Salem Sight Seeing

Before we went to Salem I got some children's books from the library about the Salem Witch Trials to read to the kids.  I not only wanted to teach them the history, but I wanted to focus on the importance of social tolerance and the trouble that can come from telling lies.  Note to self, teaching your five year old about the witch trials and then telling him you are going to vacation where it happened . . . not the best idea.  Gabe was terrified to go to Salem!  After promising him there was nothing to be afraid of we set out for our adventure! 

If you want to get in the mood for Halloween . . . this is the place to be!

Trying to avoid anything remotely scary we took the kids to the New England Pirate Museum.  Overall, not scary, but then there were scenes like this . . . 

And at one point I got scared and ended up screaming out loud.  Turns out Gabe ended up being the brave one: )  With the exception of the kids each loosing a hand we managed to survive the Pirate Museum without too much trauma.

"The House of Seven Gables" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is on my list of books to read.  Knowing that we would see the house that inspired the book I wanted to have actually read the book, so I started it a few days before we left . . . and well, I'm still working on it, but at least I could say I was in the process of reading it when I saw the house, right?  I'll let you know how it is once I finish it : )  Here's John and I in front of the House of Seven Gables.

My boys at the Salem Maritime Historic Site.

 Look out!  There's pirates aboard the Friendship of Salem!

Salem Camping Trip

I planned a camping trip to Salem, Massachusetts over Columbus Day weekend.  After booking and paying for our campsite I realized it was also General Conference weekend.  It was now really hard to be excited about the trip I've been looking forward to for weeks because I felt so bad that we would miss General Conference.  I kept telling myself we'd listen to it later, but I knew it wouldn't be the same.  So I paid the fee to change our reservations and we went on our trip this last weekend. True, it was a day shorter than we had originally planned, but it was so much better being able to go with a clear conscience!  

Here's our campsite on the GPS.   It was right on the beach at Salem Harbor.  Notice the rain on the windshield?  It rained all day Friday.  I kept asking John if we should just stay home, if we were crazy for taking three kids camping in the rain, but we went anyway!  When we got to the Boston area the rain was really coming down hard, so we tried to get a Space A room at Hanscom AFB, but there was no room in the inn, so my knight in a shiny poncho set up our tent in the dark and in the rain while the kids and I stayed warm and dry in the car.  Thankfully, our tent kept us dry as it continued to rain all night long. 

Saturday was overcast, but thankfully rain free!  We ended up having an awesome day playing on the beach and sightseeing around Salem.  This is Winter Island where we camped.

The boys and I built this sand castle and decorated it with some of the treasures we found on the beach.  (John was doing homework.)  Have I mentioned he started working on his MBA?  It's going to be a pain having school work that takes priority, but he's got to get it done. 

While camping we only came across one wild animal.  A BEAR!  We ended up letting him in our tent since he was pretty darn cute and we figured he'd be harmless since he had no teeth.

Instead of taking I-90 home we drove through New Hampshire and Vermont to see the fall leaves.  And yes, New England in the fall is every bit as beautiful as they say it is!

Pardon our jammies in these pictures, but we'd been camping and just wanted to get home, especially since it was raining again!  Yep, John set up AND took down the tent in the rain.  He's just awesome like that!

Look Who's 4 Months Old

At 4 Months Old

Quentin is:

26.5" (93%) tall

13.15 lbs (17%) skinny

and 100 % cute!

Gabe's in Kindergarten!

The night before school started Gabe got to choose what we had for dinner.  He chose macaroni and cheese, and watermelon.

 Excited and Nervous and Ready to Go!

The first day of school was only a half day and I got to go with him.  John was able to take the morning off work and stay home with the other kiddos.  It was fun to all walk Gabe to his first day of school together!  Then I think it about killed John to turn around and take the other kids home while I got to stay at school with Gabe. 

After meeting his teacher, I'm pretty sure he's going to love school!  I just hope he doesn't pickup her New Yorker accent!  
Today was his first day of going to school by himself and he did great!  He told me he was nervous when we got there, but after a hug and a kiss he walked away and never looked back.  This kid was born ready!  Here's to a great year of Kindergarten!

Hoffman's Playland

Every week we drive by this place on our way to and from church and the kids ALWAYS beg to go.  John and I love having the excuse that it's Sunday, so we can't go.  However, we decided to be nice and surprised our kids on Monday by taking them to Hoffman's and letting them ride the rides.  

Porter's favorite ride, the trucks!

And this was Gabe's favorite ride, because it had a gun.

 

This lil' dude didn't ride a single ride.

I swear he only comes for the food.

After Hoffman's we stopped for dinner at Red Robin.  This is the other place we pass on Sundays and the kids always beg to stop since they're hungry after church.  And I'll confess, sometimes I secretly wish it wasn't Sunday so we could stop and eat there too, I love Red Robin!  If you like heat, you gotta try their Burnin' Love Burger . . . so good : )

We picked up a couple of Red Box movies on the way home, popped some popcorn, and all snuggled up for a movie night.  Once the kids were in bed, John and I watched a horrible remake of Footloose, a very disappointing end to an otherwise great holiday weekend!