Boston

We were very glad to make it to Boston on July 3rd and to find Dad waiting for us at the hotel!  We enjoyed a good nights sleep scattered over 2 hotel rooms!  On Independence Day we had tickets to the Boston Red Sox game at noon.  This is our ANNUAL MAJOR LEAQUE GAME DAY!!  We headed down Fenway Park and ate lunch before the game at a Jazz Club across from the stadium.  Dad got us tickets under the upper deck so we were shaded from the intense heat all afternoon, but it was still hot!

The girls go to many baseball games each summer, but they very seldom sit through an entire game!! JM found the entertainment area by the 6th inning to give us all a break!

After the game, we went to a local pizza place for an early dinner (since we had eaten an early lunch!)! Then we made our way down to claim a spot for the fireworks!  It was a long, hot wait!  The fireworks show was well worth it!!!

On Friday, July 5th we were a little slow to rise!  We were all exhausted after our LONG 4th of July!  We ate a big breakfast at the hotel, and then set off for some site seeing!  Our first activity was the Sons of Liberty Tour.  We stopped by the Capitol building for a picture only.  It was closed off for the day (at least this side was and no one wanted to really go in).   

 We where led around the city by this amazing story teller.  She really brought the city and the history to life.  I learned so much, and the kids were picking up quite a bit of information too!

Colleen played a little Marilyn Monroe gig during the tour!  Honestly, we all wanted to do this!  It was SO HOT!!!

 We made a stop "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" (Cheers).  Of course this was really just for JM because the kids had no clue what the big deal was!  We tried to eat there but the wait was entirely to long!

After lunch, we went over to the Swan Boats.  Everyone said we had to go ride the Historic Swan Boats.  It was a pleasant ride around the park!

At this point we were all hot, tired, and ready for a break!  We headed back to the hotel for some swimming and rest.  For dinner, we looked up some close local restaurants.  I can't remember what we originally chose, but we could not find it or it was closed.  We ended up at TastyBurger which was a fun experience - eating on the street fun experience since they did not have a dining room!

 

 

On Saturday, July 6th we headed out to Disembark at Little Brewster Island to visit the first and oldest lighthouse station in the United States, and the last to retain a U.S. Coast Guard keeper. We climbed the 76 stairs (plus 2 ladders) to the top of Boston Light to see the historic Fresnel lens.

Afterwards, we visited the Boston Tea Party Museum.  Where we helped dump the tea into the harbor. This was a fun stop for the kids.  The girls loved this since we had just finished our American Revolution study!

Finally, we went back out on the Atlantic for a Whale Watching cruise that lasted until dark.  We loved watching the whales jump around and play in front of us.  It was a beautiful and relaxing experience!

On Sunday, we started the day late again!  Actually, JM started the day out with a trip to The Parker Hotel for a few treats for us.  He brought us back some original Parker House rolls and Boston Creme Pie!

We went down to the Harbor Area for an early lunch at California Pizza Kitchen before we went on the Duck Tour!  The kids were excited to ride on the bus-boat transformer!  Well, all were except Colleen who had a complete meltdown about 1/4 of the way into the tour.  She had a meltdown in my lap squeezed in the front row.  She was so tired that she could not get control of herself.  I think she had a little clostraphobia also (or was that me trying to control her in the confined space while crying behind my sunshades).  I wanted off the exit-less tour immediately!!

As soon as the tour from down-under ended, I told JM (who was at the back of the Duck boat while I was manhandling a 3 year old) that we were done.  I was taking a cab back to the hotel.  They could finish the day without us!!!  We no more than got into the cab before Colleen fell asleep.  I carried her up to our room and laid her down for a 3 hour nap.  Yes, I took one too!!

JM and the other kids finished the day with a trip to "The Tipton" from Zack & Cody.

They also went on the fast, speed boat tour on the Boston Harbor!

On Monday, it was time to say goodbye to Boston.  We backed up our suitcases to head for the airport. We did make 1 last tourist stop.  We just had to go to Harvard!  We were led on a tour of Harvard by a sweet Texas girl who was a Sophamore at Harvard.  It was really cool to be ON the campus!

After our tour, we ate at a Harvard Landmark, Bertley's Gourmet Burgers!  Yummy!  What a great way to end our Boston experience!