A Day in Brimfield

Dave took a vacation day on Friday and we spent the day together as a family. Our destination was the Brimfield Antique Fair, which Dave used to do with his father when he was a kid, during his dad's antique vendor days.

Brimfield is about 2 hours west of us. Liam wanted no part of being in the van for that long, so we made a pitstop at a small park. We had fun exploring, walking over bridges and watching the rapids.

Looking for bugs

Peeking through the window of an old rock wall, with Daddy and Liam in the background

Liam was just happy to be outside and free from his carseat. Such a nature boy!

Shortly after we got back on the road, Liam fell asleep and we had a peaceful ride to Brimfield.

As we got out of the van, we realized that it was about 10-15* warmer than it was back home! I soon regretted wearing jeans, and wished I had changed into my "Plan B" outfit like the girls had!

Equipped with a stroller for Liam and the double bike stroller for the girls, we set off in search of treasures. I had no idea how big this antique show would be! It went on forever, on both sides of the road, for as far as you could see.

After a while, all of the booths looked the same. Tattered upholstered chairs with rips in the fabric, silver (tarnished) silverware, old comic books, dresser after dresser, and a million odds and ends. To be honest, it looked like a lot of junk to me. But the prices on some of the things were very expensive!

We were kind of looking for a birdbath for our new little birdwatching area, but not for $650! I found a magazine style rack that I thought would be great for Liam's picture books, at a bargain price of $10. But I didn't feel like carrying it around with us as we maneuvered through the crowds, pushing our somewhat cumbersome strollers.

The highlight of the day came right after lunch. We heard piano music in the distance and followed our ears. We found a vendor who had a few player pianos and the girls were absolutely mesmerized. They slowly walked up for a closer look, holding hands, and stood staring at the scrolling lyrics and funny looking paper. I explained how it worked and neither of them uttered a word for minutes.

And then, stacked on top of the piano, I spotted the other piano rolls. Amongst the Kenny Rogers and Honky Tonk rolls, I spotted Annie. I couldn't believe it!

I pointed it out to Dave, who immediately asked the vendor if he took requests. He said he would be happy to. I fished out a dollar bill and offered it to the man, asking for Annie.

He wouldn't accept the money, and instead told us to put it in Liam's piggy bank. He seemed rather pleased that the girls had taken such an interest in his booth.

As we thanked him and began to leave, he suggested that we get the girls a piano someday. That's when Dave told him I was a piano teacher and the girls had several pianos to choose from already.

After a few hours of walking around, the kids had had enough. It was getting hotter and the crowds of people were getting thicker.

My brain was suffering from sensory overload.

We met up with Grampy, who is visiting this week from Tennessee, and Uncle Jason for a quick chat. We bought a bag of $3 kettle corn just to quiet the kids on the long walk back to the car.

And that's when we stumbled upon the greatest treasure of the day: A Library Book & Bake Sale.

I bought a loaf of white bread, which turned out to be incredibly soft and tasty. Dave found a book he wanted to buy, so I started to browse. He informed that he needed to find a bathroom and asked that I hurry with my browsing. Ugh, that's the worst thing he could have said. How could I possibly hurry this along?

I grabbed a few Junie B Jones paperbacks for 50 cents a piece, and then read the sign.

Fill a Tote for $10.

Dave would just have to hold it a bit longer.

I started scanning the titles in superspeed fashion, pulling off books left and right and shoving them into my red cloth tote bag.

I found so many books that would be perfect for Amanda. Twelve volumes of The Boxcar Children. (We are almost finished with Book #3, The Yellow House Mystery.) The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe. Eleven Choose Your Own Adventure Books, which Dave and I both enjoyed as kids. Seven Magic Tree House books. And... five American Girl books, all about Kirsten, the Pioneer girl.

I couldn't wait to show Dave all of the treasures I had found!

All in all, I got 40 books AND a good quality cloth tote bag for $10.

That really made the entire day worth it for me.

After fighting our way through the Friday afternoon traffic, we stopped off for a dinner of hamburgers and salad. We ended our day at the playground, since we had promised the kids.

Another great day. We all slept well last night, tired from the adventure.