June 13th and 14th 2006 Rhode Island Trip

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Tuesday, June 13^th, 2006

We didn't get invited to breakfast this morning, which suited us fine. The kids slept until about 8 and we had a leisurely breakfast downstairs. Today breakfast was some sort of breakfast pizza. We went back to the room, straightened up a little, put on our walking shoes and went to the zoo.

The Zoo is the Roger Williams Zoo which is located in Roger Williams State Park. I’ve been researching things on the web and Rhode Island no longer charges admission to their state parks. They may charge parking but I haven’t come across this yet. Within the State Park is the zoo, natural history museum, ponds – one of which has swan paddle boats you can rent; the kids, of course would like to do this There is also a Japanese garden and a Boundless playground similar to the one in Helena, but much bigger.

We joined the zoo here, which will get us into The Birmingham Zoo, The Montgomery Zoo and 98 other zoos. Also, it gives us discounts to other places, like the Mystic Aquarium we’ll be going to soon. The only concern I have is I’ve heard the B’ham zoo won’t accept memberships to other zoos if you’re a resident of Alabama so we may not get in there. As far as zoos go it was okay. I’d say, if you must compare, the Birmingham Zoo is better. But we will visit here atleast two more times… that will pay for itself. There were no lions or tigers but the kids were happy.

On a funny note, there was a rock with holes in it. The sign said stick your hand in and find out what lives in these holes. I wasn’t sure how alive these animals were but you were able to peer in and see. It was a fake snake. I was brave and touched it. A lady came up behind me and stuck her hand in. As she did, Stephen came in from another hole (that connected like a tunnel to the first hole) and touched the lady’s hand, scaring her. It was pretty funny.

They did have a dinosaur exhibit. There were electronic dinosaurs throughout this little walking path. It cost a little extra… pretty hokey. The coolest thing was, at the end of the path they had a robotic dinosaur which the kids could control… it moved its head, tail, opened its mouth and made a noise. However hokey it may have been, Stephen said that was his favorite part.

There was a fountain that Stephen stuck his head in to cool off. This was near the petting zoo where, I believe, Anna would have stayed all day. There was a sheep sitting down near the fence and Anna sat and petted it until she got up and walked away (the sheep, not Anna). I just asked her what her favorite part was and she said petting the sheep and the goat… go figure!

We came back to the hotel, had lunch, which was leftovers from Applebee’s the night before, Anna and I took a short nap and then we went swimming… always… it’s back to the swimming. Anna is now able to swim across the short part of the pool (shaped like a rectangle). Stephen can swim across the long part… if his confidence is up! J Dinner was again at Applebee’s, but this time there were no leftovers.

The day was warm and sunny and beautiful. I did notice a dogwood tree blooming… ours in Alabama have bloomed and the blossoms have long since died and fallen to the ground.

Wednesday, June 14^th, 2006

Wednesday we went back to Roger Williams State Park. But today we visited the Natural History Museum. It’s a small museum with lots of stuffed real animals, Indian artifacts, Eskimo artifacts and space information, including some meteorites. They also have a planetarium but it’s only open on the weekends. I read that their equipment is aging so they reserve the right to cancel if there aren’t many people. Stephen liked the planets best because he likes outer space, Anna liked the stuffed bear… well Anna just mentioned the thing that I thought was the coolest and Stephen changed his mind… LIVE BEES! They had a hive inside the museum with piping leading to the outside so the bees could do their thing… pretty cool! You could see them coming and going from the window. Also, as we left, we looked up and found the window and you could see them coming and going. In the pictures you will see a picture of three windows together and then a picture of one window. This is the window the bees flew in and out of. It’s the middle window. There will also be a picture of me with the kids. A kind man volunteered to take our picture.

After we left the museum we found the carousel and the kids rode that once, then we walked to the Japanese garden. This had trees that looked like bonsai trees only on a realistic scale, not miniatureized. Also there were lilly pads. The kids reached in to touch them. Anna said “They’re attached.” Stephen said, “No, they’re not.” So we got a little science lesson in on aquatic plants.

After the garden we crossed a street to see the ducks and the geese. The sign clearly said DO NOT FEED but… anyway, there were a lot of them, more than at our little pond in Helena. We also saw a real live pigeon… I’m used to doves, but not pigeons. I tried to get a picture of him but he seemed a little shy, we’ll see how it turns out.

Finally it was off to the playground. This is the boundless playground I mentioned earlier. This was sponsored by Hasbro so there was a giant Mr. Potato Head and a Candy Land trail. A boundless playground is 70% accessible to those with special needs without removing their equipment. It is available to all ages and all abilities. The paths are made of a type of hard foam which allows strollers and wheel chairs access to all areas of the playground. The kids enjoyed this, too. It was time for lunch so we went “home.”

We will probably be swimming in the next few minutes, of course. Who knows where we’ll be going tomorrow… Come find out!