September Snapshots

A lazy Friday morning....

he doesn't normally go outside in pajamas :)

The boys get along so, so well these days

Painting the accent wall in the breakfast nook

In the style of "36 Views of Mt. Fuji"; Elijah's are on the left, Josiah's on the right

Our family, as done by Elijah

I made a dressing collage tray to coordinate with "Jesse Bear, Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?"; it was by far Josiah's favorite work tray. He made over twenty of these.

Duplo E!

PreK: building with magnets

PreK: making letters; Josiah does a good job keeping up with the 4 year olds

Our last day at the LA Zoo before our pass expired:

For once, we had a great view of the elephants!

Eating Lunch while watching elephants

Defending the front yard

My little rabbits....

Elijah was calling his bunny "Snuggle-up-able"

We helped Granny prepare to move

I think the boys like the trip....

Just a small sampling of the New England-themed scenes from the last month:

My Revolutionary War Soldier: he is ready with his Tinker Toy matches to light the cannons (wrapping paper tubes), also note the small bouncy ball (cannonball) located inside the cannon

Josiah cleaning his cannon before firing it

Tinker Toy cannons and our ever versatile and beloved counting bears; the blue bears are the Continental Army and the red ones are the British Army, of course

Shooting with their muskets

Block fort ready to be defended; the curve blocks are spots for firing

Something different! Submarine controls (although please note standard Revolutionary War gear in the background--cape, light saber, and American flag)

I think Josiah is also doing submarine controls

Ready to defend!

Marching Minute Man

Lobster traps! The caught lobsters were alternately treated as pets and as food to be served to parents

Lobster-as-pet

Foreground: ships (hint: triangle blocks=sails) with fort in the background (maybe Bunker Hill?)

Lined up for battle; the leaders get horses

More ships

Boston, Massachusetts

Our fifth and final night was spent in Boston.

The hotel gave the boys lobsters, which had to go with us everywhere through Boston

We had a bit of daylight left to walk around the city before heading to a delicious seafood dinner.

In the Public Gardens of "Make Way for Ducklings" fame

Statue of George Washington in the Public Gardens

Our hotel was too nice to have a free breakfast, much to the boys' dismay. They really enjoyed the automatic pancake makers at the previous hotels, but they made do with donuts from Dunkin Donuts (they were everywhere in New England).

The U.S.S. Constitution from afar--Elijah had been reading books on it and building it out of blocks, so it was disappointing to have it closed

 We spent the morning walking parts of the Freedom Trail.

The Old North Church

 And visited Paul Revere's home.

Then, exhausted, it was time to grab our bags and head to the airport.

The boys continued to be fabulous travelers. On the second flight, Josiah quietly played and played with playdough until he got so sleepy that I dimmed the lights and rubbed his back for 30 seconds before he fell asleep.

We all had a lovely time. The boys were great travelers and sleeping in the hotels went better than I'd anticipated. Almost a month later, Dustin is still reading Revolutionary War books for the bedtime stories and the boys play Revolutionary War almost everyday.

Plymouth, Massachusetts

We spent Monday morning at Plimoth Plantation in Massachusetts; it is a fantastic living museum, depicting life in the Plymouth colony in 1627. The books "Sam Easton's Day" and "Sarah Morton's Day" were photographed here. 

The first section we visited was the Wampanoag Homesite. The staff in this section dressed historically accurately, but spoke in modern English from a present day perspective. The fascinating thing about this museum was that the staff engaged in the kinds of everyday activities that the Wampanoag people would have. So you could watch things be done or cooked the way they would have in the 17th century.

Building a canoe using fire

Next we headed to the crafts section with its displays as well as a potter and carpenter at work using techniques from the early 17th century. Many of the items used in the pilgrim village were made here.

The last section we visited was the full scale replica of Plimouth Plantation in 1627. Throughout the village were many role players, who dressed and spoke as 17th century villagers. They were fabulous storytellers! Each person had his own story and were happy to tell it, as well as answer any questions you might have (What are you doing? When did you come to the plantation? Why did you come? Who is in your family?). It was Monday, so laundry day and lots of blankets and pillows were drying in the sun.

Looking down the main road; we later went to the original street

Above the meeting house; the meeting house was designed as a fort, so that the women and children could be below and protected from above by the men and cannons

This gentleman showed us numerous weapons; when Josiah got bored, he and I slipped into next door house where he got to climb on a bed and be sung an old children's song

Our one family portrait!

Miles Standish, I think

Then we drove the couple of miles to where Plymouth actually was founded.

Mayflower II, a full scale replica of the Mayflower

Plymouth Rock