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Family, Photo-A-Day, Travel, Vlog

A Day at Edaville – Christmas Spirit Awakening

Skip and the Wooden Flowers
Photo-A-Day #4245

Today we went to Edaville USA. We were hosted by Edaville USA in that they provided us with four passes to enter the park. Opinions of our visit are 100% our own.

Driving down the highway on the way back from our Thanksgiving holiday on Cape Cod the rain was coming down off and on. The sky was dreary and grey. Allison and I debated skipping going to Edaville USA because it looked like it was going to continue raining. We got to the exit and I just decided, let’s go and see what happens with the rain.

I’m very glad that we decided to go. It rained for about an hour but when we got there we went to the Carousel and rode that a couple times so we were not rained on. Then we went into the Old World Whittler and saw the amazing Russian Fan Birds that were made by Skip. He was very kind and patient with the kids. His work was beautiful, too.

After the Old World Whittling Shop we caught the first train we could and rode around Edaville. It was still light so the lights weren’t as awesome as they could be, so I knew we’d go and ride it again later. Despite it not being too dark the kids had a great time. They loved seeing everything on the train ride and got excited about so much.

After the train the kids wanted to go to the Ferris Wheel. So I went on with them and sate between them. It got cold while we were on the Ferris Wheel but it was fun to see the whole park from the top. Once we got off the Ferris Wheel the rain was gone. There would be no more rain the rest of the night. We hit the Nut Tree, Elephant ride and then headed over to Thomas Land.

Once in Thomas Land the kids were able to go on most of the rides on their own. We did go on the roller coaster as a family because Andrew needed and adult with him.

After a few rides the kids got a bit tired and we started to head out. We then saw that Thomas was going to pull the train and so we got on for another ride. This time it was dark out and the lights looked incredible! We had a nice ride and then it was time to leave. Before we left the kids wanted another ride on the Carousel and they begged us to go back to the Old World Whittling shop and visit Skip. They loved spending time there. I think that they were so fascinated by the old tools that he used to make his beautiful birds. Well, he also made flowers out of wood and he made each of the kids their own flower. Just because. It was a magical moment and so generous of Skip to take the time with my kids. You can see our adventure in the video below and then all our photos below.

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Family, Photo-A-Day, Travel

Storybook Day at Edaville Railroad

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Storybook Day at Edaville Railroad
Photo-A-Day #1619

Today Allison and I took Eva to Edaville Railroad. But we’ll get to that in a moment.

Last night Eva would not go to bed at the Cape House. She completely refused from 7:00pm – 9:00pm. Finally after Allison and I took turns with her trying to read stories and to get her to calm down she succumbed to the sleep she needed. Well, for few hours at least. She was back up at 3:30am screaming and crying. Allison brought her to our room and Eva wanted me out of the bed. So to get some sleep I ended up on the Goldilocks bed which contrary to popular belief was not “just right”.

We awakened worn and weary but eager for our trip to Edaville. We didn’t have Grandfather’s fabulous breakfast on hand so we went to Betsy’s Diner. We texted up our friends Neil and Andrea and asked if they were up and also up for Betsy’s. Neil, a man who knows breakfast, said “Be there or Be Square”. So, we knew they were on their way.

Breakfast was awesome and we are very grateful to Neil and Andrea for sharing that meal with us and taking us out. Also we are extremely grateful that they are friends in our lives. Their support and generosity is greatly appreciated.

After breakfast it was off to Edaville. Edaville Railroad is a small theme park in Carver, MA. The main theme is around trains and it also has some vintage rides. There is a beautiful carousel and a Ferris wheel (Eva’s too small for that and I really wanted to go up with her because she loves rides and speed, I bet she likes heights too).

Loving the Carousel

There are plenty of ride there for the little ones. I think when kids are real little say between 2 and 5 they love trains. It doesn’t hurt that Thomas the Tank Engine is such a PR giant. At Edaville they have a Day out With Thomas every once in a while where they have a small replica of Thomas come and pull the train around the track which goes through the working cranberry bogs.

Harvesting Cranberries

The really nice thing about Edaville is how it is very geared to the little ones, the rides the interactive areas and of course the train ride that comes along every 20 minutes. Eva enjoyed riding along on the train looking at everything out in the woods and in the cranberry bogs along the way. Edaville really shines at night in the winter though. That is when the train chugs along and there are lighted figures out in the woods and along the whole route. There is even a giant Noah’s Ark scene.

The reason that we went to Edaville today was for the storybook characters that would be appearing. On tap were The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Wild Thing, Clifford the Big Red Dog and the monkey Eva really wanted to see, Curious George. Every 15 minutes the characters would come out 2 at a time for a meet and greet where kids and parents could pose. When we got there The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Wild Thing were just going back in and Curious George and Clifford were coming out. We got in line to see Clifford and Curious George.

A very Stuffed Caterpillar

I went over to the snack bar to get Allison a water and that is where I met Tilden of Tilden Talks.

I mentioned that we were going to Edaville and Tilden’s sister-in-law Quilly left me a message letting me know that Tilden not only worked at Edaville and was the best cook there but she was also a member of my IZEA Insiders crew the “I’m Not A Famous Blogger” Crew. So I was there at the counter and a woman comes into the snack bar. I catch her name and I ask. “Are you on SocialSpark?” She looks at me for a moment and then smiles “Are you Ben? What are you doing here?” We chat for a bit and I explain that we were here for the storybook show and that the last time I was there I was 4. Things have changed a lot since then. I will have to see about finding some photos from when I was a kid.

We had a wonderful day at the park and then headed home for a memorial mass for Grandma Theresa. I think that Fr. Dave’s homily hit both Allison and I right where we needed and I’m grateful for that. Eva was in rare form at Mass. She was up and down and entertaining the people behind us. Of course Allison and I are mortified, exhausted both physically and emotionally. So we are trying to wrangle this little jitterbug and not doing that good a job of it. So we are kneeling and Fr. Dave is consecrating the host, as he lifts it to the air Eva lets out a “Yumm!” That broke the tension and Allison and I were fighting the inappropriate giggles. This means that the two of us were shaking and laughing hysterically while trying to hide the fact that we were shaking and laughing hysterically. I tell you, that kid has comic timing.