Friday, August 30, 2019

New Hampshire Recap

See yesterday's post for the first part of our trip in Lake Placid, NY.  Now onto New Hampshire.

This trip was conceived last year when we were in Cape Breton - the plan was for us and Dave's two cousins (one who lives in New Brunswick and the other in Ottawa) and their families and another family that we knew in Fredericton to all gather at the Lantern Resort Motel and Campground in Jefferson. NH.  Santa's Village, an amusement park, is across the road, and Dave's cousin had been there before.  We had a motel room booked and the others would have trailers in the campground.  Unfortunately two of the families ended up not being able to come, so it was just Dave's cousin from NB and us.  We were sad that not everyone could make it, but it did mean we got to take over the rental trailer instead of the motel room, so that did work out well for us. 

We stopped in Lancaster, NH, for lunch, gas, and groceries.  McDonalds again, don't judge us.

We arrived at the resort about an hour before our trailer was ready, so we explored the campground for a bit.  All of our camping experience has been tenting in provincial parks, not RV campgrounds, so we didn't know what to expect, but this place exceeded our expectations.  It was very well kept with beautiful flower beds throughout, two great pools, a store with anything you may need (even extra beer, and free movies to borrow), arcade, laundry, food truck, playground, and evening activities for the kids.  The only thing we needed to bring was our food, the trailer had all kitchen supplies, BBQ, coffee maker, sheets, towels, and lots of hot water.   It had its own fire pit, chairs, and picnic table too.  It was very clean and spacious.  


Checking out the trailer. 

Our family arrived shortly after we got settled in our trailer, and we were happy to see them!  We had pasta for supper and then it was time for a wagon ride (even though it was raining a bit).






Time for a swim after supper.  I did not go in!!

A bit of a movie while we all got warmed up before we started the campfire. 


We all slept well in the trailer.  We made some breakfast and then set out to enjoy the morning.  We did some swimming, playing at the arcade, and lawn games.  We had leftover pasta for lunch so that was easy. 



The way Santa's Village works is if you go within the last three hours of the day, you only pay admission once and then get to come back the next day for free.  The park closes at 6:00 so we went over at 3:00 to maximize our day. 

You get to talk to Rudolph and he answers you!  Q asked him to sing "Raindrops on Roses" (My Favourite Things from the Sound of Music) but Rudolph said he didn't know that song.  

The garbage cans are penguins so that meant Q was cuddling up to them for photos the whole time.  Ick.

Watch out for the choo choo train!

Checking out the map.



Amy and me. 

This park also exceeded our expectations.  There is a Santa's Village in Bracebridge (Ontario) but I don't think it is nice as this one.  There was so much to do and Q could go on almost every ride except the roller coaster and bumper cars, and the big kids were equally entertained.  I loved the Christmas theme and the music that played throughout the park.  

First up was the Chimney Drop, check out Q hanging in there with the big kids!


The Himalaya was a little too fast for me but the boys all loved it!

Time for the Log Drop (flume ride).

And the sleigh ride that travels on rails around the park. 

This was E's favourite ride, the bumper cars.  I asked if we could go together even if I let E drive, but his response was "No!  I want to go crazy and you won't let me!"  That just meant I got to bump him a few times.

Excited for the reindeer merry-go-round.

Q's photo shoot with all of the characters. 




When the parked closed at 6:00 we went back to make supper - pizzas on the BBQ. 


When you checked in the kids got coupons for free slushies so they all went over to get those after supper.  And we went for a swim. 

Fire time!



It's not that clear, but the local skunk ran by under our trailer, just steps away from the fire pit.

We bought some American cereal when we were there so no shortage of sugar and artificial colours for breakfast. 

Then it was back to Santa's Village for a day of Christmas fun!  Snuggling up with the garbage can again.

They have a scavenger hunt where you get a card with the letters A through Z on it.  Then you find each of the 26 elves around the park and punch out their letter (see photo below).  It was fun and easy.  At the end you get a certificate for completing "Elf University".

This is the boys picking up their cards. 

Punching out the letter at the first elf.

Back to the Chimney Drop for the first ride of the day.


Then we got to see Santa!! We were his first visitors of the day. 

Q did not want a photo, but E gladly stepped up.

This is a cute photo idea - for those that come back each you can take a photo here and see how they have grown.

This is after Dave dropped his phone on the hood of the antique car.

Santa's fire brigade

Our group got to ride this roller coaster several times without waiting in line. 

I went on it once but then took Q to the swings. 

Getting another elf letter. 

We checked out the water park next.  It wasn't super warm but it meant we had no lines.  We all tried out the water slides and they were super fun.  Q walked around a bit but wasn't interested in playing much.  We got some lunch after that.

Then onto the train ride. 




The smallest kid got the biggest ice cream, how did that happen!?

My favourite ride.

A visit with Santa's reindeer

Then we watched a light show, that was super cute, by the way, and look what happened!  I sat with him for a bit while the others went on more rides.





So scared!



More of Q's photoshoot



Getting their certificates for getting all of the elf letters punched. 



We left at closing time after a successful day!  We made some burgers for supper and then of course had more treats around the fire- like these banana boats.

On our last day we had no plans other than to hangout around the campground and enjoy each other's company.  We set up an "Olympic" type event where everyone got a turn to 1) shoot the bow and arrow at the target (a Mickey towel on a post), 2) throw the washer toss, 3) throw the ladder golf, and 4) throw the Nerf dart.  You could do it in whatever order you wanted and you were timed.  You got points if you hit the target, regular points for washer toss and ladder golf, and then the distance of the Nerf dart and the time were ranked with corresponding points. 

Amy's turn at shooting the arrow

Then we did a little swimming after lunch, and started chopping some wood.


Cheers!


We had managed to eat up all of our food so we treated ourselves to the on-site food truck for supper. 

Someone needed to pee while we waited for our food


After supper the kids played the carnival games that the campground staff had set up, and then we went back for our last campfire.


We packed up and left around 8:00 the next morning for the long drive back.  We headed north through Vermont and crossed into Quebec at Stanstead.  A fun family road trip in the books!

Linking up for Friday Favourites (because travelling and summer are definitely favourites!) with AndreaErika, and Narci.