It's History

I was never much of a history lover in school. I took the courses, got good grades, and promptly forgot everything I learned. History was just a collection of names and dates, there was no continuity, no hands-on learning, no point. It was said by a foreign ambassador to the U.S. (I don't have the name or direct quote, I so wish I did!) that English is the only language in which "It's history" is synonymous with "It's irrelevant." 

Having been introduced to some fantastic history books since graduation, I have come to realize that I am absolutely a history lover! I was simply never given the tools that interested me along the way. As a homeschooling family we have the freedom to explore history however we choose. In preparation for our trip to Massachusetts, we read up on all things American Revolution, and by the time we left the boys were battling British soldiers in our backyard every day! They learned about Paul Revere, George Washington, the Boston Massacre. We looked at maps of Boston and found out where the tea was dumped into the harbor, followed Paul Revere's famous ride, and made a plan to visit as many historical sites on the Freedom Trail as we could manage. 

During the last week of our trip we picked a day to spend in downtown exploring the sites, beginning with the U.S.S. Constitution. We were able to climb aboard and explore a real ship... the kids were beside themselves with excitement! There were cannons, sails, riggings, hammocks, and they could touch them with their own hands. Talk about history coming alive!

We also visited Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church, Copp's Hill Burial Ground, Faneuil Hall, and the Old State House. By the end of it we were thoroughly exhausted, but we had learned so much! Since then, their interest in the American Revolution and American history hasn't even begun to wane. Lucian draws the U.S.S. Constitution every day, they still play Revolution and fire muskets at the British, and they always ask to check out library books about colonial times. It might not always be this easy to make history exciting, but I know that my kids won't soon forget what they learned about our country's early years.

Checking out our direction on the compass

Steep stairs to the lower deck

Each cannon had a name; my favorite was "Prudence".

Soldiers at attention!

U.S.S. Constitution

Inside the Old North Church

Paul Revere's House

The Old State House, and the site of the Boston Massacre

Lake Cabin Living

Kelley and Tim were able to take some time off from work, and Tim's generous friends let us use their lake cabin for a long weekend, so we decided to add a few more miles to our trip and head up to Maine! We stopped along the way for dinner, and Paul and I got to fulfill our goal of eating a whole lobster in Maine. It just seemed like an important thing to do. Let me tell you- it's not easy to eat a whole lobster! Maybe I'm not the most coordinated person, but it was hard work! Totally worth it though.

The area of Maine that we visited reminded me a lot of Northern Minnesota, with the addition of beautiful mountain scenery. It was wonderful and relaxing. The cabin was perfect with a screened back porch, a wood burning stove, a loft and several bedrooms. As was the case for much of our trip, we were threatened by rain almost every morning, but other than a few scattered showers the days all ended up gorgeous and sunny! The lake was freezing cold- it was May after all- but that didn't stop the boys from taking a dip. They also went canoeing, hiking, and fishing; what more could a couple of kids ask for? My only regret is that I didn't pack a single pair of shorts for the boys, I was expecting cold weather and rain for the whole trip! 

The two expectant mommies mostly got to relax on the dock in camp chairs while the men adventured with the kids, but we were right there for both hikes! Even thinking about those hikes now makes me break out into a sweat, but thankfully we timed the trip so that I was still able to walk more than 30 feet without feeling like falling over. 

We drove back to Kelley and Tim's on Sunday afternoon, and we got to continue the leisurely pace of our vacation while our hosts sadly had to go back to work. But thankfully we still had evenings to spend together... and our much-anticipated trip to downtown Boston to look forward to. Coming up next!

Destination Massachusetts

Kelley and Tim's house: a kid's dream come true! We had lots of plans for the time we spent with them, but even if we had simply stayed home every day, our kids would have been perfectly content. We arrived late at night on Tuesday and basically put the kids straight to bed. Both Kelley and Tim had to be up super early to work on Wednesday, so we tried to let them get to sleep at a decent hour.

In the morning, the boys went to explore the yard. And oh what a yard! Tim is a stonemason, so their property has lots of cool rocks to check out. Plus there is a river to throw rocks into, a path along the back of the property, dirt to dig in, and two awesome dogs to play with. Loki and Shay were a hit from the first moment the kids saw them. We were a little concerned about how Audrey would do around dogs bigger than she was, and it took a few days, but she fell madly in love with them!  She still talks about "Lookie-Say!" every time she sees another dog. Max loved to throw balls for them and run around in the yard with them, and Lucian just wanted to be near them. I think we have some animal lovers on our hands.

The kids all got the chance to ride a donkey named Tuxedo, and boy did they love it! They were led around a field in turns, then they got a chance to lead Tuxedo themselves. They pulled him along, attempting to lead him to fresh clover. But when he was done walking, he was done.

Another highlight included Hibachi Grill with the whole clan. Eating out with our three children is something we generally avoid, but with so many adults around it was pretty stress-free on this trip. The best dining experience for the kids was, by far, Hibachi. Flames, food flying, a hilarious chef, what's not to love? However, the chef's repeated refrain of "More Sake, more baby!" as he squirted sake into the mouths of the adults wasn't something I wanted to explain to my curious 6-year-old son.

