Town Lines

The girls passed a milestone of sorts: the rode their bikes past a town line today, en route to Livingston Park (aka Saunders Recreational Area) in Tewksbury.

Beta wanted to go for a bike ride, and Alpha didn’t want to do any chores, and they both knew that I’m a pushover for going on long bike rides.  Beta chose the destination, because Livingston Park is pretty cool and we never let her go there.

Alpha led the way, as the park is on the way to Strongwater Farm (where she takes riding lessons).  I think she wanted to prove she can ride her bike that far, as she wants to volunteer to work with the horses when she’s old enough.

While there, they climbed around a little:

climbing on the jungle gym
The girls doing things that mothers shouldn’t see

On the way home we shall euphemistically say that we “held a few lessons on keeping bikes away from the car lanes,” or maybe “keeping to our side of the white line (and why that’s a good idea),” and leave it at that.

Altitude, the Trampoline Park

Beta on the climbing wall
Beta on the Altitude climbing wall. She dropped into the foam pit a moment after this photo was taken.

The morning after a sleepover, I took Beta, Alpha, and Alpha’s sleeping-over friend Rho to Altitude, an indoor trampoline park.  (Fun fact: once upon a time they were called “jumpolines” until your mom got on one.)

They have a field of unadulterated trampolines for jumping, plus dodgeball (on trampolines), basketball layups (on trampolines), long jumps with trampolines (landing in a foam pit), climbing walls (over foam pits), and pugil sticks on a balance beam (again, falling into foam pits).

It’s pricey, as you’re charged by the half-hour and it’s $9 per person per half-hour (discounts apply for longer blocks of time).  You also must bring special Altitude-branded non-skid socks or buy them for $2/pair.

It’s a really good time despite the price.  I recommend not more than an hour at a time – the kids really started to flag after about 45 minutes.  They slept well that night, too.

Sledding in Wilmington

Wilmington sits in region of Massachusetts that is sadly bereft of protrusive terrain.  Coming from hilly Connecticut, I quickly noticed the lack of sledding opportunities.

It’s not all sad flatness, however.  We have a great prominence left by the glaciers at the south end of town, by a local ball field.  I’m not sure if the hill or the field have a name – Google Maps is currently mum.  It appears to be about 100′ high.

From the road, you would never know a sledding track is there, except for the number of cars in the parking lot that appear immediately after a snowfall.

There are two sledding tracks, one steeper than the other.  The flatter one is a favorite of the little kids, but the “ruts” tend to be better defined on the steeper track (ironically, making that one the safer track as you’re less likely to drift off-course).

deCordova Museum

The kids are on April break, I took the week off to be with them, and Meghan is at work.  It’s a great time to do something out of the ordinary, especially since it’s a bright sunny day.

I know – something educational!  Something cultural!  Art!

I brought my little heathens to the deCordova Museum‘s sculpture park.  (The main museum is closed while they prepare for the summer exhibits.)  It’s a huge outdoor exhibit, so they can run around and get some fresh air while taking in some mind-broadening experiences.

When I take the girls to art museums I coax them to pose like the artistic subjects (when possible – modern art gets a little hard).  It makes them focus on the art at hand as well as learn to use their bodies, but best of all they think it’s fun.

Kids posing with sculpture
Alpha and Beta posing with some modern art

This was our first time there, but I think we’re going to get a membership now.  I had to drag the kids away and bribe them with lunch at a restaurant.