Como Town

On day 2 of our wild Minnesota Adventure vacation, we met up with our friends, Michele, Laura and Nate. They used to live just a couple of blocks from us and Evie and Laura were friends since they were tiny babies. Our trip of the day was to Como Park where they have installed "Como Land" since we moved. Well, there was something similar to Como land before, but it was much more rickety and carny. Now everything is permanent and looks all fancy and new. It was a hot day, but we were armed with lots of water and 4 very excited kids. Evie kept calling it "Kokomo Town". I thought that was funny.

One of the very few rides that all four rode together. The big girls often took off on a ride that Annalise didn't have the courage to go on. Nate could care less, because he was having a ball on those cars that have 4 steering wheels and drive in a circle under a big umbrella.

The girls attended "Como Driving School" where they all got their own little car. It's similar to a PowerWheels. They got to drive wherever they wanted. There was even an area called "car wash" because it was close to the sprinkler park.

Annalise got the hang of it very quickly and was serious about driving. When they exited the ride, they each received a "driver's license". I couldn't convince any of them to drive back to WBL in the station wagon while I took a nap.

All four rode the swings together. Annalise and Nate really enjoyed it and went 3 times in a row. That was nice because it took a long time to get the swings loaded and Michele and I could sit and chat in the shade.

At this point, the crowd was pretty thin so we let the big girls journey out on their own (of course, we could almost always see them because Como Town wasn't much bigger than a school playground.)

They finally worked up the courage to go on the Tilt-A-Whirl.

They didn't spin much, but we think they had fun on it.

Meanwhile, Annalise put out fake fires on top of a ladder truck.

The big girls went on this frog hopper about 10 times. It was a great day, but hot. After refilling the water bottles several times, we decided to head back to WBL for some cool refreshments.

The cup N Cone looks exactly the same as when we left. The kids working it still can't do math either because the 2 times we visited, and ordered the same thing, we were charged 2 different prices. Oh well. It was good to be back in the true heart of town. I was reading a book about communities and the author was talking about the places people could meet up. Your house (the first place), my house (the second place), and a location that is comfortable and a gathering space for all in the community (the third place). The Cup N Cone is definitely the third place for all of WBL. It is everyone's home away from home.

These three girls could barely eat their ice cream fast enough before it melted. That night, when we returned to the hotel, Jim asked me what kind of rash I had on my leg. Just ice cream drips. I was so hot and sweaty, I didn't even notice.

Nate, also hot and sweaty has the face of someone who has been stealing ice cream from his mom.