Tall Ships Festival, Part 1

I've resigned myself to the fact that blogger is possessed. I've been working on this post for a week!! Blogger has eaten my pictures, my text, refuses to upload pictures, and won't save anything. So ... for better or worse, here's part one of a mish-mash post about the Tall Ships Festival ... there are actually some tall ships in the next post ... grrrr.

It's been a couple of weeks since we went to the Tall Ships Festival in Gloucester. On a side note, after spending my whole life stumbling through nursery rhymes, I finally know how to pronounce "Gloucester." Now on to other mysteries of the world ....

We took the double-decker bus to Gloucester, which the kids were so excited about. They called it the double-duggar bus ;) The day started out clear, but before we knew it we were heading inside the National Waterways Museum to escape the rain. The museum told all about the complex canal systems constructed throughout England. They were used to distribute goods brought into Gloucester Port. It was quite interesting!

It's been neat seeing so many places with names we recognize from home. Reminds us of where we came from, I guess. I spent many an afternoon cooling off in the Severn Run (sort of like a creek/stream) as a teenager.

There were some neat displays about the family's who lived in boats on the canals and the kids' enjoyed the dress up area.

This picture is quite blurry, but it shows not only how much fun the kids had using the pulleys to lift these heavy bags, but also how many people stop and use our kids' antics for their own enjoyment and entertainment :)

This laundry basket would be perfect for our house!

Emerson's experience with the pulleys!! (No two year old heads were injured during this experience.)

Kids playing with the miniature canal boats.

This one made me stop and think for a minute ... candy cotton? Not so much .. maybe it's supposed to remind you to floss after you eat it?

Part two ... tall ships