Friday morning Jake went off to daycare but was going to stay until Monday evening when Gloria got off work. Baylor and I were heading to my parents for the night and then Saturday morning we started our road trip to Massachusetts to visit Jamie, Laura, and the kids. Friday after work we went to my parents which allowed me to head over to the Green Dragon for a bit of shopping for me and some stuff to take north. There is a gas station on the way out that always has this sign and I laugh at it every time. Not the lottery part of course. That I would not mind having, but the lunch special and worms is not in my plans!
My tired little man saying goodnight to Mamma.
Bright and early we were on the road. We took my van and Dad did all the driving. Baylor got to watch movies and I got to listen to my parents complain about traffic (really not bad, it was Saturday), when were we going to be able to stop to pee, got any snacks, etc
I bought a little lens set at Aldi and took the time to play with it while in the car. The fish eye is one lens. A macro is another but all I had to photograph was Baylor, my fingerprint and the seam on my jeans.
We drove right past NYC and it was nice to be able to show it to Baylor. My parents were in top complaining mode about traffic at this point. And while there were a lot of cars, we never stopped moving. Maybe slower than the speed limit but always moving.
Getting through Connecticut was slow and the frequent pull off rest areas were also packed. Dad needed to go so I told him to park illegally, like everyone else was, and just go! I stayed in the car in the remote chance we were asked to move from the guardrail (which did not happen). I understand wanting to be a rule follower but there is no need to pee your seat because of a lack of parking! Finally we made it into MA and twenty minutes from our hotel Baylor said he had to pee. Ten minutes later, he said he could not hold it anymore and I asked Dad to find a place to pull over so he could pee in the weeds. The traffic was moving fast and there was not much of a space on the roadside so Dad rode the side of the road hugging the guardrail. There was an opening up ahead but we were going the same speed with traffic and then I saw the eight inch upheaved concrete about 30 seconds before we slammed into it at 60 miles an hour.
It was only on one side, the passenger side. The tire did not immediately blow but while Baylor was out peeing in the weeds, I checked the tire because it was a huge hit. The tire had a huge bulge in the sidewall. Thankfully we were ten minutes from the hotel and my spare was in the van. We put on the flashers and did not hurry to the hotel but once we were checked in I called AAA to have the spare put on. I am so tired of tires this summer!!
Once the tire was changed and we unpacked the van we headed off to get some baby cuddles! Little Hubbard started out at less than five pounds on May 17th and by July 29th was nearly ten pounds of baby cuteness. He looks just like his mommy and I could not get enough holding him.
I did have to share but that meant I could also play with Presley who was a bit shy with us at first.
I am sure she does not remember seeing us at Christmas and was a bit off at first. And not happy about Baylor taking her picture for sure.
Hubs fell asleep with his little duck lips pouting away right after a bottle. He is such a sweet little dude already.
I passed the sleeping child off to his mom and went out on the deck to blow bubbles with Miss Presley. Bubbles and almost all three years olds go hand in hand. It was a great ice breaker with her.
Baylor joined in, never far from me as always.
"Trying on" a new outfit from Grandma and Grandpa.
Baylor was enamored with Hubs and would hold him whenever Hubs was in a good mood. We stayed until after dinner, homemade pizzas with three different topping choices. Baylor really liked the taco pizza and asked if we can try that at home sometime. One last cuddle before leaving. Funny story about Presley, who seems to have food texture issues and does not eat a lot of real foods unless they are crunchy. She insisted she wanted pizza because she saw us with pizza. Laura brought her a piece on a plate, knowing how it would end up. Presley looked at the pizza and tossed it on the deck saying, "I don't eat pizza," like she was irritated her mom even tried to give it to her.
Baylor crashed just a few paragraphs into our nightly reading.
In the morning we checked out this van that had been modified as a moving kennel for Irish Wolfhounds. We ended up talking to the owners as we saw their plates were from PA. They were in town for a Wolfhound show and there were several other hounds doing their business in the hotel grounds. They are huge dogs!
We found a place to eat for breakfast and ended up eating every breakfast there. We just liked it and Baylor loved his Belgian waffles with whipped cream.
Buddy had a Patriot's breakfast the first day and other options the rest of the week.
Mom and split different omelets every morning.
Then we headed to see the kids and their parents. Though the kids were more fun of course.
While we were at Jamie's we looked up a place to have my tire changed out for a new one and found a shop that was open at noon and had a matching tire. Dad offered to go have the tire changed and Mom, Baylor, and I went with Jamie and family to Hopkinton State Park to swim in the lake there. It was a nice day and the water was nice in the shallow end. But as soon as it was too deep for the sun to heat the water, it was freezing on the feet!! But I played in the sand with Presley building moats and castles she liked destroy. Baylor was in and out of the water as well as playing in the sand.
