Toby had 2 conferences to attend in Boston this past week. Since I have family in the area, we thought it would make a nice trip for the whole family. We didn’t study anything about the area or it’s history. We just went to play, relax, visit, and enjoy.
(lots of pictures … click on ‘more’)
Instead of taking the shuttle bus to our hotel, we opted for a boat ride across the harbor… just us and one other passenger. Very nice!
We visited the fabulous Boston Children’s Museum, which was completely free for us. If you don’t know about it, most museums, zoos, and aquariums offer reciprocal membership. If you are a member in your hometown, you may get in free or at a discounted rate in another town. We are members of the WNC Nature Center, so the Boston Childrens’ Museum was free!!! It’s well worth your investment!
We got the the museum early, so the kids wore themselves out playing chase while we waited. It’s hard to see in this picture, but Leif is yelling for Kaia and doesn’t see her standing just in front of him!
Kid Power!
While Toby was listening to talks, the kids and I traveled to Newport, RI to visit my cousin and his family. Newport is such a beautiful city!! There are massive, beautiful houses and some amazing rock formations!
Down to the beach.
My little mermaid, dreaming of seaweed soup.
Kaia was thrilled to get time to play with her little cousin!
Leif was thrilled to play with anyone who would play! He exhausted himself and took a nap on the rocks while the rest of us looked for (and collected a ton of) Mermaid Tears (sea glass). You see him sleeping under the blanket?
Exhausted!
We also spent some time at the Museum of Science.  We hung out in the butterfly exhibit for a long while.
Owl moth as big as Leif’s face!
I don’t remember the name of this one, but the colors are fabulous!
This is the underside of a Blue Morpho butterfly
And when it spreads it’s wings… Wow!
After a long day at the museum, we headed to Villa Francesca, an Italian restaurant in the north end of Boston. The restaurant was started by my cousin years ago and is directly across the street from where my dad spent his first few years of life. Of course we had a little lunch (ravioli), but what we mostly at was cannoli!!  The most delicious desert on earth!!
My dainty eater…
And my not so dainty eater…
Thursday, we headed to the Franklin Zoo.
We counted at least 7 peacocks but we didn’t see any peahens. Maybe they were nesting?
Not often that you get to see the back side of those feathers. That’s pretty cool looking too!
We fed the budgies. It was early in the morning when we got there and the birds hadn’t had their breakfast yet. So, they swarmed us when we walked in with food.
I love all the bright colors… and their little butts up in the air!
This sweet gorilla was snuggling her little blankie.
The Ring Tailed Lemur came right up to the window to have a conversation with Leif.
We also got a chance to see 6 month old Kambiri, the gorilla, and her mom, Kiki. Kiki is just now starting to let her daughter have a little distance from her by letting her explore a few feet away. Here is a sweet video of Kambiri when she was just a day old.
After the conferences, we were able to stay in Nashua for a couple of days to visit with my relatives. Kaia met her ‘cousin’ Mario while we were there. He slept on her bed both nights. I think she’s in love with this little doggie!
On Sat. we took the Brewery Tour at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery about 10 minutes from my uncle’s house. I wish my pictures could capture the massiveness of the tanks and machinery there. They make 3 million barrels of beer a year and they are the smallest of their 12 breweries! This is a replica of the massive Clydesdale horses that they used to pull their beer trucks when making deliveries in the old days.
I think one of the most wonderful things, though, was getting to introduce my family to my grandmother. She had never met Toby or her great-grandkids. She seemed to really enjoy it. (A little interesting fact I learned while visiting… Steven Tyler‘s father lives just a few doors down from my grandmother and is an accomplished pianist. He use to play music for the residents of her nursing home when he was able.)
And of course, my goofy family:
Oh, and HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all you mom’s out there!!!
