Little Kids' Vacation 2014, Pt. 5

Before we left New Jersey--and five days before her 133rd birthday party--we went to see Lucy the Elephant.

We could've bought a Groupon to tour Lucy's innards for a reasonable price but decided six stories of spiral staircase would be a bit much with the kids. I'm a little sad for the missed opportunity to take photos from the howdah on her back, but I'm glad to have seen her; she is, after all, a National Historic Landmark.

Funny thing is: when we first pulled up, there was an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile parked in front of Lucy. The funnier thing is: nothing I planned--over an entire week of vacation!--excited Jim as much as the Oscar Mayer Weinermoble. Whatevs, Man! But it was good to witness his delight.

From there, we headed to Media, Pennsylvania. I'd seen a spread in FamilyFun on Tyler Arboretum and put it on my list of must-see places. I'm so glad we were able to work it in, this year, and my admission was free through entertainment.com.

The big draw, for me, was the arboretum's series of nine treehouses, eight of which we enjoyed. Here are some of my favorite treehouse photos:

Storybook Houses

Imagination Station

Outlook

Bell House

Strummin' and Drummin'

Cape May Bird House

The treehouses aren't the only cool places at Tyler Arboretum, either.

Crooked Goblin Shack

Hobbit Hollow

What Lies Beneath?

My very favorite thing about Tyler Arboretum was called the Magical Path. The branches of the path's trees were hung with wood-clothespin fairies. The one with Charleigh, below, had fallen and was lying on the ground; I tucked it safely into a tree after taking the photo.

And all along the path, on the ground, were all manner of gnomes, mushrooms, and tiny dwellings. When I asked an employee about them, later, she explained: many hands (some, even, at a local adult home) had produced the elements. The Magical Path really was magical, and we left Tyler Arboretum thinking we might like to create something similar at home, in the woods around our log cabin.