Glen Echo - Check!
In case you are following my progress on the "Thirteen Places We're Going This Summer," we went to our first of the list on Saturday, quite spontaneously. Our neighbor/landlord/wonderful friends called up to say that their grandchildren were with them for the day and they were going to ride the carousel and would we like to come along. Would we?!
It was a real treat. Here are the best things about it:
It's only a hop, skip and a jump off the beltway, just on the Maryland side of the Potomac. (I thought it was much farther and probably would have procrastinated had we not been invited to go with someone who knew the way.)
The carousel is a piece of history with a real calliope (which fascinated Henry - he giggled every time he saw the little cymbals inside move). Beautifully restored orginally built in 1928.
There is also a little cafe and a playground. About three birthday parties were happening in different areas of the park.
There are also several quaint historic buildings and museum-like spots, as well as some yerts with craftsmen working inside - metalwork, glassware, and pottery - and a puppet theatre and gardening workshops.
Our trip was unique because our neighbors went there as children, and could point out different parts of the place and tell stories about when it was an amusement park, etc. We walked into the park area and heard the carousel playing, and Pat said, "This. Is my childhood." That made it the most fun for me.
Cal and Henry just loved the carousel, and they picked the giant bunnies to ride on. (There were ostriches, lions, and the regular horses.) It's only $1, by the way - for a good, long ride.
So, I give it several stars out of several for good, easy, inexpensive fun for everyone.
Big Boy Birthday Party
Auntie S's youngest boy turned twelve this weekend and they had a big ol' birthday party for him, with a great tropical theme and fun in the swimming pool. She invited us over for the delicious food, and Calvin loved getting in the pool, jumping on the trampoline and just hanging out with the big kids. They were very accomodating and he thinks he is one of them, really.
And would you check out these ice creams? Yes, that is ice cream. In a cup-size bucket. With graham cracker crumbs on top to look like sand. I took pictures of the cupcakes, too, but the lighting was off, so they aren't very clear, but they had light blue frosting, graham cracker crumbs for the beach on one side, and palm trees on the beach made out of pretzel sticks and leaf-shaped chewy candies stuck on the top with a little dab of frosting. Can you believe how cute and clever?
We had a great time, so much so that I failed to leave while we were still having fun. That is key. The fewer times Cal looks and acts like this, the better. Yep, time for a blog snapshot and then bath and bed. It was a long, fun day.
Father's Day Package and Phone Call
For those of you wondering if the package that incurred all the trauma this week at the post office arrived, it did. Exactly on Father's Day. Nice, huh? Made the daddy's day. I hope he wore the obnoxious stickers we sent in one of the cards to church.
We also talked to him on the phone today. Henry said, "Fodders Deh, Dad." Very cute.
3 comments:
So much fun! There are quite a few places out here in the NW that scream "you were a kid here" to me. I love taking my kids to those places now. :) Very sweet!
We never did the carousel! Bummer!
Those ice creams looked awesome. Looks like you are having a great summer so far.
What a cool place! Carousels are such kid magnets - even my big kids wanted to ride it last year when we went to the Dallas Zoo. That one looks beautiful.
Ah, yes, leaving while still having fun. Sadly, you can't get away with "holy institutional terror" when you are at a birthday party. Mine is going quite well over here. Hopefully we can get to bed before the crying gets out of hand tonight. And I'm just talking about myself!
Post a Comment