"Round Barn" and Whistlestop Park, Colmar

Tara and I decided to go to the movies on Wednesday afternoon. The movie "Shorts" was a silly movie definitely for the kids. It was entertaining enough to keep me awake (well most of the time), and something cool for us to do out of the house.

I decided to take a short detour on the way home and we stopped at Whistlestop Park in Colmar (it is right near a train station!). We had been there when Tara was young, and she vaguely remembered it. It was hot, but when we first arrived with the sun covered by clouds, and a nice breeze it was pleasant enough. Even at 12, Tara loves a good playground!







My other reason for stopping here was to photograph the "round" (actually octagonal barn). There has been a round barn on this site for as long as I can remember, but I believe the structure that is there now has been rebuilt. I love the colors of the stone and the green used for the doors and windows. They also have a great red shed on the property that really completes the picture!





There was a field with some great wildflowers and lots of tiny grasshoppers. The breeze was blowing strongly making it difficult to capture the flowers, and the tiny grasshoppers would not stay still for me!
I applied some filters in PSE to make these not look out of focus!



I loved this lone red leaf, a sign that fall is not too far away!

It was a close to home adventure, but one that I enjoyed!

Keeping Cool and Quakertown Farmers Market

Tara and I have not been on any new adventures this past week. The weather has been hot and steamy, and that makes me want to stay inside!

I made a trip to Rice's Market with my sister, and we made a trip back to the Kid's Castle on Friday. My camera battery was DEAD, and it was just too hot, even the kids agreed.

Tara started reading (she's on her second book this week) the Warrior Cat series, and is really enjoying them. They are about clans of wild cats. We did visit a new bookstore to us, and then Monday we went to Barnes and Noble!

I've been spending time scanning pictures - I posted about that here and here.

Saturday we made a quick "field trip" to the Quakertown Farmer's Market. It was loads of fun, but not enough for a full post. If you like fresh local meats, produce, baked goods and lots of cheeses, this is your place. You can probably find just about anything else there too. Lots of little places to eat too. It hasn't changed much in the past 30 years, the sights and smells brought back memories of visit there with my mom and dad! They have an outdoor flea market too, but I've never been to that!




If you would like to make quick trip to Disney Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM Studios), you can visit my Photo blog. All of the photo memes I have been participating in the week have used photos from DHS! It's been fun finding pictures to meet the criteria!

I'm itching to get out someplace NEW with my camera, so maybe today we will go out and explore before it gets too hot!

So that's it for us this past week! I felt like I was ignoring this blog!

Doylestown - Central Park - Kids Castle

On Saturday I was watching Kier and Gavin (great nephews) while my niece went to Rice's Market with her friends. She was going to take the boys along, but that is just NO fun for anyone. I had read a post on Mommy Maestro's blog about a Kid's Castle park not too far from here. We have one right down the rode, but this one looked bigger and BETTER! So, I loaded up the kids and off we went.

I loved this sculpture on the way in!

We arrived!

Huge isn't it?

Not many pics of the kids this day, they started playing and didn't stop until they were tired and thirsty

and ready to go home! (Note to self, remember water for EVERYONE next time!)

Besides the castle, there are little "sub sections" like this "pirate ship", The Black Pearl, swings, a sand

box area for younger kids, and so much more!

On the way out there was an ice cream truck parked in the parking lot. Seems like a pretty smart idea!

We indulged in some tasty cold treats!

In addition to a great place for the kids to play, it is a beautiful green park!

The End!

Philadelphia - A city walk

After we had enough of the FI for the day, we decided to head outside. There are so many beautiful things to see in the city. There was a monument and a fountain I could see from the FI that I had in my sights.




This is Swann Fountain, and if you look close "Billy Penn" on the top of City Hall is in the background.


Thaddeus Kosciuszko can be found guarding the entrance to the Four Seasons

Across the street is the Bascillica of St Peter and St Paul

I zoomed in a bit on Billy, one of the visits we will get closer.

Tall buildings

and glass buildings

Old buildings

A monument for the Holocaust

This one, next to TGIFriday's I'm not so sure!

on the way home I had Tara snap a couple of pictures of Boat House Row.. she did pretty well considering we were moving, although not fast

Philadelphia - Franklin Institute

Tara and I took a trip to Philadelphia and the Franklin Institute on Friday 8/14. Rather than take the train, and then the little "Phlash" bus, I decided to drive since the FI as it's own parking garage.


Once we arrived and purchased our tickets, I decided that I would "splurge" and get an annual family pass. For $99, each time we go we can have 2 adults and 4 children, and not have to pay anything additional. I think it is someplace my great nephews might like to visit!

If you live in the Philly area, you have probably been to the FI. If you ever visit, it's a great place to spend a day if you like science and such. They have a planetarium and and IMAX theater too.
I remember visiting the Franklin Institute when I was young with my family, on a class trip in elementary school, with my now adult nephew and my dad, and then again when Tara was four!

Some things don't change:

There is the giant statue of Benjamin Franklin

The Foucault Pendulum that swings in the central staircase

The Giant walk thru heart (I remember being six or so and being really afraid of this!)

The train

I am pretty sure this guy is new, but I think he's been on the elliptical too long!