First a note: Wendy, call me!!!!
Ok, now my real blog. We just got back from Boston late last night. Other than running out of gas on the freeway, it was a trouble-free trip! Well..ok...the man behind the dest at the DoubleTree hotel did not believe I was the person with reservations for some reason. He made me step aside and wait while he called my dad's room (my dad wasn't there) and then had me wait until he could somehow confirm who I was. ??? Eventually my mom and dad and Sadie came back from dinner and we were allowed into the hotel. It was a bit weird. But everything else was just fun, if a bit painful for those of us (me) who are not used to so much walking.
On Friday we did the Freedom Walk through Boston, stopping at the Old North Church and seeing Paul Rever's house. It was interesting. Then, in the afternoon we visited MIT and took their campus tour. It was also interesting, but the best part was after the tour when we went to find the film department but instead found the Lego Lab. This was a large room that looked very much like one of my kids' rooms-- Legos, electronic components, half-finished construction projects in various mediums (including plywood, styrofoam, plastic and wax, among others), pizza boxes and juice bottles, and people working on computers, putting stuff together, etc. In one corner, sitting on a half-burried couch, we found the guys who invented Lego Mindstorms. They showed us the project they're working on now-- a cool combination of electronics and arts-and-craft things like pipe cleaners, pompoms and felt. Also, they showed us a new computer program (called Scratch) they're working on that works like the click-together programing of Mindstorms, but is for Animation. Very cool. Peter climbed onto a model car they were buliding and asked tons of questions, which the guy building it was happy to answer. Then this same guy listened as Josh explained his ideas for capturing light and making an eternal flashlight. He said is sounded possible, and asked if Josh was a student at MIT. =) Bethany explained the solar-panel projects she'd building and he listened, asked questions and spent quite a while doing cool stuff with our kids. It was such an awesome place, with everyone working together on whatever their project was, willing to listen and help, and not think my kids were strange or out in left field. I wish it was all just down the street, instead of 10 hours away.
That night I collapsed, exhaused from all the walking. My legs recovered on about Monday.
On Saturday we drove to Concord and saw Louisa May Allcot's home, then drove to Plymouth to see the rock, the Mayflower and the graves of our ancestors. The rock was... a rock. The ship was pretty, but closed for winter (opens in two weeks), and the graves were mostly unmarked now because their markers were made of wood and didn't last the almost 300 years. But it was cool to be there and think of the people who landed there and to wonder what it looked like when they arrived, and if they are watching us visit their old lands. We had 9 ancestors on the Mayflower. One was Brewster, their religious leader and the only one with a formal education. Another was Billington, the first man hung for murder in the New World. Ahh... our notable ancestors. =)
On Sunday we got to hear the homecoming talk of Mike's cousin, Michael, who was returning from a 2-year mission in Russia. He told of a man who searched and searched for the true church of God and who finally gave up, held a loaded gun to his head and said, "God, I cannot find you here. So I am coming to you there." Then he felt a feeling, like a warm blanket being wrapped around him, and something said, "Wait just a little longer." The next day he said to someone that he could not find the true church of God anywhere. A woman, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, who had not attended meetings in a long time, overheard him and said, "Go to this place. You will find what you are looking for." He did, and was baptized by Michael. Amazing.
On Monday we drove home. Betewn Baltimore and D.C. we ran out of gas. It was my own fault (of course). The light had been on, and I had completely forgotten about it, and kept happliy driving down the road. Until pushing on the gas pedal didn't do anything. Then I realized-- umm... Houston, we have a problem. To make a long story short, a man rescued us. Thank Heaven for good people on Earth. And we made it home safely by about 10:30 pm.
