Boston 2012

Oh Boston! How do I love thee? Even three feet of snow and nor'easter couldn't make me not love you!

Luckily for us, we got to visit Boston AND not have to deal with any bad weather.

In fact, we had sunshine the whole time. Just lovely!

Court had to go back East for a conference so me and the girls decided to tag along. I was a bit nervous about me and the girls being by ourselves in "the big city" as Court had to stay on location of his conference.

But the girls did better than I could have ever imagined!

I could live in Boston in a heart beat. The architecture is totally my style. The people were nothing short of wonderful.

People would randomly start chatting with me. Everyone saw me coming a mile away with my double stroller and stopped to open doors. Even taxi drivers went out of their was to assist me hauling two kids around this foreign city.

Just lovely.

I was blown away really. I can't remember the last time a person started randomly chatting with me or opened a door for me - even as I am fighting with a Double BOB trying to manhandle it through a doorway - on the West coast. 

But I must admit that people weren't particularly going out of their way to help me...they were enamored with Charlotte. She smiled and waved at anyone who would breathe in her direction and I am telling you her infectious smile brought about first class service from any and every passerby. She is a ham...but a particularly useful ham!!

We visited the Boston Commons - Boston's "Central Park" and saw the duckling sculpture.

 

Then we visited the REAL ducks!

Grace loved the fact that some were "ice skating!"

Needless to say, this book really hits home now!

We went to the New England aquarium! 

So fun!! It was a really great aquarium. 

Grace actually touched the star fish in the tidal area. She's never done that before even though she's had plenty of visits to aquariums. They also had a shark and sting ray touch tank. She put her hands in but didn't actually touch anything. She's much braver than her mother!

Grace was particularly enamored with the lobsters...she called them crabs...but we saw a lot of them and she even talked me into a souvenir from the gift shop!

After the aquarium, I braved lunch out at a restaurant with both girls by myself. 

It went surprisingly well. Both girls ate a HUGE lunch and Grace finally tried corn on the cob!

I think they liked the music playing in the background at the restaurant.

We also hit up the Children's Museum which I was told was one of the best in the country...and it was!

It was HUGE, clean and overlooked the water. They could've stayed all day if they both still didn't need a mid-day nap.

Speaking of naps, I woke both girls up every day from their naps to do a little something for Mom.

We perused Newbury street...hard to do in a stoller. Many stores are not at street level. We hit up Charles street for a little shopping. Fun! Fun! Fun!

Another big event of the trip was that we had to pack very, very lightly for a train ride to visit family in Philadelphia. We planned on taking the train and you are only allowed carry-ons. So dragging around the pak-n-play for Charlotte wasn't an option. So we made Charlotte a make shift bed out of a blow up mattress and blankets.

She was a rock star! Sleeping in a big girl bed at 15 months.

Not going to lie...the first night she was a wreck. We all didn't sleep much. But after that, she figured it out....

 

....kinda.

Good thing Santa brought her sheets and all the works for a big girl bed! She'll be making the transition after we get home from our travels! 

Our trip to Boston came to an end. So sad! I truly was sad to leave this beautiful city. One last picture of us waiting in the train station to catch the train to New York City!

Our ultimate stop would be Philadelphia but from Boston that is about a 7+ hour train ride. Too much for two little kids and their parents. So we decided to break it up and make a pit stop (less than 24 hours) in NYC.. The Big Apple...to do a little sight seeing!

More to come on our East Coast Bonanza!