Catching "Baby Sake" (water) in his mouth

The fire was big and close!

The time flew by full of ice cream, dogs, drawing, playing, and especially family. Megan even made the trip up from New York to spend some time with us! We visited downtown Boston (which deserves its own post) and spent a weekend in Maine (more on that later as well). I loved getting to know Tim better, as this was the first time we had spent with him and Kelley alone. Let's just say Paul and Tim have a lot in common in the whiskey department!

I am so excited to see Kelley as a mom, and I was glad to be able to be with her at least for a little part of our overlapping pregnancies. I can't wait until the time the two cousins get to meet!

Thank you for inviting us into your home, Kelley and Tim. We loved every minute of our visit!

Group picture the last night of our visit

Audrey gets rocked to sleep by Uncle Tim. He's a natural!

Loved spending time with Auntie Megan!

The boys found Kelley's Lord of the Rings cards and created their own game

An Apology

Dear loyal readers,

Lest you think I have forgotten you, I assure you that is the farthest thing from the truth! In fact, I have tried to write a blog post nearly every day since the publishing of my last post, but it seems the fates are against me. I have so much to write about, and so little time before baby's arrival... but my computer and the weather have conspired to make posting nearly impossible. What with increasingly hot, humid weather, the thought of sitting in front of our computer upstairs in the sweltering guest room is more than I can bear, especially when our air conditioner unit is happily humming in the living room and Baby is only three weeks from due. (Read: swollen limbs, unnaturally high body temperature, extra pounds, etc). Plus there's the added annoyance of a photo file folder with a corrupted file, making my computer freeze nearly every time I try to upload pictures. Honestly, honestly, I have tried so many times! So for now you get a little teaser from a hike in Maine, and I promise I will keep trying to finish an actual post. But now it's time for me to go cool off... boy is it stifling in here!

Falling for the Falls

Second stop on our tour around the United States... Niagara Falls! 

There was something different about this overnight at the Falls than any other trip we've done so far. Always before, I have thought the idea of doing "touristy" stuff without the aid of extra adults (grandparents, aunts or uncles) was a really overwhelming idea. Three young kids, one of whom has a tendency to forget where he is and who he's with (more on that later), one who gets tired and refuses to take another step at the least convenient times, and one who is almost two (enough said), made me nervous about trying to do this without at least one adult per kid. But amazingly, I think we have reached the stage where we can do it! Just us as a family, no major mishaps! Now the world is our oyster... look out, here we come!

Based on advice from friends and the internet, we decided to stay on the Canadian side of the falls. For anyone thinking of making the trip, I'd give the same advice: Go to Canada. The drive wasn't any longer, and the view was better. With passports and birth certificates in hand, we crossed through customs no problem- and now the kids can say they've been to Canada! It was after dark when we reached Niagara Falls, Ontario... and since we were still officially in the off-season, the falls were not yet lit up at night. We drove down to see if we could get a glimpse, but all we got was fog and mist. On the way up to our hotel, the kids spotted a gigantic ferris wheel. "Wo-o-o-www... I would be so happy if I got to ride on that. It would be amazing!" We filed that information away til morning, checked into our hotel, and eventually managed to settle everyone down to go to sleep.

First thing in the morning, Paul and I woke up to pouring rain and thunder. My heart sank. So much for a nice walk down to the falls... we'll be lucky if we can even see them at all in this weather!  Determined not to let it get us down, we woke up the boys for breakfast, got our swimsuits on and took a dip in the hotel pool. At least the day wouldn't be a total bust, they got to go swimming.

But by the time we checked out and packed up our car, the rain had stopped and the sun was peeking out of the clouds. "Do we risk the walk? What if it starts pouring again?" we asked each other. Adventurers that we are, we threw caution to the wind and hiked down the hill to the walking path above the river. With every step, the weather warmed and the sky cleared until I began to regret dressing everyone in long sleeves! 

We stopped first at the ferris wheel. When the boys realized we were actually going to go for a ride, they started jumping up and down! We were the only people in line, so we got right on. Up, up and away we went! If you ask him, Lucian will be quick to tell you that "We were only supposed to go around three times, but we went around FOUR times!!" He is convinced we somehow beat the system, although I'm pretty sure we got an extra turn because there was absolutely no one else around. The top of the ferris wheel gave a great aerial view of the falls, but I couldn't wait to get closer. 

This is SO COOL!

After the ride, we went down to the river and walked along the path until we reached Horseshoe Falls, the famous curved waterfall that all those barrel-riders have attempted to conquer. Max, of course, is now convinced he will be next, regardless of the $25,000 fine now imposed on those who make an attempt. As we got closer, the wind picked up and we were cooled off by the spray from the falls. We watched seagulls fly below us and saw tour boats float right to the base of the waterfall. Max's assessment was that it was "Way cooler than I thought it would be!"

Thoroughly exhausted from the long walk, we grabbed some cold drinks and sat in the shade at the visitor's center. My amazing superhero husband made the long hike back up to the hotel to get the car while I sat with the kids and their chocolate milk. Pretty soon he pulled up, we hopped in, and we were off! The drive through New York seemed to take forever, but we were so excited for the next leg of the trip: Kelley and Tim's house!