Boston

Last week Mark took a business trip to the Boston area. We saw this as a great opportunity  for me and the kids to tag along and soak up some of the history of the area. The plan was for him to work during the week while I went around to different places with the kids. I was really nervous about bing on my own with three kids around Boston, but I decided to suck it up and do it anyway. It was very hard, but I'm glad I did it. The upside is that I'm cured of my hesitation of going places (besides the grocery store) with three kids!

Before the trip I saturated the kids with as much early American History as their little brains and bodies could stand. I'm so glad I did because it made the trip that much more exciting for them.

We crammed a lot into our seven days in the Boston area: 

Boston Museum of Science

Boston Children's Museum

Museum of Fine Arts

New England Aquarium

We walked half of the Freedom Trail to see Paul Revere's House, Old North Church, Faneuil Hall, and Quincy Market

Boston Duck Tour

Plimoth Plantation (including Grist Mill, an old granary)

Plymouth Rock

It dumped a foot of snow the day before we arrived, and snowed all during our first two days. Kicking, squishing, and stepping in snow was one of the highlights of the trip for these kids.

Getting energy out in the rather small hotel room.

(Above and below) At the Boston Children's Museum. If you live anywhere in the Boston area I highly recommend this place. It was the coolest children's museum I've ever been to and it was the kids' absolute favorite part of the trip. If we're ever in the Boston area again, we're definitely coming back here.

Plimoth Plantation. This is a large village that shows how the original pilgrims lived in the 1600s. It was a very cool experience because the village was populated by actors who played the parts of the original Mayflower landers. They talked just like people from that time and actually did real things like tended gardens, mended fences, and ground corn flour for bread. My kids tried to talk to them about things like grocery stores (as in, "Why don't you just buy your flour at the grocery store?"), airplanes, and concrete, but the people always looked puzzled, like they'd never heard of these things before. Great acting, I tell ya!

I got to meet an Internet friend in New Hampshire. We met on a message board when we were pregnant with our firstborns seven years ago. We've both been through an awful and amazing journey the past few years. It was wonderful to finally meet each other and have our daughters meet.

On a Boston Duck Tour. The kids actually got to drive it while it was in the bay!

At the Museum of Fine Arts in front of their favorite paintings. I've been wanting to take the boys to an art museum for a while, and this seemed like a great opportunity since this one holds a lot of paintings by artists they are already familiar with. It wasn't a very good experience because the boys were extremely energetic and had a hard time keeping their hands away from the art. They spent much of their visit with their hands in their pockets.

New England Aquarium touch tank. Touching the stingrays was one of the boys' favorite parts of the whole trip.

Flying somewhere over the Midwest. I shudder to think of what made this water all these beautiful colors, but it sure made for an awesome view.

Finally home again. After a long day of flying, driving, and unpacking, Lucy passed out on my back. 

I have to say that it was SO wonderful to come back home after being away for nine days. I love traveling and seeing new things, but I always love coming home even more!