Book Recomendation of the Day: The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare. This is on a higher reading level than her other books, is fiction, and takes place in Palestine during Jesus' lifetime. She does a good job of showing the political situation and tensions of the time and the book is well-researched and well-written. Newbery winner. =)
Ok, now my real blog. We just got back from Boston late last night. Other than running out of gas on the freeway, it was a trouble-free trip! Well..ok...the man behind the dest at the DoubleTree hotel did not believe I was the person with reservations for some reason. He made me step aside and wait while he called my dad's room (my dad wasn't there) and then had me wait until he could somehow confirm who I was. ??? Eventually my mom and dad and Sadie came back from dinner and we were allowed into the hotel. It was a bit weird. But everything else was just fun, if a bit painful for those of us (me) who are not used to so much walking.
On Friday we did the Freedom Walk through Boston, stopping at the Old North Church and seeing Paul Rever's house. It was interesting. Then, in the afternoon we visited MIT and took their campus tour. It was also interesting, but the best part was after the tour when we went to find the film department but instead found the Lego Lab. This was a large room that looked very much like one of my kids' rooms-- Legos, electronic components, half-finished construction projects in various mediums (including plywood, styrofoam, plastic and wax, among others), pizza boxes and juice bottles, and people working on computers, putting stuff together, etc. In one corner, sitting on a half-burried couch, we found the guys who invented Lego Mindstorms. They showed us the project they're working on now-- a cool combination of electronics and arts-and-craft things like pipe cleaners, pompoms and felt. Also, they showed us a new computer program (called Scratch) they're working on that works like the click-together programing of Mindstorms, but is for Animation. Very cool. Peter climbed onto a model car they were buliding and asked tons of questions, which the guy building it was happy to answer. Then this same guy listened as Josh explained his ideas for capturing light and making an eternal flashlight. He said is sounded possible, and asked if Josh was a student at MIT. =) Bethany explained the solar-panel projects she'd building and he listened, asked questions and spent quite a while doing cool stuff with our kids. It was such an awesome place, with everyone working together on whatever their project was, willing to listen and help, and not think my kids were strange or out in left field. I wish it was all just down the street, instead of 10 hours away.
That night I collapsed, exhaused from all the walking. My legs recovered on about Monday.
On Saturday we drove to Concord and saw Louisa May Allcot's home, then drove to Plymouth to see the rock, the Mayflower and the graves of our ancestors. The rock was... a rock. The ship was pretty, but closed for winter (opens in two weeks), and the graves were mostly unmarked now because their markers were made of wood and didn't last the almost 300 years. But it was cool to be there and think of the people who landed there and to wonder what it looked like when they arrived, and if they are watching us visit their old lands. We had 9 ancestors on the Mayflower. One was Brewster, their religious leader and the only one with a formal education. Another was Billington, the first man hung for murder in the New World. Ahh... our notable ancestors. =)
On Sunday we got to hear the homecoming talk of Mike's cousin, Michael, who was returning from a 2-year mission in Russia. He told of a man who searched and searched for the true church of God and who finally gave up, held a loaded gun to his head and said, "God, I cannot find you here. So I am coming to you there." Then he felt a feeling, like a warm blanket being wrapped around him, and something said, "Wait just a little longer." The next day he said to someone that he could not find the true church of God anywhere. A woman, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, who had not attended meetings in a long time, overheard him and said, "Go to this place. You will find what you are looking for." He did, and was baptized by Michael. Amazing.
On Monday we drove home. Betewn Baltimore and D.C. we ran out of gas. It was my own fault (of course). The light had been on, and I had completely forgotten about it, and kept happliy driving down the road. Until pushing on the gas pedal didn't do anything. Then I realized-- umm... Houston, we have a problem. To make a long story short, a man rescued us. Thank Heaven for good people on Earth. And we made it home safely by about 10:30 pm.
Book Recomendation of the Day: The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare. This is on a higher reading level than her other books, is fiction, and takes place in Palestine during Jesus' lifetime. She does a good job of showing the political situation and tensions of the time and the book is well-researched and well-written. Newbery winner. =)
posted by Rebecca =) | 1:26 PM
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