On the Road Again

Our little family can't seem to stay put for too long without getting the travel bug. But our recent trip to Boston just fell into our laps, so we had to take advantage of a complimentary stay at Marriott's Custom House in downtown Boston as it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! A huge thanks to Eric's sister Christine for letting us use her timeshare!

We had a busy Memorial Day--we were in charge of a breakfast for our ward that morning, then Eric helped our dear neighbors move, then we made a run to the mall for a few errands, and ended the day with a barbecue with more great friends. It was a fun day, just really busy. We had to pack and get ready to leave the next morning all on Monday night.

After an exhausting 15-hour trip, we made it to our destination Tuesday night. Of course the girls had slept at odd times in the van, so they were wide awake when we drove in at 11:00 p.m. and weren't interested in going to bed. It made for a hard first day of the trip, but we tried to make the most of it.

Our hotel was basically across the street from the Aquarium, so we headed there first thing Wednesday morning. We saw fur seals, harbor seals, penguins, jellyfish, sea turtles, and sharks; and the girls were able to pet jellyfish, sea stars, and hermit crabs.






We ate lunch outside on the pier, and even saw a show about deep sea fish in the IMAX theater.




The kids had a great time, when they weren't whining about going back to the hotel to eat a brownie, or refusing to watch the harbor seal show because they were hungry. But we tried to enjoy the day and see everything we could.

The girls got a little bit of down time in the afternoon playing in the playroom of the hotel on the 20th floor. This place was amazing!




Oh, and here's the outside of the hotel where we stayed.


And this is what greeted us each time we came back to our room. (It was so nice having the bedroom with the king-sized bed in a separate room.)


For dinner our first night we headed out to Faneuil Hall to eat at Quincy Market, also right next to the hotel. We couldn't believe how many shops and restaurants were there. After seeing huge frosted brownies, giant cookies and chocolate dipped everything, the girls only wanted sweet things for dinner. But we got some clam chowder that was a hit with everyone, and got some vegetables with a Chinese meal. (Can you tell how grumpy Mierae was? A day after having little sleep did not go over well.)


We enjoyed watching a unicycler on the square juggling and doing other tricks. After dinner we even ate some gelato out on the street before returning to our hotel.


The kids were way overtired by this point, and unbelievably it took two hours for them to go to bed! I was nervous about our next day after such a horrible night again. But our time was already half over.

Thursday we went straight to the Children's Museum and decided to let the kids do their thing. It was an incredible museum!







There was so much to do there, we probably could've spent two whole days there without repeating an activity. The kids, of course, loved it. We took a break from playing for a little while to eat a snack out on the Harborwalk, but went right back to playing after that.




On the way back to the hotel later that afternoon, we stopped at some fountains right on Atlantic Ave. There were already lots of kids playing in them, so Eric ran across the street to the hotel to get swimsuits for the kids so they could play too.


It was lots of fun, until Mierae got blasted right in the eye and ended up screaming for about five minutes. We headed back to the hotel after that and had a very calm evening in. We ate dinner in the hotel, and because of a sudden downpour, we didn't go out on a walk like we had planned and actually got Mierae to bed by 7:45. Jolie had fallen asleep in the stroller earlier, so she wasn't ready to settle down. But she was calm, so we got in some Alton Brown on the Food Network together before bed.

By this time, we were out of time. And there were so many things I wanted to see still! We didn't get the chance to walk on Newbury St and go to the Public Gardens and ride in the swan boats. We hadn't walked the Freedom Trail, or gone anywhere fancy for great seafood. So Friday morning, after we checked out of the hotel, we walked up to the Old North Church and Paul Revere's house, because I just couldn't leave Boston without doing those things. The girls weren't super excited about it, but they were good enough sports, and I got to take my picture with Paul Revere.


Here's the Old North Church:



And Paul Revere's house:


We wanted to break up the drive home and thought about going to Niagara Falls or Hershey, PA on the way. When we asked the kids if they wanted to see a giant waterfall or go to a chocolate factory, of course the answer was chocolate. :) The kids were so excited when we finally got to Hershey and LOVED the tour ride.


We chose some treats, and then we were on the road again. We were hoping to find a place to stay in Hershey for the night, but it was too expensive. So, Eric and I took turns driving home in some horrible rain and thunder storms. Eric did most of the late night/early morning driving. We didn't get home until after 3:00 a.m. Poor Eric was so tired! It was a hard day Saturday getting adjusted back to normal life, and I don't think we've recovered yet (!), but we were so glad we made the trip.