From time to time we've ventured down to Wellesley to Elm Bank, a 36 acre garden and grounds of the
Massachusetts Horticultural Center. It really is a beautiful place when everything is in bloom, and this time it was host to the Massachusetts Marketplace Festival.
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Teeming with enough vendors to empty your wallet and tempt every sweettooth, the festival celebrated New England's farmers, specialty food producers & artisans. Our personal favourite was
Vision's Sown, bakers of delicious cookies made with minimally processed and ancient grains; I hope they make their way to our local farmer's market or Whole Foods soon!
I was a little disappointed after cheerfully shelling out admission for myself and four kids, that I then had to pay for separate tickets for almost every activity the kids wanted to do--I must have missed this somehow in their online advertising. I understand there was fundraising to be done, but I don't normally carry a lot of cash, even for bouncy houses and face painting.
But really, we couldn't pass up the expertise of the face painter...
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Other activities included glitter tattoos, hayride, & butterfly crafts (which were free, yay!). There were ample shaded picnic tables available for our picnic lunch...
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Butterflies seemed to be the theme of our day, with Maia choosing a butterfly design for her face, and all of the kids colouring a butterfly puppet. Right behind the butterfly table was a purple butterfly bush--and as if on cue, a beautiful one descended to the flowers for the occasion...
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The kids were enthralled, and played along with their puppets...
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Much of our time at Elm Bank was spent in Weezie's Children's Garden. We have come here before to meet up with friends--it's a wonderful creatively landscaped children's play area.
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If you're in the area, Elm Bank is worth a visit, festival or no!