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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Exploring the Town


We love where we live.


Well, most of the time.
There are days I dream of living in the South,
where the manners are nicer and the pace of life slower
(and the cost of living cheaper!)

Or I dream of living in the Midwest,
with its practicality and hardworking folk
and their common-sense values.

I occasionally wonder about areas like Utah
but by and large I don't know enough about the Northwest
to really long for it.
I'd like to vacation there, though.

But, amidst all the dreaming,
I do have a great appreciation for where we live.
Our town and the area around it
has won numerous awards for being
"The Best Place to Live"
and "The Best Place to Raise a Family."
While the cost of living is high,
the schools are fantastic,
there are lots of opportunities to do things outside,
their are a multitide of cultural opportunities all around us.

Since we are "stay-cationing" this year,
the kids and I took a day a week or two ago
to just explore a town nearby.
We had a lovely time.

After a bite of lunch,
we looked over the bridge for turtles and fish in the river below.


By crossing the bridge on foot, we went from one county to the next!

The kids kindly posed for a snapshot


and we continued on our way.

Next we went into one of their favorite stores,
the one they call the "Fairy Store."
This multi level store is literally chock-full of every fantastical thing
you can imagine!
They have a level devoted to all things Halloween


plus huge areas all devoted to Christmas towns.

They have doll rooms, fairy rooms and various freaky things everywhere!


After browsing along our way at a few displays here and there,


and going into the best old-timey toy store in the Mid Atlantic
with a proprietor named Frank who hand picks the toys,
the kids then went to an old Country Store where there is, quite literally,
PENNY CANDY!!

This is so much fun for the kids, as 25 cents can buy quite a bit of candy,
given in a little brown paper sack.

Unfortunately, there were no chocolate babies that day. :-(

The kids and I took our candy and climbed up on the big rocks
to overlook the little town while they ate their rock candy.

They had a blast and I had fun too.
These are the days that childhood memories are made of!




7 comments:

jen@odbt said...

Thanks for the reminder to explore our hometown. I feel like there's so much more than the Target/Costco I frequent. I love the Penny Candy store and my kids would go crazy in the halloween/xmas store. What a fun outing!

Anonymous said...

It looks like a really fun day for all of you...Thanks for sharing lovely pictures and commentary. Now I'm ready to go too!!
Love,
Mom

Natalie said...

What a cute town!

Gina said...

Thanks for bringing us along! I should do this too... it would be fun to see the contrast. Your town looks like it's fixed in the early fifties with the mom and pop stores and penny candy. Mine looks like it's stuck in the late sixties with co-ops, consignment stores, and hippies on the corner.

Nic said...

Leeann, I know exactly where you went and we love it there as well. Haven't taken the kids there for a few years but when we used to go they loved those very same store. :)

Cindi said...

It sounds like you had a fantastic time! Your kids are very lucky to have you as a mom. I love the group shot of the three of them...they look so cute!

You definitely succeeded in creating wonderful memories for them.

jody said...

That looks so fun. I love the "fairy" store.

What a great day!