Beantown

We loaded up the family on the ol' Amtrak train last weekend and headed north for some Fourth of July fun and a little belated birthday celebration for the Dad-O Man. We had been wanting to go to Boston ever since we moved east ... five years ago ... and finally made it! Here's Dad-O and Mason man checking out the view from the train as we left NYC in the rear-view mirror.

Once we got to Boston, we made a bee-line for Boston Common and took a tour of the Freedom Trail from this lady. Mason, as you can see, was totally enamored with the city's historical sites.



(As an aside, the sleeping was a much better reaction than we got when we took him to see the Liberty Bell. There, he just cried. Alas, both times he was woken up way too early to hit the road!)

Here are some of the Freedom Trail sites. Rob would later go to the pub across the street from the Granary Burying Grounds to "sip a cold Sam Adams while looking at a cold Sam Adams" grave as our tour guide suggested. Since the under 21 set wasn't welcomed, Mason and Mommy went for ice cream instead!



After our tour, we headed for the harbor where we took in the sites and enjoyed some delicious seafood at Legal Sea Foods. I'm still dreaming of Rob's jumbo stuffed shrimp!





Feeling re-energized, we took a walk through the financial district and back to Boston Common so Mason could get in a little playtime. He loved the sprinklers there and we all had a blast wading in the Frog Pond. Mommy's tired feet were especially appreciative!







After a brief respite at the hotel, we hit the road again and headed to Cambridge to watch the fireworks over the Charles River. Based on some faulty intelligence from our waitress, we arrived WAY too early for the show, but landed a good viewing spot. It ended up not mattering too much, though, as we had one terrified toddler on our hands and left shortly after the fireworks started going off! At least we squeezed in a family picture first!



Sunday started off with a trip to Fenway Park. The Sox were in town, but we didn't have tickets to the game. Instead, we just took in the pregame sites and our intrepid little Yankees fan braved the hostile environment to pose for a picture with his Yankees hat in front of the field. He and Dad-O gave the hated Red Sox and thumbs down. Fearing backlash, I turned his hat around once he hopped back in the stroller, but he was fearless and turned it right back around. Luckily, no one hurled any insults at him, though a dirty look or two were directed at Dad-O and I!





After a walk down Newbury Street, we headed to the Public Garden. We had promised Mason a boat ride, so to the Swan Boats we went.







For the final leg of our trip, we returned to Cambridge and took a quick walk through the Harvard campus.



From there, it was back to South Station and all aboard the train that would take our exhausted selves home. All in all, it was a great way to spent a holiday weekend and a great mini-trip for the three of us. We're already looking forward to returning and not waiting five years to do so!

Road Trippin'

With a full tank of gas and a cooler full of snacks, we loaded up in our ZipCar and hit the road last weekend. Our destination? A surprise visit to see Uncle Clint and Auntie Meg, who had trekked from Colorado to Baltimore to take in a little football game.

Since they weren't available until after game time, and since we don't usually have a car, we took the long route and stopped in Philadelphia for a little tourist action on our way there.

First, we hopped on a horse and carriage and took a little ride through town.



Next, we did a little sight seeing on foot. Taking in the Liberty Bell (don't ask Mason how he liked it. He didn't.)



The U.S. Mint.



And a Quaker Meeting Hall (Mason really liked the loft!)



Before seeing what our mugs would look like on a $5 bill.




Back on the road, we met up with a very surprised Uncle Clint and Auntie Meg (who was in on the surprise) in Baltimore and had some crab cakes, before heading back to the car. On our way, we found this curious sign above a gutter, which made us all giggle.



After a hotel-room football game of our own, and a little pillow fight, we all crashed for the night. Sunday started out with church and then after much indecision by all of us adults, Mason picked out the aquarium for our activity.

We -- mostly Uncle Clint -- teased him mercilessly on the way there, saying we were instead going to the Museum of Dentistry, but in the end, we stuck with the original plan and Mason saw eye-to-eye with a sea turtle, checked out some rays and sharks and had Clint and Meg to lean on the whole time.





