Camping in West-Central Mass.

A few weeks ago we took the kids camping in West-Central Mass. We stayed in the Daughters of the American Revolution State Park, which is a little west of Amherst. 

On the way out, we stopped by the Johnny Appleseed visitors' center. The kids had fun seeing this tiny statue, but unfortunately when we left, we left Avonlea Jane's doll Molly behind. This led to some tears for the rest of our drive and some on our first night in the tent. We were happy our first "left behind" experience happened in Massachusetts and not somewhere in central Pennsylvania. We were able to drive a little out of our way to go back to the center on our way home, and Molly is now safe and sound.

 

We stopped for a picnic lunch in Deerfield on our way to the DAR.

 

Playing with dinosaurs on the lawn of the Deerfield Memorial Museum

A large section of the museum was dedicated to the tribe raids on Deerfield in 1704. There was a wall of memorial tablets erected by the descendants of the raid victims, most notably, Marshall Fields.

A door from the 1704 raid

The museum had some attempts at showing the difference in modern thinking on Native American relations in colonial America versus those of the time and the century and half following. The above is a banner with a more accurate description of what happened to the Field family, while below is the original text. 

Looking at the old school room

Exploring a dollhouse with flashlights

After the museum, we drove around to see the historic houses of Deerfield.

When we got to the park, the first thing the kids wanted to do was go swimming, so we went to the campers' beach. 

After making stick, pinecone, and play dough sculptures, the kids enjoyed a dinner of coleslaw, sweet potato salad, carrot sticks, and hotdogs.

We packed plenty of bug spray, but the kids--especially Will--just got eaten in the few minutes it took to find it in the car. When we got home, they wanted us to count them for a contest. Will won 52 to 48. We think they both were losers in that contest, though.

After dinner, we headed to the park's nature center to take a look around.

We enjoyed playing a game of Camp. 

Roasting marshmallows and making hot tea and roasted apples