Mousehole Days in Melbourne, Iowa, landed on August 1 this year, a day Amanda and Kelly had previously earmarked for a garage sale expedition. While they navigated through a handpicked list of sales around the Des Moines metro, I took the kids on the short drive to Melbourne for the parade and accompanying festivities. It was our fourth Mousehole Days event in five years.
Amanda, Kelly, and a detailed garage sale itinerary.
We had the end of a downtown block to ourselves this year, giving the kids plenty of street and sidewalk space to collect candy. Like previous parades, Noah employed continuous waving to garner attention, while Emmie used an open bag to signify her desire for candy. Both strategies were effective, as the kids yielded a significant amount of candy during the efficient 25-minute parade.
The kids and the candy were loaded into the car, and we made our way north to Marshalltown for lunch at Taylor’s famous Maid Rite. Noah initially did not want a sandwich, but once Emmie and I began eating our hamburgers, he decided he wanted in on the fun; in the end, both kids ate most of their burgers and split a bag of chips.
After lunch, we returned to Melbourne’s city park, where Mousehole Day activities continued into the afternoon and evening. We skipped the paid attractions in favor of time on the merry-go-round, seesaw, and slides. Following a break in the park’s shelter for some Tropical Sno shaved ice, Noah and Emmie completed their final activity for the afternoon, a lengthy ride on the free barrel train setup in the park.
Both kids climbed the slide, but only Noah went down.
The barrel train at Mousehole Days features the longest route I’ve seen.
The excitement resulted in both kids quickly falling asleep on our return drive to Ankeny. Amazingly, I managed to keep them asleep once we were home, creating a coveted window for a short nap before Amanda returned from garage sales and our evening activities began.