We just came home from a family trip to Boston. This was a big trip because:
- It was our first trip as a family of four.
- Prior to the trip, I was never really fond of Boston. My sister, Kimbie, and cousin, Mikey, went to college in Boston and when I would come visit, it just seemed like I was in an imitation-wanna-be NY. I know this is very (very) (very!) NY-centric of me to say, and will admit I love NY and think it’s the best place to live. After this trip, I have a whole new appreciation for Boston. Maybe it was the beautiful weather, maybe it was being away with the kids, whatever it was, we had a great time.
- Instead of staying in a hotel, we stayed at my sister’s boyfriend, Mike’s, condo. And because we took over his whole 1-bedroom condo, he stayed in a condo his parent’s own in the same building. This was a big change for me because I love staying in hotels. I love hotel bathrooms, the concierge, turn-down service, hotel pools…ahhhh, I just took a mini vacation in my brain. With a 4-year-old and baby, having a kitchen to sterilize bottles, heat up baby food, and make oatmeal in the morning is almost a necessity. When Mike offered his condo for us to stay, it was really easy to give up the concierge and turn-down service. I cannot thank Mike enough for providing us our accommodations. It was one of the reasons we had such a wonderful trip.
When I originally started drafting this blog post, I referred to this “trip” as a “vacation”. After reading about the difference between a “trip” and “vacation”, I realize we did not go on vacation, we took a family “trip”. When your kids are with you, the exhaustion and frustration do not feel anything like a “vacation”.
Our first full day, we went to the Boston Children’s Museum. Mimi was in heaven. Everything was interactive and at her height. As soon as we walked in she headed straight for the bubbles area. There were all these different tools to blow bubbles of all shapes. I was not happy her mouth was touching the tube but finally had to let go because she was just having too much fun.
Even Jeff got into the bubble blowing.
This machine makes life-size bubbles but it was not really working that day.
Who is taller?
We had a great time at the Boston Children’s Museum. I highly recommend for anyone with children. My brother, Matty, came into town because he had business close by so he was able to join us for lunch on this beautiful day.
Since Mike lives across the street from the Boston Common, we decided to take Mimi to the Frog Pond Spray Pool. It’s a pool only about six inches deep with a huge spray in the middle. She had a blast!
The next day we went to the New England Aquarium. Mimi’s favorite things were the big turtle in the tank in the middle of the aquarium and all of the “touch” exhibits. Here she is touching a starfish.
After the aquarium we went on the Boston Duck Tour. Tug Boat was our conductor and he was great. Mimi was fascinated with the car turning into a boat and driving into the water. Moysee drank her bottle and then fell asleep. It was a great ride.
On our last day of sight-seeing, we went to the Boston Science Museum. My sister Kimbie took the day off to hang out with us. Mimi just turned four and most of the exhibits were a little too advanced for her, but she really liked the Butterfly Garden.
Mimi loved how close she could get to the butterflies.
She even touched one (which I’m pretty sure is not allowed).
This is a silly (almost embarrassing) story…On the front door of Mike’s apartment, I saw this sign. It surprised me so much I had to tell my sister to look at the sign and commented that Boston is really relaxed about racial terms. Since some of the concierges are Asian, I thought the “FOB” meant “Fresh Off-the Boat”, a derogatory term for immigrant. After a good laugh, Kimbie explained it meant the key fob, the little black security box used to get in and out of the building. Of course, what was I thinking!
We survived the Boston trip. I love to travel and Boston isn’t that exotic of a place, but it was a change of scenery and not too stressful. I cannot thank Kimbie and Mike enough for accommodating us, helping us navigate, getting us meals, and babysitting one night so Jeff and I could have a nice child-less dinner. We all had a great time and we cannot wait to come back again and visit.
Boston’s Newest Fan,
Chrissy