Yet More Catching Up

Three-day weekends always catch Mark and me by surprise.

"Did you know there's a three-day weekend coming up?"  says one of us.

"No," says the other, over and over.

This February was no different.  We managed to pull ourselves together for an almost impromptu weekend in central Massachusetts.  Very pleasant despite breathtakingly cold weather.  Astoundingly cold weather.

First we visited the Eric Carle Museum, in Amherst, MA.

It wasn't as large as I imagined it, but it had a great library, bookstore and art room, all dedicated to the love of the picture book.

I'd really like to visit again while Frances is still interested in picture books (the days are numbered).

We finished up the night with a tour of Amherst and then bunkered down in the hotel.

See these angelic pink cheeks?

This is what happens to Chandler when she's exposed to the extreme cold.  And I forget every year.  I should just leave a tub of Hydrolatum with our cold weather gear.

Also, she may look angelic, but she's not.  The child is no fun in a hotel room.  A big hotel bed is way too fun to jump on, and those silly hotel people give you two big hotel beds to jump on!  I think Mark eventually had to pin her down to convince her to sleep.

The next day, the kids spent the morning swimming in the hotel pool (Frances swimming without flotation aid!) and then we found our way to the Montague Bookmill.  I'd seen the Montague Bookmill bumper sticker ("Books you don't need in a place you can't find") several times in Jamaica Plain and been intrigued.  I'm so glad we bothered to find it; this place is a gem - restaurant, bookstore, art gallery and comic book store all in one (that's not quite right, but close).

Frances came away with The Monster Who Grew Small (yay!) and Chandler found a Waldo book with lots of monsters (boo!).

One last foray outside the bookstore to take pictures of the frozen river...

...and then we rushed home.  We'd planned to visit the Massachusetts contemporary art museum, but after a night in a hotel room with Chandler, we were exhausted.  Another three-day weekend, another trip.