Another Day ... Another Trip to Old Sturbridge Village!

Almost every trip is different when we go to "The Village". But the one thing that remains the same is the horse-drawn "bus ride", as the boys like to call it.

The boys trying there hand in the Cooper Shop.

A trip up to the Freeman Farm always greets us with happy animals, and almost always a new colt, heffer or lamb has been recently born.

This cute lil' heffer is about 3 weeks old.

M, making friends w/ the sheep.

Uhhh... like father, like son.

Jonah tries his hand at a 19th Century baseball game. Interestingly enough, back then they used a soft ball & ran the bases "backwards", counter clockwise starting to the left, and would often shout encouragement to the players in form of a loud & hearty, "Huzzah!!"

And this was a fun past-time game of sorts ... filling a paper balloon with hot air from the small fireplace below & letting it go, watching it sour above. Very cool.

Priceless.

... like angels. As Jared likes to say, "The sleep of the innocent.'

THE Rope Swing!

This is our own private little cove. At least we like to think of it as ours. Somewhere along this lake path where we love to hike, we came along a rope swing. It's been the high light of many a hike since its discovery.

Let the fun begin. Just add water.

This time I was only a spectator. Next time I'll be ready to get wet!

And Jared. Showing how it's done.

Seeing Double

This is me (Alli, in pink) & my twin sis Rachael (in blue). I wanted to add this photo to my online 'record' so it's never lost. This is one of the few photos of our younger days. And I LOVE this one. We were so cute! :) "Love you, Rach!" Rach says we need to recreate this photo for posterity's sake. And I agree. ...Even knowing that the photos may end up on Mom's desk in the kitchen for all to see.

Final Curtain Call... For Preschool, that is.

Merrik's preschool class, all lined up for the Graduation Celebration.
They sang 3 very adorable, animated songs & then all received a certificate.Looks like M is the only one who remembered the actions here for this part of the song. He was SO cute to watch. He really takes his performances very seriously. He knew all the words & all the actions to go with them.

This was our 3rd year having Mrs. Campbell, since Jonah had her for 1 year of preschool prior to Merrik's 2. We LOVE her & it will be strange starting a new school year without her. I was SO grateful that my sons had Mrs. C as their intro to school. She has found her calling & we will miss her!

This is Mrs. Kim - a teacher aide. She was GREAT! This was M's only year having her but she it felt like she had always been part of the preschool team. Hope to see her around town, as we would occasionally run into "Miss KIM!!!" at the store or grocery shopping. :)

And Miss Heather, another teacher aide. We LOVE her too! She was around for all 3 years w/ Mrs. Campbell. She's a wonderful teacher, funny, talented, creative ... Mrs. C's right-hand-man (so to speak). :) We'll miss her!

Field of Dreams!

1st GRADE FIELD DAY!! Jonah w/ his teacher, Mrs. Moore. (Jonah's class was the red team.)

Jonah (center, in red) working the wheel race.

This was the cutest race: The Chicken Race. The kids had to hold onto a rubber chicken using only 2 sticks to grab it. Kind of like giant chop sticks.


Jonah & some school chums watching other classes compete.

After, the kids all got popsicles. Aahhh. Last Hurrah for the end of the school year!

AND this was how Merrik passed the time when all the relay races & obstacle courses started blending together.

More June 1st Tornado Photos

This is along Old Sturbridge Village Road, which was closed for a time immediately after the tornado.

And this is along the Leadmine Mountain/OSV Conservation Trail where we like to walk/bike. Didn't get to do a lot of biking this day, as we quickly ran into downed trees blocking the path.