Plymouth, MA

The 3 families rented a house in Plymouth, MA.  It was an adorable house built in the 1920s, right on the beach, and fit our big group very comfortably.  Hunter said staying at the house with his friends was his favorite  part of the whole trip!  Our first day there, we headed to Boston!

The Freedom Trail

We took a guided tour along the Freedom Trail.  Our guide was great with the kids and had lots of interesting stories to tell at each stop.  Even though it was Memorial Day, and the city was empty in the morning, I still got lost and had trouble parking.  I dropped the kids and my mom off and eventually caught up with them at the Granary cemetery where we heard stories about, and saw the graves of, Samuel Adams, 

 the Boston Massacre victims,

 John Hancock,

 and Paul Revere.  James Otis, who coined the term taxation without representation, is there too.  Talk about an All-Star graveyard!

 Our colonial guide showing the kids what the tea that was thrown into the Harbor would have looked like...

 The Declaration of Independence was first read to Bostonians from this balcony…  It was the Massachusetts State house (I think!)

 This was a neat memorial up that had dog tags for all those lost in the service.  They tinkled in the wind.

 Here we are at Old North Church where Paul Revere hung the lanterns to let the Minute Men know the redcoats were coming by sea!

 What a great Freedom Trail Tour!

Old North Church Tour

 We got a behind the scenes tour and got to see where the bells are rung...

Here is the Bell Ringing Chamber where Paul Revere was part of the bell ringing club back in this day!  Now the bells are rung by a club from MIT.  Smart bell ringers!

 Inside the church they had sectioned off pews for families to sit in.  It was very unique and I wish I could trap my little ones in a box like that for church!

 This is the first organ ever completely made in America.  I had to snap a picture for Heidi!

GQ Colonial Style...

Paul Revere's House

 I didn't get much out of this tour because Charity was done and so I skipped out early.  It was old though, built in 1600s.  

Make Way For Ducklings!

We had to stop by this cute statue in the Boston Garden!  

 Julie really does have 8 little ducklings!  I love this picture of the B Family!

 On the Boston Common, there were 37,000 flags displayed honoring all the military men and women who gave their lives for our freedom since the Revolutionary War until now.  It was a great way to honor Memorial Day!

We got home and decided to pick up a pizza and have dinner on the beach.  Nothing better than pizza and the Atlantic Ocean to finish off a fun day!

 This day was in my top three days of the trip!

Louisa May Alcott House

The next day we headed up to Concord area.  We stopped at the Alcott Family house.  Louisa's sisters took us on a tour.  It was great.  I thought, "Oh this will just be another tour of an old house and we haven't even read Little Women".  But it was so fun having someone in character take us through the house.  At the end the kids got to play games from that time period and they probably could've stayed there all day doing that!  It was great and now when we do read Louisa's books, my kids will have background experience to draw from!

 Walden Pond

Next, we drove a few miles to Walden Pond.  Here is a replica of Henry David Thoreau's house when he lived there…

Here is the original house site...

The crew in front of the Pond...

Minute Man Museum

The last stop of the day was the Minute Man Museum in Concord.  We had another great Colonial guide tell the kids about the Minute Men and what their training may have been like.  

 Lining up, preparing for battle...

 He showed the kids how to shoot a musket which was a highlight for everyone!

 There was also a visitors center and movie which was really great that we went to after our military training!

Mayflower 2 and Plimouth Plantation

Our third day in Plymouth was spent learning about the Pilgrims and Native Americans.  It was raining and cold the whole day.  The Mayflower 2 was great.  There were people dressed in character that you could ask questions about their lives.  None of the pictures I took on the ship turned out well though.  I think my camera was a little wet at this point :(.

After braving wind and rain on the Mayflower, we headed to Plimouth Plantation.  There were demonstrations of wood carving and pottery making.  Everything they make are used right there on the plantation.  

  Next we trekked through the rain again and went to the Native American village.  Here we are in the winter house.  The Native American here was very informative and we didn't want to leave this nice warm house!

 We also got to go inside a summer house.  The kids asked a lot of really good questions!

Here we are at a house in the English village.  The characters who work there are really informative and make you feel like you are right there in the 1600s!

It was really cold and rainy the whole day.  This little girl was so good and sat happily in her stroller the whole time we were outside.  Thanks Charity!

 After this tour, we were all going our separate ways, so we needed to take a few group shots!

Our traditional "line them up by age" picture we take every year!  They are growing too fast!

The three munchkins!

Hunter was so sad that Spencer was leaving.  He asked if our plane could stop by Utah on the way home to visit him.  These two are so cute together!

Plimouth Plantation was really fun and I want to go back sometime when it is not so cold so we can explore outside a little more!