All Aboard!

The two coach cars we were in.

Our first "official" day of school for the 2014-2015 school year was September 2nd. I say it in quotes because I've been making my boys do "light" school all summer so we already have about three weeks done for this year. I had originally planned to start book work that day. Then I heard about a really cool field trip and jumped on board...um...no pun intended. 

There is a homeschooling mom in the state who always puts together some pretty fantastic field trips. Whenever I see that she has another one planned, I typically sign up as fast as I can send her an email.

There is a railroad that runs from North Conway, New Hampshire to Crawford Notch, New Hampshire. It's a five hour round trip. Typically it's pretty pricey. For instance, it would have normally cost me $210 to take my three boys (ages 18, 13, & 10) as well as the two-year-old boy I babysit full-time. Since this was a group booking, I only paid $60 total. Another reason why I love homeschool field trips!

Leaving North Conway station

We filled the two coach cars at the back of the train. There were over 100 homeschoolers riding. How cool is that!

I brought a cooler full of drinks, food, and snacks as well as a bag of card games, books, matchbook cars and other items to keep the kids busy. My biggest rule - no electronics! I knew that given the opportunity, my boys and their cousin (who was going as well) would spend the time playing on their DS games. My sister and I already decided that wouldn't be an option. I'm glad we did.

My three boys are lined up by the windows in birth order no less (black shirt, grey shirt, blond hair) 

and my nephew is beside my youngest.

The scenery was simply amazing!  I was on the left side of the train on the way to Crawford Notch. Apparently all the views were on the opposite side of the train. For the ride back, they ask that everyone switch sides so that all can see the breathtaking views.

At the back of the train (on the way there), there was an "open air" car. It had no windows and benches facing out. There was no air conditioning in the coach cars but the windows did open up and we would get an okay breeze coming through but it was a hot day!

My youngest in the open air car.

My middle son in the open air car. 

I spent the ride to Crawford Notch keeping the little one I babysit occupied. He did excellent though. I kept the window closed right beside us but the gentlemen sitting behind us and in front of us had theirs open so we had somewhat of a breeze. Mr. T. spent most of the trip standing up looking out his window. He also looked at books, colored, and ate his lunch. It was enough to keep him very happy for the two and a half hour ride to the Crawford Notch station.

My companion for the ride. Mr. T. Age 2 who loves trains!

 

Once we arrived in Crawford Notch, there was not a whole lot to see. There is a station and a lake. We were told it was about a 20 minute walk around the lake and the train would leave in 45-60 minutes.

However, we had two toddlers as my sister was on the trip as well with her daughter who isn't quite two yet. We decided to just walk part way so that we could all stretch our legs. Of course, I had to snap some photos of my guys before we did that.

The source of the Saco River 

The views on the way back were spectacular! It was worth the ride just to see them. All the photos in this post were taken with my camera phone as well. And most were taken one handed because I spent over an hour of the ride back holding a sleeping two-year-old.

For the majority of the ride, there was someone who shared a lot about the history of the train, pointed out interesting items to note on the ride, and just did a great job sharing facts. There was a family who lived so near the tracks that they had to tie their children to nearby trees when they were young so they wouldn't get hit by the train. Once they were of school age, they would be picked up by the train to go to school.  It couldn't stop for them to get on, so they were lined up about 40 feet apart and then they would be scoooped up as the train slowed down on the way by. Talk about an interesting life!

A memorial garden to the family

Overall it was a fun day and an outing we normally wouldn't have been able to do. I thought it was a pretty fun way to really kick off our 12th year of homeschooling. 

Going Visiting

warning: This is a long post with lots of photos. You may want to grab something to drink & sit back & enjoy.

I decided to head to Massachusetts to visit relatives. My cousin owns his own business in Boston & was having an open house. He has a letter printing business & uses an old fashioned press. His press was turning 110 so he had a party for it.

I took only one boy with me & N was the lucky one. We stopped just as we entered Mass to use the restroom & put on cooler clothes. It had been lots colder in Maine when we left. I did not time my arrival well & spent two hours getting through Boston during rush hour driving a standard. Needless to say I was thrilled to get off the highway! The four hour drive took us about 6-1/2 hours instead. Not a great start to the weekend, but it did get better.

