Old Sturbridge Village
I really like taking the kids to do Fun But Educational Things, which is why we spend most of our extra time and money on memberships to places like the aquarium and Mystic Seaport. Up until recently it’s usually been much more about me than about them, since they couldn’t care less where we go as long as they can run around in circles while I say “Look! Nature! Science! Historic Crap!” All they’re really interested in is pushing buttons.
Unfortunately, I put a lot of pressure on myself to make all of our visits the kind of amazing memories I have from my own childhood. Nevermind the fact that I’m sure for every beautiful spring day at Old Sturbridge Village churning butter in a bonnet there were probably 14 visits to some dumb museum where I whined the whole time about how booooooring it was can we go hooooome now? I need to pin a note to the inside of my purse that says “They are TWO and THREE, don’t WORRY” so when I’m digging for some granola bars to stop the ear-splitting whining from the double stroller I remember, oh yes, they are TWO and THREE I don’t really need to WORRY if they aren’t interested in the finer points of blacksmith…ery.
All in all, it wasn’t too bad for an outside adventure in January. We’ll definitely be back in the spring to see the sawmill in action and in the summer for the gardens (There’s an antique carriage rally in June! That is EXACTLY the sort of event I will greatly enjoy forcing my family to attend!) I’m tempted to buy a membership but SIX memberships (well, five memberships and a season pass to Sesame Place) seems a little…excessive. Maybe I’ll hold off until the kids are old enough to appreciate all the history a little more.
Tags: animals, Caroline, E, evan, family, fun, history, massachusetts, old sturbridge village, photography, trips
Aha! Nice to know they were somewhat entertained. I’ve been curious as to how age appropriate this would be got P. I mean, just running around and looking at stuff is good, too.
I do not think 6 memberships sounds excessive, because you are home with your gingers. Seriously. If you worked outside of the home you would be spending 1200 times the amount of 6 memberships on childcare. (Spoken from a work outside the home mama.) When I was home with O, she was 0-24 months – and with 1 child, who was very young – I had four memberships. If you use them they are worth their weight in gold.
We have something like that here, Hale Farm and Village, but I can’t imagine taking the kids in the winter. They get whiney about being out in the cold for too long and there’s a lot of walking to get from place to place. lol We took them last summer and they liked it, but not as much as they love the zoo alas. PS. I adore Caroline’s boots!
I LOVE STURBRIDGE! My parents have a membership and I have been there approximately eleventy billion times in my life. It is the go-to historical field trip for schools and scout troops all across Western Mass. And yet? Still not sick of it.
I bet when the weather is nicer and there are more animals about, the kids will be all over it. Plus, there is very little some rock candy and one of Sturbridge’s chocolate chip cookie can’t fix.