There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself. ~ Henry David Thoreau
This trip would not have been complete without a visit to Boston. Steve was super excited to show the kids Harvard, his old neighborhood, his good friends and of course the city itself! He has a conference at the local Cambridge high school about integrating technology into the classroom, so the kids and I did some exploration of the city during those few days. Then we headed off to Cape Cod for some beach time. Our week in Boston is certainly going to be one of the highlights of our year as we look back at our East Coast travels. Below are some of the best parts of our trip.
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| On the plane from DC to Boston! We had two super excited kids (and dad!) |
One of the amazing places for kids to visit is the Museum of Science. We spent a whole day in the place and probably only say 3/4 of it. We watched an amazing lighting show and 3D movie about dinosaurs. Sawyer now has developed a fear of astroids destroying the earth while he sleeps at night...other than that we learned a lot and enjoyed the incredible museum!
Steve took us to Cambridge Common for dinner where we ate lots of fried yummy food and the kids got to wear their new Harvard gear (Sawyer let me wear his hat for the pic). Natalie has decided that she is going to Harvard and is going to start fencing when we get back to Bellingham so she will be "good at something weird" so they will accept her.
My favorite day that I planned for the kids was to take them to my favorite cheese and speciality food market I have dreamed of going back to, since I visited in 2004, for picnic food and then off to Walden Pond for some nature exploration and swimming. I am going to try to forget how much I spent at Fromaggio Kitchen for picnic food and just enjoy the memory of eating the most fabulous cheese, salami, fruit, bread and candy one could ever have.
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| Fromaggio Kitchen! |
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| Thoreau showing us his replica cabin. |
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| My little Transcendentalists on their Walden Pond hike to Thoreau's cabin site. |
One of the memories I wanted the kids to have is exploring Walden Pond, Thoreau's cabin site, swimming and hiking in this beautiful place. I know someday in college (maybe Harvard? heehee) their professor will have them read Walden and I want them to know they were there and explored Thoreau's inspiration for his writing.
I got the kids both journals so they could write down their observations in nature. They both found Thoreau quotes before we left that they liked and then did some of their own writing at spots around the lake. I think I earned a good mother badge for this one (if someone made good mother badges).
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| Sawyer at the cabin site, doing some of his own nature writing. This is probably one of my favorite pictures of the year! |
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| Natalie writing away in the cabin site. |
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| Exploring the pond. |
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| ...and of course, we spent a few hours swimming in the pristine water of the lake (I sat on shore and ate my fancy picnic food). |
We also travelled to Concord after visiting Walden Pond to see where "The shot heard around the world" occurred and the Revolutionary War began.
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| On North Bridge where the Revolutionary War began. |
In the city of Boston we also made some historical stops including part of the Freedom Trail at sites like Paul Revere's House and the Old North Church. The kids certainly got their dose of American history and I started planning out my classroom for next year!
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| Paul Revere's House in the North End of Boston. |
One of the best parts of our trip was staying with Steve's good friend, Martin, whose family generously let us stay with them for 4 nights! We enjoyed playing in the hose, eating lobster, and having great talks with old friends. We felt very blessed for the chance to stay in the heart of Cambridge with such great people!
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| Nat and Sawyer getting ready for their first BMW convertible ride through Boston! EEE! |
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| Martin helped Sawyer pick out at least 10 lobsters for our feast! |
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| Lobster fun! |
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| New friends! |
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| and lots and lots of LOBSTER! |
We also visited Steve's childhood friend, Adam and his family on Cape Cod. Once again, it is great to see old friends and their exciting lives with kids! We got to explore a cranberry bog and enjoy a yummy lunch.
The rest of the two days we spent on the Cape was awesome! I found a B&B (one that actually encouraged families with kids! huh?) and it was right on the water in Dennis, MA. We enjoyed yummy seafood meals (bibs and all), a trip to the vibrant P-Town (Provincetown) and beaches galore at the tip of the Cape.
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| Lobster bibs. |
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| Steve and Natalie walking through Provincetown. |
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| Classic P-Town shot! |
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| Our cozy Beach House Inn. |
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| Facing our fears. |
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| We are in the ATLANTIC OCEAN for the FIRST TIME!! WEEEEE!! |
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| Tip of the Cape! |
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| And of course...PLYMOUTH ROCK....and we had to diffuse the excitement by explaining how the rock is actually pretty much a historical lie. Oh well...it's still cool. |
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| Beach time poses! |
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| This pretty much puts our entire week in to one picture. |
