100 Things to Do in Cleveland and Beyond: Activity 25

Activity 25: Country Lights at Lake Metroparks Farmpark

Ok. This is seriously one of my favorite things we have done since we moved here. Lake Farm Park transforms into Santa's Workshop and the kids LOVED it. Here, let me show you.

Here we are waiting to enter Santa's Workshop. Often Faye gets compared to Little Cindy Lou Who. So it was really exciting to see the two of them together. At least it was exciting for me- not so much Faye.





Once inside, the kids got to pick out the toy they wanted to make in the workshop. Miles picked a jet plane and Faye picked a rocking horse. They got to sand, hammer and glue their projects. It was so fun for them.





And right in the middle of working on the toys- Miles' elf excused herself, put on a microphone, climbed some scaffolding and lead everyone in the shop in a funky fresh dance. Watching Miles' confused, but enjoyable dancing in this video is worth your time.



Then it was time to paint. Both of the kids went to work. They felt so good about their toys after they built and painted them all by themselves. We were pretty proud of them too.





Once the toys were completed, we got to take a horse drawn sleigh(ish) to see millions of twinkling lights in all shapes and colors. So fun. I couldn't waste my time taking pictures, so i just captured Miles as we were going through a rainbow tunnel.



And last (and probably least) we met Santa. Faye wasn't into it. I'm amazed that Miles sat next to him. Santas that aren't cartoons creep me out. But, alas, here we are.



I had to put this in. Even with all the other amazing things we did- this was truly one of the highlights of the evening for Dave and I.



Loves for Christmas in May.
-Cicely

West Virgina continued. Class of 2001.

This part of the story wasn't nearly as entertaining as the West Vrigina Zoo. Well, at least not to the outside spectator. It turns out that being with one of my best friends of all time is so enjoyable that we usually spend most of our time laughing until my throat hurts or crying tears of joy when we are doing things like this:







Or this:

Watch this.

Now onto The Virgina of West.

These may have actually been at the zoo. But, the kids had so much fun- I had to post them.




My camera doesn't have a mic- so sadly, there is no sound. But- if you watch closely you can see Faye saying, "Baaaaa" which I think is he confusing a horse for a sheep, and also her stopping to admire the horse while saying, "Oh, so pretty." Also, there is a little footage of Abby's baby Cutie Chase. Her other child, Aspen, is pictured above riding with Miles.


Later, we went to this beautiful place called (insert name of place we went as soon as I remember what it is here) with a couple of Abby's WV friends and their kids.





The kids found a new way to enjoy the swing: the old "Dead Man's Curve." Or something.


And then the kids came as close as they will ever get as children to riding a motorcycle.

West Virginia and the Goat Attack.

Before I begin- let me give you a little background* about this zoo. It is literally in the back yard of some man's house. You have to drive on a dirt road to get there. All the animals in the zoo are former circus (or something like it) performers. There is nothing more than a chain link fence between you and a bear. The zoo keeper lets the animals roam around the zoo sometimes. You feed popcorn to the animals through a tube. It is one of the saddest places I have ever been to and possibly the scariest place that my kids have ever been to. But other than that- it was great! ;)

--Now onto the amazing story of: (duh duh) The Zoo.

If you know my kids then you know that they, namely Miles, is terrified of animals. Any animal. If Miles gets worked up enough- he can get Faye to be just as scared as he is. When we walked into the indoor part of the zoo (where the birds and snakes reside) we were surprised to see a monkey knocking on the window to say, "hello." It was kind of adorable, but being that close to an animal was making Miles a little nervous.



And then the birds started squeaking and squawking and the kids were done. So we ventured outside.

We saw and fed a bunch of animals.




Faye fell in love with some crazy little monkeys.

And she wouldn't leave them. So she sat down by them while we did a loop and looked at some of the other animals.



And then...


Ok. So this isn't actually Miles- but this picture is a good representation of what the next few minutes were like.
Let me fill you in with a little story I like to call: Being mauled by a goat.

The zoo itself is basically on a great big hill. As we were making our trek down to the bottom- Miles spotted a goat who was out of it's cage- it made Miles a little tense, but it was about 100 yards away so I told him not to worry. The goat looked up, gave us some crazy eyes and then started charging. What the?!

Miles started freaking out- he let out some piercing screams of terror and fear and was climbing up me as fast as his little legs and arm could which made Faye get crazy and do the same. At one point- I was trying to run up the hill holding both screaming kids and push the stroller, but as the goat was gaining on us- I let the stroller go whizzing down the hill and moved as quickly as I could. Maybe I would get lucky and the stroller would distract him. It was no use. I, running up a ridiculously steep dirt/rock hill with two little people on each hip, was no match for this mangy snaggle tooth of a beast.

He caught up to us. My kids screaming in fear. I may have been screaming too- I was terrified as well. And then, he reached us. I tried to kick him away, but it seemed to only aggravate him. I'm not exactly sure what happened after that. He must have disappeared into thin air- because I have no memory of him actually leaving us. But he was gone- and we made it out alive. Just barely.

I thought we would be safe inside the snake and bird house- but, of course, we weren't. The goat must have spoken to the parrots inside because as soon as we walked in- our eardrums exploded at the scary squawking of about 15 birds. My kids started screaming again. Not cool, crazy birds.

We went to the dirt lot where our car was and were about to go sit in it and wait for our friends when my kids saw the one part of the zoo they could accept: the playground.



We had other adventures as well at the zoo. Including, but not limited too:

-Worrying about the senior citizens getting mixed up with a poo-throwing monkey.
-Miles getting a little depressed when noticing how sad a lonely gorilla was in his cage. "All he has, sniff sniff, is that log to be friends with. Why does he have to be in there?" I feel ya, Miles.
-A lion (whose sign reads, "don't get too close- I'm afraid you might take one of my girlfriends" referring to the three lioness sharing his home) tearing into raw meat like it was Christmas morning. It was frightening and amazing.

It was a pretty memorable day. And looking back- it was pretty freaking hilarious, but I'm not sure that my kids have ever recovered. Or, for that matter, if they ever will.

More West Virginia later.
Loves.

*One of my very best friends in all the world lives in West Virgina and we were able to go spend some time with her and her friends over there. We had many great adventures, including laughing so hard we cried- numerous times. Love you, Abs.

Miles is four! And has been for some time. Both of my kids have graduated in age and I have yet to post the pictures of their fabulous birthday parties. Since Miles' birthday was in October- I guess I had better start with his:

This is what we did on Miles' actual birth day. This, like Cedar Point, is a drive from Cleveland. But, like Cedar Point, it is very worth the drive. So, I'm counting this as my #21 Things to do in Cleveland and Beyond.

So... with that:

Activity #21- Port Farms.

Located near Erie, in Waterford, Pennsylvania this is easily one of my favorite places in all the world. There are SO MANY fun things to do at this place. You could easily go for a day trip and enjoy your time there the whole day. I took many pictures and only captured about 1/2 of what we actually did. This fabulous Fall find is only open for your enjoyment mid-Sept thru October. Since Miles' birthday is at the beginning of October- we use his birthday as an excuse to go. For more info- click here.

We will start you off with our favorite part of Port Farms:
























As you can see- we had a blast and the kids had a blast. We can't wait for Miles' next birthday. Well, yes we can. But, when it comes- we will defenitely be enjoying it at Port Farms.