Pullen Park

We are very blessed in Raleigh to have lots of good parks to visit. One of our favorites is Pullen Park, so a few weeks ago we took the kids on Matt's day off. Pullen Park has a carousel, a train, boats, a playground and picnic area with a pond . It was a little chilly, but the kids didn't seem to mind! Here are some pictures from our family outing. Maddie riding the carousel. She was on a rabbit that went up and down and loved it!

Davis started out on a horse, but as soon as the carousel started moving he was reaching for me and shaking with fear. Our little boy that jumps from couches and loves for his daddy to throw him "uh-high" was not too sure about these horses and other animals that move up and down. I tried to put him on a giraffe that did not go up and down, but he wanted none of it. I just ended up holding him and leaning and watched Maddie while the carousel went round and round. There were a couple of times he tried to get down - I think he just wanted off! Maybe when he gets a little older we can try again.

Next, we walked over to the pond to look at the ducks, geese, and even some turtles. I have a cute story about feeding the ducks I'll tell you a little later.

There is not a whole lot of playground equipment at Pullen Park, but the kids enjoyed "riding" the truck and the lion and sliding down the slide.

Matt with the kids on the train - I think Davis was a little hesitant after the carousel ride.

Here is me with Maddie and Davis on the train - they both loved it! After we rode the train we went and had a picnic lunch. We saved our bread crust to feed the ducks. The kids really enjoyed this - especially Davis who loves to throw everything! As we were finishing throwing our bread a couple of ladies from an assisted living facility came up and Davis started giving them the eyes and one of the ladies gave him her snack crackers to throw the ducks. Right about the time he finished one of the "chaperones" with the lady came up with a whole loaf of bread. We felt bad that the lady may have given up her afternoon snack for Davis, but she didn't seem to mind. They actually seemed to get a kick out of watching Maddie and Davis throw the bread and crackers to the ducks.

Matt took this picture so you would get an idea of the size of train that we were on and how it rides around the park and over bridges.