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April 14:We drove from our house to Massachusetts, starting at 11:00am, and arriving at 8:15pm. Boy was that a long day!
April 15:In the morning, Mike and Kim helped Aunt Ann feed the horse. Then we went down the street to the stables where Kim rode Frosty the Pony. Kim liked riding Frosty, and really loved it when Frosty trotted!Mike decided he didn't want to ride the pony because he didn't want to be embarrassed. He probably thought everyone would say how cute he was, and he doesn't really like to hear that stuff too much lately. You know, he is 6 1/2 now. After the pony ride, we went across the street to the playground. They put in new equipment last year, so now it is a really cool place to play. After lunch, we went to the dairy to watch them milk the cows. Kim got friendly with a new calf, who tried to eat her shirt! Later in the afternoon, we had baseball practice in the backyard. Mike was hitting some really good home-run caliber balls, and then he had fielding practice with Dad and Uncle Rob hitting grounders and pop-ups to him. Meanwhile, Kim and Aunt Ann played catch and ring-toss. Kim and Aunt Ann were best buddies most of the week, and this afternoon was no exception!
April 16:On Thursday we drove into Boston and parked under the Common. We walked through the Public Garden, hoping to take a Swan Boat ride. Unfortunately, the Swan Boats were under re-construction, and would not be open for business until Saturday, just two days later. We saw a statue of George Washington, and some neat topiary shrubs.Next we found the statue of the ducklings from the book "Make Way for Ducklings", by Robert McClosky. Then on to the Massachusetts State House, and the Shaw Memorial. We latched on to the Freedom Trail, and followed it to the Granary Burial Grounds, where Paul Revere and Mother Goose are buried, among others. Then on to the Fanuiel Hall and Quincy Market area, where we had lunch. We watched a baloon sculpturer at work. Next it was on to try to catch a Boston Duck Boat tour. Unfortunately, we went to the wrong place, and never got a tour. Then we went on to visit Paul Revere's House. But first we had to explain to Mike and Kim who Paul Revere was. But before that, we had to explain what the Revolutionary War was. Then we had to explain what war is, and why countries go to war. Revere's house was probably a big let-down after all that! After the obligatory stop at Mike's Pastry Shop on Hanover Street, it was back to the van for the ride back to Uncle Rob's house.
April 17:Most of this day it was raining. We kind of hung out in the morning, and then at lunch time we went to McDonalds. At the playplace, Mike and Kim had lots of fun until other kids started climbing up the slide from the bottom. That caused some major tunnel blockages, with kids smashing into each other all over the place. It was not a pretty sight. No one was really hurt, but Mike and Kim both decided they'd had enough.Later that afternoon, we went shopping. Mom bought too much stuff at the craft store - big surprise there! Mike got his first model airplane to put togehter, and Kim got a craft kit with which she made lots of fuzzy caterpillars and other creatures. Then we went to dinner at Bugaboo Creek steakhouse. There was a talking buffalo head mounted on the wall! And there was a racoon who popped his head up out of a barrel right beside our table. Our waitress' name was Clementine. We wondered if that was her real name, until we saw the other wait staff's names: Jed, Cutter, Betty Lou, and Elroy. That pretty much clinched it for us - they must have been fake! Mom and Dad went out in the evening to visit a friend who lives in the Boston area. While they were gone, Mike and Kim stayed with Aunt Ann and Uncle Rob, and had a lot of fun.
April 18:We drove to Fall River, MA to Battleship Cove. The USS Massachussetts is docked there, as well as the USS Lionfish and the USS Joseph Kennedy. We toured all the ships, then learned about PT boats in WWII. That was a long day for Kim, who got pretty tuckered and had to take a break. But it was a really fun trip!
April 19:This was the day David and the kids rode home while Mom stayed on in Boston for another day for a business meeting on Monday. The report from David is taht the kids were great on the long ride home, and that all went smoothly.We'd like to give a special thanks to Uncle Rob and Aunt Ann for letting us come visit, and for showing us such a fun time. We always enjoy going to their house, and this was no exception. Also, special thanks to Uncle Rob for the digital photos from this trip. |