Trip to Boston

The kids, my parents, my brother and I all ventured to Boston to celebrate Papa's 93rd birthday on June 24th. Unfortuately I was so preoccupied with my little ones that I didn't take many pictures. :( However, my Aunt Laraine took lots of pictures at Papa's birthday and had a photographer on Saturday so hopefully I'll have more pictures to post in the near future.

Saturday morning we headed over to my Aunt Nancy's house to visit with my cousins, Carolyn and Kerry, and their kiddos. Here's the best picture we could manage with six kids under three years (and Kerry has another on the way)! Saturday afternoon we headed over to my cousin, Kristina's house to visit with her family, my Aunt Laraine, Uncle Bill, and my cousin Jenny and her family. Anna and Julie completely hit it off - so cute!
Sunday we went to brunch at Bay Point, a restaurant we've visited for years. It was a gorgeous day and we were able to sit outside overlooking the water and boats. Jacob loved his orange juice and belgium waffle. He had whipped cream everywhere - even on his eye lids! Sunday afternoon we headed over to Aunt Laraine's house for playtime and pizza. Jacob loved her big playroom downstairs. Monday we stayed around Papa's and had lunch at Linden Ponds, his retirement community. It is so fun walking the kids around Linden Ponds because of all the attention we receive. I took Anna out for a stoll one afternoon and several people made comments on how "fast" I was. This completely cracked me up since I was walking what I would consider a normal speed. However, compared to them I was Mario Andretti!

Monday afternoon we headed to Providence. The only nonstop flight option was at 7am from Providence so we decided to stay in a hotel by the airport Monday night. We discovered we could take the kids to the fitness center a few buildings down to go swimming so my mom and I jumped at the opportunity. The hotel's shuttle took us there and lifted the stroller using the handicap ramp. This picture says it all. The pool proved to be a great idea. Jacob LOVES the water and has no fear. My poor mother was in a constant battle with Jacob to keep him from getting away from her as he was convinced he could swim by himself under water (which he clearly cannot). Anna had never been in a big pool before and also loved it. I think we have little fish on our hands! We cleaned up quickly from the pool and headed over to Legal Seafood which was next door to the hotel. Anna was cracking us up with her legs stretched out straight while she enjoyed her carrots. Dinner was quick for the kids and me as they were beyond exhausted. Our flight home was exhausting for my mom and me. Thank goodness I had her help! After four days of little sleep it was hard to keep Jacob happy on the three hour flight home but we managed with a lot of cookies (3 bags of Lorna Doodles), pretzels, cheerios, raisins, ice water, Little Einsteins, books, coloring, stickers, airline magazines, walking to the bathroom, etc. I've never been so happy to have a plane land in my entire life! Of course, despite the challenges of traveling with young children, the trip was certainly worth it and I'm so glad we went. It meant so much to Papa to have us there and it meant so much to me to visit with Papa, introduce him to Anna, show him how much Jacob has grown, and see the rest of my family. I just wish they lived a little closer! Thanks to my family for a great visit!