Cape Cod and Patriot Place {Road Trip Pics Continued}

We were really close to Cape Cod while staying with family in Plymouth, so we spent one afternoon visiting the Heritage Museums and Gardens in Sandwich, Ma. Sandwich is a perfectly beautiful little New England town, and the oldest town in Cape Cod. I love driving through that area, and of course I love the gardens there! It was Chris’ first visit, which was perfect timing because they are having a Norman Rockwell exhibit this summer – one of his favorites (and mine)! Later, we ate at Seafood Sam’s, where I had some delicious scallops. Next we walked past the impressive coast guard station to the Cape Cod Canal Visitor’s Center. We ended the day with some rocking on the deck overlooking the water, and a nice little walk along the canal :). Another new place we visited this trip was Patriot Place, a huge shopping and entertainment complex near Gillette Stadium, where the New England Patriots play. There were lots of fun things to do there, including two really fun interactive adventures at 5 Wits! The kids also posed in front of the stadium with Chris and Michael, can you see them?

Boston and the North Shore {More Road Trip Pics}

We took a trip into Boston and visited the Museum of Science – it was amazing! We all LOVED the lightning show… well, Julia did panic right before the grand finale, so I had to take her out. But Chris taped it for us :). After the museum, we went to the North Shore to visit my sister and her husband. Sarah gave us a tour of the gorgeous estate where she works as an event planner – I took lots of great photos, so I will have to post those later :)! Then we went out to dinner at a really great Mexican place – YUM! We had a lot of fun and Gabe really bonded with Jeff, as always :)!

Road Trip Memories {Summer 2012}!

I have finally had a chance to start looking through photos from the road trip we took earlier this summer – what a fantastic vacation it was! We traveled over 3000 miles in the course of 11 days, passing through 14 states, plus some of Canada. We saw amazing sights and tried new things, as well as visiting some old favorites. I am so thankful for the beautiful land God has placed us in and for the wonderful people he has blessed our lives with! I was originally going to try to fit the highlights of our trip into one blog post, but when I started looking at all of the pictures I realized that would make for a really REALLY long post :)! Here are some of my favorite memories of the first few days of or trip. Our first stop along the way was for supper in Louisville, Kentucky. The kids and I had never been to KY before, so that was new. Chris had asked his friends for restaurant recommendations of places that would offer us a uniquely “Louisville” experience, and someone suggested Mike Linnig’s. We loved that there was a large open air eating area with a playground for the kids. We were adventurous and ordered the fried alligator and frog legs (we also tried to order a side of turtle soup, but they were out).
We spent the next morning at the National Museum of the US Air Force. We saw rockets, many different types of aircraft and even the Apollo 15 Command Module, Endeavor, that landed on the moon :)!

That evening at sunset we saw American Falls with Niagara Falls in the distance. We crossed over into Canada and stayed overnight in a skyscraper hotel overlooking both waterfalls, which were so loud that you could hear them even way up inside our hotel room with all of the windows closed! It was really cool at night, because the falls were illuminated with a colorful light show. The kids took a bath in a big whirlpool tub with a window for watching the beautiful scenery. It was quite an experience. I am so glad people suggested that we bring our passports and see Niagara Falls from the Canadian side.

By the next evening, we had finally made it to New England. That’s where the fun really began :)!

Happy Easter – Christ is Risen!

I hope you have a lovely Easter!

But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Matthew 28:5-6

The Parable of the Lily – a Wonderful Easter Story for Kids

After school today, the kids and I made some “hand-crafted” lilies for our breakfast table Easter centerpiece. I based my ideas on a few tutorials I had seen here and here, but improvised with the supplies we had on hand (hehe, sorry – I can help all the handy puns!). Later, after baths and before bed, I read them a wonderful Easter book called The Parable of the Lily. My mom saved this book over the years, then passed it along for me to read to my own kids. It is such a blessing! Here’s and excerpt from the back of the book:

“The gentle farmer…lovingly helps His young daughter, Maggie, understand the power of grace and forgiveness and the true meaning of Easter”

I love this story, and the best part is that there are Bible verses included to help teach your kids about Jesus and the Easter story :)!

Have you been up to any fun Easter crafts or preparations?