We are now on Day 4 post-vacation after spending 8 days in Boston and Cape Cod, Mass. We had a wonderful time. It was a little busier than the typical summer "beach" vacation, especially the last weekend in Boston, but we really enjoyed spending time together and having Ed off work for a whole week.
We left on Saturday, June 14th on a Delta flight that left Atlanta at around 11:00AM. PaPa was able to drive us to the airport which was great. The kids did pretty well on the flight. Daniel was a little anxious and fussy before we took off, but once the plane lifted into the air, he was out for the count for the duration of the flight. Our only glitch was that our seats were not all together when we initially checked in at the airport (Ed's seat had been moved due to a broken seat) but we were able to resolve that at the counter and we ended up with bulkhead seats which was nice.
We arrived in Boston and rented our Chevy Uplander complete with car seat for Elizabeth and Garmin GPS system. We drove to Mira and Rob's house. The weather was great so the kids enjoyed their brand new trampoline and swingset in the backyard. We had pizza for dinner and got the kids to bed so the adults could chat. We awoke to rain on Sunday morning so we took our time getting dressed and ready. We drove to Ed's old house that he grew up in over in Natick and grabbed a quick lunch at a deli before heading up to Cape Cod. The drive was about 2 hours and the kids slept the whole way, right according to plan.
The house at the Cape (in Chatham) was very nice. It was three bedrooms and nicely decorated and renovated. The only negative was the lack of laundry but there was a coin laundry right around the corner, which I used on Sunday evening to remove the coffee I had spilled on myself in the car! The kids' bedroom had two twin beds pushed together which worked out nicely. We dined at Chatham Squire on Sunday night and had some great seafood. I had swordfish and Ed had tuna. The rain had stopped and it was actually a pretty chilly evening so I was glad we had packed jeans and jackets.
On Monday we drove to Hyannis to visit a Zooquarium - a combination aquarium and petting zoo. Daniel really enjoyed seeing the fish and Elizabeth was a pro at feeding the animals right from her hand at the petting zoo. We went to the town square of Hyannis and had a nice lunch and walked around for a bit. When we got back to Chatham, we walked down to the water and the pier and saw a big ship bringing in a load of fish. Daniel loved seeing the boats. On Monday evening, we attended a Chatham A's baseball game just steps from our house and the kids enjoyed the brand new playground right next to the stadium. The weather was not ideal because rain was on the way so it was downright chilly. We were dressed in our jeans and jackets and we were still cold. There were people at the game under blankets!
On Tuesday we slept in and took our time getting ready. We packed a picnic lunch and headed to Orleans where we found a playground to set up for lunch. The kids played for a while and we ate lunch then we headed back to Chatham for ice cream. We rested in the afternoon while Daniel managed to get his first "real" nap in days. We ordered takeout seafood from a place down by the pier while the kids had mac-n-cheese and we returned to the ballfield for another Chatham A's game. The weather was much nicer and the kids really enjoyed the playground. We returned home and Ed was thrilled to see the Celtics beat the Lakers for the NBA crown.
On Wednesday we went on a whale watching cruise. I was a little worried since the total tour time was 4 hours but once the boat started moving, the kids really enjoyed the ride. The whales were incredible and we must have seen a total of 20 or more of them. The guide was terrific and the weather could not have been better. I got lots of pictures but I was kicking myself for not bringing the other lens for our camera so we could get some better close-ups of the whales. I was feeling a little queasy after bracing myself against the railing for taking pictures so we spent the return ride indoors and we all felt much better when we arrived back at the dock. I was a little worried about Elizabeth and her tendency for motion sickness (she had thrown up a couple of times on Sunday morning as a result of the plane ride?? or trampoline??) but she did great. We made use of the GPS and found a nearby Friendly's to eat lunch since it was almost 2:30!! We were all pretty pooped for the remainder of the day and evening so we simply ordered pizza for dinner and headed to bed early.
On Thursday we had thought about renting bikes with trailers but we became concerned that the kids wouldn't really dig it and that we wouldn't be able to find a good place to ride without a lot of traffic. So we decided to take it easy and just walk to the town center of Chatham and browse in the shops. We packed another picnic and headed to the ballfield playground for lunch. We managed to get Daniel down for his nap and Ed's parents arrived at around 3:30 in the afternoon. Once he woke up, we walked back to Chatham and had a nice dinner. We walked to the ice cream shop for dessert and then took the long way back along the water where we found a few stray golf balls from the golf course and we saw some sneaky little bunnies in a few of the yards!
On Friday morning we packed up everything from the Chatham house and made sure we had everything back in order. We made our way to Plymouth and stopped for lunch at The Lobster Hut. At that point, we parted with Ed's parents and they made their way to the downtown Boston Sheraton and we headed back to Mira and Rob's house in Needham. We stopped at a Modell's so Ed could get some Celtics gear. Mira came home early from work so she and Aaron greeted us when we arrived. We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon. Mira's parents were supposed to watch the kids for the evening so the four adults could go to the Red Sox game but Mira's parents were not feeling well so Mira volunteered to stay home with the kids. I felt conflicted about leaving her with all four kids but she insisted she'd be fine and Rob agreed to go to the game with us so I figured if her husband was OK with it, then we should be too! So Ed and I took the train to the game and we ended up getting soaked on the walk to the ballpark thanks to a brief but heavy rain shower! There was a 1-hour rain delay for the game but they paraded the Celtics team around the ballfield on the duck boats so I was glad for Ed that we made it just in time to see that. I ended up having to buy a (kids' XL) sweatshirt just to get warm after being soaked! Of course, the Red Sox lost and we walked back to Rob's car so he could take us to our car at the train station. We didn't get home until 12:30AM!
