My years of adventures have all paid off this week as our son, Erik and his family came to visit for a week. Erik, Amanda, Elizabeth, and Amelia have been here twice before, but always during the winter when it’s hard to visit places. We invited Amanda’s mother, Karla to join us. The girls spend a lot of time with her, and it’s nice to have an extra set of hands when working with little ones. She’d never been to this part of the country so she was truly excited to see the historical sites and the Atlantic Ocean. We pulled out all the stops this week so they could really experience the beauty of New England.

My tour guide instincts kicked into full gear as we piled into the mini-van and covered many New England miles. Many of the places we visited were repeats of past outings like York and Ogunquit, Maine. They also enjoyed our Freedom Trail excursion in Boston, and a trip to Hampton Beach. These experiences were all new for them and they were amazed at the architecture, the history, and the beauty of nature.

As always, my repeat adventures need to include something new and different for me. The new experience this week was our journey to StoryLand in Glen, NH.  Located about 2 1/2 hours north of us in the White Mountains, this little gem of a park had everything our little toddler and preschooler could want in a day designated just for them. We invited our niece, Lilee to join us with her parents for a truly amazing day.

According to Wikipedia, StoryLand was first opened in 1954. It has grown quite a bit since then, and seems to have drawn a little bit of inspiration from a couple of famous parks in California and Florida.  Like those parks, this park is very clean and very well maintained.  It also stayed true to its theme which was very impressive.

We began in a nursery rhyme themed play area and proceeded to meet Cinderella on her throne. The girls loved riding the pumpkin coach to the steps of the castle.  Outside the castle we rode swan boats in the castle’s moat.

Further into the park, Elizabeth and Lillee braved the Polar Coaster. While Lilee is a daredevil, Elizabeth mustered a lot of courage to make it to the end!  A highlight for all the girls was the Daniel Tiger show where Katarina Kitty overcomes her fears and braves the roller coaster.  We rode lots more rides including farm tractors, the train,  a carousel, a pirate ship, and an old fashioned taxi.

The thing I like best about this place is its attention to smaller children. The themed play areas, rides, and shows really appeal to younger children. Our son Erik used to work in an amusement park in Kansas City. He shared with us that many of the employees dreaded working the kiddy section of the park, and would often call in sick or just quit if assigned there very often. The employees at StoryLand all seemed to enjoy their jobs and working with children. Elizabeth, Amelia, and Lilee were certainly well cared for and entertained throughout the day.

The girls call us Papa and Grammy. There’s hardly a better feeling when your four year old granddaughter says her prayers and is thankful for all the rides in StoryLand or for jumping waves at the beach. Your heart flutters when the 22 month old toddler wants to see pictures of our day on the TV. I look forward to having them visit many times as they grow older. I hope they learn the joy of seeing new things, and learning about interesting places just like Grammy and Papa.

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” – Helen Keller