Have you ever planned out a whole day of fun for your family only to have your kids derail those plans? The last few days definitely fall into this category.
First it took forever to get the brood up and moving yesterday morning. They are absolutely in love with our campground and have no desire to leave it. There are board games to check out from the office and a basketball court (#2 has discovered he has an innate talent for basketball and wants to play all day long) and a rec room. I finally got them motivated to go and we made it to Boston around lunch time.
We started out by securing some Junior Ranger Books andthen went to board the USS Constitution only to find it was closed for the lunch hour. This frigate is the world’s oldest ship of any type still afloat. It was launched in 1797 and is moored at Constitution Wharf in Boston. Occasionally it is even sailed around the bay for special occasions.
While we waited for its crew’s lunch break to be over, we found some benches and took our own lunch break. It opened back up and we boarded and did some exploring. The kids were fascinated by all the rigging, ropes, and sails. We even got to see the area full of hammocks where the crew would sleep while sailing. Each of the kids took a turn at the helm pretending to steer the ship. Afterwards, the boys took to seeing who could climb the highest on the display anchors out front of the ship.
Also, out front of the Constitution starts the red brick road through Boston called The Freedom Trail. This trail makes several stops throughout the city at various important monuments, statues, and points of historic interest – all related to American independence.
We followed the trail next door to the USS Constitution Museum where I had only planned to spend an hour or so filling out the short section in the Junior Ranger Books. The children had other ideas though. They found an interactive exhibit which allowed them to design a ship and then sail it against one another’s ships to see whose could last the longest before being sunk. As soon as your ship was sunk, you were able to launch another and continue on. I think all four kids spent about an hour here.
I finally dragged them away to see the rest of the museum. We learned how the different crew members on the ship lived and were able to ‘meet’ cardboard cutouts of them.
The children hurried through these parts of the museum quickly filling out their books, so they could head straight back to the build-a-ship exhibit where we spent probably another hour or so.
We finally headed out of the museum nearing supper time and followed the Freedom Trail up towards Bunker Hill where the children were able to complete their ranger books and earn another badge.
Today, I had plans to hike the Minute Men Trail following the path of Paul Revere and the other Freedom Riders while giving the children an opportunity to earn another Junior Ranger badge. Keeping in mind the children managed a 3.5 mile hike several days earlier, I thought this would be a piece of cake. Wow! I was so wrong. We hadn’t even made it half a mile down the trail before I turned us back around and headed back to the car. There had been non-stop whining, bickering, and moaning from the moment we stepped on the trail. Today was not a day I could take it.
Walking back to the car, I grabbed out some snacks and set them out on a nearby picnic table for the kids and I took a seat a couple picnic tables over. They scarfed down some food while I watched from afar and they ran around seeming to get over their earlier grumpiness. I figured we’d give the trail one more try; this time by driving the road parallel to the trail and stopping at significant locations.
Proceeding this way allowed the children to finish their books letting us return to the Ranger Station where they earned yet another badge. Having had enough of exploring and hiking, we headed back to the campground where the kids all ran about and played and I relaxed next to the fire. I’ve mentioned before my struggle with trying to micromanage and control every aspect of our day, and these last couple days the kids really put me to the test. We only accomplished about half of what I set out to do. Through force, I’m becoming more flexible and more able to adapt to situations gone wrong. The struggle is real though.
Case in point, we’re driving near Cape Cod on our way to New York City, and we’ve decided to stop and check it out and play on the beach. Let’s hope I can hack the schedule change like a pro.
