It comes earlier and earlier every year, or so it seems.
I’m talking about the day that I look at the calendar, and realize that I don’t have a free weekend until the following year.
We hit that point in early November.
It’s become harder and harder to plan trips, now, but we’re still working on it! We have a couple of big ones planned for the new year, including our first cruise, and my first SOLO flight with the duo. <– I’ll gladly take any tips you all may have on that one.
Meanwhile, we’re back in November, with lots of fun plans crammed into just a few weekends. My cousin (who was my Maid of Honor) was busy with last minute wedding plans, and she was so sweet that she invited me to tag along on some of the to-do items! I got a sneak peek of her dress, but really, I was just happy to spend a few extra hours with her.
In order to make all of these fun outings work, however, we needed a little help from our kiddos. They happily helped us to get through event after event, and took on a few extra chores.. Favorites include helping feed Marley, making a sandwich, and reading your own bedtime story. (yes, that is sharpie on the carpet in their bedroom… a story for another day.)
To celebrate our new helping hands, we visited the Carousel Museum for the very first time ever. The New England Carousel Museum is locate in Bristol, CT- very close to us! It really is a shame we hadn’t been there yet. On this particular weekend, we checked out www.ctvisit.com for a list of fun things to do, and found out the carousel museum was having a children’s carnival, so we decided to go check it out.
What fun. The was a magician, who also made balloon animals, face painting, crafts, snacks, and free rides on their carousel! The price wasn’t totally outrageous, for the offerings, but our kids weren’t too impressed by the magician. Luckily, TT Dad was, so he checked out the show while I waited in line for face painting with the kids. We walked in with two toddlers, and ended up taking spiderman and a cheetah home!
Not surprisingly, the carousel itself was probably their favorite part. For some reason, we split up, so each of them got a turn to ride, and a turn to watch their twin ride. I’m not sure which they enjoyed more, to be honest.
TT Dad and I really enjoyed the museum’s exhibits- there was a wonderful history lesson inside, as well as so many old carousel horses, and models. Age-old questions were answered- like where did the ‘brass ring’ originate?
Little known fact- Paula Abdul had her East Coast Wedding at the New England Carousel Museum.
She’s not alone. The Carousel museum is rented out often for parties and weddings.
How FUN!
Somewhere in all of that fun, we also celebrated Thanksgiving. We celebrated in CT this year, with my family. We had a wonderful time, laughing and sharing stories. The feast doubled as a little birthday party for my younger brother and me. We even had a Carvel cake! Those chocolate crunchies! Thank you, to N&P for making sure I got to blow out candles one more time.
I was ready to start the last year of my 30’s. A new year, with so many new adventures headed our way!