Massachusetts Day 6

Thursday, September 6, 2013

On our final morning in Massachusetts, we visited Davis Farmland. What a find! It was so family-friendly and hardly commercialized (no big brand names, TV characters, or souvenirs being pushed). The admission is expensive, but we had obtained local "library passes," which cut our cost in half.

There was an entire child-sized village of homes, a stocked grocery store, and a tool shed.

Fishing for magnetized "fish" was very popular.

Photo taken moments before Margaret fell into the "creek" and got her dress and bloomers soaking on that somewhat chilly morning. Thankfully, Rebecca had brought a change of clothing for her two-year-old, so I borrowed a pair of dry pants for Margaret.

This clever device allowed one to use a rope to get the food up to a goat on a platform high in the air!

Margaret maintains steadfastly that she "found a lion!"

They got to hold two-week-old goats and comb their hair!

Lunch at the cafeteria

Signs said not to chase or hold the chickens, but a worker there walked right up to John and asked him if he wanted to hold this jaunty bird!

Petting baby chicks

After a morning spent at Davis Farmland, we buzzed home, finished packing our suitcases, and said our goodbyes-for-now. I drove to Andover to pick up Chris at his hotel and off we went to the airport.

The three children wearing their souvenir Red Sox shirts on the rental car bus

After eating dinner at the airport, the children played very quietly and happily with some invisible ink drawing pads the U----s gave them.

Chris and I were anxious about the flight because Joseph really felt miserable with his cold by now. A baby so congested he's not breathing well + an evening flight that takes off at his normal bed time + air pressure on the airplane (hurting ears) = Big Trouble! We gave Joseph some medication, which helped some, but the flight home wasn't idyllic like the flight into Boston. Margaret (who fell sick with the cold the subsequent day) and Joseph had troubles. John and Mary were wonderful, with Mary in particular being an amiable and chatty companion next to me, doing little logic games with me in a book. We crossed our own threshold at 11:30 at night, so it was one long day!

Mama and sick baby on the plane

Overall, it was one great trip!