Day 2: The Eric Carle Museum
Jack was the hero of the day! What was supposed to be a 90 minute drive turned out to be a 3 hour trek into rural Western Mass...which is apparently undergoing major road construction. Thankfully Jack was working hard to keep his sisters happy. (the car DVD player deserves a big thank you as well. My no-tv for school vacation rule doesn't apply to road trips)
When we finally got to the museum we ate our picnic lunch and the kids ran around for a while and I practiced with my camera.
The above pictures do a pretty good job showing how much the girls adore Jack.
jumping off the wall brought endless amounts of joy for Jack and Marian
The actual museum collection was pretty small. A few interesting exhibits on how Eric Carle does his art work (Brown Bear Brown Bear, The Very Hungary Caterpillar etc...) but other than that we got through it pretty quick. We watched the Emperor's New Clothes puppet show, but the highlight for the kids was the craft room.
Lucy is pretty free spirited when it comes to art...
Jack takes it more seriously.
I didn't get pictures of Marian in there- but she really had a great time in the play area. They had cool puzzles, books, and music toys which she LOVED.
Horrendous traffic aside, Day 2 was a success.
Day 3: Bunker Hill Monument
Lucy was perhaps the only person who really really had fun at Bunker Hill
the fact that she didn't have to climb any of the 294 steps to the top probably had something to do with it.
Marian climbed the entire tower by herself. A fact that brought her (and me) great joy.
Jack of course bounded up the tower no problem...well there was a little problem actually. He was so excited to take pictures at the top with his camera. The only problem was he left his camera in the car! As much as I would have loved to lug Lucy up and down the monument a second time, my shaking legs made it clear that was going to happen. I even agreed to let Jack and Marian go up again by themselves with Jack's camera but the guard said "No way". Poor Jack was devastated.
Jack finally cheered up when he got to take pictures of these beautiful pink and purple trees.
LOVE the gardens in Charlestown.
Day 4: the day things kind of fell apart at the Museum of Fine Arts
The MFA is one of my favorite places in Boston. I've taken my kids there several times and we usually have a good experience. This time I think it is most accurate to say we had a learning experience. At least I did.
We were plagued by horrible traffic again. This time thanks to the Fenway Park open house. Really? Is 100 years of Fenway Park really that cool? Ok yeah, it probably is. But it made me a little bitter when our normally 15 minute drive to the museum took 45 minutes. We literally prayed our way into a parking spot. Then three starving kids and a mother who was trying to act like her rowdy brood actually belonged at a classy art museum, high tailed it to the cafeteria. Oreos and Capri Suns are blessings from heaven.
Then we headed to my favorite area of the museum- the Impressionist wing
This picture totally captures the day. Jack and Marian were pretty on board and excited to see the art and copy their favorite paintings in their notebooks. Lucy was more into yelling.
Marian's favorite
Jack's favorite
My favorite
"Really mom? We couldn't have gone to a park or something?"
The trip ended with me shoveling oreos into Lucy's hands in an effort to get a few things I'd admired for years in gift shop. By the time we left, both Lucy and Marian (who didn't get a flashlight she wanted) were
screaming!!!
Plans for Day 5 are looking a little more low key and relaxed right about now.
