Great Country Farms

We took a trip to Great Country Farms today to pick some apples.  The kids swear that they had never been apple picking and I couldn't believe it - another mom fail!!

It was an hour drive into the country but it was so worth it!  The kids had a great time on the wagon ride to the apple orchard and apple picking and an even better time playing on all of the slides, playgrounds, mazes and bouncy things that they have there!  It was seriously so much fun - I would totally go back!  

The Solar Eclipse

It was so hot today in Arlington for the Solar Eclipse!  At first I thought that we should go somewhere monumental for it but we just ended up at the pool - it was much better than sweating it out somewhere!
We got to see the eclipse through glasses but the cool moon shapes that all of the shadows made was the coolest thing ever!

Honey Processing

 Today we tried our hand at honey harvesting! It was a bit of trial and error but in the end we came away with a bunch of beautiful jars of honey!!
Here are some pictures of what the inside of the hive looked like when we opened it up.  I have got to figure out how to avoid cross combing - if that is even possible with natural hives!  Also we learned that we need to buy a bee excluder board so that the bees won't be in the honey comb when we go to harvest it.
So much to learn - but lots of fun! And no one got stung!!

Natural History - Part 2

 Back to the Museum of Natural History today!  Great parking again but we made the mistake of visiting in the afternoon instead of the morning. What a difference! It was so crowded but we did get tickets right away to see the butterflies and it was super cool!  We also walked through the early human exhibit - which is Aidan's favorite (but boring for the other kids) - so everyone was pretty tired by the time our parking ran out.
I love that we can make quick trips in to DC. It takes me less time to get to the Museums than it takes me to get Aidan to football practice in Arlington!!

Natural History Museum - Part 1

 Yesterday Declan told me that he wanted to go see gems - he's been playing a lot of MineCraft this summer.  When I told him that there was a place very close by that we could see LOTS of gems - his eyes lit up!  This morning we found parking right in front of the Natural History Museum and spent the morning looking at gems!
It's my favorite part of the museum so I was super excited to be able to spend lots of time there. Usually everyone humors me for about 10 minutes but we spent almost two hours looking at all sorts of rocks and minerals.
On the way out the kids remembered the butterfly exhibit so guess what? We're coming back soon!!

Georges Island

 Today Mimi had to work but we got up early and drove up to Hingham and took the ferry to Georges Island.  I had never been and it was so much fun! They ferry trip was great - Declan had never been on a boat before (that he remembered) so that was awesome.
We arrived to a totally empty island and had a really nice morning poking around the ruins of the fort and exploring the dark rooms and stairways.  It was pretty amazing how dangerous some of the area was - it would NOT have been relaxing with younger kids.  There were plenty of areas without ropes or rails where you could fall off of rocks or crumbing stairs!  Crazy!!
The day was beautiful and the views across Boston Harbor were perfect.  We ate lunch at the little restaurant at the visitor center and fought off seagulls - no one even lost a French fry!
When it was time to go home, we boarded the ferry back to the mainland - tired and sweaty but very happy!!