Games, apples and oxen

Evening activities this week consisted of puzzles and Memory.  He's getting really good at putting together this 100 piece puzzle.

Playing Memory with Bennett is still not much fun.  He doesn't like to only pick up two cards.  After one game, he put the cards out, but the silly boy lined up all the cards without mixing them beforehand, so most of the pairs were right next to each other.  He did much better than usual on that game.  :)

And here he is using his blocks to make pens for all of the animals.  (I don't remember if I've mentioned this before, but all of the animals are named after the animals at Sturbridge.)

And unrelated to Bennett, But I participated swap with my knitting group.  This project took much longer than I would have liked, but I finally finished.  And I had to keep reminging Bennett that these were for Jesse's birthday, not for Bennett.

And Jesse's mum got some lavender sachets, which coincidentally is one of her favorite smells!

With the cooler weather we've been putting sweaters/sweatshirts on Bennett a bit more.  And he loves them!  Frequently if we don't pick one out for him in the morning he's opening his drawer to pull one out himself.


On Saturday we went apple picking  with Grandpa.

And then we went to pick a pumpkin.  Our rule is that you can have any pumpkin you want as long as you can carry it.  This one proved to be too much of a struggle.

And then there was some time on the playground.

On Sunday we went to OSV for their "Field to Table" event.  There were LOTS of oxen there competing in a couple of competitions.  There was one team that we mistook for Doc and Blue because they were the same breed, but as we got closer we realized they were different.  There were also a couple of small teams being worked by kids.  The mom mentioned that when Bennett's about 5 he might be an appropriate age to start working oxen.  Anyone have a farm nearby and have some oxen so we can try it out in a couple of years?

Bennett also helped harvest potatoes.  He was a little unsure of what to do at first, but once we explained and showed him what to do he loved picking up the potatoes and putting them in the bucket.  There were a couple of REALLY big ones!

He also helped to shell beans, but that wasn't nearly as exciting.

Further proof that the interpreters recognize us:

• When we walked over to a group of people by the oxen one of the interpreters (Rhys) had his back to us.  He turned around, recognized us, and then waved to us.
• We were talking to the stagecoach driver about the horses since one of the regular horses hadn't been there last week.  Turns out we had Worthy and Barney mixed up as to which was which.  But the driver commented that we looked familiar to him.  And then, since there was no one waiting to ride the stagecoach, he gave us a ride for free.
• I was down at the farmhouse while Chris had taken Bennett to the bathroom.  Victoria asked me if we had figured out which weeks we would be able to come for the fall butchering.  I also mentioned to her what Bennett's Halloween costume is going to be (it's OSV related) and she said that I would have to show her pictures.

Here's one final OSV picture- Bennett checking out the bin of apple pumice (the mashed apples) in the cider mill.

And unrelated to anything else this week, but on Sunday Chris was watching football on TV.  Bennett watched for a little while and said, "he pushed him".  Why yes, he did.

It's starting to feel like fall

Thanks to his birthday, Bennett now has some new games to play with. The first one that we opened was Zingo Bingo.  They have this at school so Bennett was familiar with it already.  Two chips with pictures on them are revealed at a time and you have to match them to the images on your card. 

This week Bennett also spent lots of time working on his new puzzles.  The 24 piece puzzle he can practically do with his eyes closed but he still asks for help with the 60 and 100 piece puzzles, although I'm sure he'll master those soon enough. 

We also played some Memory.  This one will take a little longer for him to get the hang of.  He likes to turn over more than 2 cards at a time.  One thing that's nice is that at the moment he doesn't seem to get upset if he doesn't win.  I'm sure this will change soon enough, but for now it's nice.

Doesn't everyone do headstands on the couch?

Friday was Daddy's birthday.  Bennett was very excited to help open presents and blow out the candles on the cake.  He also said that he had a big birthday but that Daddy had a little birthday.

And blowing out candles (after making sure the lights were out first)

Sunday was WGBH (public broadcasting) Member day at OSV.  Because of this Curious George (and Clifford) were there!  We got our pictures with George and then went inside.

We spent some time in the Fenno House where Bennett made a "quilt".  Normally he just zips through this building, if he goes in at all.

Interestingly none of our favorite people were working, not that we dislike many, but some are better than others about interacting with us. 

We went down a different path than normal and saw the backside of the potter's shop. Mystique ruined when I then peeked in through the windows and saw the thoroughly modern workroom.

After Sturbridge we headed off to Lynn (with Bennett getting a decently long car nap) to go to Fiona's birthday party.  They had a camp theme and all the kids got matching camp T-shirts.

Bennett loved running around and diving into the tents.  I'm surprised he didn't hurt himself!  After making s'mores in ice cream cones, everyone headed off on a nature walk, eating their snacks along the way.

My "baby" is growing up!  He knows to get in line and wait his turn.

On Sunday we went apple picking.  There was an event for the Children's Hospital Miracle Makers as a way of saying "thanks" for raising a certain amount of money.  The orchard was PACKED!  The elements that were organized by Children's were well done, but the lines, misinformation, having to ride the train, etc (all issues related to the orchard) were very frustrating.  We were able to pick some peaches and apples, had lunch, and did some playing, but it's not an orchard I would recommend- really overpriced (luckily we didn't have to pay admission, just for the extra apples we bought) and way too crowded.

And on a housekeeping note, I now have ads on the sidebar of the blog.  It probably won't amount to anything, but I figure if it gets me even the tiniest bit of revenue, it's better than nothing, right?  So if you feel inclined, please consider clicking on the ads.