Patriot's Day
This was a must-see event for our Revolutionary War studies: a reenactment event commemorating the battles of Lexington and Concord! We visited Minute Man National Park for the day, and spent some time in the Whittemore House first. A couple of female reenactors were on hand to talk about every day life in colonial times, and the rooms were set up with activities about colonial-era food, clothing, and daily activities. The girls even got to dress up!

All the girls tried on clothes, but Bug was the only one willing to model them.
She was particularly excited about digging into the boys clothes and pretending to be Sadie Ludington.
(A 16-year-old girl who borrowed her father's clothes and rode through the night to call the men
to muster at her family's farm.)

Next we headed back to the visitor center to watch a presentation about the events of the battle. It involved "locals" describing what they witnessed leading up to and during the day-long battle, and a large light-up map that helped illustrate who went where when (the various patriot riders calling men to muster and both British and American troop movements). That day they also had another theater running a muppet-like, musical retelling of Paul Revere's ride.

By this time, more reenactors were beginning to gather,

and we got to watch a fife and drum corps concert (tagline: "All the hits of the Revolutionary War!"). Besides just playing music for the fun of it, the drum major explained the usefulness of the instruments in relaying orders to the soldiers. Afterward, Monkey and I approached a drummer, explained that she was just starting to learn the snare drum, and asked about his instrument. He was thrilled to have a newbie to explain things to! He talked all about how his drum worked and how it differed from the modern one she would play.

Finally, the big event itself! A reenactment of the running battle from Concord to Boston. We found a decent spot toward the beginning of the reenactment along the Battle Road Trail and listened to a "colonial citizen" answer questions while we waited for the battle to begin. Once it did, we followed the action down the road, and the girls could watch the battle continue to play out by taking turns riding on Daddy's shoulders. (Moment of hilarity: apparently one of the "colonial wives" watching the battle was in reality married to one of the "British officers." He stopped by for a quick kiss just before the battle began.)