Again, the week started off slow. And I've continued my trend of being bad about taking pictures. Bennett is doing well with the new preschool routine. In the past, he had a tendency to run around a lot. However, in the new classroom he seems to understand that he needs to sit and pay attention/participate. Or at least that's the case when there are other kids around. One day he was the only preschooler and he ran around a bit that day and had trouble focusing.
Saturday we went to Sturbridge for their "Agricultural Exhibition". There were going to be oxen matches on Sunday, but by going on Saturday we had the opportunity to try plowing. It's not easy! We also learned the name of one of the farmers (Dave).
When it was my turn I had Bennett come with me. As we came over, Dave commented that Bennett was "well acquainted" with Lance and Henry. Yup, they do recognize us. :)
Bennett held on to the plow but after a couple of seconds he ran away. He was NOT a fan. Then, as you can see in the video below, he ran back to give it another try but fell in the furrow. He didn't like having dirt all over him, so he ran back to Daddy.
And here's a picture of my row. Not exactly straight. Steering is tricky- lean the plow to the right to turn it to the left.
Next it was Chris's turn. (Bennett wasn't a fan of not being held so that I could take pictures.) His row was potentially worse than mine, but they tried to make him feel good saying it was because of the New England soil or the oxen not walking straight because they saw the open gate.
As we were leaving the field one of the women came over to let us know that they were making cheese in the farmhouse. We're not sure, but we think she mentioned this because she recognized us and knew that we hadn't been in there yet.
As we finished up in the farm area Bennett checked all the usual places and couldn't find Summer, the calf. That's when we remembered that there had been animals on the common so we figured that she was likely there. She was! Later Summer was in the middle of the pen and Bennett wanted to pet her. He asked us to tell Summer to move over. She didn't listen.
Also on the common were demonstrations for threshing, winnowing, and shucking corn. Here Bennett helps me thresh the grain.
And the other highlight of our day? We were in the tinshop. The tinsmith we like (Phil) also frequently gives the musket demonstrations. We got in the shop and Bennett asked where the musket was so Phil brought it over. He offered to let Bennett pull the trigger, but that's when Bennett chose to be shy. He wouldn't even show Phil how he shoots his imaginary musket. After a minute or so he got chatty though and as we were leaving Phil said to me, "I like your boy."
On Sunday we went to Edaville. When we were in the car on the way there we told him we were going to where we had seen Thomas and Sir Topham Hatt, but that they wouldn't be there. He wanted to know why they wouldn't be there. "Because they're on the Island of Sodor. Sir Topham Hatt needed to make sure that all of the engines were on track and on time." We didn't mention that CURIOUS GEORGE was going to be there because we knew that if we did, we would never hear the end of it.
The first thing we did was ride the carousel. He has no idea what he's in for!
While Bennett was on a ride with Daddy (Jumbo) CG and TMWTYH came out. I got in line and they joined me when they got off the ride.
In the end we "had" to see them twice because I wasn't happy with how my pictures came out- too dark. Luckily they came back out an hour later. Bennett wanted to know why they went away so Chris told them that they needed some lemonade and donuts.
Here they are the second time. Maybe not as big a smile, but not as dark. And I like Bennett holding George out of the Boba.
Bennett thoroughly enjoyed the rides.
In other news, party plans continue and we are just under a week away. Chris and I are extremely excited and can't wait to see Bennett's reaction to everything. (We haven't told him what the theme is and want it to be a surprise for him.) We are busy working on projects every night after he went to bed and are utterly exhausted, but we are very pleased with how things are turning out. Can't wait to show you!
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