Tired of being tired?

Road Trip: Enchanted Forest

This past summer we took a trip up north and went to a place called Enchanted Forest.  It's sort of a fairy tale place for kids that includes Alice in Wonderland, The Three Bears, Snow White, etc.  It's really a neat place for kids to get lost in the stories too.  We had a great time and we all three enjoyed climbing through the rabbit hole.  

Coming into the parking lot, you can see the fairy tale buildings from the outside.  Enchanted Forest is such a fun place for kids and adults.


Skylar was really excited to go in.

We first visited the king's castle.

He was sitting on his throne giving orders out to his servants. 

  

  
We walked through the castle and checked out the knights and the dungeon.  We also read some of the notices for the kingdom.

Next we visited with Humpty Dumpty.  Lucky for us, he didn't have a great fall.

Little Miss Muffet was sitting and eating her curds and whey when we walked by.  She didn't seem to mind the spider that was creeping down beside her.

Next was the Alice in Wonderland exhibit.  We all climbed (slowly) through the rabbit hole.  It was fun, yet I didn't quite feel like a rabbit.  

Alice was having a nice conversation with the caterpillar when we saw her.

The Mad Hatter was at tea, of course.

Alice finished up her conversation and we moved on.

The Seven Dwarfs weren't at home when we peeked in.

We checked out their mine when we walked through.  They were busy axing away at the gold.

The witch had her eye on us the whole time though.

Rip Van Winkle was taking a nap.

We walked through the Crooked Man's house.

The paintings on his wall were a little "off."

We saw Little Red Riding Hood going to see her grandmother.

We thought about telling her that it was the Big Bad Wolf instead, but we walked on.

Next, we walked to Tofteville to get a snack and check out some of the attractions.

We saw funny signs and took a tour through the haunted house in town.

We tried out luck at a shooting range......

And had a boat race.  Skylar climbed through a fallen building.

And then took a tunnel from a tee-pee to an underground Indian hideaway. 


We rode a small roller coaster. 



While in Tofteville, we saw the local dentist.

For some reason, his name never was the same on two signs.

He was busy pulling a man's teeth out when we saw him.  Ha!

The local jail was full of criminals.

  
The town was busy and fun to see all of the funny attractions.  We moved on from Tofteville to the German Town.

The residence were hanging out of their windows singing, when we passed by.

We stopped for some German ice cream and enjoyed the sun before we left.  It was a great little visit and road trip.  We are definitely going to make another trip in the summer.


Five simple things

So I am posting this from Arkansas...


We left out bright and early Wednesday morning to Portland.  The sun wasn't even showing when we took off, but it made it's appearance as we got closer to the airport.


We have a community Halloween party scheduled tonight. It's crazy to think that much time has passed since we had the Halloween party for the community, when I was a kid.  Looking forward to seeing everyone and how life has been for the past 20+ years. Here are five things this week, so far.

1.  This Rose.

  
Because it was still blooming when we took off on Wednesday for the airport.  I was thrilled to see it before we left.  I hope some of the blooms are still showing when we return.

2.  These Animals.


  
Because they were sad to see us go, but I know they are being well looked after and I will be excited to see them when we get back.

3.  Our Backyard Cleanup.

Before

After
Because we were actually able to get it all cleaned up before we took off.  It's supposed to rain a ton while we are gone, so I am glad we got everything taken in.  One less thing to worry about while we are out of state.

4.  This Chair.

We ran a few errands before we flew out of Oregon and this chair caught our interest when we stopped by the sporting goods store. We didn't buy it, but we did play on it for awhile.

5.  These Ducks.

Because while we were in Albany, we couldn't help but stop to feed them. 

Extras:  

• This treat and this dinner.

  
I'm missing summer strawberry shortcakes from Burgerville and some good soups from Panera Bread.  I think I might make of both at home when we return from our trip.  Who says you can't have strawberry shortcake in the fall?  

• These Flowers and this couch.

Because sunflowers are a perfect décor for this time of year and I can't get over how much I'm loving our new couch. 

• These Solar Lights.

Because they are pretty and still glowing the morning we left for the airport on Wednesday.  

• This Little Free Library

Because we took a walk a few days before we left and exchanged our books for new reads on the plane. If you aren't familiar with Little Free Libraries, check them out here.

Oregon skies

  
Oregon skies are some of the best I've ever seen.  There is always a cloud, or blue shade that is picture-worthy and I can't help but snap some pictures when I see it.  They say the sky is blue because of the reflection from the ocean, but there are times I think Oregon just has it's own way of showing beauty over other places.  Not a day goes by that there isn't something pretty to look at above our heads here.