Boston

The week after Christmas, the Mr. and I decided we were long overdue for a visit to the Temple, so we decided to take a day trip down to Boston!  We and every other person in New England!  Wow, was it crowded!!  But oh, so fun!

I drove the Mr. and children to the T station, then headed back to the temple.  The Mr. and children took the T to the Boston Children's Museum (pretty much the happiest / most stimulating place on earth, in my opinion!  Disneyland has got nothing on the Boston Children's Museum!  Truly.)  They arrived just as it opened.  The downside: There were probably more people there than live in the entire state of Maine - standing room only, and lots of lines.  The upside: the kids still had a GREAT time!

Her smile cracks me up!

I had an beautiful time at the temple (much longer than we had originally planned but you just can't put a time limit on your visit - especially when we only make it down once a month!), and then took the T out to them at the Children's Museum.  Together, we walked across town (over a mile!) to the Science museum (to 'see the city' but also to save the $3.40 train fare - that's how frugal we are! :) ).  It was a fun, but COLD and long, walk, and we were thrilled to finally arrive at the Boston Museum of Science around 3pm.  (The second happiest place on earth.  Really.)  We had a little sack lunch dinner and then made our way through the crowds to some of our favorite exhibits.  We were able to see an incredible lightning show which thrilled us all (except Wiggles, who kept her hands over her ears and kept asking if it was over....though she quietly sat through the whole 20 min nevertheless!)  The children had fun putting a 'body' together, looking at baby chicks hatching from eggs, doing science experiments, flying space shuttles....we had a blast!  Of course, when the museum closed and we had to leave, the children insisted that the past 4 hours had not been NEARLY long enough and, of course, they are right.  You could probably spend a week there and not see everything.  But we will return soon.

Angel is trying to create an image of herself, carrying the earth.

All in all, a very successful day.  I'm SO grateful for the days the Mr. has off, because I just haven't had the courage yet to brave Boston (and the long drive and the T travel) by myself with all 3 children.  Maybe someday.  But it was wonderful to have a family day!  We really enjoy living so near to such a neat city!

Maine Children's Museum

We were lucky enough to score a day pass to the Children's Museum of Maine.  Since the Mr. was using the car for work that day, the kids and I got to ride the bus there and back - what an adventure!  We made a whole day of it - and even after 7 hours there, the kids still didn't want to leave!  That's how much fun we had!

Of course, my little artists (especially Angel) LOVED painting with LONG paintbrushes!  I fully endorse messy projects when they aren't at my house! :)

Grocery Store is always fun!  (That is what I remember most about my childhood trips to the Children's Museum....so it must be a winner!)  And this museum has a 'real' ATM from which you can withdraw money....Angel was enthralled!  We played store for at least an hour, and the girls could have stayed all day!

Wiggles' favorite exhibit is the race car!  Today she was hard at work cleaning the 'garage' up!

She worked at this for so long!  I think I need to get her a set for home!

This picture is so blurry but I had to keep it - Wiggles kept putting the gloves on the wrong hands and then becoming frustrated and crying, "I'm having a problem with my gloves!"  And, of course, she would not accept any help!  It was too funny!

The Farm area is SO much fun!  You can ride a tractor, collect eggs from the hen house, process hay, and even 'milk' a cow! 

Grins took the cow-milking very seriously!

Grins' favorite part about the Fire Truck was getting to dial "9-1-1" on the red phone!  He has ALWAYS wanted to call 911 and was thrilled that I told him it was ok! (Part of the display.)

We got to attend a puppet show where each child was invited to hold a puppet.  

Again, I had to keep this blurry photo because I love how it shows each of the kids' hairstyles so well!  When we are on vacation, this is what we look like!  Grins - major bedhead / fro in the back.  Angel - getting very good at doing her own hair.  Wiggles - curly/frizzy mess. :)  Aren't they CUTE??!!

Ready to go diving!

I can't wait to come back soon!

A Whirlwind Summer

Even before Hurricane Irene showed up, our summer has been a whirlwind!  Now here we are, in the last week of August, and I am finally sitting down to sort out my summer pictures!  (Better late than never!)  As there are far too many pictures for one post, this will be the first of our "Summer Series" (for family journaling purposes).

Last week, we took an impromptu trip to Sebago Lake with some friends.  We left our house right after breakfast, spent the entire day at the lake, and got home just in time for a very late dinner.  And Angel and Grins insisted it wasn't NEARLY enough time at the lake.  (Wiggles, though, had certainly had her fill - especially since I lost my balance while holding her on an inner-tube, and we capsized!  oops!)

Angel, Grins and I swam out to the 'rope' (there is a rope segregating boaters from swimmers to prevent injury) several times.  I'm not sure how far out it was, but it was a bit of a swim and I was impressed that they wanted to keep going over and over; long after I felt worn out! :)  At the end of the day, as I was cleaning up our beach toys, they actually swam out by themselves!  Had I realized they were going, I wouldn't have let them - but they ended up proving themselves as swimmers (to my intense relief!)

  

The children were kind enough (or I was crazy enough to humor them) to offer me a "spa" day, complete with hot sand bath, foot massage, and nearly-complete burial.  I think I am still finding sand in my hair!  (Poor Wiggles - if only she would keep her braids in, at least on the windy days!  She is such a free spirit!) :)

The entire day I marveled at what a tremendous opportunity we have to live in this beautiful place!  We are just moments from beaches, lakes, and vacation sites galore!  If our family were only closer, this would truly be Heaven on earth!  And, despite how much we miss our loved ones far away, we are savoring this moment and the opportunity we have to live in such a spectacular place!  If I had any doubts during winter, I can now appreciate why Maine is "Vacationland"!  It seems our entire summer has been one long vacation, and I have loved (almost) every minute of it!

Flashback - A.C. Gilbert Children's Museum

If you live in SLC, Utah and you visit Oregon frequently, you should definitely invest in a Discovery Gateway Museum Pass! My Mom got us one for Christmas last year and we LOVED using it at the Discovery Gateway Museum in SLC! When we got to Oregon, we were THRILLED to learn that our pass also got us in to OMSI and A.C. Gilbert Children's Museum for FREE! We couldn't believe it! Needless to say, we had LOTS of (FREE!) fun in Oregon!

If you've never been to the A.C. Gilbert Museum, you are missing out! They have an entire room devoted to making bubbles....you can build a bubble around yourself (as shown below), make a bubble connecting you and another person, build a tunnel bubble over your head....and more!

One of my favorite rooms was the "BODY" room - you enter through the mouth! You get to experience how different parts of the body work - joints, ears, stomach, etc! Very fun way to learn!

Tea in Asia is always fun!
And three aspiring actors (dressed as toucans) put on a lovely show....with the assistance of their crazy uncle, of course!
For some reason, sitting on the GIANT chair terrified Wiggles - though she is usually clamoring out of reach to the highest height she can find...

Of course, after a long day of fun, the kids were WORN OUT! At least we were channeling their energy into productive activities!! :)