Children's Museum with Audrey and Elise

Hubby and I had the great good fortune to take our two littlest grandkids out for a day of adventure!   Son and daughter-in-law wanted to do some things in the house, so Memere and Pepere took the kids off their hands for the afternoon.  And what a pleasure it was!

These two little girls are the most well-behaved, happy and accommodating kids ever.   Interestingly, they couldn't be more different.  Audrey is  3 3/4.  She is quiet, calm, and almost a little timid to try new things.   And her little sister Elise is 15 months and hell on wheels!  She doesn't walk...she runs! and climbs!!  

We got to the museum and the place was packed!  I was quite dismayed when they told us there was a 1/2 hour wait to get into the Museum!  Unbelievable!  So they gave us a number, and we went to check out the new outdoor area - a treehouse!

The Treehouse was huge, with all kinds of interesting, natural materials to see and touch.   Audrey and Elise looked out the child-height windows into the back area where there's a huge swing and playground.

There were books in every area of the Museum.  Pepere shows the girls a book all about leaves.

There was a tent set up with sleeping bags for the kids to try out.

We finally went to check and see if it was time to get into the museum.  It was our turn!!   We skipped the first room that had a Brio train set-up.  Way too crowded and with some quite unruly little kids!

The second room had all different size balls that you could put into ball ramps and watch them go through the tunnels all around the room.   Both Audrey and Elise loved this room.  When Elise grew tired of the balls, she spent the rest of the time going up and down the small set of stairs!

The next room had a water table.  They had nice rubbery plastic smocks for the kids to wear over their clothes.   Elise immediately stood next to another little boy her size and went to town splashing water like crazy!   You can see by Audrey's face what she thought of that!

Elise didn't mind a face full of water!

Audrey was smart enough to go around to the other side of the table where it was quieter!

After awhile, I could see where this was going and knew I'd have a soaking wet kid, so I decided it was time to move on.  It was the one and only time either girl squawked, and it was Elise who was not happy to be pulled away from the water.  Her "fussing" lasted all of two seconds until she saw what awaited her in the next area.

The Museum had all kinds of cubbies and small, comfy areas for the children to investigate.  This is a tiny room under the stairs with a fish tank in the wall.

Pepere wanted to see too, even though he was a little too large for the space!

The next room was Audrey's favorite.  It was dark, and set up like an outdoor campfire!  The fire pit "glowed", and someone had made some giant marshmallows on sticks so you could roast them over the fire.   Audrey loved those marshmallow sticks - so she called it the "Marshmallow Room".   They had a "tree"you could crawl into, and a sheet set up with light behind it so you could make shadow puppets.

Elise's favorite part of that room was the itty-bitty slide just her size!  She must have gone up and down that slide 100 times!

This room had vacuum hoses pushing air out, so the kids could see how they could make things move with the power of air.

Another favorite, where we spent a lot of time, was "Bessie's Diner".   All set up like a diner with tons of fake food and dishes, a stove, etc so the kids could cook and serve customers!  (Bessie's Diner shows up on Google Maps as a real diner - although the comments say things like "food tastes kind of plastic"!)

Elise finds a friend!

At the top of the house is a room made to look like a ship with ocean-themed activities.

Audrey shared a boat with a new-found friend.

There was a little cubby area under the eaves filled with soft pillows and a lighted sand table - Audrey, Elise AND  Pepere enjoyed that very much!

After a couple of hours, Memere and Pepere were done!  (Although the kids could have kept going forever!)

We took them for lunch at Friendly's, where they each go their own kids' meal of mac and cheese and hotdogs, milk and ice cream.

Elise dove in with hands and cleaned her plate!

What a tremendous day of fun for all of us!

Boston Adventure

Last spring, my friend Joan posted that she'd gone to an exhibit on Leonardo DaVinci at her local museum in Cincinnati.  I love Leonardo, so I went on the website for the exhibit and the closest it was coming to New England was Rochester, NY.....in February.   I decided maybe we'd think about a road trip .....although upper state NY in February didn't sound like a great idea!    But I put it on the bottom of the December page of the calendar to remind myself to check it out.

When I flipped the calendar to December, I saw my notes and checked out the website again.  Much to my surprise, they had added a stop at the Boston Museum of Science!  And..... the exhibit was at the Museum right then!

