Boston (a NEW trip finally!)

Dave was suppose to go to Germany with his sisters.  Unfortunately, due to strikes from Luftansa employees in Germany, US Air flights filled up and he was not going to be able to make it.  With time off work and an adventure already planned, it is tough to enjoy staying home and 'doing nothing'.  So we scoured the country for places to go, and came up with a plan to go to Boston.  We called our friends Thursday morning and 12 hours later were at their house.  We love spontaneous people :).

The flight was LONG (5 hours).  I kept Hallie up hoping she would nap, but she didn't nap (although she did 'try' by laying down on the 2 seats we had.)  She was so cute and obedient, even if she couldn't fall asleep.

Jackson did great on the flight with some new puzzles, school books, and looking out the window.  Even though there were only 9 empty seats on the flight, we ended up with the last row . . . 6 seats for the 4 of us! Hallie fell asleep for the last 20 minutes of the flight.  Jackson was SO hyper when we got there.  He was bouncing all around the airport.  I was just thankful it wasn't on the plane.  I love how much he loves traveling and seeing new places even though he has no idea what he is there to see.
Our friends were so gracious to open their apartment to us.  Our kids were not tired until 11 pm, and still woke up before their kids, but we survived.

Friday we headed in to town and saw the USS constitution and Bunker Hill monument.  Jackson hiked to the top of the monument with us (294 steps!)  and won a park ranger button prize.

Hallie loved having the freedom trail line to follow!

 Jackson and Maia became good buddies!

We forgot the lunch we so meticulously planned, so we headed home for a nap/rest time.  Jackson just loved playing with their little girl Maia.  This family has their 2 kids exactly the same time of our kids, so it was perfect playmaates for them.  Jackson and Maia played with nearly every toy/book in their house and destroyed it.  We cleaned up and headed out to go to the Boston Children's museum.  It was fun to see the different things, but I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be.  I think Phoenix and Salt Lake's are better. :)

Boston at night was incredible!

Saturday morning we ate incredible donuts and then headed back into town.  We enjoyed the Gardens and the park with the kids even getting into the splash park a bit.

We took photos on Acorn street (the most photographed spot in America???)  It is a really cool looking street.

 Cheers bar- we didn't take the kids :)

 We fed ducks and listened to a one man band in the park.  The gardens were so beautiful!

 All tuckered out!

I loved being in Boston.  I went in 2006 to run the Marathon there and then my cousins all got together and explored the city.  It was such a great trip then and I loved remembering some of the fun things we did together!

Cousins in 2006

 Me in Boston 2006

 So young and fun then . . .

We ended the night (in 2012) with pizza and watching the BYU game.  Joe and Emily were great hosts and so amazing for having us at such late notice!  The flights kind of filled up for the next day which means we got to sleep in!!  Unfortunately, we slept too late and had to rush to make our flight.

We flew to Philly and then to Houston (this was our first layover with kids! they did great!)  Hallie fell asleep for the last hour of the flight and slept through all the transfers until we got to church in Houston.  When we told Jackson we were going to Houston he replied, "Wait . . . so we are going from one vacation to ANOTHER vacation?!?!  That's amazing!"  And it was.  Lori was a great host and Michelle was there visiting so it was nice to visit all together.  We had the most incredible Sunday dinner of shrimp and pasta salad.  I took Jackson to school to visit his cousin for lunch.  He was pretty scared of the loud chaos at first, but soon warmed up to it.  It is always amazing to me that he doesn't like loud places because the kid is SO loud!!  We caught the night flight home and Dave did an amazing job with the kids even though they were pretty difficult on the full flight.   This trip seemed so LONG.  I was glad to get home.  It was fun to host Shel, if only for a night.  I love having visitors, so come on over!