Round and Round

We ventured out to Pullen Park in Raleigh yesterday. It's a public park (the first public park in North Carolina, even) with playgrounds and an amusement area, which was recently restored/renovated. It was too hot (around 90 degrees), but lots of fun! 

Our first stop was the merry-go-round. The carousel was an old restored one (made in Philly!) with lots of different animals -- many horses, but also giraffes, tigers, and pigs, among others. We let the boys pick which one they wanted.  James was happy to ride on a horse, but Matthew insisted that he wanted to ride on the seats (the little carriage/chariot). (Now, I am the biggest wimp in the world when it comes to amusement park rides, but this seemed ridiculous even to me!) So, it was Matthew, Mike, and the very elderly lady with her walker on the "seats." :) But he enjoyed it, so I can't complain.

We came back again for another ride before we left, and this time Matthew was willing to ride an ostrich along with me.  (Mike and James got a pig that time.)  When it started to go up and down, Mattie was so delighted: "It's bouncing!!" He didn't know what he was missing!!

Matthew also spotted the Locopops sign when we were having lunch, and so he had a cookies and cream popsicle for dessert -- another high point of his day!

After lunch we were headed for the train (a little one similar to the science museum), but Matthew saw the kiddie boats and wanted to go on them instead.  So they did, and both of the boys loved them:  steering wheels to turn and a rope to pull to ring the bell -- what's not to love?  (I blew them kisses as they went by and James started blowing kisses back to me -- too cute!)

They also enjoyed the playground area.  James especially liked the sand area with the riding toys, and the climbing structures (surprise, surprise).  Mattie's favorite was the sand and water area (again, no surprise) -- he found a discarded cup and spent quite a while picking up water from one section and taking it over to dump it in another section.

We did eventually make it on the train.  We didn't get to the paddleboats, so we'll have something new to do next time we go.

Between the heat and the activity, both boys were asleep within minutes of getting in the car for the ride home!