Busy week!

It's only Wednesday, but we've already had two big days of adventures here. We're a little worn out, so we decided to scrap today's original plan (children's museum) and have a slightly quieter day.

On Monday, we drove with friends to visit Montpelier. I'd never been there, so didn't know what to expect. We were there about 3.5 hours, but could have easily spent the whole day. We didn't get a chance to explore any of the forest walking trails or many of the areas outside of the main home.

We took the house tour. It wasn't exactly a "kid friendly" tour - mostly geared toward adults - but the kids were great. They were quiet and polite; we even got a few compliments from others in our group about how well the kids behaved. Wow!

Before the house tour:

Looking out from the front of the house...not a bad view...

These three called it quits before the house tour was over. Before we had any meltdowns, Cindy and I took them out. Bella finished out the tour with her grandmother.

The had a couple hands on activities for the kids. One - outdoor cooking - is closed during the week. We still got to watch the archaeologists, try out a kids' archaeology dig, and experiment with some of the period tools.

knife sharpening:

Brick making:

Wood shaving:

We strolled through the garden on our way out. I love these pictures of Ru and Ben. As soon as we got there and met Cindy's mother-in-law, Ben introduced Rudy with, "This is my best friend."

We had another adventure yesterday, when we decided at the last minute to ride along with James on his business trip to DC. I packed the camera in the bag that I ended up not taking, so I have not photographic evidence. (I have to say, it was nice not to have to try to get pictures in the masses of tourists!)

Before we left, I printed out the Smithsonian guide to seeing the displays from Night at the Museum. We did see some of those highlights (the giant squid and the Smithsonian's version of the 'dumdum head'), but we also explored the new ocean exhibit at Natural History and checked out the very fun SparkLab at American History.

Today - I think we finally have to break down and go to the grocery store. I guess that's an adventure in itself!