A step back in time

***Warning...long post with lots of pictures...continue at your own risk ;)

 For the long weekend, we decided to take a mini-break and go explore the Storybook Forest.  What a lovely little get-away! 

This park really is a step back in time.  Take a leisurely stroll along the tree lined paths and say hello to all of your old Mother Goose, storybook and nursery rhyme friends.  Yes they play music throughout, but there's not an animated character to be found!  Love that!!

So come join us as we take a lopsided peek at this little house:

Crooked man's house

and stop to peer into this place:

Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater...

take a ride on The Little Engine Who Could:

Keep your eyes and ears out for those sinister characters...you never know when you're going to come across one!

Jack and the beanstalk with the Giant

Little Red Riding Hood's "granny"

and sometimes all that sight-seeing makes ya just want to sit down for a few minutes, whether it is on a magic flying carpet, a wooden chair or even on a block!  Whew!!

After we finished touring Storybook Forest, we went out to the rest of the park to explore.  Since it was opening day, the park was relatively empty (another yeah!) so we didn't have to wait for rides and once we hit the "kiddie" section, sometimes the Noodle was the only one on the rides!!

The Noodle has such a good time riding on all the rides.  She wasn't scared at all!!  Since we had never been to this park before, neither J nor I really knew where anything was located.  Finally we made our way towards to back of the park, which was where all the rides were located that are geared towards those '56" and under'.

Once she realized that they were her size, she was all about doing them by herself.  Little Miss Independent!

This spin-y one was about all J could take...twirling around makes him feel SICK!

After a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon, we decided to call it quits and head back to the car...the sky wasn't looking nearly as friendly as it had earlier in the day.  Good thing...after driving for about 15 minutes the heavens opened up, the wind roared and sparks started flying (literally).  After pulling off the road to let the storm pass by we made it to the hotel...only to find out they had lost power.  Sigh.  Luckily we found a restaurant close by that hadn't lost juice and by the time we got back, the power was back on.  Good thing, because how do you explain to a 4 year old that they can't go swimming, especially when you can see the indoor pool from your hotel room?!