One Last Summer Hurrah at Storybookland

Labor Day weekend was filled with lots of... well... LABOR.   Eric and I were busy staining the decks, replacing some stone border tiles, painting, moving loads of mulch (from the humungo 70' tree and last apple tree that we had removed and stumps ground), laundry, cleaning, weekly cooking (ya know, the "usual" with some extras!).  But, we knew we needed one FUN day to celebrate before Fall arrived.

On Monday, we loaded up and went to Storybookland.  The last time we were there, the roller coaster wasn't running.   I'd been ramping up the whole roller coaster experience with Ramsey and yup, he sure wanted to do it!

As we ventured through the park, Ramsey decided he didn't want to ride the train.  "Too loud," he said.  But, as we started heading towards the roller coaster, Ramsey wanted to do and see everything.  "Hey, I want to go on that!" was a familiar chant.  

As per usual, the things that peaked his interests the most were slides, particularly very TALL slides.  He found a handful of them, but instead of following him up every single one, every single time, well, I followed him up only twice.  He was actually managing just fine without ol' Mom.  It was a bit nerve-wracking, but the kid has no fear.  Sometimes, you have to cut the cord a bit. (?)

From exhibit to exhibit and slide to slide we went.  He found the acoustics and echo effects of the Three Little Pig houses to be quite amusing this trip.

Then, we found the roller coaster.  It was running!  Ramsey could barely wait to get on, plowing through the gate.    We chose a car and buckled in.  Ramsey could barely see over the top of the car... what a little munchkin!    We then  took off (rather quickly, I thought, for a small children's ride!).  

Around and around we went, Ramsey laughing his little rear end off so much that I feared he'd get the hiccups (or worse - ha!).   He giggled like he was ready to lay an egg.    Thumbs up.  Success!   I guess he's ready for Valley Fair!?!?!

More exhibits and mini play areas later, we headed off for the large play sets, just outside of Storybookland.

It was a good thing Eric was still in the truck when Ramsey started his journey up this beast (he would have freaked):

Before I knew it, he had raced clear to the top of the tornado slide (shocker)!   I said a little prayer, as this seemed to be the largest slide he'd ever attempted.

Of course he was fine, but I caught him at the bottom (there was about a 3' drop from the bottom of the slide to the ground).

We played for a while longer, then decided we'd had enough fun there.  Us old parents were stiff and sore from our weekend laboring!

A bribe of an ice cream cone when we got home worked to lure him off of the playground.

(Whew!)

Ok Fall, we're not ready, but I guess you're on your way!