End of Heritage Days

Last week, Niccole and I took the girls to Peter Rabbit's Garden, a weekly children's gardening program at Long Hill in Beverly. The girls played in the garden, visited chickens and baby turkeys, learned about spiders, decorated pots, and planted their own spider plants.

Coloring their pots (If you decide to do this at home, don't use washable markers, because when the pots got wet later, the girls got marker all over them, and it completely came off the pots.)

Working together in the garden to make dirt soup

After all that hard work gardening, we headed over to the Willows for ice cream and a walk on the beach.

Violet was not happy that Avonlea Jane was rolling in the sand instead of coming to get her shoes on (neither was Mommy). Peer pressure worked best though for persuading her to leave the beach. "Avonlea Jane, get up. You're getting sand in your hair!"

The next day, we went to a bookstore, where in celebration of their third anniversary, they were doing face painting for the kids.

Happy with her fish

That night was the Kids' Night on the Common during Salem Heritage Days. Avonlea Jane insisted she and I wear these very Ethan Hawke-esque hats. She found them in a box of hats made by her great-great-grandmother Dorathea.

She got to take hers off after a while but said mine had to stay.

She loved the bouncy houses and wanted to go from one to another.

Even better than the bouncy houses was the giant slide. It took her a while to climb to the top.

Waiting in line for the train ride around the Common

When we were in Pennsylvania and Grandpa asked if Avonlea Jane could really jump, or if she just skipped around a little--like I did as a kid--I scoffed. After watching her try to hop in a bouncy house, it is clear that jumping may not be our thing.

This particular blow-up contraption/ obstacle course was a challenge, because she couldn't get over the first hill. I then had to climb through the tiny kids' porthole to go in and give her a boost. Once I climbed out, she decided it was too big for her and came out after me.

Showing her hippopotamus pencil craft she made