The Children's Village

...Continued from yesterday:
     Last February Tom and I spent a few days at the Berlin Resort in Berlin , Ohio,

...located in the heart of Amish Country (see post from 2/27/2016).

      Among the many charms of this family-friendly hotel we discovered an enchanting miniature village on the grounds,

...that made us long to return there with our grand children  as we envisioned their delight in this imaginary child-sized town.

     And so  last week while our daughter and granddaughters were in town we planned a one-night trip to the Berlin Resort.
     We left on Thursday afternoon for the lovely 2-hour drive from Columbus to Berlin, 

...through small towns and the rolling farmland of Holmes County.

     By the time we arrived at the Berlin Resort the clouds were hanging low in the heavens*, 

...and rain was in the forecast,

...so we quickly checked in,

...then hurried outside to beat the rain, which, happily, we did.
     We did a turn around the grounds,

...stopping to play at the gazebo,

...have a look at the koi pond,

...and sit in the Adirondack chairs.

..all of which activities we enjoyed, but which were only a prelude to the main attraction:

The Children's Village.

     My granddaughters were totally captivated by the miniature make-believe businesses, each of which was a playhouse,

...including a pet shop with stuffed animals,

...a dance studio,

...a school house

...a grocery store,

...a theater that showed real movies.

...a church,

...and a beautiful playground.

   When dinner time arrived it was no small feat convincing the children that it was time to leave the village.

      For dinner we drove into town to The Farmstead, one of the several Amish restaurants in the area.

...where we partook of the copious buffet,

...though the children were less interested in the food than the scenery outside the restaurant.

     After dinner the children wanted to return to the village, but moments after we arrived back at the hotel the heavens, as they'd been promising all afternoon, finally opened with a downpour so we made do with a swim in the pool then an exploratory expedition up and down the halls of the hotel, during the course of which we discovered a door inexplicably decked out in Christmas decorations which enthralled my granddaughter,

...who kept wanting to go back and look at the Christmas Door.

   The rain finally stopped, and from our hotel room we could see the Children's Village lit up for the evening.  The children lobbied to go see the little city lights.

   So we did.  And, to our happy surprise, the interior of each building lit up when the door was opened to facilitate night-time playing.

    "My dreams have come true!" proclaimed my 5-year-old granddaughter.
     Mine, too, thought I.

*To all you Edgar Allen Poe aficionados:  yes, I did filch that metaphor from the opening line of "The Fall Of The House Of Usher".