A friend & I headed north today and took all of our kiddos with us for a day full of field trips. It was a couple hour drive, so we needed to make it worth the trip.
Our first stop was the University of Maine Museum of Art in Bangor. This is actually the second time I've taken my boys but the first time for the two younger kiddos. (If you are a long time reader of my blog, you may recognize the two younger ones as Mr. H & Miss H. Yes, they have grown up a ton!)
I like this museum for a couple of reasons. The first being it's small. While I would love to wonder for hours through a large art museum, my boys don't find that as appealing. Since we also had a couple younger ones in tow this time, the smallness of the museum was just about perfect. The other reason I really like this particular museum is that it has free admission. That's my favorite admission price. Lastly, they have a fun scavenger hunt for children. They take a small thumbnail of a painting and have a spot for the children to write the painter and the title. It's a great way to keep them focused.
Miss H diligently writing down on of her finds.
Today they had a modern collection of paintings. I did my best to discuss them with the kids. We did talk about our favorites and why. In fact, Miss H & my youngest had a great conversation about one painting in particular....
Not really, but this photo certainly makes it seem that way. I'm sure they were talking about something else entirely. Miss H thinks my Jack hung the moon and he's okay with that. They were one team at the museum and Mr. H & Nate were the other.
We took a short break after the museum and did a bit of shopping "in the big city." There is a fantastic Christian book store and health food store here. We also fed the kids. Well fed kids are really the key to any field trip going smoothly.
From here we headed over to the Cole-Land Transportation Museum. This place is amazing and one I think everyone should check out. Again, it's been a few years since we've been but there is always something new to see. There is a full size locomotive engine, boxcar, and caboose at the back of the museum. There are cars of every shape and size, fire trucks, bicycles, snow machines, and the list goes on and one. They are tucked in to every single corner and even hung from the ceiling. It's a fun step back in time.
There is plenty of hands-on things to do so that the kids don't feel like it's a completely "no touch" museum. The caboose was a favorite of all the kiddos. Well, my teen was just along because I made him, but he still had fun...I think.
Lastly we stopped for some photo ops......
Agreed! Field trips are fun with friends. This looks like a good one.
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