workable weekend - pullen park!

yesterday, we took advantage of the cooler (though humid) weather and spent the middle of the day (planned on the morning but we didn't get out of the house until 10:30) at pullen park in raleigh. i used to love going there as a child and have been back several times as an adult... kendal and i just visited there a month or two ago, but holly hasn't been yet. next summer, they are closing to remodel everything (it is showing its age... heck, the carousel was there when my mom was a child!) so we need to take advantage of it while we can this summer! anyway, it is a free park. there are a few rides that cost $1, such as a train, a carousel, and kiddie boats, but kendal isn't big enough for the kiddie boats yet. probably by the time they open back up he will be for the kiddie... they also have concessions, but we always take our own food. yesterday, we decided to eat out rather than pack our own picnic. first things first, we had to find a place to buy our lunch! we bought lunch at char-grill on hillsborough street, which by far was our most expensive purchase of the day. we spent a whopping $17 on 2 large large burgers, 3 fries, and 2 extra large drinks. oh, and a hot dog that kendal wouldn't eat because it was red.

you can enlarge any of these pictures by just clicking on it!

we found a spot to eat our lunch next to the pond underneath a huge cyprus tree. pullen park has a pond with paddle boats (which are $6 to rent and can hold 4 people), ducks, geese, fish, turtles, and who knows what else in it. holly and kendal particularly liked watching the birds. kendal even shared his hotdog bun and french fries with them. on another note, we overheard a lady telling her kid that the big birds (the canada geese) were the mama birds and the little birds (the female mallards) were the baby birds. we also saw a couple get towed back into the dock because they couldn't figure out how to "drive" the paddle boat. clearly you don't have to be smart to visit pullen park.

kendal loves to swing, holly does not. though these pictures appear to indicate otherwise, her smiles are really frowns turned upside down! she was putting on a happy face just for me (thanks to kate's hard work of playing with her). kendal, though, he stayed in the swing for probably 30 minutes and was almost asleep by the time we got him out.

kendal loves the carousel - to watch and listen and wave to the riders. he, however, does not like to ride on it. it costs $1 per person to ride. we tried it last time we went to pullen park. he turned green.

no trip to pullen park is complete without an open air diaper change! yes, there are changing tables in the bathroom, but... its hot in there PLUS sometimes outside is "cleaner!"

pullen park has an old train car on the premises that you can walk through. kendal hadn't been through it before but he did love going through it yesterday!

a quick pose on the playground wall before we ride on the train. kendal and holly love each other so much!

the kids getting ready for the train ride! the train ride is $1 for people over 1 year old and takes you around the park. what a deal!

holly is soaking in all the views of the park along the train route!

kendal LOVES every part of the train ride! he waves hi to people all along the way!