Friday, September 14, 2012

The Big E

We came, we saw, we conquered. Or, rather, we ventured in with the masses, spent way too much money on very mediocre fair food, had some fun anyway. It's difficult, though, not to compare our visit to the Big E today with our first visit two years ago. The Big E was, in fact, our very first outing here in the Arctic after our arrival on 9/11/10. That first visit took place on a rainy day, so few people went. Today was a beautiful day, so EVERYBODY went.

It took us about 45 minutes to make it off the highway and to the entrance of the Big E. Thankfully, we scored half-price parking at a private lot off the property of the Eastern States Exposition. A little further to walk, but I'll take a walk to save five bucks.

The Big E is a county fair on steroids, and it is held annually in Springfield, MA. The "fair" features a mini amusement park (for the price of about $3/ride - I said no to that since we have spent the summer at our local amusement park), lots of booths with locals selling their wares, and way too much greasy fair food.

One of the main purposes of the fair is celebrate agriculture. There are sheep:

And there are cows, chicks, and ducks. There are also pigs, my favorite:

Is that brown and black spotted one not the cutest thing EVER (besides my children)? And I make that judgment call after seeing nothing but his cute little hiney. If no one had been looking, I would have scooped him up and put him in my pocket.

And doesn't this mama look fully and completely content?

And she's got eight children (that I can see anyway)! Oh to have that smile on my face all the time with just my four!

There were several horse shows, and the very elegant Clydesdale horses were on display as well.

My favorite show at the Big E is the Border Collie Demonstration. This is Peg:

The demo took place in a small arena, too small for a bunch of sheep, so the trainer uncaged what she called "mini-sheep":

Aren't these fun looking ducks?

Peg quickly went to work herding the ducks and obeying her trainer's commands.

Peg forced them over a bridge:

And even under the bridge, though that feat took a little more coaxing on Peg's part.

Audrey enjoyed watching from the sidelines:

After the dog show, we went over the big top for the circus that is part of admission to the Big E. Even though we got there 30 minutes early, we still got terrible seats and therefore saw the back of most of the performers (as well as a big post that stood right in my line of sight), but we were entertained by many of the acts anyway.

After the circus, the three younger kids enjoyed a ride down a huge slide:

One of the things the Big E is best known for are its replicas of each New England state's state house.

Inside each building, visitors get a tour of many of the customs of each state: visitor guides, crafts, state museums, food...all of these things are available and unique to each state. The kids already knew they wanted to go to Vermont to get some maple syrup cotton candy. After that purchase, we decided to visit Connecticut and the Lego exhibit. Since the American Lego headquarters are in Connecticut, they are well represented at the Big E. The three younger kids made a Lego tile for display. Alex, my socialite, meanwhile ran into some friends with whom she chatted while the others built.


 

We were ready to leave after visiting the states, but on our way out we came across more friends as well as a sea lion show. So we stuck around to chat and to witness the sea lions doing the conga.

The funniest thing to me was that the sea lions all clapped whenever one of them would perform a trick.

So not bad for a free day (we get free tickets through one of the homeschool groups). Next time, though, I will remember to take my Tylenol. Thankfully, the Big E also has an apothecary, so I was able to purchase some Advil to take away my headache.

Like I said: we came, we saw, we conquered.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Adventures in Rhode Island

It was a fun day today. It was my turn to make the milk pick-up trip to the farm, and since it is some distance away, I decided to turn the day into a field trip. We went to Rhode Island. The kids hadn't been to Rhode Island yet, so they were introduced to the Ocean State with a visit to Narragansett.

I was inspired to visit Narragansett by a friend who hosts the website Kid Friendly Things To Do. And basically, we just did everything she suggested...because, why not? The first thing we did was visit Point Judith Lighthouse.

The beach was made of rocks, with stacks of rocks scattered here and there.

I am not sure of the story behind the stacks of rocks, but the kids enjoyed exploring the rocky landscape and making their own stack of stones.

I think we had been there about 30 minutes when one of them asked, "Is this the beach we were going to go to?"

"No," I replied, "this is the lighthouse."

"Lighthouse? What lighthouse? Oh..."

Lunch followed the lighthouse. I had already planned where we were going to dine using MapQuest.

Turned out to be a fairly good choice, although we were the only customers. I hope they do better ordinarily so we can return one day to find them still in business.

The beach was our next stop. There was a public beach across the street from Amalfi, but it was quite crowded. My friend's website had given away a great secret about a small secluded beach that belongs to the University of RI. We found it, and it was perfect.

It was a little bit chilly, but it wasn't long until the kids were warming up with all of their running around

and digging.

It wasn't long until they were romping around in the waves.



It was a gorgeous day,

and I loved spending it with my kids. I think they felt the same way...

If not, I know they were definitely excited that we ended our adventure at Nana's Candy Bar where each kid got to fill a bucket with candy!