Animals, trails, ice cream and more at Great Brook Farm

Posted on August 25, 2022 by Unabashedly Ashleigh

I’ve been writing a lot about our go to outdoor adventure spots, and this place has quickly become a favorite of ours. If you caught my stories this week you may have seen they have some pretty feisty chickens, so if you get an ice cream there, you may be safer eating inside ;-). Great Brook Farm State Park is a public, day-use recreation area featuring an active dairy farm in the town of Carlisle, Massachusetts. It has more than 20 miles of trails that you can walk and bike in the non-winter months and cross-country ski in the winter. There is so much to do and explore here and I’ll take you through a day here with the boys.

Active Dairy Farm

First stop is usually the dairy farm. Depending on the time of day we go we usually will start with visiting and feeding the animals and getting a yummy ice cream. The ice cream house opens at 11, so plan your visit accordingly. The animals have to be our absolute part. They are all incredibly active and friendly and they have a quarter machine with food, so be sure to bring lots of quarters! They have free range chickens, pigs, cows, goats, sheep and llamas. My favorites are the goats and llamas! The boys have so much fun petting and feeding them.

Farm animals, petting farms, free range chickens, fun at Great Brook Dairy Farm

The ice-cream is delicious, and you can also get hot dogs and chips. They have a cute little store inside with lots of fun farm-based toys and books. My favorite ice cream flavor so far has to be the coconut almond bar…it’s delicious and my almost 2-year-old loves it too. The children’s size is perfect for my 7-year-old, and I usually share one with my toddler. I like that they have a “good size” children size here. So many ice cream stands go a bit overboard for the kiddy ice cream if you ask me. This week we took our ice cream outside and my 7-year-old made the mistake of giving one of the chickens a bite of his ice cream. Immediately afterwards the chicken jumped up and grabbed a bite himself and another one jumped up on the table and tried to take my toddlers! They are not shy, and they will go after your treats, so if you are at all skittish of wild chickens, I’d eat your treat inside!

Exploring the trails and pond

There are over 20 miles of trails at the park, but don’t let that intimidate you. We generally walk the trails right around the dairy farm and it’s the perfect little trail walk with little kids. I’m getting to that point with my almost 2-year-old where he no longer wants to be in a stroller, and when I put him down, he just takes off at lighting speed. So far wearing him on these trails has been the best option, but I do let him down to explore too. Most of the trails start off in the woods and have sections in open fields, we hardly ever pass anyone so it’s always a very peaceful and quiet walk. This week near the parking area they had signs of a guided story on one of the trails. I absolutely LOVED this idea. The had all the pages of the book printed out and staked throughout the trail. Sadly my 7-year-old was in a bit of a mood and wasn’t interested, but normally he would love that kind of thing.

One of the favorite spots for my 7-year-old is the pond down the hill from the dairy farm. It’s adjacent to a large field that habitats lots of geese. Watch your step, as there is lots of geese poop. It’s absolutely beautiful here, with lily pads and beautiful green grass and trees. My son loves to look for frogs, and we’ve seen a few snakes too.

If you decide to visit you do have to pay $3 for parking on a machine, so make sure you bring a card. If traveling with a little one, I recommend bringing either a carrier or a stroller if you plan to explore the trails. It’s a wonderful morning or afternoon out so I encourage you to get out there and meet the animals, explore the trails, and reward yourself with a scoop! Happy exploring, be sure to let me know your thoughts if you visit.

Adventures at East Boston Camps

Posted on August 10, 2022 by Unabashedly Ashleigh

When my boys and I moved to New England a few months ago, it was a huge change for all of us. I was born and raised here but have been living in Florida since 2005. My now 7-year-old, has grown up living on the water, fishing off the dock, and exploring Florida’s water life. We live to be outdoors, and as a mom of two very active little boys, our days go so much more smoothly if we spend a lot of time outside.

East Boston Camps is 286 acres of trails, ponds and camp buildings located within the Stony Brook Conservation Land. I remember going to East Boston Camps as a kid with my dad. These are some of my fondest memories with him and after losing him several years ago. It’s been nice to share these moments with my own kids. It’s amazing how the place hasn’t changed in all these years. Even the camp buildings are the originals. When we were kids my brother spent a week of overnight camp here in elementary school. Unfortunately, his class didn’t behave and ruined it for the younger generations ;-). Just looking at the dock’s memories came flooding in of my dad and I swimming across the pond, biking the trails and jumping into the water to cool off on those hot summer days. I’ve loved re-exploring it all through the eyes of my boys.