That night while chatting with my aunt & uncle we discussed how much N loves trains. I mean he loves trains. He eats, breaths, sleeps, talks, well, you get the picture. It just so happens that there is a new commuter train (well, new as in the last few years) that would take us in to Boston. My aunt & uncle suggested that N & I & my aunt ride it in while he drove in to meet us at South Station. This was a surprise for N & let's just say, it was a huge hit.

finally figured out what we were doing here & waiting for the train

the anticipation is getting to him

just before my camera batteries died, I was able to snap this photo

look at the sign in the upper right portion of the photo

the train is coming down the tracks at us

do you think he's happy?

N spent most of his trip doing this. I gave him my small point & shoot digital camera. Before it died later that day (story later) he took 70+ photos.

But the biggest highlight for this child was seeing the Acela Express sitting in South Station. How does he know about the Acela? We've been watching Extreme Trains on the History Channel for the last few months. We have most of the episodes saved to our DVR & one episode is about high speed trains & features the Acela. I'm pretty sure this was the highlight of his trip.

We were in Boston a bit early so we got the grand tour. Well, the grand tour of the South side at least. We did stop at Flour for a mid-morning snack. I ate a large blueberry muffin top. Oh.my.gosh! It was so very worth the calories. Trust me.

Shortly after our snack stop, we headed over to where my cousin has his shop (K street). It's in a converted factory & he is located in one rather smallish room on the fourth floor. Here is a photo of the letterpress he uses for all of his jobs (the majority are wedding invites):

Happy 110th Birthday!

My aunt, my cousin, & my son

It is an "old-fashioned" way of doing printing & type. I got a bit creative in some of my photos. I loved thinking about how old it all was & the history behind the cabinets the type is stored in, the type itself, and even the press.

getting a bit creative with some of my photos

We stayed about an hour or so at Goosefish Press before heading back to where my aunt & uncle live just outside Boston. We did stop to visit my grandfather for about an hour though. He lives in a nursing home on the way to my aunt & uncle's house. He turned 95 years old this past January. He can still walk but his memory isn't what it used to be. He didn't know who I was but knew that I was from Maine & so wanted to come home with me. I'm happy that he is doing so well but sad at the same time.

On the way back we stopped so that N could have a ride (or two) on the carousel.

This used to be part of Paragon Park - an amusement park right near the Atlantic Ocean. I remember my aunt taking me here when I was about N's age (or even younger). The carousel is the only thing left now. Condos now reside where the huge roller coaster once was located. The carousel fights to stay open & restore the horses but it is always there year after year.

N was pretty thrilled about this part of the day as well.

Here is one of the restored horses - just beautiful.

We headed back to the house for some downtime. My aunt & uncle live near the bay side of the town so my uncle took N there to throw some rocks and get out for a bit more. I helped my aunt negotiate some web related sites. I'm not sure who had more fun, N or me.

After this we took a ride to The Gut. It's a spot in town where big ships pass from the Boston Harbor area out to the Atlantic. No ships were going through today but it's always fun to go check it out. N got to ride in my uncle's convertible.

My little boy is growing up so fast!

Our last stop of the day was Fort Revere. This is always a fun place to wander around. There were even a couple youngsters there playing tag through the fort. N loved running around it & I even lost him once. My aunt stayed up in the parking lot & kept calling directions to us. "He's over there." "No, over there!" ;-)

N & I on top of Fort Revere

The view from the parking lot - love the double lighthouse

The Fort

We ended the day with pizza & chatting. It was a wonderful weekend. We headed home early the next day & missed all the traffic out of Boston. Yeah! I was so thankful we were able to just fly right through this time.

It was a wonderful weekend spent with some of my favorite relatives. Thanks again Aunt D. & Uncle J!

Museums and Trains and a Christmas Party

I spent the night trying to figure out how I was going to get the boys to the train exhibit after the car seat issue from the day before. I was suppose to go pick up a toy order from my sister's Discovery Toy catalog party she just held. The consultant lives only about 15 minutes from me. Then I was going to head to my hubby's grandmother's house to clean like I do every Saturday. Hubby & I were leaving that afternoon for his office Christmas party which was being held near where he works but at least a 1-1/2 hour drive south of where we actually live.

I decided I had time to head to Augusta that morning to take the boys. I put off the toy pick-up & cleaning until Sunday afternoon, packed up the boys & headed out. Supermom strikes again!