On Saturday, we woke up early and met Ed's parents at Fenway Park at 9:00 for a tour. The tour guide was only 22 years old but he was terrific and it was just us. The weather was wonderful so we got some great pictures from the green monster seats, the club seats, and just about everywhere. The tour was over in about an hour so we shopped in the team store for a bit and then headed over to the Sheraton. We had an early lunch at Legal Sea Foods and then a very fussy Daniel headed up to the hotel room with Ed for a much-needed nap. Ed's mom and Elizabeth and I browsed in a few of the shops at Prudential Center where Elizabeth picked out some Hello Kitty crayons. So we returned to the hotel lobby and found a nice table where she could sit and color. She was terrific and we couldn't have asked for better behavior from her. We finally returned to the hotel room around 2:30 and Daniel was still fast asleep. We opened the blinds, turned on the TV, talked, and he still wouldn't budge. We ended up sending Elizabeth to Fenway with Ed's parents while Ed and I waited on Daniel to wake up. We finally nudged him awake and we were able to hitch a ride on a pedicab to the game. Rob, Mira, Zoe and Aaron met us there. We had perfect seats - Rob and Mira's seats were in the very back row of the section and Ed and I were in front of them, on the aisle. We had to get up and down several times, especially with Daniel, but all things considered, he did pretty well for a 2-year-old. Unfortunately, the Red Sox were down 8-0 after 2 innings and went on to lose 8-2 but we still had a good experience at the park. We hitched a pedicab back to the Sheraton. We said our good-byes to Ed's parents and then we hopped in our Chevy Uplander and headed back to Needham. We stopped at a little Italian restaurant and picked up sandwiches for the four adults and then returned to Mira and Rob's house. Ed and I quickly put the kids to bed and then the four adults had some time to eat and chat before we all realized how exhausted we were and headed to bed.
Our flight on Sunday didn't leave Boston until 2:40 so fortunately we had some time to sleep in and enjoy some relaxing time with Mira and Rob and the kids before we had to leave. We ate breakfast and the kids played while Ed and I slowly began to pack up all of our things. We managed to get everything back in our luggage (minus the load we had shipped to our house from the post office on Saturday). We left Mira and Rob's around noon and drove directly to the rental car return and hopped on the shuttle for the airport. We made our way through security and stopped for lunch before heading to our gate. The flight coming in was a little late but we managed to board only a few minutes later than schedule. Again, Daniel was a little fussy on the plane before movement and asked me to hold him. Unfortunately, our pushback was delayed because the hitch broke! They had to get a replacement vehicle to push back our plane but once they did, our taxi and takeoff were fairly quick. Daniel again fell asleep immediately upon takeoff and slept for the duration. The flight home took a little longer and we landed at 6:00 instead of 5:30 as scheduled but no complaints! We made our way to baggage claim where MiMi and PaPa were waiting for us. We came home and quickly dumped our luggage inside before heading to Sangria's for dinner. We zipped over to Publix for a few essentials and then returned home to get the kids in bed and fully unpack. It felt good to be home and go to sleep in my own bed!
We've had a good first week back so far. Elizabeth has been in camp at Oak Grove T-W-Th this week and she has enjoyed being back with her friends. I'm hoping that we can return to scheduling playdates and going to the pool next week. We enjoyed having the GPS system so much last week that we bought one ourselves! I haven't really used it yet but I'm glad to have it. PaPa bought the same one earlier this week and he already loves it. It really was a lifesaver on our vacation and the one we bought is small enough that we can travel with it so we won't need to rent one. We wanted to buy the same one that we rented last week but it retails for around $300 and the one we bought is the same brand (Garmin) but it's smaller and it was on sale at Target for $150!
In sad news, the Georgia Bulldogs lost their bid for a national championship in baseball last night to the Fresno State Bulldogs. Zachary and a few buddies(?) actually made the trip to Omaha, Nebraska for the final series. UGA actually won the first game but then lost the next two to lose the series. Oh well. It hurts to lose but as Ed pointed out, we came in second this year in two major sports (football, baseball) and won the SEC Championship in the other (men's basketball) when we had no business doing so, so a true UGA fan really can't complain!
Elizabeth and Ed are jetting off to Houston tomorrow to see the Red Sox and spend time with NaNa and PooPa so our crazy month of weekends continues. I'm not sure yet what Daniel and I will do with our time together but we're sure to see MiMi and PaPa quite a bit. We've decided to spend Friday and Saturday night next weekend in Adel for the annual BBQ so we'll be out of town yet again but at least we'll all be together and Ed has Thursday and Friday off next week for the 4th so we'll get some relaxing time at home too. We are looking forward to some "normal" weekends at home in the month of July!!
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