Family Fun at Old Sturbridge Village

At Christmastime last year, I purchased tickets for my family to attend Old Sturbridge Village. (I'm big on buying "experience gifts" rather than "things.") Having been there twice before, I thought the family would enjoy going, and I was right! We all held onto our tickets until the last day of school and chose a Friday in June to go together. It would be Lewie and me, our cousin Vincent and his wife Jamie, and our cousin Billy with his daughter Crystal. Vincent, Lewie, Crystal, and I had been to Old Sturbridge Village before; however, it would be a new experience for Jamie and Billy. Even for Vincent, it felt like a new experience since he hadn't been there in nearly 40 years--back when he was in grade school. 

In short, Old Sturbridge Village is an outdoor history museum that models a rural New England town from the 1830s.  It includes more than 40 historic buildings, such as a mercantile, church, bank, meeting house, water-powered mill, houses, and tradeshops. The museum features costumed docents throughout its 240-acre property, depicting everyday life in the town. Some docents are farmers, riding up and down the streets in their horse-drawn wagons; others are making shoes, smelting iron, sculpting clay pots, or selling goods in the mercantile. (For any "Little House on the Prairie" fans, this is the place to be!) It was a time that was certainly harder — void of modern medicine and today's electronic luxuries — but also a time when family and life's simple pleasures mattered.

Here are some pictures of our fun excursion. P.S. We visited while Old Sturbridge Village was displaying a unique public art event called the CowParade. The CowParade is just that--life-size, fiberclass cow sculptures painted by local artists, which are later auctioned off to support local charities. We had a lot of favorite cows! 

In the 1800s and 1900s, shepherds would walk on stilts to cross marshy or swampy areas to avoid sinking into the ground or getting bitten by venomous snakes. The stilts also gave shepherds a higher position to protect their livestock from harm.

(Now that I am taking college classes again to earn my Doctorate of Education, it took a while for me to finish this post, but I'm so glad I did. A lot has changed since June. I started school, my cousins Vincent and his wife Jamie moved from Connecticut to Delaware, and of course, the kiddos [Lewie and Crystal] have started a new school year. Truly, this trip is a snapshot in time. Now that Vincent and Jamie are living out of state again, I don't know when we'll have a family trip like this going forward...

As they say near the end of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it!"

A Return to Santa's Village

Two years ago (when Little Lewie was 8), we went to Santa's Village in Jefferson, New Hampshire.  The trip was special because we went with Little Lewie's Aunt Missy, Uncle Moises, and cousins.  After some discussion about going on the trip again this year, Auny Missy and I made it happen.  We arranged to stay at the same hotel with adjoining rooms and buy Santa's Village tickets for the Thanksgiving Day weekend.

The trip, leaving Friday and returning on Sunday, was short, but we managed to get in lots of family time.  The kiddos went swimming in the hotel pool everyday, and we ate all meals together.  On Saturday night, we all played cards--even little Elijah and Lily (ages 6 and 4) joined in where they could.

Santa's Village was crowded, but strangely, waiting in lines didn't feel as bad as we thought.  The bonus was when customer service gave us free return tickets to come back any time between now and July; that was a $100 savings for us and almost a $200 savings for my in-laws.  We decided we will be coming back to Jefferson, New Hampshire in the summer to use those tickets!

With almost a foot and half of snow on the ground and 30 degree temperatures, spending time in Santa's Village put us right in the holiday mood.  We went on the Great Humbug Adventure, Santa's Express Train, and the Skyway Sleigh.  We saw the 3D movie, A Tinkerdoodle Christmas, had ice-cream, of course, and drank lots and lots of hot chocolate.  Our favorite experience, however, is their outside light show where the lights dance to pop songs and Christmas music.  Both years we waited until dark to go on the Skyway Sleigh--that way we could get to see all the beautiful Christmas lights throughout the park.  It was well worth the wait!

Starting off our day in the hotel. (Sarah 13, Lewie 10, Brooky 8, Lily 4, and Elijah 6)

Checking out the Water Wheel gift shop before lunch.

Waiting patiently while playing the Tricky Triangle Peg Game. 
(Come to find out...this was one of Lewie's favorite parts of the trip.)

Santa's Village!

I was always catching this one with a snowball in his hand.  The kids loved playing in the snow
just as much as they enjoyed going on the rides.

How could we resist homemade ice cream?

The view from our sleigh.

As Lewie gets older, I'm not sure how many more Santa's Village visits will be in our future, but at least we know we'll be coming back in the summer--we don't want to give up those free tickets!

When we came home on Sunday (around 7 p.m.), it was back to getting ready for school and work.  The goal will be to decorate for Christmas this weekend.  We have lots to do to prep for the holidays.  Is anyone just starting, like me?

I'm a Proud "Cheer" Aunt

This weekend, Lewie's cousin Sarah participated in her last cheerleading competition of the year.  We learned that her division of USA Wildcats (Sassy Cats) was undefeated and decided to support her. Since the competition was in Worcester, MA (about an hour and forty five minutes away), we decided to make the competition into an all weekend event.  We stayed over at the Clarion Hotel and Aqua Lagoon Waterpark in West Springfield, MA on Saturday and then left at seven in the morning to take Sarah to her last competition at the DCU Center in Worcester.

On Saturday, we spent the day at the hotel water park, which was FILLED with kids.  My sister-in-law and her husband brought their three children (Sarah, Brooklyn, and Lily) and their grandnephew, Elijah.  My husband and I, of course, just brought Little Lewie.  The kids had a blast swimming in the pool, going down water slides, and playing on the splash pad while the adults mostly rested at tables on the side.

Cousin Brooklyn in the pool

Aunt Missy and Uncle Moises

Lily

Sarah and Lewie

The waterpark closed at 8 p.m., and we headed to our adjoining rooms on the first floor.  The kids LOVED that they could walk between both rooms at their leisure.  At one point, my husband and I looked around and saw that all FIVE children (ages 3 - 12) were in our room.  It was all out mayhem. (Don't forget that we're used to ONE child; FIVE is a big deal for us.)  They were playing games, eating candy, watching videos on tablets, and talking up a storm.   Little Elijah (five) was so excited to be staying at the hotel that he kept on showing us "his bed."

Lights out was around 10 o'clock as we had to wake up early the next morning to bring Sarah and Aunt Missy to the DCU Center.  She had to be there for practice at 8:30 a.m., and her performance was slated for 10:20 a.m.  Awards wouldn't happen until 1 p.m., so we knew we were headed for a fairly long day.   I didn't know how Lewie would handle all the waiting, but to my surprise, he was great.  He loved listening to the music and watching the performances.  Only twice did he request to go home, which prompted me to remind him that we had to wait until after the award ceremony.

As for the "Sassy Cats"... well, they won first place!   We were so proud of Sarah.  We already knew she could do these amazing flips and tumbling, but nothing could replace seeing her live performance. We were allowed to go to the front stage when it was their turn, and the girls honestly took my breath away.  It was a very proud moment for this aunt and a very proud moment for Lewie who absolutely adores his cousin.

Best Sassy Cat Friends (cousin Sarah is the second on the right)

One proud aunt!

Lewie getting to have lunch with all the girls

 This weekend honestly flew by.  We were so happy we made it a priority to see Sarah's last competition this year.  I have a newfound respect for cheer, especially for all the practices, time, and commitment made by Sarah and her mom.  I am awestruck.