Mom stayed up by the shelter and blankets. Jamie or Laura was always there with Hubbard. We gave the kids lunch in the sun which is always a good place to lunch.
After lunch Baylor and I went for a walk up the hill. It does not look too bad from here but as we got closer it began to look much steeper! It was a struggle for me to climb it but Baylor of course loved it!!
The lake was on the other side of the hill.
We were swimming down in the pond below it. Way down there.
The blue tent on the grass the the left of the tree, down there. But it was a fun walk with Baylor and we walked to the end of the hill together throwing sand in the lake to see the splash.
This side was very steep as well but not as far down.
Panoramic shot of where we were standing looking at the lake
and on the other side where we were swimming
He was jumping and leaping on the rocks and having a good time being a kid on vacation.
We headed back to Jamie's and I was able to play fun Aunt with Snapchat photos. I love being a mom and being an Aunt is awesome!
Monday morning we were up super early and hit the road to Boston by 6:15. It is a 40 minute drive that took an hour and 45 minutes. We only had to turn around twice, once in the tunnels of the Big Dig and once because the parking garage was not signed well and we went past it. I had pre-paid for parking that was close to the Aquarium and where we picked up the Duck Boats. Baylor was excited to go to the Aquarium and then a bit miffed when he had to wait because our tickets for the Duck Tour was at 9:20 and we had to do that first. He did not crack a smile to show his displeasure.
We were on the second boat of the morning and it was a lovely morning for a trip around Boston.
Still Grumpy Gorilla.
The boat was not the only duck in the area,
We left from Long Wharf which used to end at this building but is now way up the street and not a wharf.
We had a funny guide that made it an interesting tour. And we were right up front so it was easier to pay attention to him.
After rolling through city traffic seeing the sites (too many to list but are listed on their website!) we hit the water. Baylor was a bit more interested then.
Our guide did the driving while we were on the water and the on the road driver had a nice little siesta.
The Swan boats are out there.
The city skyline.
And all the kids were able to take a turn at the wheel. And the guide used the family camera/phone to take the photos.
Finally a smile.
After we de-boated, we headed to the New England Aquarium to see what we could see. Baylor was happy at last.
The penguins were right inside and I was surprised how Baylor was not as excited as I thought he would be about seeing them.
Myrtle the turtle has lived in the aquarium since 1970 and they estimate her age to be around 80 years old. The four story ocean tank was built first and the building was built around it. The stairs spiraled around the so we could see all the many creatures swimming there.
Baylor loved the sharks of course.
We were there in time for a noon feeding and Animal encounter progrom where several people were around the tank feeding, some were swimming and feeding and another person was talking and helping some lucky volunteers to feed the turtle some lettuce.
On our way down we decided that we all had the hangries and stopped at the cafe to get something to eat. The original plan did not include eating there but things were going downhill fast with out eating since around 5:30. Baylor wanted to see the octopus after lunch so him and I worked our way around the exhibits and my parents took a bread down in the lobby. They were done walking at that point.
Large anaconda
I wish my fish tank had this many rummy nosed tetras!
The electric eel.
Some salmon.
And finally the Giant Pacific Octopus, our destination on the third level.
We found the eel in the big tank on the way back down which Baylor enjoyed finding.
After the aquarium we decided to walk to the Paul Revere House which was not very far away. Mom was having pain in her hips and asked if we could find her a shady spot to sit and we could go ahead. The Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park was on our route to the house and we found a spot in the shade with a fountain for some cooling air. It was a short walk which included stopping to talk to a police officer about when it was a good time to leave the city before the traffic backed up too much. He was a super nice guy and we found out we should have been leaving now to avoid the traffic. Oh well! Off we walked to the house and took the tour, no photos please.
This bell was cast by his Foundry and sold to a church in Bridgewater, MA.
Then we headed back to the cross street and talked to our friendly policeman friend and said we were going to Mike's Pastry. He suggested the Lobster Tail and to head to left to get waited on faster. Everyone mills about in the center and right side. We did as we were told, because you should listen to the police right? And we were waiting on right away! And the hoards of people in the center and right stood in line as we left. We took our pastries back for after dinner but stopped to give the policeman a whoopie pie. We said it was native to our neck of the woods. It turns out they have been to Hershey Park and Gettysburg several times. We headed back to Mom who was cool in the shade and people watching and walked to our parking garage.
