin, ball pits - pretty much anything you can think of that a little person would love and that adults would love to do to, if no other adults were looking. Believe it or not (those who know Sean well will believe it), one of Sean's favortite parts of the whole thing was a pair of red doors (shown in the photo) that led nowhere. He opened and closed them for 10 minutes before we had to drag him away, kicking and screaming.
The center picture of the next set is unfortunately the only one I took in an area of the park called "Loopy Lab". The reason I have no others is because I was too busy having fun. "Loopy Lab" is a big room full of Nerf balls. It's also got a second floor balcony accessible by stairways in the corners. THe whole building must have one mother of a air compressor under it, as the whole floor vibrated and the noise was nearly deafening. But the whole room is full of all kinds of devices for sucking up or launching the Nerf balls. There are suction hoses that can suck up balls and launch the into the air, a ball cannon that can be filled up and then fired at the balcony, like grapshot from a civil war cannon. Bolted to the second floor balcony railing are air guns that can be used to launch balls at everyone on the first floor. It was awesome - all of the adults may have been having more fun than the kids!
Sean and Ryan both immediately took to the ball pit. What is it about ball pits that make kids instantly happy? You would think it would scare them - as soon as you put them in, they sink in waist deep. If they try to move at all, they sink deeper and deeper, like quicksand. You'd think they would panic. But for some reason, they find the sinking even funnier. Love it!
So all in all, a great trip. If anyone in New England with small kids is reading this, you should definately plan a trip out to Glen, NH for a visit to Storyland. I can't wait to take Sean back in a year or two.
