Quick Visit to Minuteman Park

David and Will at the Paul Revere capture site.

So happy to have such a nice photo of two toddlers!

This is what we saw on our way in. Yikes!

Danielle watched Will while I did errands and I figured she needed to continue sight seeing so I took her to Minute Man National Park. She watched the multimedia presentation while the boys napped in the car and then we walked along the trial to see what we could see. David and Will didn't last quite as long as I'd hoped but we made it to the spot where Paul Revere was captured, took some photos, and tired to coax the boys to walk back for a bit. It was a nice afternoon. I still can't believe we live a stone's throw from Lexington. I think it may be my favorite town here.

Lowell; Industrial Revolution Town

Brad had to study this Saturday. Danielle wanted to see Lowell so we drove up there with the kids. Lowell was an important city during the industrial revolution. Lots and lots of textile factories. It was maybe a half hour away. Danielle had two specific museums in mind--the textile museum (we sound nerdy, but that is who we are!) and the Mill Girls and Immigrant exhibit.

Here is Danielle trying to lift a bale of cotton. It took both of us.

This museum interesting. It was all about cloth and cloth making. There were many old clothes on display along with an equally huge modern section. I saw a bell that was cast by Paul Revere. There was a lot to see and I didn't read everything but I wanted to. Thank goodness their was a nice children's room. After ten minutes inside the exhibits I decided to watch the kids while Danielle looked around and then we switched.

Mill Girls and Immigrant Exhibit

Of course we loved the social history here...reading about how the girls lived, what they did the in boarding homes and how they liked their mill jobs. The place was deserted so David and Will had fun running up and down the ramps. We made friends with the National Parks ranger in charge. She'd been a nanny before and just finished school with history degree. She was getting ready for an MA program. Danielle and I had a lot in common with her. She was kind to talk to the boys and play with them a little.

We didn't get to ride the trolley, or visit the trolley museum, the boot making factory, or stroll the canal walkway so we may go back. I enjoyed having someone else to read my way through exhibits with. Maybe someday I can do that without being interrupted. :)

A little sampling of what we saw at the textile museum:

The Boston Bucket List Begins

Objectives: Science Center, Swan Boats, Duck Tour

Mission accomplished!

Danielle and David after the lightening show. William loved it. David freaked out.

There were plenty of interesting things to look at. A favorite for David and Will was pressing the buttons (just their height) that made the trains go.

Who doesn't like a dinosaur?

I was a little disappointed that the exhibit on Whales and the exhibit on George Washington Carver weren't out yet. You could really spend a lot of time at the Science Center, but with kids my age I'd say the discovery center is the best area. Everything else is a little too big for them. I really like the big map of Boston. You press a button and that location lights up. Very orienting.

Danielle near some roses at the public garden.

Danielle and David ride the swan boats. I tried to keep William asleep in the stroller that didn't last when I accidentally dropped my purse on him. I don't think David wanted to sit on his seat. Danielle said it was quite the battle keeping him out of the water. He just really seems to like this pond!

Danielle saw a few statues that she didn't want to miss and then we headed over to the best part.

MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS!

If you haven't read it you should, it is a kids book. Hopefully you'll want to come visit Boston (and us!) afterwards.

Will is trying to feed the statue duck.

Brad decided he didn't have as much studying to do as he originally thought and came on the Duck Tour with us. It is a good thing he did. It took all three of us to wrestle the two little boys that had been out all day long.

Here we are excited to tour the city on a WWII amphibious vehicle!

Brad gets to drive the boat. There were lots of silly jokes about dentists and teeth. I think it was because we sat behind a dentist from Spain....

David and Danielle with the Boston skyline in the background.

Boston and the Longfellow Bridge

Beautiful no? I have to say, it is growing on us!

As a practical note we were a little disappointed with the Duck Tour. Brad has friends at school that have been multiple times and love it, however, I think our guy was good at being funny (they are all, who wants it to be boring?!) but not as good about giving tons and tons of information. We'd already seen many of the things we drove by. Fun? Yes! Insanely informative? No!