We headed out of town, had to turn around twice, yelled with my parents about directions and missing turns and just put on your turn signal and wait, someone will let you in! But it was all good and we decided to just find a place to eat and try it. We found a Brazilian place in a strip mall and the food was amazing (SIL later told us this is in a bad part of town but we were OK with our choice)
While we ate out dessert in the hotel room, Buddy rented Guardians of the Galaxy II and Baylor and Buddy had some nice movie time. Mom and I sat in the chairs watching as well and nibbling on our sweet treats.
In the morning on our way to see Laura we stopped at a Market Basket grocery store because they are one of my customers at work and I have never been in one. I bought one of their store shopping bags and a few other items.
But I left the chicken paws!
Then we went to Shaws, not my customer but a store I have never been in before. I am a food tourist for sure!!
We neglected to let Laura know were were on our way but she let us in anyway. We took over baby duty right away. Because look at him!! How can you not want baby time with him!
Jamie picked up Presley from daycare and we headed out to see the Patriots stadium and go out to dinner.
I had to warn Baylor not to make any Patriots cheating comments around his uncle and aunt, they would not take it too kindly.
There is a long shopping mall by the stadium and I bought a few things at Life is Good; shirts for Baylor and Presley and a bubble gun for her as well. It came in handy later. Baylor was good big cousin though he eventually got annoyed that she wanted to copy everything he did.
We found many of these face signs and got the two older kids in them.
The Stadium, don-don-dooon!
We walked around the gift store, choosing not to purchase anything because we are not fans and it was soo expensive!
We ate at Bar Louie which was a nice meal until the no-nap that day niece had a meltdown and Baylor was done eating and bored and baby was hungry and crying. I said I would take the kids outside because I was done and we could blow bubbles with the new bubble gun. They would not let me take Hubbard outside, because they did not want me to have three kids (hmm) so I took the two I was allowed to have and we had a great time blowing bubbles into the wind. The people walking by were very cool with bubbles blowing around and Presley had a great time. My phone was in the restaurant so no photos but it was a lovely evening and we had fun. Then we strolled back up the Patriot Place and hung around for a bit. This is my favorite picture of me and Baylor from the trip.
Little Miss P was following Baylor everywhere, climbing everything he was climbing, jumping off everything she was jumping off. In three years she will be the big sister with a little brother copying everything she does. And Aunt Heidi will tell her, yes I remember it well. Jamie and I are two years and 10 months apart and Presley and Hubbard are two years and nine months apart. If he had made it to his due date it would have been two years and 10 months.
We went our separate ways and headed back to our hotel and they went home.
Wednesday morning we planned to do a bit of touring around rather than just hang out with Laura all morning. We headed to Concord and found Walden Pond and Henry David Thoreau's house.
We were super lucky to have a reenactor visiting as well. I took Baylor inside and we talked to Mr. Thoreau about his life in the cabin, what he ate, where he walked to visit family and the shops. He was a very interesting to talk to and would move from his character in the time he was at the pond to what he did afterwards and even he would slip in some today's world knowledge (the snow from last year was as high as the roof of the cabin)
Then we crossed the road to Walden Pond.
On Walden Pond.
In Walden Pond
Baylor is always game for water.
When Mr. Thoreau was living there most of Massachusetts was cleared of the forests so it was a much different landscape back then. The trees have grown very much since then. I had a hard time getting my bearings in MA because of all the trees I never could tell which direction we were going.
Then we headed over to the North Bridge Visitor's Center to see where the Revolutionary War began. The center is in an old home and the rangers were very knowledgeable and helpful.
We watched a short film on the start of the war on the bridge and then we walked to see it ourselves. It is not the same bridge of course, it has been rebuilt several times over the years.
After our history lesson we headed to Wellesley where Jamie runs the dining hall.
He gave us a brief tour of the building and we ate lunch in the dining hall. He is well liked by everyone we talked to both who worked there and those eating there during the summer programs.
After lunch we headed back to their house for more baby time. Presley was still at day care so we did not get as much time with her.
Proud grandparents
Presley did not have a nap at day care and was not into photo taking but sometimes it is what it is.
Thursday morning we headed out early and took the long way home but one my parents were more comfortable with due to all the traffic we had headed north earlier in the trip. It took an hour longer but we were back at their house around 2:30. We unpacked Mom and Dad and headed home ourselves.
We had a lot of rain while we were gone.
I had to rush home from Mom and Dad's because Jake had class at 6:30 and I needed to take him to the dog park before hand. It was a party at the park night with local vendors and dog groups setting up with tents in the parking lot and pools in the park for the dogs. Jake made friends with Sam who was a very sweet and well behaved dog we had never met before.
And then it was off to class. Since we were gone since Friday, we had not worked on anything but Jake did well anyway.
It was good to be home!
