On Wednesday August 17th, all 4 of us Schoenholtzes piled with a bunch of our stuff into the Outback and headed to North Conway.
We first checked in at Fox Ridge and Ethan was so excited to be staying at a hotel. It was his first time since being a baby and he had to check everything out before we could get back on the road to Storyland. We were going for a few hours Wed night and then planning to return the next day. We heard the school bell ringing from the parking lot, and although there were many rides to go on and Katie Krangle to pal around with, Ethan couldn't wait to get to the schoolhouse so that he could ring the bell.
We haven't had Jacob in the Bjorn for quite some time. Once he hit 15+ pounds, I couldn't take it anymore! Now here he is at about 21 pounds and we had him in it a lot over the course of our trip. He loves it!
One, two...buckle my shoe.
They have it end "9, 10, big fat hen". Steve and I both always said "do it again". We feel the rightest.
Jacob playing piano with his feet.
Ethan baked in a pie!
That night we went to MOAT Mountain Brewery for dinner with the Krangles.
The next day we were back at Storyland and we did not get off to a good start. Ethan was not interested in going on the rides but conceded to try their newest ride called Splach Battle. You ride in a boat with water cannons and observers have water cannons and you shoot each other with water. As soon as Ethan realized that things were out of his control, he lost it. I shielded him with my body but we were both hopelessly soaked (which is the main idea). He was devastated and even this popcorn barely helped.
Jacob is holding his own bottle more and more frequently lately! He's so big...
While he didn't want to ride the pirate ship this year, he remembered enjoying the pirate ship playground near the ride so we headed over there. Luckily, his buddy Tommy from school and his family were on their way, and our day was about to turn around completely...
Ethan and Tommy with his mom Colleen on the Whilrling Whales! All of a sudden, rides were cool. They went on ride after ride and Matt and Colleen essentially adopted Ethan for a few hours. I had Jacob in the Bjorn and Steve was not feeling well and was happy to defer to them to ride the rides with the kids.
Next up was the Polar Coaster...an Ethan favorite from last year. Ethan and I are in the front with Mark and Katie Krangle behind us. Steve was standing in the observation area and we didn't even see him but all posed perfectly!
While Steve was trying to capture a picture of the kids milking this cow together, Ethan rotated the utter to squirt Katie in the face. He's such a gentleman.
Jacob ate a lot of his meals on the go. We love these Happy Tot squeeze bag things! Self feeding baby food with minimal mess.
There's this "Loony Lab" where you play with balls and the boys were having a blast. They were also doing very well taking turns.
The Lewises were no joke about collecting the balls downstairs for the guns upstairs.
This ride is called the Turtle Twirl. It is awful. I do not recommend ever going on it if you can avoid it. The kids loved it! I did not. At all.
Jacob and I took a time out for some blanket time and a bottle while everybody else went on the Bamboo Chutes flume ride.
I love this picture. Steve and Matt took the boys on the Polar Coaster. Matt rode with Tommy, Ethan and Michael were together and then there's Mr Steve by himself!
And then the day was over. Ethan was BEAT!
After a snack, we hit the pool and Ethan was not happy about being dragged out of the indoor pool to enjoy the outdoor pool. However, he got to go back when 15 or so minutes after we got in a thunderstorm rolled in...
After a very low key night with all of us in bed before 9:00, we met the Krangles for a "hike" to Dianas Baths. It's a .6 mile path into a series of waterfalls and pools and the kids had a great time. It was pretty slippery so us grown ups were pretty nervous, but it was a great day to be outside.
