Family Adventures: Rye Playland

   This past Tuesday, the Hubby had a day off and with the kids home from school for the summer, we try to get out and do something once or twice a week. When I was working, Hubby and I both worked retail and when the kids were in school the chances of days off aligning were slim so we try to take advantage of the opportunities when they arise. He and I chatted the night before about doing something with the day off and the nice weather. Fortunately, having a two week old has yet to stop us from doing anything. The day Baby Steven came home from the hospital, I got stir crazy and we spent two hours at Target that evening. Since we have a year long membership to the Bronx Zoo (even though it is over an hour away and our days off schedule) so we try to go there a few times a year to actually make it worth the cost. Outside of that, the Bronx Zoo is in my top five favorite place to spend the day, so I always vote for it. The five (ahh it's now five!) piled into my little Escape and started driving towards the zoo. As we drive over the Bear Mountain Bridge, we drive into one of the scenic pull offs so I can nurse and the kids can look over the Hudson, while there Hubby throws out the idea of going to Rye Playland instead. While I was not against the idea, I have a small control issue that freaks when plans change like that. In my head I am freaking about not having sunscreen (we never need that at the zoo), no swimsuits, not enough lunch packed, no towels, no changes of clothes, and what was I going to do with Baby! Needless to say, after about half an hour of high blood pressure, I was fine and we were almost to Rye.
     The day turned out wonderful, I practiced nursing in public which is still an awkward event for me, not at all for Steven who likes to make his loudest sounds while under the nursing cover. (to the left: picture of Steven and I in front of the bell tower at the park, highlighting why I shouldn't wear red and that I need to start working on this baby weight) E and G had tons of fun, even James went on most of the rides. There are two pretty neat roller coasters that the kids really enjoyed, while most of the other rides are pretty normal fair fare. We didn't even get to the beach since we didn't arrive at the park until noon and by six or so I was too tired to keep going. From the crowds, I figured that most people spend the day on the beach and then go to the park towards the evening. We had almost no wait on any rides all day, where the kids were the only ones on some of the rides and around five the lines started getting pretty long, not Disney long but too long for us to wait to go on rides that we had already went on at least once.
     Our biggest issues were the kids not wanting to leave by the end of the night and G getting bumped one too many times on the bumper cars and the seat belt leaving a mark on his neck. They went on that ride twice, E was too small to drive alone so James had to ride with her. They seemed to have a good time overall by the end of the visit, well worn out and only a minimal amount of cotton candy was consumed.

The park had a log flume where the rider only gets a tiny bit wet, but they then included this lovely bridge where you can stand after getting off the ride to ensure that you are completely soaked when Momma does not have a change of clothes at all. While that was a worry of mine, James went right on the ride with them and while he initially stood to the side, I think the kids might have talked him into standing right where the most water can soak you. I am sure you can tell which of the over six foot tall figures is my hubbs. Positively, it was warm enough that all three of them were dry by the time we loaded up the car to head home.
     The drive is a little long for us, but if you live closer, I am sure that it is a very convenient play park. I really liked the option of purchasing a "spectator" ticket for me. Since we had the baby, I wouldn't be going on any of the rides, so for half the price the spectator ticket was perfect. The prices for the tickets were really fair considering that it is unlimited rides, all day from 10am until 10pm. They don't let full packed lunches into the park, but you can pack in a cooler and go out to the car and bring the food into their picnic area which is right on a lake that you can also rent paddle boats on. The lines were fair for most of the day but we did go on a weekday so that might have made the difference. Next time, I will definitely plan on going to the beach for part of the day. The park bracelets also let you leave and come back, so I guess you could go to an off-site restaurant to eat lunch or dinner and still come back if you wanted. Over all, my official personal scoring would give the park a 7 out of 10. Distance kind of killed a bit for me and my lack of preparedness might have influenced that score as well. But I would not mind going back and I would recommend it as something in that area to do with kids, at least from age 3 through 14.
     We are starting on redoing three bedrooms in our temporary house so hopefully some before and after pictures will be on their way as well as baby updates, and as soon as I can, sewing and crafts!!!