One monkey, many trains

This morning the five of us drove to Wilkes Barre (75 minutes away) to see Theatre Works' production of Curious George. It had been about 3 months since Paul had joined us for a day trip so it made it all the more special. I had taken my students to see productions by Theatre Works when I taught in Maryland, and I took the kids to their first one last year when they saw Charlotte's Web at Penn State. Penn State charged $$ for that production, but amazingly the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre found sponsors and made this a free event. There were other homeschoolers there, but mostly there were busloads from public schools. The musical lasted about 60 minutes, and the five actors went through quite a few costume changes as they each played multiple roles. All three kids really enjoyed the show. The story was about a meatball contest in Rome. We ate lunch in the van after the show en route to Steamtown National Historic Site. This was the reason Paul joined us for the day. He has been waiting for years to take the kids there. Paul and I had been there (before we had kids), and he thought his

Oliver's strange expression is due to him saying "choo choo". Oops!

train loving boys would love the place as much as he did. They did enjoy it, although they ran through the place MUCH faster than Paul wanted. Nadia said her favorite part was the "house" which I then realized she was talking about the Pullman car the kids walked through a few times. We spent two hours there. Ian and Nadia both completed portions of a guide they were given to complete. Nadia was hoping to earn the Junior Ranger badge, but she didn't complete enough of it to earn it. The site is free for those under the age of 16 so we just had to

buy tickets for Paul and I. The weather was amazing. Who would imagine it would be 75 degrees out in November in Pennsylvania? It was a lovely day for a field trip. We used the time in the van to listen to books on CD from the library (Boxcar Children and Encyclopedia Brown). Oliver took his nap on the way home.

Tomorrow we will be on the road again, but this time it will be to go to Home Depot for a workshop for the kids and then to Paul's parents house for his mom's 71st birthday!