My family home, that I’m now living in with my mom, is only 5 minutes from this little outdoor oasis. You could literally spend hours here hiking different trails, fishing, swimming, creature hunting, exploring the campgrounds and sighting trains. Seriously, a little boy’s dream place! It has quickly become a go to weekly spot for us. Everyday we go we always see something new, from the biggest frog I’ve ever seen, to more snakes than I’d care to say. It’s always an adventure and has become our happy place. My oldest even had the privilege of doing a week of camp here this summer and he had a blast, hiking, fishing and swimming.

If you’re local, and you’ve never been, I encourage you to put some sneakers and bug spray on, pack some snacks and sandwiches and get out there and explore. Something about being out in nature, with my boys, has brought me so much peace during a difficult time.

Black Raspberry, the Narwhal of the Berry Family

Posted on August 9, 2022 by Unabashedly Ashleigh

Is it a Blackberry, Raspberry, or Black Raspberry? Do you know the difference?

A few weeks ago, we had dear friends visit. Our sons have been buddies since they were 3 and us mommas became great friends through their friendship. We were so excited when they told us they were coming to visit us! The boys were out back exploring, looking for bugs when they ran in to tell us they discovered a berry bush. Berries are my boy’s absolute favorite thing, so berries on a bush in the backyard? Well, it doesn’t get much better than that. I grew up in this house and I remember picking berries next door as a child, but I don’t remember ever having any berry trees in our yard.

The boys told us that they thought it was a blackberry and a raspberry bush, and that’s exactly what it looked like. But the blackberries were much smaller than the blackberries you find in the store, and much less harry too. My friend did a little research and it turned out it wasn’t either of those, but a black raspberry. Did you know there was such a thing? In all my 39 years of life I did not know that there was a black raspberry, but that makes more sense out the loveable back raspberry ice-cream.

I started doing some research on our newfound berry bush and it turns out that black raspberries are rather rare and is like the narwhal of the berry world. Wow, that makes me feel like we have quite the little gem in our backyard, lol. They are also sometimes referred to a bear’s eye blackberry, black cap, black cap raspberry, and my favorite scotch cap. The taste is very similar to the French liquor, Chambord.

My son has been loving watching what looks like a raspberry turn to a black raspberry, anxiously waiting each day for this precious fruit to be ready to pick. Sadly, we went out to pick some yesterday and it appeared that an animal beat us to it. I hope there are more to come.

If you’re outside exploring your backyard and come across a berry bush, here’s how to tell if it’s a blackberry or black raspberry. Black berries are larger, have hair, and have a little bit of whole on the bottom. Black raspberries are pretty much identical to raspberries but black! But they taste much sweeter.

If you live in New England, I encourage you to get outside and hunt for these wild bushes. Summer is the season! Happy berry hunting 🙂

My Toddler’s First Lovey

Posted on July 25, 2022 by Unabashedly Ashleigh

It’s been a week guys. Let’s be honest, it’s been 4 and then some months. To say my kids have had to go through some serious changes is an understatement.

I’m overwhelmed, completely drained, and I’ve been really struggling with short naps and early morning waking’s for my 20 month old. I’m a Babywise mom. I thrive on schedules. It helps keep me sane, something my ex and I always fought about. But don’t we all do better with a routine? I know when I have some sort of consistent routine, my mind feels so much more calm, and I’ve always been a firm believer that kids thrive on that too! My first born was so so easy. Yes he came 6 weeks early and was only 3 lbs, but, he was the HAPPIEST baby, and the easiest baby to sleep train once he weighed enough. I read the Babywise book and thought wow, this book is ingenious. It worked just like it said! I followed the book to a T and within weeks my oldest was sleeping through the night and napping like a champ.

Fast forward 5 and ½ years later to my second born, and well let’s just say I’ve been pondering pretty much every day what I’m doing wrong. Re-adjusting wake windows, getting the room that much darker, turning up the sound machine…it’s a constant guessing game. Don’t get me wrong, my son, after lots of babywise conversations, following all the sleep training Instagram accounts, and lots of hard work, has been “sleeping through the night” since he was probably 6 months old. But those first 5 months …they were rough, and I was doing it all alone. Not only were we having LONG nights but he was a chronic 40 minute napper for about 10 months.