There was no question in my mind that we'd be going to see it right after the holidays.  So in January I got the Museum passes from the library and the date of our adventure was set!   Since I have only one more month on my Aquarium Membership, a stop at the Aquarium was a must!  And when I checked the Marriott website to see if I could get the Marriott Longwharf  hotel  (right next door to the Aquarium) for cheap with my Travel Agent pass..... and it was available!......our adventure was complete!

Hubby knew he had just the right shirt to wear

Of course, much to our chagrin, they were predicting a lot of snow and "blizzard-like" conditions for our weekend.  But we never let no stinkin' bad weather stop us!   I found a parking garage just around the corner from the Aquarium, so we parked the car there for the duration and took public transportation....locally known as the "T".    

We made the Museum of Science our first stop.   

The exhibit was very interesting.  They took a lot of Leonardo's drawings and brought them to life as models. Some were small and some were life-size!

His writings - mostly written in mirror image

The model for his human kite

And his helicopter  

There was a very interesting section on the Mona Lisa....his most famous painting.  They just spent 20 years using infrared imaging to "see" what was beneath the painting....turns out there are two other paintings under there!

One of his inventions was a portable piano......perfect for Hubby!

I found some of his quotes very interesting and perfect even in today's world.

Hubby the "artiste"

The only "hands-on" activity they had was using a model of a catapult to try and knock down a cardboard castle.  Hubby gives it a shot.

They also had a short commentary on another of Leonardo's famous paintings....the Last Supper

When we left the Museum of Science it had started to snow. The giant dinosaur out front looks a bit chilly!

Waiting for the T to come 

When we got to the Aquarium, the Sea Lion out front was basking in the snow coming down!

The Little Blue Penguins were gorgeous!

And the fish are just beautiful too!

Hubby finds an admirer

And I love patting the Manta Rays

After the Aquarium we went back to the parking garage to retrieve our luggage.  It was like a scene from Seinfeld as we wandered around the parking garage looking for our car!    It was really only about 15 minutes before we found it.   The 1/4 mile walk from the garage to the hotel was brutal with the driving snow and wind.    When we got there, there was a wedding being held in the lobby!

We had planned on going to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner.   With the terrible weather we thought twice, but since the T stop was literally right outside the hotel, and the stop at the other end was inside the Prudential building where the Cheesecake Factory was located......we figured it would be easy!   Despite having not one but two trains "go out of service" ...forcing us to get on another train, we got to our destination dry and warm.  And so happy that we made the decision to go!  The Chicken Madeira I ordered was the best I've ever tasted!

We woke up in the morning to beautiful blue skies!  But still extremely cold, so we ate a very expensive (but quite delicious!) breakfast in the hotel dining room.   

The short walk back to the parking garage (where we once again had trouble finding our car!) yielded some photos of some very beautiful architecture.

Finally, across the iconic Zakim Bridge to home

Stained Glass

 My cousin Margie out in Michigan decided to take up stained glass as a hobby.  When she posted it and said she was looking for "guinea pigs" to make some pieces for, I volunteered!   She was adamant that she was an amateur, and that she would be slow, and that I shouldn't expect a perfect piece. I was quite alright with that.  It's her hobby, so I wanted her to take her time and enjoy it.

We started out by finding just the right idea.   I told her something "floral" would be nice, so she pulled out her Pinterest folder and sent me this idea:

It was perfect!!!   My Mom's favorite flower was the Brown-Eyed Susan, so I couldn't have thought of a better choice.   We discussed color, and the only change we made was to make the border green instead of blue to better match my living room.

Margie kept me updated as the procedure continued:

First she needed to create the pattern.  

Then all the pieces needed to be cut meticulously out of the sheets of glass.  She had to buy a sheet of glass for each color she used.  

Looks like she started from the middle and worked her way out.   The green is waiting in the background to be place around the frame.

A little preview with light shining behind it.

The framing went on last.

What I really love is that the glass is not all plain flat glass.  There is some texture on the gold

and the white edging is prism shaped

Margie wrapped it all up in an artists box and shipped it to me.  I was so excited to receive that box!  And I couldn't believe the beauty of the piece.

She sent some chain - and it took us a little figuring to determine the best way to hang it in the window.   Finally, Hubby screwed some hooks directly into the window frame.

We put it in the window facing the backyard because that's where the sun sets.  I had to wait for a weekend to take some photos of the sun shining through it -  it's dark by the time I come home from work!

I'm so extremely pleased with this gorgeous piece of work!  My cousin Margie is very talented!  Thank you so much for making me such a beautiful keepsake and memorial to my Mom!