Places to Go

It's rare that a day passes without me finding a new and interesting place to take the kids in Manchester-Nashua-Lowell area. Here are a few places I'd like to check out (or visit again):

• Seacoast Science Center, Rye
  
• Massabesic Audubon Center, Auburn
• Currier Museum of Art, Manchester
  
• Salisbury Beach
• Stone Zoo, Stoneham
  
• Rye Harbor State Park, Rye
  
• Two Bridge Park, Merrimack
• White Park, Concord (New Hampshire)
  
• Beaver Brook, Hollis
• Silver Lake State Park, Hollis
• New Hampshire Farm Museum, Milton
  
• Butterfly Place, Westford
• Fort Stark, New Castle
  
• Children's Museum of New Hampshire, Dover
• Bear Brook State Park, Allenstown
• Charmingfare Farm, Candia
  
• Parlee Farms, Tyngsborough
• Mine Falls Park, Nashua
• Lowell National Historical Park
  
• McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, Concord (New Hampshire)
• Pawtuckaway State Park, Nottingham
  
• Horse Hill Nature Preserve, Merrimack
• Apple Hill Farm, Concord (New Hampshire)
• Willard Brook State Forest, Townsend
• Great Brook Farm, Carlisle
• Fruitlands Museum, Harvard

There are dozens more places that I'll add to my list as the little ones get older. Our area of New England is rich in history and I am looking forward to when they are old enough to appreciate it.

Hotter Than Blue Blazes List

The temperature in Las Vegas topped out around 109° F today, meaning that the "heat" has officially arrived. I have an annual tradition of making a list of things for us to do when the weather is too hot to go outside and I figured today was a good day to share it.

Here are some things we could do this summer:

• install a ceiling fan in the living room
• visit the mermaids at the Silverton
• play Ring Around the Rosie
• make our own popsicles
• finger painting
• go to story time and get a free carousel ride
• go camping at Mt. Charleston
• play hide-and-seek
• make milkshakes in the blender (or almond milk with crushed ice)
• work on numbers larger than 13 with my 4 year old
• have friends over each week to play
• create a reading list for my teenager
• work on lowercase letters with my 4 year old
• potty train the 3 year old
• sleep naked
• teach the baby colors and shapes
• watch a family movie with everyone
• sew something for myself
• take the teenager to the Adventuredome
• help my 3 year old with numbers and counting objects
• make fruit salad
• go to the Silverton to see feeding time at the aquarium
• go to the atrium at the Bellagio
• make ice cream in our new ice cream ball
• celebrate the summer solstice
• make kabobs on the grill
• paint t-shirts with fabric paint
• do a photo shoot with the four kids
• play Chutes and Ladders
• make Dirt Cake