We have been very adventurous lately. Usually we don't venture far from our little red school house but this past week we did lots of traveling and it was so much fun! Jason has been out of work with an injured knee for the past few weeks. It has been so wonderful to have him home everyday. He's back to work on light duty now and I miss him terribly. While he was out of work we decided to go on our trip to Boston so we wouldn't have to take time off later. For Christmas we gave the kids a box full of clues to guess their gift which was a trip to Boston to go to the New England Aquarium and the Boston Science Museum. In planning the adventure we realized that it was going to be a little to pricey to cram everything into one trip so we decided to just do the Aquarium this time around. It also made it a little easier on Jason who had to hobble everywhere with his crutch. We weren't sure it was the wisest decision financially to go on a trip while Jay was out of work but God provided in miraculous ways and we decided to go for it. This was our first family overnight trip ever with just the 5 of us! It was so exciting. We stayed at a castle just outside of Boston where our friend Joe is head of security. We told the kids that he is the king of the castle and they better be on their best behavior...and they were. We were treated like royalty in the castle and Joe even had room service deliver brownies and milk to our room! They even placed them in the shape of a fish since it was our aquarium trip. The kids got to swim in the pool a few times which was certainly a highlight of the trip too.
The boys had fun checking out every inch of the hotel room
They loved the little window seat and it was a good thing we had it. Isaac woke up w/ the croup in the middle of the night and sitting by the open window with mommy helped him breath a lot better.
My little water babies couldn't get enough of the pool. We went twice in a few hours and they wanted to go again!
Our fish shaped brownies from room service. Boy did we feel cool!
The castle that we stayed at :)
The Aquarium was very exciting. We got to see lots of different animals and we learned a lot. This is Reggae the seal. Ian was especially fond of him.
This is a young sea turtle recovering in the medical center from exposure to the cold.
The kids at one of the Jellyfish tanks.
One of the varieties of penguins. I like their hair.
The boys were so excited to see the sharks in the big 4 story tank.
We spent a long time in the area where we could touch snails, starfish and hermit crabs.
We learned some interesting things about this gigantic African toad
and got really grossed out by this "tiny" anaconda.
When we returned home we had a busy weekend lots of things to do in a little bit of time. It was a good thing that we had Dash from the Incredibles around to help us out. He is a "fast as lightning" Ian likes his Dash jammies so much that he asked to wear them to my friend Amy's for the curriculum discussion and swap we were going to. It took great effort for me to allow him to go out in his jammies but he was just too cute to say no!
My friend Audry is having a baby soon and I went to a surprise baby shower for her. I made the cake and thought I'd show it off because...well, I'm a show-off I guess. It was supposed to be "baby" pink but it turned out "barbie" pink. Sometimes I forget how potent those Wilton color gels are...
On our busy weekend Isabella was at my mom's. She got to go see the play Charlotte's Web at Wheelock College as and early birthday present from her Aunty Kimmie. She had such a great time! On Monday morning we met her at Old Sturbridge Village for another field trip! It was homeschool day at the Village and Seven and I packed up the TLC with my friend Nancy and her two boys and we headed back in time. 
Hannah, Mika, Samuel, and Isaac
We first played in the Kidstory area. The kids got to dress up, play house, store and garden among other things. They had so much fun. I think they would have stayed there all day if we let them.
I can't tell you how much Bella loves to dress up and pretend she's from the past. She loves the Laura Inglalls Wilder books and other historical fiction. She is hoping to go to the day camp at OSV when she gets a little older so she can spend a whole week as a girl from the early 1800's. (Jen, she reminds me of you :) )
We got to see some adorable baby sheep. Less than a week old. They are just so cute!
The kids all had fun taking turns playing the hoop game. I really need to get some of these simple games for them to play. They enjoyed them so much and all they need are hoops and sticks!
We spent a little time in the District Schoolhouse for a lesson. The kids answered questions and got to write on slates.
As much as I love many of the simplicities of this time period and like to implement them in my own life...I am so glad I don't have to dress like that!
The kids had fun setting up quilting patterns in the house with the textile displays.
They loved playing games and dressing up in the Bixby(?) house too.
We had a nice time in the outdoor play area where they were most entertained by another game with hoops and sticks.
In the herb garden we played a searching game with eachother, looking for different herbs. I could spend hours just wandering around this garden. I wish I knew what all these herbs were used for! I find that sort of thing so interesting.
Now we are back home and settling back into our routine. We studied Kentucky last week and read a really neat book called Mary on Horseback about a nurse who went into the mountains of Kentucky to help the people there. I made some Kentucky friend chicken for the kids for lunch. They said mine is way better than the Cololnel's. This week we are focusing on the Deep South and our state is Floriday. We are reading The Sea of Tranquility it really has nothing to do with Florida but it's about astronauts going to the moon which happened at Cape Canaveral in Florida. We have also been working hard on preparing for our end of the year presentation. It's going to be lots of fun! I can't believe how much everyone has learned this year and how far they have come. Nova has recently taken off in her reading! In the beginning of the year she was still working on identifying some of her lower case letters and now she can tear through the easy reader books she gets at the library! She is reading well enough to captivate the rest of the kids with her skills :) I'm so proud of her!