Our last stop at the aquarium was the dolphin show, which wasn't quite Sea World, but wasn't too shabby either!



After lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, it was time to take Auntie Meg and Uncle Clint to the airport and head for home ourselves. We did make one final detour, to Philly as the cheesesteak lines were a little too long Saturday. Mommy and Dad-O indulged in the sandwiches, while Mason opted for fries and we both decided Geno's won out.

Swiper no swiping, and other Easter tales

Our D.C. holiday swung on through Easter Sunday. We spent Saturday night with Melissa's mom in Bethesda, Maryland. After rising early to see what the Easter Bunny left (lots of candy and some cute plaid duds) we headed off to church. After mass we had brunch with the family, we send the boys out to hide eggs for Kellyn and Mason.

Good thing we planned for a small army of egg hunters...

We hid eggs in the apartment courtyard and once they were all (59 of them to be exact) hidden, Rob called us to bring the kids and their baskets down to do some searching.

Apparently we weren't the only ones who wanted to hunt Easter eggs. One of the neighbor boys, who we didn't know, decided to join the problem. A couple of problems: He was about 4x the age and size of our 2-year-olds, he didn't ask any permission and he didn't really play fair -- trying to snatch eggs the little ones dropped from their brackets, or taking hints from the adults and running to grab the eggs before the little ones could.



All told, I'm sure his little swiping routine bothered us adults far more than it bothered the kids, who had plenty of fun collecting and recollecting their eggs.



One last thought: Doesn't it look just a wee bit odd to see these cuties searching for eggs in their WINTER coats?

Doin' the District

Easter weekend found us on a bus, headed down the Jersey Turnpike for a quick trip to Washington, D.C. The trip down was pretty uneventful, thanks to a nap-time departure and the sleep-inducing vibrations of the road. The trip back was a bit more ... um ... disastrous. A four-plus hour bus trip (darn tunnel traffic!), plus a toddler who had not napped was enough to test any one's patience. Nonetheless, the trip was definitely worth it.

We headed south on Friday and spent one night in D.C. with a friend of our friend, Melissa's, and followed that up with a Saturday-night stay at her mother's house in Bethesda, Maryland. Sandwiched between was one crazy day as we attempted to see as much of the city as we could. Granted, it's not large, but we only brushed the surface of what we would have liked to see. Don't worry D.C. friends, we'll be back ...

Our Saturday started with a trip aboard a DC Duck -- ours bore the moniker "Duck Soup," which we much preferred to the "Sitting Duck" (below) we passed as we began the Potomac River portion of our trip. The Ducks are WWII era vehicles which have been restored to guide tourists around the city -- including a half-hour cruise in the river.



Among the sites we saw the Capitol, the various monuments, a very distant glimpse of the White House and the Pentagon as we exited the highway. It was a fun -- albeit cold (open-air vehicle + speeding down the highway) -- way to see a lot of sites at once.




After recharging with some lunch at Union Station, we headed back out with two goals: to give our sleepy toddler a nap and see the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and Constitution at the National Archives. Meeting up with our DC buddies Jess and Becca was a great bonus. Having Jess' Blackberry and educator's nature in line was us was even more of a bonus as she entertained us by looking up fun facts about the documents and exhibits. For example, who knew that they're housed under bullet-proof glass and lowered into a vault that can withstand a nuclear bomb at night? We also caught a glimpse of the Magna Carta as it was the last weekend of a special exhibition of it at the museum.

Our next stop was the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum (which the Garrison sisters informed us was a major part of their childhood!) It will probably be our first stop next time, however, as we arrived just a half hour before closing time. We still saw some cool stuff -- including the Lunar Lander -- and Mason woke up in time to proclaim one of the airplanes looked like Jay Jay.



We finished off the day by wandering along the National Mall toward the Capitol. This was probably my favorite part of the day as we entertained ourselves by feeding the ducks in the pond out front. They cleaned out our snack supply: donuts from breakfast, a chocolate-chip scone and a cereal bar. The last didn't work too well. They're too sticky to launch...


We'll leave you with a couple more pictures of Mason Doin' the District to keep you entertained until next time. Enjoy!