A bit more Boston...

We loved Boston!!! All I could think of was how much I wished we could live there for a time (a short time, but still a time :)). Of course, I felt the same way about Maine, BUT, we did love Boston. With the exception of the driving (which Nathan did super well - it would stress me out) the city was great. We did parts of the Freedom Trail (depending on moods and nap times :)) and just enjoyed being in the city.
When we first arrived in Boston we forgot how cash based many things in the city still are... including balloon making clowns! Therefore, when all of the other children got balloon creations during the party, poor Evie did not because we had no cash. :p She handled it quite bravely but we could tell a $3 balloon would go a long way in her life. ;) So, the next day we made sure we had cash when we went downtown and we found a very funny clown to make her a lovely flower. She was beyond pleased and this flower was her constant companion the rest of the day and much of the time in Boston. :)
  
Enjoying the lovely streets and fun shops...
Strolling around Harvard until half of us fell asleep... :)
Had delicious dinners with horrible service in little Italy (Nathan got his food 40 minutes before mine came...)

Climbed Bunker Hill...

And had a marvelous time exploring the USS Constitution - both the ship and the museum. The museum was very hand on - perfect for two little girls. I think we spent half our time there in the kitchen. :)
  
We can't wait until our next visit! Maybe once the girls are a little older. :)

Our Boston Friends

We had such a wonderful time with Elliott, Kelly, Adelynn, Margaret, and Thomas! Pretty much whenever we weren't at their house Evie was asking where they were when we were going to go back to play "with my friends". Seeing anything in Boston was way inferior to playing with her friends. :) Adelynn and Margaret are both older than Evie but were so so kind and sweet with her. Evelyn just adores them! Thomas and Gracie are just a few weeks apart and enjoyed playing together as well.

Nathan and Margaret in the middle of an intense puzzle race. ;)
The closet was the perfect place to hide out and have tea parties!
Three silly girls eating bagels after church. :)

Checking out the Curious George store over by Harvard.
Walking to the neighborhood playground!

We tried to get a picture of just the kids, but the toddler/baby moods and emotions weren't right for that. :) Here they all are plus Kelly and me. :)
Thanks, friends, for being such wonderful Boston hosts! We so enjoyed our time with you all!  

Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack

The problem with taking lots of pictures on a trip is that it takes forever to narrow them down. I haven't done a great job narrowing down, so I think there will just be a lot of posts about our Boston/Maine trip, beginning with the flight up.
The girls did very well on the flight, despite being dragged from their beds at 4:30am. :) Gracie fell asleep during take off and thankfully slept most of the way. Evelyn was too excited but the complimentary juice and snacks and the novelty of it all sustained her. :)
Since we arrived in Boston around 8am, we decided to spend some time downtown before heading to our friends house. We stayed with good friends from high school (for Nathan) and college (for both of us :)) and their three kids. We had a wonderful time with them and more pictures will be coming of that. :) Since we had time, however, we decided to check out the Boston Public Gardens - by far Evelyn's highlight from Boston. :)
Since we still had a bit of time we stopped to watch some baseball (sooooo good to hear the sound of the bat hitting the ball and just being in a city again that loves it's baseball!!!)
And we also walked through an old, important cemetery whose name I forget. It was a fascinating cemetery though and included many famous people including Benjamin Franklin (big stone in the middle) and all the victims of the Boston Massacre.
After naps Evelyn was thrilled to head back to the public gardens with all her new Boston friends! Adelynn was turning 5 and was having her party at the gardens, complete with riding on the Swan boats! Her party was supposed to be the week before but certain Boston events made that impossible. :( Here we all are waiting in line for the boat!  
The birthday girl on the boat!

Here's a picture of another swan boat to give you an idea of what ours looked like.
It was quite fun to experience a city birthday party... completely with the boat ride, balloon creations, dancing around the park, riding on the duck statues, and carousel rides. :)
Gracie was thrilled with her time as well. ;)