The Ecotarium

We start this post with Clarissa, happy to be out and about. Our destination? The Ecotarium in Worcester, Massachusetts.

At this point, you may be wondering what on earth an ecotarium is. It's a science center, with exhibits like the one Lydia is checking out about how mountains are made.

They also have a wall for sideways climbing, which the Muffins said is harder than they thought it would be.

The Ecotarium also serves as an animal rescue station, where animals in need are either rehabilitated and released or given permanent homes on site. Most of the habitats were outdoors, but we did see this bearded dragon in the main building:

And this macaw:

Here's Amanda building a balanced dinosaur. In the background Dad and the smaller Muffins are visiting a tank of turtles.

At the time of our visit, the museum was featuring an Alice in Wonderland themed exhibit. Here we have Muffins in an ever shrinking hallway:

And here are Dad and the Muffins playing golf ball games with upside down flamingo head launch ramps:

Speaking of balls, take a look at this ball ramp gadget that Amanda found. The Muffins spent quite a lot of time watching little balls travel through the gizmo over and over and over again:

Not far from the gadget, Mom got this picture of Dad helping out with the Muffins:

Here we have a truly unusual photo: Mom on the other side of the camera lens (that's right, folks, she's still corporeal).

One of the absolute favorite exhibits for the Muffins was the bubble blowing station, which had all kinds of tools for large or unusually shaped bubble fun. It was right outside the front door, and we spent a lot of time there both coming in and heading out.

Special thanks to Dad for lending his phone to photograph this outing.

Bridgeport Adventure Summer 2013

The weekend came, and a science museum adventure was in order. Destination: the Bridgeport Discovery Museum. Besides the indoor exhibits, the museum also hosts a serious outdoor ropes course. We didn't attempt the big course with our little bunch, but they did love trying out the indoor version.

It happened to be the anniversary of a local dental school program while we were there, and there was a dental hygiene awareness table with lots of freebies like toothbrushes, toothpaste, and stickers, which Lydia decided belonged on her mouth.

We found an area geared for the smallest people.

There was also a lunar section that the kids enjoyed.

Clarissa did not enjoy being an astronaut, however.

After the museum, we made our way to Long Island Sound to see the salt water.

Local legend says that island behind the kids may or may not have pirate treasure.

Amanda collected shells and flowers.

Mom took this picture of the van with salt water in the background to go with the Washington beach picture from summer 2012. The van has been from coast to coast with us!

First full family campout (almost)

Despite Mom and Dad's shared heritage of limited camping, Dad decided during summer 2012 that it was time to change all that. At least a little bit. It started with the tent, which got its first use sometime later that year. Only the first two Muffins were big enough then. However, by the summer of 2013, we were ready to expand the adventure a bit. Everyone went! Sort of . . .

The little girls (and Mom) really weren't that interested in a real overnighter, and so they all went home to normal beds after the evening campfire time. But, they made it back in time to get in on the fire-cooked breakfast! (and fresh mulberries!)

Just another cross country move

One day we saw a great deal on a used washer and dryer. So, we got a big truck to go pick them up. Since we had the truck and our place already had a washer and dryer, we decided to just pack up the rest of our stuff, too, and find a new place with room for our new appliances. Okay, so it wasn't quite like that, of course. Dad got a job in New England! Our first move photo of the post shows our moving truck by our Utah house. Big mountains out back, brown lawn out front, typical. The extra greenery on the mountains and cool cloudy days just before we moved were not so typical, but they made for a nice last week in Utah.

Here are the aforementioned washer and dryer, the first items to go on the truck:

Dad drove the truck and Mom drove the van, along with the luggage and the majority of the Muffins. One lucky Muffin at a time got to ride shotgun with Dad. Amanda and Jared spent a long time debating their "ride with Dad" schedule. Meanwhile, Curtis snuck into the truck and buckled himself in. (The white car made it east on its own power a few weeks before the move, in case you were wondering.)

And yes, he did get the first truck ride of the trip.

Back at the van, Clarissa steeled herself for four days of driving:

And then, we hit the road. Wyoming? Been there. Nebraska? Done that. Here are some Muffins at picnic dinner time at a gas station in Iowa on the evening of the second day:

And here are some Muffins at a toll road break station in Indiana on the afternoon of the third day:

If you click on the photo below to see a bigger version, you may be able to read the sign pointing the way to the Scranton, Pennsylvania post office. That's where we had lunch our last day on the road. At a gas station in Scranton, that is, not at the post office.

Finally, we arrived at our new house, shown below as it appears from the back yard (our half is the side closest to the camera):

Thanks so much to all the friends who helped us move out, to all the new friends who helped us move in, and to the repair guy who fixed the tire on the moving truck in Iowa . . . in the same general area that we spent extra time on our last cross country move taking care of a different last minute crisis.

Muffins and chocolate muffins

Ah, new life in New England. How sweet it is. Especially with the best kitchen in Muffin history thus far in which to bake muffins. Chocolate muffins, to be exact. One of the things Mom realized we wouldn't have handy here was the grocery store that used to be her source for chocolate muffins. And so, Mom and the Muffins worked together to see if they could make their own. After much mixing, here are the Muffins watching the muffins bake:

And here are the finished muffins, which not only looked good, but also met or exceeded the chocolatey goodness of the grocery store muffins we left behind:

Here's a link to the recipe we used: King Arthur Flour Chocolate Breakfast Muffins