I got back late from doing laundry and then woke up around midnight to an owl hooting outside the camper.  I used the Merlin app to identify it and it was a barred owl.  About then it started raining and it rained all night and into the morning. 

We ate a hearty pancake breakfast and packed our bags for Story Land, a theme park geared at kids 12 and under (and for older kids and adults too who like this sort of thing).  I love quaint theme parks and was insistent that we go here.  Lily and Katy decided to join Esme, Nova and me and we jumped on a ticket deal a month or so ago. 

The weather was not ideal but we put our ponchos on and brought our umbrellas and made the best of it.  We went on quite a few rides in the rain as it drizzled pretty steadily. 

This was an animatronic that told a story about vegetables growing and becoming friends with the weed that grew in their garden — all set to song. We caught one part when we first arrived and another part of the story as we were leaving.

First ride: antique cars.  Esme drove me and Lily drove Katy and Nova around the track.  Crazy to think that Esme and Lily will be student drivers soon!!

Then we took the train to the other side of the park.

We rode the “Polar Coaster” a arctic themed mini-roller coaster.  Last night, Lily spent some time trying to convince Esme to try a coaster today and I thought her words were in vain but Esme decidedly got on the coaster today as soon as we walked up to it!  Nova decided to pass and the other girls rode it a second time before we moved on. 

Then we checked out the carousel.  This carousel was made in Bavaria, Germany and the riders can rock the horses.  It also moves in a clockwise direction rather than counter-clockwise like most carousels. 

Then we rode the pirate ship which is similar to Jungle Cruise at Disney.  Maybe a combo of Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean?  There were other similarities to Disney as well, they obviously took some inspiration from there. 

Next up was a pumpkin carriage ride up to Cinderella’s castle and a photo op with Cinderella herself!

Swan boat rides were next.  The rain really started to come down so the girls docked their swan a bit early and we ran for cover at an indoor play area. 

It was about 11:30am and according to the weather app, things were going to improve after this heavier band of weather passed over. Unfortunately, Story Land announced that they would be closing at noon due to the weather and everyone could get rain-check vouchers to return another day. 

The rain slowed again and we left the play area and hopped on this hot air balloon ride on our way out.

The staff directed me to contact customer support online when I tried to tell them we couldn’t use a rain-check.  The tickets I bought said they were non-refundable and I wasn’t hopeful but I got an email stating they would refund me, yay! 

I spent the afternoon cleaning the camper while Joe took all the kids to the library.  When they got back, Joe and I dropped Melissa off at church and did a little more laundry now that everything was wet.  We did a puzzle together and I called Nole and he helped us with the last part of the puzzle which involved deciphering some puns and clues.  The answers were all book titles and there were 101 in the puzzle.  Below just one corner of the puzzle.

We leave for Maine in the morning. We are anticipating not having data, call or text capabilities so my next post will probably be on Tuesday.

Yatzeck’s blog post for today