Boys' Day Trip

 Museum and Aquarium

 Petting the Sturgeon... eww.

 Merry sticking his hand in a fish's mouth, odd since he

broke his finger the next day.

 Yeah... a game of solitaire when there is all this interest stuff.

 A replica of a giant anaconda... eww..

 The slop house, the boys loved this one.

 Pippin in a bubble.

 Driving the barge

 Inside the storehouse of a boat (not that there was a boat but this was suppose to be the inside)

 Merry and Mark Twain buddies.

 The Steam boat

 It was somewhere about this point when someone set off the fire alarm.  Quaint.

 Yeah... very quaint.  The whole doggone city showed up for the fire that didn't exist.

 Mark Twain's cave

 Using a pulley to life the barrel.

 Walking on the logs "floating" down the river.

 Lunch break

 Pippin being eaten by a crocodile.

 Petting a real snake.... ewww.

 The boys, both big and little

 About this point in the day the M&M's from the cookies set in, the costumes went on and the wild 'n crazies began.

 The boys, both big and little.... take 2

 Now we come to a great surprise, a ride up an "elevator"

 I was sure at any moment the cable would break.

 About this point one of the boys hollered, I'm scared!

Yeah, it was a rather scary ride!

 Then came the sweet surprise of ice cream cones.

 I'm not sure what the shop keeper thought about a whole pack of boys taking up all the available space in his shoppe and ordering 18 ice creams in a single sitting.

 I also didn't know I knew the names of so many beanie babies

 Then we visited a beautiful old church.

 To get into the church, because it is closed during the day, you have to walk through the rectory which was a sight to behold in and of itself.

 One of my favorite paintings.  There were any number of beautiful pieces of art.

 This used to be  a church within a church (?)

 The mortuary where the bishops are buried.

 The scale.  And no, I did not get on this with 17 boys, big and little, standing around.... or afterwards for that matter!!  Even though Frodo did ask.

 Then we made a visit.  It was amazing that these boys who were non-stop motion and gibbering went in and knelt down in silence and stillness.

 The organ.

In the foyer in the back of the church they had various vestments framed as well as the TLM altar cards. Very beautiful.