Fabulous Find For A Friday-----Patriots Day And The Berkshire Museum

I have been pretty busy this week, staying up until 2:30 or 3:00 and sleeping in until 10:00 or 10:30. Yes, you guessed it. It has been Spring Break, and my little guy hasn't had to get up early for school, so I have taken advantage of it! (Last year I was in Ireland---so go on ahead and read a bit about that----or at least my visit to London, because I'm such a loser, I never got around to getting Ireland written about... Sigh...)

The first few days, he spent with his older brother, Clayton, who lives in Boston. Clayton came to stay with us on Sunday, then with Bret, my hubby, he and Aydan got up early on Monday, Patriots Day.

What----you don't have Patriots Day?

Well, its when we celebrate Paul Revere's ride, the Tories huge fight in Lexington with the Patriots---then their march to Concord, MA-----and yes, that is where the Revolutionary War turned. That was the first time that the Patriots were able to push back the British. The shot heard around the world. Ring a bell now? (That was a VERY short history lesson...)

So, they got up at 5:00 a.m. to go see the re-enactment of the first battle in Lexington.

Here you see the Patriots---ready for battle...

....and the advancing Tories.

After the battle, all the Patriots were lying on the ground "dead".

You can see them in the background.

The Tories would normally start their march to Concord, but since they had done that re-inactment on Sat., the REAL Patriots Day, they had time for a Meet and Greet!
So, here is Aydan and Clayton hanging with a Tory. Notice the amazing authenticity of the uniform----they are anal about their clothing---and guns, for that matter!

Well, of course, I wasn't about to get up at the crack of dawn----I just don't do that, no sir-ree, not when I have the day off. And I was so looking forward to being all by myself.

Can you imagine?

"All by myse--elf, just wanna be...all by myself...."

Yes, that was me singing---how did I do?


Well, my perfect plan to pamper myself was all for naught. I ended up getting a migraine on Sunday, and it was a woozey! Then, after getting it a bit under control by Sunday night, I woke up with it on Monday morning----just pounding away. And then as I got through that day, I woke up with it again on Tues. morning. So much for going shopping and just having a few relaxing days! It was the first time that I haven't had to work since February, and I was so looking forward to the days off.

Well, I went down to Boston to pick up Aydan even though my head was the worst that it had been---on Tues., and we went home and planned the next day.

We were both determined that we were going to go to an awesome museum and have a great time!

Now, I need to back track a bit to let you know that when I asked Aydan what he wanted to do for his week off, his first answer was "The Science Museum!" And his next choice? "The Museum of Fine Art!" (Gotta love that boy....)

But, you see, the museums in Boston are VERY expensive. It is one of my pet peeves. I mean, why do they have these amazing experiences that should be for families and then make them so expensive?

Now, my older son, Clayton, can get some half off tickets from his library and since he is a student at UMASS Boston, he can get discount tickets also.

Well, he tried. And, you guessed it. There were no more left. They had all been given out.
Yeah---Spring Break, don'tcha know. Everyone wanted to go.

So, on to Plan 2.


My daughter, Brinna, lives in Western MASS. She had also expressed an interest in spending some time with Aydan over Spring Break, as she only works at night, on the weekends. Yeah, she is the singer in a band. Remember?

So, I called her and asked her if there were any museums out where she lives. She wasn't sure, but said that she would look into it. I kind of wanted to go into the Berkshires area, as I knew that it is an "arty" type place, with lots of shops, and small New England villages.


After her checking, and then my checking on the internet, we decided on "The Berkshire Museum".


And as you will see, it was just the perfect fit!



It was quite a drive to get there, but a beautiful one, as we were going through huge trees and rocky hills. Western Massachusetts is amazingly beautiful, and with the light rain, and spring just erupting around us, it was a delight to behold.

We got there on Wednesday around noon, and walked a few blocks to the Museum. The Berkshire Museum was built in the early 1900's, but had since been renovated in the 1990's, so it is beautifully done on the inside. There are three levels in the Museum, and this is where it was ideal for what we wanted.

On the main floor, the science and natural history museums were housed, and in the basement, there was an aquarium. Then, on the top floor, they had an art museum. Everything----all in one museum!


What a great idea-----and perfect for our day out! And most importantly, Aydan loved it!

Aydan, of course, had to dig for dinosaur bones first.

"What? What's that you say? I'm not really alive...and I'm stuck on a wall?"

"Duh, duh, duh, duh...."

Ok, its quiz time....what type of poop would you say that this belongs to? I expect you to
answer in your comment!! Don't forget to notice what this animal eats----its all there!

I just LOVED this quote by Thomas Edison----I think that it is my new MANTRA!

Brinna and Aydan doing some puzzles in the innovation section.

Aydan and I working on a drawing...while pulling on my ear?

Brinna touching the starfish in the aquarium "touch pool".

I was fascinated by these frogs that float up at the top of the water---then lie on the bottom
as though dead. Frog legs, anyone?

Ok, so I need a great caption for this one. Come on, give me an idea or two----I mean, have
you ever seen a fish sucking on the window like that? Heh, heh.

Whoops! Aydan slipped on the ice in the North Pole!

Of course, we had to do some early American Indian dancing while we were there....

....and I can't seem to figure out who this little guy is with the large....er....fox(?)....on his head.

Cubism, is what I believe they call this modern art.

And though you can't tell from the photo, this painting looked so real---amazing!

Brinna, lounging in the "main salon",-----dahling.

Here I am, meditating in the Sculpture Room. Yes,....I could have lived in this room.

After the museum, we drove to North Hanover, the town of Smith College, and went to a great restaurant, Paradiso, with Brinna. The food was excellent, albeit rather slow on getting it out, but we had a good visit and spent the time laughing and chatting.

"Aydan, look this way."

Brinna, my classic beauty.

Here we are at the restaurant, waiting for our food-----and yes, Aydan made it
so that it looks like the straw is in his nose----silly kid!

That was the end of our adventure to Western Mass.

The next day we decided to go to one of MY favorite places, the Stoneyfield Farm factory, as they have a tour so you can see how they make the yogurt---the best yogurt ever, by the way!
One of Aydans favorite shows on TV is "How Its Made", and he was excited to be able to see how yogurt was made, first hand.

The entrance to Stoneyfields----really, you say, I would have never noticed.

But, as luck would have it, they were doing RENOVATIONS and they weren't doing the tours. So, we sat and ate some samples and watched a DVD of how the yogurt was made.
Aydan decided that it was just like watching his favorite show, but he got treats to eat with it!

Happy with his samples---all the yogurt that he could eat, as he watched his DVD.

And today? Well, we slept in again, and I went to paint the Theatre----more walls to paint---ugh, and Aydan spent the day with his best friend from school. Then, we went to see the movie, "Earth" tonight. It was great, and we enjoyed hanging out with each other, which we always do whenever we can be together, our little family.


All in all, a FABULOUS ending on this Friday.