Enchanted Forest

While we were in Oregon, we took the boys to The Enchanted Forest. All the other times I've been to Oregon with Troy, I've wondered about such enchantment. Now that I've been there I am certainly glad that we did not visit it on our honeymoon or any of the other times that I didn't have children. I'm thankful that my husband knew what he was talking about when he told me it was for kids.

The Rock Star loved it! Spud mostly sat in the stroller and gazed at all the foliage overhead as his older brother darted from witch's head to rabbit hole to caves to slides and back again.

We each took Garrett on the Ice Mountain Bobsleds. Think "Honey, I Shrunk the Matterhorn." It was hilarious! The Rock Star laughed hysterically the entire time. We also let him drive a bumper boat and witnessed, first hand, the fact that he possesses my "focus face" when he's taking something very seriously.

Um. This picture is wrong on so many levels. Apparently, White Boy is fighting for the Confederate Army. When we went to take this picture, Troy told me that they'd both be Union soldiers. But then Abe was all, "Here are your uniforms." And, well, you just don't argue with the President. At least Matthew's father was fighting for the abolition of slavery. I don't know that boy in the background. Apparently he thought it'd be awesome to be a part of this family. I can't say that I blame him. We're a happening bunch. We pose for photographs even when there is clearly some dirty laundry being aired. Even when, you know, one son wants to enslave the other.

Pretty soon after this shot was taken, Garrett fell and skinned his elbow. I said that it was fine and that we could handle it but Honest Abe insisted on calling a medic. I was horrified as we stood waiting for Medical to show up. Thankfully, when The Enchanted Forest says medic they mean employee on a golf cart with a Band-Aid. We bandaged up the flesh wound and let Garrett have a popsicle.

I wish the fun had stopped with a bleeding elbow but nooo. As the afternoon continued I approached a booth to return an unused ticket. Troy sat on a bench and started making a bottle. I felt Garrett at my side and put my hand on his head. As I tousled his hair he ducked out from under me. Engaged in conversation with the ticket lady, I assumed he'd run down to where Troy was sitting, about twenty yards away. When I got my change back I turned and looked down at my husband. Not spotting anyone nearby with rock star qualities I yelled to him.

Me: Do you have Garrett?
T: No. You do.
Me: No, I don't.
T: You did.
Me: (quickly scanning the area) Well, clearly he's not with me now.

What started as me thinking he was somewhere right by and just, well, shorter than the crowd, turned into me realizing that he was no where in sight. I was standing at a spot where four pathways come together. I dashed up one of them, toward the Funny Fake Matterhorn, and then ran back down to where Troy was. He handed Matthew to me and took off down another path while I waited in the middle. Eventually, a woman walked up to me and asked if she could help me. "I can't find my son," I replied. She answered that she could tell by the look on my face. Within a matter of moments, several people were looking for my son. I described him as being, "About 37 inches tall with really short dark blond hair wearing a green Wall-E shirt and brown shorts." As five minutes turned to six and then seven (maybe...I wasn't actually looking at a clock as I contemplated my missing not quite three-year-old) I began to really worry. I figured he'd wandered off to play with something and didn't realize he was even lost. That's what I figured...but the paranoid mom in me was screaming, "What if someone took him and is headed out of the park right this minute!" So I told Troy to tell the ticket lady to tell someone to seal off the exits--at least for any little boy matching Garrett description. He informed her that our son was missing and she called out on her radio. Someone responded that a little boy who matched Garrett's description was sliding down her slide just then. Her slide: the one he hadn't been on because the sign said 3 and up. Just as she radioed that she had him, one of the women who had joined the search party spotted him. Before I knew it she was walking around the corner holding his hand.

As I was writing this, he saw the pictures and said, "Enchanted Forest. I got lost there. It was very naughty."

Yes, he was instructed that we do not wander away from our mommies. Ever. We stayed glued to her hip until we are at least 23 years old. Period.

Other than the skinned elbow and the whole missing person situation, we had a great time. We spent 32 dollars that day. I think, other than gas, that was close to the sum total of our trip. My in laws fed us. Our friends and family housed us. We did pay for a couple of meals on the road but all in all it was a very inexpensive vacation.