Favorite Find: Boston Children's Museum

I cannot even put into words how incredible this museum is. We have never been and I feel a bit ashamed to admit that. How could I have denied my child this exceptional experience until he was four years old?! The travesty I tell ya! 

In all seriousness, if you are looking for something to do with your kids or your friend's kids, THIS is the spot. It costs $18 to get in so our family of 3 was $54. I will also add that parking in this area of Boston is a bit pricey. With that being said, we stayed for over 5 hours and we didn't even get to it all and our toddler was sad to leave. 

The museum is 3 floors. So... allow me to share each floor with you and our favorite parts. 

The first floor is KidStage (which we didn't even get to), the Science Playground (which is divided into 3 rooms, Bubble, Investigate, and Raceways), and the KidPower area (which we also didn't even get to). 

We spent a good chunk of time in the Raceways room and the Bubbles room. 

The Raceways room has about a gagillion golf balls to use in a bunch of different ways. Different tracks, different heights, and more. Our toddler was in this room for a solid hour. At least. And we could've left him there all day and he'd have been ecstatic. 

The Bubble room was adorable. I'd say good for smaller kids/toddlers. He enjoyed it and the giant bubble maker was a huge hit. Plus blowing bubbles over and over doesn't stink. 

And bonus points for the museum for having an ample amount of smocks AND a hand washing station with a dryer. 

The second floor has a big PlaySpace for kids 3 and under (our newly 4-year-old enjoyed it immensely though), Peeps World, Countdown to Kindergarten, The Common, Arthur & Friends (which we never got to), and KEVA (which we also never got to). 

PlaySpace was fantastic and so interactive for small children. There's benches and spots for parents to sit in every section which is SO nice. 

They also had quite possibly the coolest train table ever made. 

Peep's World and Countdown to Kindergarten kept our son's interest, especially being able to ride and drive a school bus! The gear shifter works, the buttons work, and there's even a little video screen showing what you see outside of a moving school bus. 

The faux kindergarten classroom was wonderful as well. 

The third floor was our son's favorite. Boston Black (a faux city) and Construction Zone. There's also Japanese house (which we didn't get to) and Explore-a-saurus. 

The faux city was my personal favorite and the pretend grocery store even had a working register with computer. Seriously adorable. 

The construction zone was incredibly popular and our son had a blast running all over, climbing, playing, and experiencing a real-life construction vehicle. 

The dinosaur exhibit was so realistic. There's even a part where the kids can interact with the dinosaur, having it move it's hands and blink, and make sounds. 

And something really interesting happened while we were in this exhibit. Something I've actually never seen in any museum before. An employee was walking around with a checklist and making sure every single exhibit and component of each exhibit worked. If something didn't they were there fixing it immediately. #brilliant 

A few tidbits about the museum.

- You CAN bring your own food from home and eat in their designated areas. BIG plus. Why? Because there is no food for purchase at the museum. So... bring snacks or lunch with you. 

- There IS a coat room so you don't have to worry about dragging all of your coats around the museum. 

- The hallways and pathways are plenty wide so there's ample stroller room. Plus, there's stroller 'parking' on each level. 

- There's plenty to do here from babies up to about age 10. Honestly, once you're over 10 I think it might be a little boring. #sorrybigkids 

- Friday nights from 5-9pm it's only $1 to get in. We have already made note of that for our next visit!

- The museum is located on the water by the seaport so there's plenty to do and see in the area. 

- The museum has an AMAZING outdoor playground connected to it that your kids could spend hours on that alone! 

- They have a family membership but it would take coming 4 times in a year for us to break even on it and we don't go into Boston enough to make it worth it. BUT if we were going into the city for a few days, we'd snag a membership and go for a little bit every day because it's THAT good. 


I saved THE BEST for last. 

Immediately upon entering the museum, you see this GIGANTIC climbing apparatus that goes up to the third floor. There's one way in on the bottom which is also the only way out. THIS. WAS. PHENOMENAL. Our son is small for his age and tends to have difficulty in these indoor playscape and climbing areas. But not this one! He actually made it all the way to the top! 

I seriously cannot recommend this museum enough if you and your family are ever in Boston. 

Fall Family Fun

Being from Florida and not moving up north until I was in my 20's, I feel as though I have an extra appreciation for the season. And the transition from summer to fall is my favorite. Just chilly enough for a sweater and scarf, the scent of apple cider fills the air, leaves are changing to a variety of different colors, and you can't help but be happy in fall. And if you aren't happy in fall, you're related to the Grinch! Ha ha.

Our early fall tradition has always been to take a weekend and spend the day pumpkin picking, having cider donuts, and enjoying the crisp fall air. We have always gone to Jones Farm in years past, but this year, with a rambunctious toddler, we decided to try somewhere new and somewhere we've always wanted to visit. Fair Weather Acres.

People. You know where this is. Every fall when you drive down I-91 you see it. It takes up ACRES on the side of the highway. My husband and I are always wondering what it is yet never take the time to venture there. Until this weekend. Holy wonderfulness. I cannot believe we've been missing out this entire time we've lived here!

I hope the little snippits into our day give you an idea of how incredible this place it!

There's SO much to do here! You take a hay ride to get from the parking lot and entrance to the back side of the entire 'fall festival'. It's $19 per adult to get in (apparently it's half price on Fridays after 2:00 so we're going back then!) and kids 2 and under are free. You get a hand stamp, can stay as long as you want, and it includes any pumpkin of your choosing. Yep, even giant ones!

Everything is in a relatively open field and areas are clearly marked. The staff is very friendly and incredibly helpful, especially for us first-timers who probably looked a bit overwhelmed!

The reason we went. For this little one to get to do THIS.

Have you ever seen such an incredible sight?! Not just the fact it was empty (this was 2 minutes after they opened, within 10 minutes there were a good 50 kids in it!) but a giant corn pit with a massive playscape inside of it?!

If you didn't think it was fun, here's proof. Both for the actual young and young at heart.

With tons of activities and games and things to do, it's a great place to go for a family day. With big kids or young,  it's a great time to had by all!

I mean is this not the cutest little train you've ever seen?!

OK. This made me a little nervous but the kids had a BLAST on it. It's a massive bounce pad, built into the ground, surrounded so they can roll off if need be. Which, for our little guy, was needed. They are VERY smart and have a height limit (I believe its 52") and they spilt the kids into two size groups. Then, they do waves and have the kids take turns. It's about a 3-5 minute period of jumping, which i sample time, and then they swap out for the other size group. I wish you could be bigger and adults could jump!

Why is it in a giant pumpkin patch filled with ALL sizes of pumpkins he decides that the BIG one is the one he wants?!

The corn maze. There's clues scattered around for older kids and even a map for those worried about getting lost. But for a toddler, it's ample room to run!

I am SO glad we finally decided to try this place out and I can't imagine not having this be a yearly tradition for us. Fair Weather Acres did NOT disappoint. We spent two hours there and could've easily spent another two hours there too. Have you ever been?!

Looking for more Fall posts? Check out my favorite Connecticut Blogger Babes below! We've linked up for an October Blog Hop. Want to participate too? Add your link!

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