Saturday, July 27, 2013

Once upon a time in Enchanted Forest




Fond memories of Enchanted Forest, anyone?  If you grew up in the Pacific Northwest, there's a good chance that visiting our perennial roadside theme park was an unforgettable event from your childhood.

Our 23 month old Lena made her first visit to Enchanted Forest last month.  We were all excited for her to finally experience it, even if there's only a slim chance that she will remember much from that day.  And Uncle Tony's visit from Afghanistan made it even more special for everyone!


For the uninitiated, Enchanted Forest is Oregon's homegrown answer to Disneyland.  Admission grants children of all ages access to a magical world of fairy tales.



Beloved characters come to life as visitors follow a winding footpath through a hilly forest, stopping to gawk at animatronic reenactments of familiar fairy tale scenes along the way.



Mary's little lamb



Little Miss Muffet



The bedroom of the Seven Dwarfs



Enchanted Forest's iconic witch's mouth




Goldilocks and the Three Bears



Captivated by the Fantasy Fountains water and light show in European Village



Lena is obviously too little for the Haunted House or the log ride roller coaster.  But Enchanted Forest wouldn't be Enchanted Forest without some interactive brain twisters and gentle tests of physical coordination:


Crawling through Alice's rabbit hole



The Crooked Man's house...
...Makes for a flustered Lena!
(For the record, Lena didn't fare much better in the Queen of Heart's maze!)



Blindly running around darkened tunnels





Slipping down the Old Lady's Shoe slide





Moseying through Western Town



The end of the road:  Walking away happily ever after!


Coming next week on Garth's Blog...

Mexico mission trip: The final prep!



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