The BEST day of our trip!

With New York and Rhode Island behind us, we entered New Hampshire and made it to the White Mountains on Wednesday evening. The AAA books usually never fail us when looking for adequate lodging, but this time it did. Before arriving into the town where we will be spending the night, I usually flip through the book and call ahead to make reservations. Now, I could have chosen a Days Inn, or something similar to that, but I was thrilled to find a bed and breakfast that actually allowed/accommodated children. The AAA book rated it with three gems so I was expecting a nice room and a good meal in the morning. What we ended up with was a 2 room outdated, mismatched, poorly decorated, rundown accommodation in the carriage house with a bed that demanded you snuggle whether you liked it or not! At least there was a playground (one slide and 2 swings) outback for the boys to expend some of their energy.
When the owner suggested, in our initial phone conversation, that our breakfast be served to us in our room instead of the formal dinning area, I agreed so that we didn't end up being liable for granny's antique vase lying in a million pieces on the original hardwood floors. The breakfast was actually very good and the boys loved being able to watch TV while they ate (I'm surprised the rabbit eared set still worked). Mikie discovered a new show that had him laughing and me rolling my eyes at the nonsense of it all. I mean, come on, why do you need a panel of judges to critique and hand out scores to a bunch of pets doing tricks? Yes, I am referring to Pet Star hosted by none other than "Slater" from my precious "Saved By The Bell." With those amazing dimples, tanned complexion, and hunky muscles he was suppose to rise to stardom and not fall to praising fido for his all too common abilities to catch a frisbee while jumping through a hula-hoop! But, it made Mikie laugh and I will admit I was a bit saddened when the parrot beat the performing rescue dogs by only 1 point. What I wasn't sad about was that it was time to pack up and leave The Black Swan Inn (I know, the name should have given me a clue!).

I promise, this post really is about the BEST day of our trip and it all starts right now:



We spent about an hour of our morning exploring the Polar Caves Park which was formed by a glacier (a perfect field trip for the previously completed Magic Tree House #7 Ice Age).

Mikie poses in front of the "Kissing Bridge" so named because the enclosures of covered bridges offered a bit of privacy from passersby.

Zachary was not at all pleased that he had to be put down for Mommy and Daddy to take their turn on the kissing bridge. (Mikie took our picture)

He's happy again....he's got his Daddy!

The glaciers moved these huge boulders and deposited them in what they are calling "the rock garden." Mikie had a great time running in and out and around all the paths.

Zachary couldn't quite keep up.

There were 8 caves and we went through each and every one. Poor Michael, he had to carry Zach through narrow passages, steep steps, and low overhangs. It's hard enough getting yourself through the rocky caves without injuring your head or arms and he did it without hurting Zachary even once. Great job, sweetheart!

You might have noticed already that Mikie is wearing a coat WITH a ZIPPER! Which would be the first time in over 2 years that the "teethed" apparatus has come close to his body. You know how we got him to do it? If you take a look at the previous post you'll see that mini-golf is a strong enough incentive to get this kid to do amazing things.

While I did miss my little Koala this trip, I thoroughly enjoyed spending more time with my oldest son.

Zachary tries spelunking on his own 2 feet in the last cave known as "the devil's turnpike."

Finally out of the caves, we spend a few moments feeding the fallow deer and the very loud ducks as you'll hear in this video:



Just a short little jaunt to a nearby town led us to the BEST part of our BEST day at the Squam Lake Natural Science Center in Holderness, NH. If I ever find myself on the receiving end of a large sum of money, I am going to build one of these attractions on Whidbey Island (of course we would also have to include a mini-golf course). It was amazingly well laid out, perfectly planned for children, and highly educational. If we had not been starving, we would have stayed there for the rest of the day. The boys loved it! Mikie was begging us to stay! AND he kept asking us to go back over the next several days (which we couldn't). So, if you're ever in NH you should definitely stop by this wonderful center.

This 3/4 mile trail ran through meadows, marshes, and forests with exhibit buildings/shelters spaced throughout. Almost every exhibit housed at least one animal and had educational hands-on activities for the little ones (and big ones) enjoyment. I wish I would have taken a picture at each exhibit, but here are my favorite ones:

Life Underground: Chipmunks

The boys are "digging" like chipmunks before they crawl through the underground tunnel. They also had periscopes to "spy" the chipmunks above ground.

Going in to escape the predators....

and coming out when it is safe.

This picture captures 80% of what Zachary did during our trip when it was time to move to another exhibit. "Daddy hold me please!"

BOBCATS

At the bobcat exhibit, the boys played a pinball/plinko type game to represent how much prey a bobcat needs to catch in order to survive.

MOUNTAIN LIONS

I didn't take any pictures of the mountain lion exhibit that Mikie loved so much. After watching them, we found the markings on the tree that showed how high a mountain lion could jump (15 feet) and the ones on the fence that showed how far he could leap (35 feet). Then of course we all had to try jumping and leaping to see how we compared to the mountain lion.

WHITE TAILED DEER

The white tailed deer were all resting in the shade, but their exhibits helped Mikie learn the cycle of: fawn to adult and see the changes they go through from spring to winter. There was also a wooden peg maze that he safely guided his deer through.

RIVER OTTERS

This was another favorite exhibit for both of my boys. You could see the otters swimming in the tank both above and below ground. There was also a ball/peg game that taught you how the otters can be poisoned by fish that contain too much mercury. But the most fun part was leaving the exhibit on the slippery otter slide as you will see in the video below:

CHILDREN'S DISCOVERY CENTER

This is the part that Mikie loved the most and wants to go back to. There was so much to do in such a little building that kept them bouncing from one tunnel to the next, and one level to the other. They are working on an animal classification puzzle above. I don't have very many photos because I was too busy having fun and learning with them!

Mikie peeks out of the groundhog tunnel long enough for me to snap his picture before climbing up and going down the slide after Zachary.

Another tunnel is shown below. The "touch" tunnel was dark with holes for you to reach in to discover different objects with your sense of touch. You have to climb up a spider's web to get to the tunnel.

Still to come (but not pictured) was a black bear exhibit with a bear cave to crawl into, a raptor exhibit, and the aviary with song birds. After crossing the boardwalk through the marsh, it was time to return to the car and find a restaurant before Zachary fell asleep. We then drove north to our resort in Jackson, NH and met up with Michael's parents who drove down from Maine.

When my boys woke up from their naps in the car, the first thing they asked was if they could go mini-golfing and wouldn't you know we just happened to be staying close to the town that had 4 of them. Over the course of the next four days we played all but one of them.

Aaarrrgh! Black Beard's Challenge awaits....

Grandmommy cheers for Mikie!

Hurry up and take the picture, Mommy. I've got to keep up with my big brother.

Minus the water spot, this is a great shot of the granparents and grandkids.

What our boys will be wishing for when they are teenagers:

Black Beard's Challenge wasn't very challenging for Granddaddy Jones. He scored the lowest score of the day.

After golf, we ate dinner at the Muddy Moose restaurant and then called it a day.....a Very VERY good day!