Finally things seemed to click and I thought I had it figured out, it was such an awesome feeling. Sleep, it’s an amazing thing, right?! We had about 4 months of a blissful 2 hour nap schedule, and sleeping until almost 7am. I felt like a new woman. And then our entire lives were uprooted and his sleep became a puzzle once again. I try to remind myself that he still is a pretty great sleeper. He has independent sleep skills, and he sleeps 10-12 hours at night. But, we’ve been two months into transitioning to 1 nap and have gone from having 2 one hour and a half naps, to 1 at max hour and 15 minute nap, most days it’s much less than that, and that’s a huge chunk of mommy time! Today he was up at 5, and only took a 30 minute nap, and I’m left once again thinking… I must be missing something.

I love my baby boy. But, right now, going through all the changes, coping with all the emotions, the legal battle, wearing all the hats… I’m finding it extremely hard to find time to breathe and do all the million things that need to be done.

So tonight, I’m trying something new…again. I brought out Monkey George at bedtime. My oldest loved his Monkey George. I asked my youngest if he wanted to take the monkey to bed with him. It was the cutest thing. He looked at his new found friend, gave him the sweetest hug and kiss, looked at his bed and then at me and said, “Monkey bed?” I started laughing, because it was at that moment, I realized that he was thinking the monkey was taking his place in bed and he was getting to stay up. After a quick chuckle, another hug and kiss, I quickly put him in bed with his new friend, and told him, monkey can sleep with you tonight. Cuddle and give him love. I kissed him goodnight and walked away watching him lay in awe of his new bedtime companion laying next to him.

Will this help tonight? Will he sleep past 5? We shall see…but his sweet face laying there with his friend, priceless.

Survival Tips for Raising Boys

Posted on July 19, 2022 by Unabashedly Ashleigh

I grew up with two older brothers so when life blessed me with two boys I thought I knew what I was getting into. Being a single mom to two very active boys is quite the adventure and keeps me on my toes all day long. Looking back there are some things that would have been helpful to have known. So if you are about to be a boy mom, or recently had a boy, here you go!

Forget about the toys. Seriously. Invest in a nugget, or some soft padded mats. I promise you, it doesn’t matter how many toys you have, all they want to do is climb on things, jump on things, and wrestle. At least this is the case with mine.
Teach them how to use Lysol wipes in the bathroom, and make sure you stock up on wipes now in case of another pandemic. It doesn’t matter how much practice you give them in potty manners, your bathroom will consistently smell like pee. I think I could give my oldest a toilet the size of a pond and he’d still miss it.
Watch your head. It is only a matter of time before you get hit in the head by a toy, or a shoe while driving.
Get outside every day, as much as possible. If it’s raining, send them out in rain boots and let them play in puddles. On days we spend more time outside, mentally we are all in a much better place.
It’s ok to let them play with nerf guns. We all want to raise sweet loving boys. But, even if you don’t buy them toy guns or swords, they will turn everything they can find into a pretend weapon. It will be ok, boys can be kind and sweet and still have nerf gun fights.
Fart jokes become the norm, embrace it and have fun with it. Look up the song, “Momma tooted.” And then either thank me or hate me for it 😉
Always have coffee and wine on hand.
Find yourself some mom friends that also are raising boys. I promise you, it makes all the difference. Nothing gives me more laughs than looking back at some text threads with my fellow boy moms.
Let them cry, let them have their big feelings. Talk to them. Let them feel safe opening up. Boys need to know that it’s ok for men to feel the big feelings, it doesn’t make them weak.
There is no such thing as personal space. The bathroom with the door locked is your new place of brief solitude.

Finally, and this one is the most important one. Boys love their mommies. Hug them a million times a day and more. The days are long and trying, but their hugs, slobbery kisses, and giggles make every single moment worth it. As crazy as they drive you daily, they also have a way of making you feel like the prettiest, most special woman on the planet. I always wanted a little girl. But I have to tell you, now having two fun loving little boys, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Easiest Backyard Water Slide

Posted on July 14, 2022 by Unabashedly Ashleigh

At our old house in Florida we had a pool and AC. And although the summers here are in general way less hot, we’ve had some hot humid days here and I’ve been trying to find creative ways to cool off without spending any money.

This idea really belongs solely to my 7 year old. He dumped some of the water out of the kiddy pool onto the grass right in front of our Little Tykes slide, wet the slide, and voila! One hour of pure muddy, wet entertainment for both my 20 month old and 7 year old.

Finding safe activities that make them both happy isn’t always easy!

Doesn’t get much simpler than that! I think we got our Little Tykes slide off Amazon for about $20. Best $20 I’ve ever spent.

Unabashedly Ashleigh

A mom's journey from hardship to new beginnings

Tag Archives: Mom Life