Clark's Trading Post

Monday, August 3

Monday was a beautiful sunny day (as pretty much every day was). My mom brought gifts for Ari and Matthew to open each morning, and of course, they were just as interested with the other kid's stuff as they were with their own. Here, Ari is reading Matthew's new book.



An attempt at a nice picture of the 2 of them. Too bad it's blurry. Ari was telling Matthew to smile--I think she was demonstrating. And he did smile--I just snapped the picture too soon.



Our big stop for the day was Clark's Trading Post, a family tradition. They are most well-known for their trained bear show--this year is the 60th anniversary of that show. When I was a kid, we only ever went and looked at the bears from the outside (where you could feed them--but you can't do that anymore) and then wandered through the gift shop (the biggest one in the White Mountains). But this time, we paid admission, and got access to all the fun stuff--the bear show, a Chinese acrobat show, a train ride, a Segway ride, and other random stuff. It was a lot of fun, and really a good price for all that stuff. It was cool, because even though this place is so familiar to me, I'd never gone "inside," so it was all new to me as well.

Ari, contemplating the bear show. (Yeh, we arrived just as it started, so we had to stand.)



Matthew, ignoring the bear show.



The show ring was all fenced in, so my pictures of the bears aren't that great. But trust me when I say... a bear walking on its hind legs looks hilarious.



Probably the best shot I got.



Oh, wait... this one is pretty good too.



After the bear show, it was time for the train ride. It was a quick 30-minute ride, and the brochure gave a mild "warning" that parts might be scary for littler kids. They had a guy called "the Wolfman" who appeared at a few spots along the ride, getting angrier each time because the train was in his territory, and "shooting" at us. Ari loved it, though--she kept calling him the "bad man" and loved spotting him and seeing what he was up to.

I love this picture of Matthew and my dad.



Lighting is a bit wonky, but still a nice picture.



I like the lighting in this one. I told Mary she looks so deep and thoughtful.



Me and my baby girl. (I think the second one is my favorite.)



Very pretty scenery along the tracks...



I love this family shot. If only Ari were smiling (or, at least, not looking totally spaced-out), it would be perfect. But it's still a nice picture.



I think Ari was telling me she could see fish in the river...



In the train station. (Note: That is not a real bear.)



I was surprised to discover that they had a Segway ride here--seemed like the last place you'd find them. I was excited to give it a shot (especially since there was no extra charge), and I felt like I was getting the hang of it right as my time ran out. (I think it was about 5 minutes--once they showed you how to use it, they set a timer and told you to come back when it went off.) It was so much fun. My BIL Josh said he did a Segway tour of Washington DC and it was awesome. If I ever have the chance to do something like that, I totally will. Anyway, here's your proof that I rode a Segway. (Like my helmet? It had hearts on it. It might have been a kid's helmet--I don't know. I don't ever wear helmets, so I'm not sure how they're supposed to fit.) Oh, and that's Josh in the background too.



Of course Tony did it too. So did my sister, but I don't have a pic of her on it.



We did a few more things there, but nothing major. Our last stop was the gift shop where, like typical parents, we gave in and let Ari pick out a couple things. The first thing she saw was a little stuffed Wolfman, which she latched on to and loved. But I distracted her with other things and set Wolfman aside--no way was I spending $10 on that thing. My dad also picked up some fudge for later (6 different kinds!)--YUM. I love homemade fudge. After the gift shop, Ari wanted to ride the train one more time, so just the 3 of us went. She was way beyond naptime at this point, and quite tired, and mere seconds before the train took off, she started crying about the "bad man" and how she didn't want to see him and didn't want him to shoot us. Luckily, we were able to calm her down, and she enjoyed the ride.

And that was our big event of the day on Monday. I don't remember what we did for dinner that night--probably just something back at the house. After dinner, Tony, me, Mary, and Josh took the kids swimming. Matthew had never been in a pool before, and he was a bit hesitant. Can't blame him, though--although the pool was heated, it wasn't warm enough for my liking, so I'm sure that's part of the reason he wasn't too sure about it. Tony and I brought one of Ari's old floaty things for Matthew, so he had that keep half his body out of the water. He never got too thrilled about the water, but he tolerated it for a while. Ari, on the other hand, loved the water as much as she always does. With her lifevest and her water wings, she can pretty much "swim" on her own, and she has a blast.

As we left the pool area, that's when I fell. There was a sign warning that the floors were slippery when wet, and I was even making a point of walking carefully down the steps, since I knew my flip-flops didn't have much traction. And I was doing great... until the last step. Both my feet flew out from under me (seriously--I was airborne for a split second or so--I'm sure it looked pretty comical), and since my arms were full, I went down right on my butt--HARD. And kind of on my back. Tony whirled around, looking so worried when he saw me, and the first thing I said was, "I didn't hit my head." (I'm really not sure how I didn't, either.) I managed to bang my left elbow on the way down, and apparently I hit it hard enough to make it bleed (in other words, I don't think I scraped it--I think I hit it so hard that the skin kind of "burst" open). Anyway, it could have been worse (I mean, thank God I didn't break anything), but I ended up with a very sore elbow for the rest of the week. (It's still sore, actually). My butt was sore, too, though I kept joking that the extra cushioning kept me from getting hurt any worse. But I sure felt it any time I tried to sit on a hard floor or a rock for the next few days. And I had an instant headache from the impact. But like I said, it could have been worse, so I was just grateful that I didn't break or sprain anything.

And so Monday ended with a bang (ha!). The next day was a busy day, too...

To be continued...