April 21st - 27th

Once again I'm rather behind with my blog posting. This was last week, and I hope to get to the weeks that I missed.

Last week was Administrative Professionals week.  I came in to find some lovely flowers on my desk and later received a gift card.  That was especially appreciated!  Last summer we started using a new budgeting program and we quickly realized that we were spending way beyond our means.  As a result we had to significantly cut back on eating out.  So Friday night we were able to go out since we had some extra money!

On Monday we had three yards of mulch delivered.  Of course that was the last of the nice days so we haven't had a chance to deal with it since it was delivered.  I also need to put some edging in between the flower beds and the lawn, so that needs to get done before the mulch can be spread. 

Bennett had a blast though playing with the mulch pile and finding some clumps of dirt that had been mixed in and putting them into the garden beds.

Friday we stopped at Home Depot and Bennett had to check out the riding lawnmowers.  No idea if he knows that they really are- to him they are meant to be climbed on and sat on.

On Saturday we had soccer but when Bennett decided about half way through class that he would rather just lay down on the field, we decided it was time to go.

By leaving early this did give us a little more breathing room when we got home so that Bennett could play for a while before we headed out to Sturbridge for a family reunion.  We were a little concerned about how he would handle going to the town of Sturbridge without going to OSV and if he would get upset when we turned earlier than normal, but he surprised us by not really reacting at all.

The reunion was for members of the Bennett family.  (Yes, that's where he got his name.)  My great grandmother was one of 16 (or was it 17???) children and this reunion was for decedents of those 16- plus one who came from a cousin to the original 16.

There was a large family tree displayed and at one point Bennett looked over and noticed that his name was on it in multiple places.  Nice to know that he can recognize his name!

And here's a group shot of everyone in attendance.

On Sunday we had our weekly OSV trip.  This time Bennett brought Dolly along.  (Mom, no pictures!)

Apparently we've been going more frequently on Saturdays recently because one of the interpreters commented that we were there on a Sunday.  I suppose it is true that we've been more on Saturdays lately but that's mostly based on the schedule of events and other weekend plans.

In the farmhouse Bennett helped Victoria whisk eggs for a flour pudding.  He also filled the woodbox with very little prompting.  Maybe that will be a weekly task for him?

We also walked by all of the mills and Daddy explained how the water made the sawmill work.

Chip was working in the tinshop on this visit.  He mentioned that he had gotten the wood that he was using (as a backboard for punching tin for a lantern) from Phil and Bennett chimed in, "Daddy has wood at his work".  Yup, that he does.

Anyway, that wraps up the week.  Hopefully I'll get the other posts up soon!

Marching through March

As has been typical lately, there aren't any photos from the beginning of the week since there really wasn't much of anything going on.

On Thursday evening Bennett pulled out a game, asking if he could play it.  I suggested that first perhaps he and Daddy could vacuum.  He was so excited!  He put the game away, grabbed his vacuum, and told Daddy that he was going to vacuum upstairs and that Daddy should vacuum downstairs.  Who knew someone could be so excited about cleaning!

When they were done with that, we made a pillow fort/ tent.  I don't think Bennett really understood that the "tent" was the sheet strewn over the pillows.  I think he thought that the stack of pillows was the tent.  Either way, he had lots of fun with it.

Friday night we watched Peter Pan.  Bennett has a very abridged book that he's liked so we thought we would try the movie.  We'd forgotten how many potentially scary parts there are.  He did ok with it, but wasn't a fan of the crocodile, Captain Hook chasing people, Peter Pan trying to hurt Captain Hook, etc.


On Saturday the weather was in the 50s.  This warmer temperatures plus the fact that it was Celtic Celebration meant that there were a lot of people at Sturbridge. 

We were a little sad to learn that Isaac (the calf) is back in with his mother since he hadn’t been taking a bottle well over the week.  Hopefully he starts to eat more.  Interestingly it only takes a day or two for the mom to forget that she had a calf so we'll have to see how things go with them being back together after a week apart.  We were told that Bonnie was "tolerating" Isaac.

When we got to the blacksmith shop people were getting a chance to work the bellows and bend a piece of metal.  After lots of kids having a turn Mummy had a chance to give it a try.  Later, when speaking with the blacksmith he was surprised to hear that we had never been on the other side of the chain in the blacksmith shop. I think he thinks we've seen/done a lot more than we have!

Seeing how it was Celtic Celebration  there was, of course, some Irish music.  Full Gael was performing and Phil even joined them to play the bones.  Luckily we got there a little early and snagged some of the last seats in the room.  It quickly became packed and a bit of a fire hazard.

We also went back to Sturbridge on Sunday.  When we were there on Saturday Chris was offered a really cool experience, provided that we got there right at opening the next day.  This was likely offered to him because we go every week, have gotten to know the interpreters, and largely the stars aligned and we were in the right place at the right time.  (And this is different than the secret experience I mentioned last week.)  Talk to us in person and we would likely tell you what happened and share pictures.  Sorry, I wish I could share more about it, but I think if word got out then we might not be able to have experiences like this in the future.  :)

We couldn't go to OSV just for that one thing, so we walked around a bit more, seeing some people we had just seen the day before.  We headed out a bit earlier than usual and headed off to Alexander’s 7th birthday party.

Bennett had a blast playing with the other kids.  And considering the age range (3, 5, 7, 12, and 14) they all played together really well.  Bennett enjoyed jumping off of Alexander's bed the most.  He also played a little floor hockey and tried air hockey as well.

 Since he hadn't napped on the way to the party and he'd been running around a lot he fell asleep in the car on the way home at 5:45ish.  We got home and transferred him to bed, and then a few hours later when he was more soundly asleep we changed him into PJs.  He ended up sleeping for 13 hours!  I guess he was tired.

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.