tower hill

Massachusetts has several museums, etc that participate in Free Fun Fridays. Each Friday there are different places open for free. Today was Tower Hill, and we took advantage. The kids and I had a great day. We arrived around 10:45 and spent about an hour walking around. Then we went back to the car for a car picnic, and explored more after that. We have been to Tower Hill before, but hadn't been on all of the trails or on the beautiful wildflower meadow that overlooks the reservoir. The kids had such a good time exploring. They loved following all the paths around the gardens and taking different trails. There are benches everywhere, nestled into the nicest spots. I would love to go back by myself and spend the day walking, sitting, and reading a book on one of those benches. Celia liked them too. Whenever she saw a place to sit, she wanted to "take a rest". 

The botanic gardens always have art on display, and today it was a series of oil paintings of flowers. They were amazing. These were my favorites.

We ended up leaving around 2:00, and I told the kids I would take them for ice cream on the way home. There is a country store with ice cream, coffee and penny candy at the town common. I figured the kids would want to get home after that, but they wanted to play in the park. We went over there, and they played for a long time. They had a great time running around, trying to climb a tree, hiding and "spying". Then we went across the street to the library, and they spent even more time there making cards at the craft table. We went back to the park, and I finally coaxed them into heading home. 

This was probably the first time I've taken the kids out on my own for a full day of activity, and been able to do so much with them and have so much fun. They're getting old enough that it's just less work to do everything. We can get in and out of the car easily because they buckle themselves in. If they have to go potty, it's no big deal. They are happy to explore and find ways to entertain themselves. They are able to attend to things for longer, and have more stamina for walking around all day. At the same time, they're still little enough that many experiences are new and exciting for them, and they're still my cute and snuggly little babies. It was just a great day, and I look forward to more like it as they continue to grow.