I did see a few new sights and I felt more oriented...it is always weird to ride the T around and not know what is above you. I also loved the ride on the river, BEAUTIFUL! This would be a great thing to do with out of town guests that have a very limited amount of time, but may not be the best if you've seen lots in the city on your own.

We headed home on the train and got two overtired boys down to bed.

First Taste of Boston

I ran a few errands this morning and took Will to his 15 month Dr's appointment. I knew he wasn't feeling great but what I didn't know really surprised me. Turns out he had an ear infection. Our pediatrician acted like it was totally normal not to know but I couldn't help feeling bad.

I got a big case of cabin fever in the late afternoon and decided we'd take the train into the city.

Do these two look like brothers or what?

Danielle and David at a fountain on Boston Common.

Danielle and David in front of the Massachusetts Statehouse.

David loves the train, the parking garage, and the train station. He can point them out and call each one by name. So we rode into town, took in a few sights, and tried to orient Danielle. David especially seemed to love the ride back. He sat in his own seat instead of in the stroller and charmed the man sitting next to him. Poor Will was ready for bed by the time we went home; I think he needs a lot of rest. Hopefully the antibiotics will help.

Sunday Meetings

It was quite the adventure getting Danielle to church on Sunday. Her meeting was at 2 and ours was at 1. Brad stayed back with a sick William (only because I stayed back with a sick David last week) and Danielle, David, and I left the house before 12 noon. We dropped Danielle off in Cambridge--not far from Harvard Square--more than an hour early and headed for our building in Weston.

An interesting side story to where the singles ward meets is that building actually burned last year. The congregation was participating a satellite meeting with Salt Lake--the same meeting we were watching at our building. There was some sort of electrical fire and members were evacuated. It was a little sad since the Brattle street building (one of the few that are accessible by public transit) was the first meeting house in Boston. For now the single's ward meets at the Divinity School right across from the old meeting house that is being redone.

I used the GPS to get to our building. Unfortunately Brad had set it to avoid toll roads. I didn't know and I ended up winding around a terribly convoluted route and barley made it to our ward by 1. Something similar happened when I tried to go to the airport once too. Maybe I should think to find my bearings and get directions before just relying on the GPS!

I realized that for the first Sunday I probably should have just let Danielle come to our ward with us like she wanted. I just wanted her to attend the singles ward and feel like she belonged there. Picking her up was much easier. I took the freeway back and I arrived there not too long before her meeting was over at 5.

Family Day at Fenway

We have a sweet friend who shares many of her Northwestern Alumi events with us. We were so happy to attend Family Day at Fenway! Here are the boys in the FREE parking garage just raring to go. Of course we had to buy Red Sox gear for this special day.

Wally the Green Monster

Exploring the park. Will wasn't feeling too good and clung to Brad most of the time.

David's favorite pastime was unfolding every seat that he could find.

To David every monkey we see is "George."

Posing with the World Championship trophy's.

Eating some snacks from the green monster seats.

The view was impressive.

It was a fun but HOT day. Brad's decision to leave the stroller proved to be a good one. Fenway has a lot of character but isn't a beacon in the way of accessibility. I was surprised by how small the ballpark actually was. I don't think there are any truly "bad" seats there. This was a wonderful way to see the ballpark little kids. Can't wait for Red Sox vs. Diamondbacks in a few weeks! The only question is who do we cheer for? When in Rome...

Danielle Arrives in Beantown

After many, many ups and downs with her job (you'd think she'll be working for the FBI instead of the National Parks Service!) and a changed plane ticket Danielle arrived at the Manchester, New Hampshire airport. She didn't hate me for being late picking her up. We laughed a talked the whole way back. Danielle took a sneak peak at the sleeping little ones. We stayed up WAAAAY too late. It was good to catch up. Looking forward to a fun summer!

Patiently waiting on the curb.

So excited to be here!

Danielle has been updating her blog too--danielleduffy.blogspot.com.