Montshire Museum

 

This past Wednesday the kids and I went with a lady from church and her grandkids to the eastern-most side of Vermont to go to the Science Museum. It was a good two-hour drive, but the kids really enjoyed it once we got there.

Inside they featured a huge T-rex skeleton. Andrew, especially loved this!

Then they had several hands-on exhibits that had to do with air & force. They were allowed to touch and play with almost everything! They were all over the place.

 

Upstairs many of the exhibits dealt with different forms of weather. They saw effects of fog, lightning, wind, hurricanes, and tons more. Most of it was way beyond what they could understand, but they loved looking at it all and they were hard to keep up with! We’ll have to go back again another day when its not so crowded and we have more time to spend exploring everything.

 

 

 

After a picnic lunch we explored the outdoor exhibits, which all involved water! I was told they’d want their bathing suits, and they definitely did! They had all sorts of fountains to jump in, water squirting out of the ground, and rocks to climb on.

 

Abigail (otherwise known as Miss Priss, based on this first picture) didn’t really want to get into the water, but didn’t mind wandering around exploring the rocks and grass!

 

We saw a couple other exhibits outside as well, and attempted a short hike but couldn’t do it with the stroller. So we will definitely be going back another time to explore some more!

  

County Fair & Field Days

This past week we got to experience a great part of Vermont country life! The county fair is a huge thing here, and everyone talks about it. Our church set up a booth in the exhibit building in order to share the gospel and invite the community to the church. So Brett was there all day every day. I got a free pass as well so I took the kids 3 different times (once for just an hour or two, but the other times we were there most of the day). They absolutely loved it. They especially loved the animals and I’m beginning to think we may be looking at something like 4-H in our future. They could not get enough of the cows and horses. And unlike the state fairs we’ve been to in the past, they were able to touch the animals and really come alongside them to experience them!

They went to the Children’s Barnyard every time we went. They loved the miniature horses especially. They also got to pet baby bunnies, some donkeys, goats, and ducks. They saw some baby chicks hatching in an incubator, and they pretended to “pick” some fruits & vegetables to put in their baskets.

One young girl in the 4-H Barn let us pet her cow. (When it came to touching animals, Abigail would stick her hand out, touch it, then pull back quickly as if it was going to bite her. She loved looking at them and pointing to them, but not so much touching them.) We also saw the kids’ friend Autumn from church who has her own baby cow who’s only a few weeks old.

  

Another day a lady riding in the ring let us pet her horse.

Outside the Children’s Barnyard, they had a few little games set up. They got to do some giant bubbles, dig in a box of corn, and then later dig for “treasure” in the sawdust. (They each managed to find $1 in quarters)!

  

We saw lots of tractors. Some old, some new (and REALLY big & expensive). Andrew was a little scared to get up on the huge one.

    

 

Of course the important part of any fair is the food. We had to check out the maple house, where we enjoyed a Maple Creemee (soft serve ice cream). Out of all the other foods they could have chosen, the kids wanted cotton candy. Abigail took one look at it and cried—she wasn’t too sure what to do with that stuff!

    

We saw a fun magic show geared toward younger kids.

 

We watched a little bit of a tractor pull.

And got balloon animals from a clown.

Then, Friday, the kids got to enjoy a first—riding rides! The unlimited ride wristband was fairly inexpensive, so we got them each one and they definately got their money’s worth. There was a group of about 6 or 7 little kids’ rides in one area and they must have rode each at least twice within about 45 minutes! They loved it and are still telling everyone all about them!

 

     

Poor Abigail was too little! (Really she was only crying because about 2 minutes after this picture was taken she fell asleep in the stroller and slept through almost all the rides.)

   

I spent a little time at the church’s booth, but not quite as much as Brett. Apparently they had some good conversations with a lot of people and though we may never know how many people really came to know Christ, a lot of seeds were planted and a lot of questions answered. Vermont has so many people seeking for something more, and I’m so glad our church is one that reaches out and sees the need! We will definitely be going back next year!