Monday, March 10, 2014

Bennett-isms and OSV in costume

I'll start off this post with a few random photos from when we picked Bennett up from school along with some quotes/stories.

Bennett: I’m cold.
Mummy: I’m sorry.  I can’t help you. (Since we were in the car, he had his hat and coat on, and the heat was on.)
Bennett: Can I help me?  Can I deal with it?

Bennett asked me why the car in front of us had a traffic light on it.  I said that those were brake lights which meant that the car had stopped.  When it started moving he asked why the lights were still on.  I had to then explain that red lights meant it was the back of the car and that white lights were on the front of the car.  He asked to see the lights on our car.  I said that he couldn’t because the lights would be off when we got out of the car.  He then mentioned that there were white lights on the ceiling and in the front by me (interior lights).  Yup, he’s too smart for me.

Bennett: Mummy, you’re a lion.
Mummy:  Roar.
Bennett: You’re a dog.
Mummy:  Woof, woof.
Bennett: You’re a cow.
Mummy: Moooo.
Bennett: You’re a pig.
Mummy: Oink, oink.
Bennett: You’re a giraffe.
Mummy: Giraffe’s don’t make sounds.
Bennett: You’re a hippo.
Mummy:  (Laughing) I have no idea what sound a hippo makes!
Bennett: Hip, hip!

He used to want to shoot his musket all the time, but now he’s been blowing imaginary bubbles.  Sometimes he complains that Grace took his bubbles, but almost every time he insists that we pop them.
One day in the car he was having trouble opening his bubbles but he told me that he used his jacket to hold on and he was then able to open them.


Many days this week when we picked him up from school we got to hear about the adventures that he went on. 
On Wednesday he and Grace went to Boston.  While there they went to the aquarium and to the museum.  They also went to the beach but it was covered in snow.
He also had to put the tomatoes away in the root cellar.
On Thursday he went to the fair and on Friday he went on the bumper boats.



We also learned this week that the calves at Sturbridge now have names.  They decided to go with period appropriate names- Button’s calf is Beulah (named after Beulah Freeman) and Bonnie’s calf is Isaac.  One day this week we mentioned bottle feeding the calves so I scrounged around for some old bottles and now Bennett can feed his calves.


So this weekend Uncle Andrew joined us at Sturbridge and he and I went in costume.  What was really interesting about this is that other visitors stopped us a few times and asked to take pictures with us.  I’ve never seen the interpreters being stopped in this way.  Did we look more approachable?  Was it because we were seen with other normally dressed people?  Did they even realize that we were also visitors?  (For the record, we did have badges pinned to our clothes that said “costumed visitor”, but they weren’t exactly obvious unless you knew to look for them.  Oh, and I did have a camera, so I guess that might have been a more obvious giveaway that I wasn’t an interpreter.)  I’ll have to remember to ask someone next time we visit if they are asked to have pictures taken, other than when they are working in buildings, etc.


It was fun being there in costume though, although I think I may have felt slightly self-conscious about it, especially at first. I think that the interpreters who know us appreciated it; others were perhaps a little confused about why we were dressed up.  Or maybe they just were confused at first about why a costumed person was in their building?

When we visited the calves Beulah was trying to suck on Uncle Andrew’s hand and Isaac was busy sucking on Beulah’s ear.  Guess they were getting hungry!
This week Bennett brought his Button and Beulah with him so he showed them to Beulah and Isaac.



Another fun moment for me was when we were speaking with Rhys.  Last week I had asked him if there was any way I could have a certain opportunity to try something that I’ve wanted to do for many years.  In fact, I have no idea how long I’ve wanted to try this.  It’s just something I always remember thinking that I would like to try at some point.  (Sorry to be so vague, but he asked that I not let people know about this as they don’t want to suddenly be inundated with lots of requests like this.  I think it’s a special privilege that only comes because we visit every week, and I would completely understand if they said I couldn’t do it.)  Anyway, over the week I emailed him some possible dates that would work well for me.  He mentioned that he got the email and that he was talking with Victoria about it and that she wants to make sure that it happens on a day that she’s working.  I just liked the fact that she wants to be there for this, and I also think it would be great for her to be there rather than some of the others who I don’t know as well.  And if/when this opportunity happens I’m going to hate the fact that I can’t share it here!

Finally, for anyone who cares about the weekly pie, it was quiche.