I was very happy I made the effort. I did run a couple of errands first, but we did end up at the museum. When we walked in & the boys saw all the trains set up N started to literally jump up & down in excitement.

There really weren't a ton of trains - just four set-ups, but it was plenty to keep them occupied. They had various gauges as well. I'm not great at figuring all that out yet as the boys favorites are still Thomas the Tank Engine. However, I do know that the biggest set up there were two O gauge scale trains & they were very cool!

A "steam" engine

All of the layouts also had model towns built up as well. I think I liked those just as much as I did watching the trains going round & round. This layout had a log house for the trains & a trolley that would enter it, bounce off the bumpers & go back up the track & repeat. He had "smoke" coming from the chimney on it. Very neat.

My boys loved watching the trains go by & were often very close to the track. I spent a lot of my time telling them not to touch, move back, and "look with your eyes" only.

I loved the tunnel on this set-up. The gentleman who made it told us that when he did make it he didn't know how to make fake rocks yet so he had real rocks stacked on top of the tunnel. This is the steam engine going through.

Here are the two O gauge trains speeding past each other. I thought they were really cool. It wasn't a large layout compared to a couple of them there, but they really didn't have a ton of space. The museum has a very large foyer area as they share a building with the state library (where I get all my library books via the mail system) and the archives. This is where their "special" programs are set up.

One of the gentleman who was running this track (O gauge) offered to stop the trains so I could get a photo of the boys watching them. I assured him I was okay & that they weren't coming out blurry (unless I shot directly down like I did above). All the men (and why is it always men?) were very nice who were part of the model train clubs represented here.

I loved this model. So did my boys. They spent quite a bit of time near this bridge watching trains speed across.

This was the smallest scale there. It was also the smallest track area. Poor J was too short to see it so I snapped a couple pics of it & then picked him up so he could watch the trains go around.

We spent about thirty minutes or so watching the trains. Then I convinced the boys to go in the museum & walk around for a bit. I wanted to see the new exhibit plus I wanted to count this trip for school - I could have anyway with just the trains, but this worked well too since we were right here. This is one of our favorite museums & they allow schools and homeschoolers in free all the time which is awesome.

I love their new exhibit! I had to call my mom when we were about half way through though. I wanted to know where all her stuff was because I was pretty sure a lot of it was right here in the museum at this new exhibit! The had exhibits of different household items and rooms from Maine taken from various times in history.

This was a very neat exhibit all about games. They had sliding doors in front. As you slid aside one to see what was behind it, it would cover up another one. I took a few photos here but wanted to show you the chess set. Nice huh?

I took this photo to show the old fashioned push lawn mower. We had one of these as well & I used to use it to cut the grass at home - when I was very little and thought something like that would be fun to do.

I took this photo for my mom. She has a truck just about like this at the foot of her bed. This was in the "attic" room display. So was this....

I was checking out things & heard J growling. I looked around & saw him doing this. Too cute!

One of the toy displays.

From here we headed back down to the first floor & went through the usual displays. I think one big reason the boys like this museum is that this train is right there as you walk in. It's a very, very old one.

I love that this museum thinks of children. Throughout it they have "touch boxes" near the displays with things inside that the children are encouraged to touch. There are also sound areas near some of the displays. Some are triggered by sensors & start when you get near. For instance, there is display on industry in Maine & one has a parlor set up as a sewing room. As you get close to this you can hear a sewing machine noise. Some of the others have buttons you can push. The boys really like these.

Aren't they sweet enough to pose for mom??

The deal to get them in the museum was the promise to stop at the trains on the way out again. Hard to not do since you had to pass through all the displays to get to the front doors anyway. I was glad we did though. One of the displays was now running this....

As I mentioned earlier, the guys running these were really nice. After I snapped a few photos of the train I realized they were slowing it down when it got near me & then sped up on the way by after I snapped the photos. Needless to say this was a big highlight for my boys.

All in all it was a great day - busy - but fun. We ran through the McDonald's drive-through for lunch & headed home. I did make them stop at a couple clothing stores on the way as I was looking for a straight black skirt for the party that night. It took two stores - imagine! - but I found one.

And even though I don't like photos of myself, I'll be nice & share this one from the party...