Last Hurrah: Boston

Mom was kind of sad about sending me off to kindergarten, so we decided to take a trip to Boston together the week before I started school.

Thursday, August 15, we got up bright and early and Dad, Hazel and Turner dropped us off at the airport. Hazel and Turner did a good job saying goodbye because they were excited to have an adventure with Dad. Mom and I said goodbye to Texas food next; Mom got a brisket breakfast taco before we got on the plane. 

Our flight was good. I kept myself entertained the whole time with a book and my iPod. I was kind of mad though, when we got off in New York instead of Boston. Mom had forgotten to tell me we had a layover. We made the best of it by eating fancy hot dogs, which I really liked. 

After another really short flight, I was happy when we finally arrived in Boston. Oma and Opa picked us up and we went to Salem, where we ate on the waterfront, looked at lots of neat ships and took a little walk before heading out to the house to drop our stuff off. It was a long day, but wasn’t over yet.

We headed back to Salem to meet up with Mom’s friend Sarah, who was leaving the next morning for a trip to Turkey. Although Mom got me some yummy peanut butter pie, I was tired, so after a quick visit, we headed back to Oma and Opa's and went to bed.

When we woke up Friday, we decided to take it easy for a bit. Mom slept in while I made some friends. The nine-year-old twins who were visiting their grandma across the street came over to play. One of the things we did was feed Oma’s ducks. About 50 of them fly to her yard every day because they know she will feed them birdseed. We also played tag and mopped Oma’s deck for her, something I really liked doing.

I liked the twins so much, later in the day I called across the street to them to come back. I went across, grabbed one of them by the hand and tried to pull her back with us.
Next Oma, Opa, Mom and I went to Newburyport, where we had lunch in a tiny lighthouse. I scarfed down my macaroni and cheese and turtle cheesecake, but Mom couldn't finish her enormous steak.

After that, we went by a playground, where I climbed a lot and scabbed my knee up when was running and fell over. We next went to Trader Joes and a light dinner of hummus and veggies, followed by a not-so-light chocolate dessert binge from our trip to Trader Joes.

I finished our fun day with a bath in Oma's whirlpool bath. I loved not only the jets, but I could splash all I wanted because of her glass shower doors.

We had a big adventure Saturday. Mom and I drove down to Wonderland T station, where we left our car so we could get on the subway into Boston. We were surprised to find that the blue line, the whole way to the Airport stop, was closed for the weekend. Fortunately, they had shuttle busses set up to take everyone to the first stop that was open. We next took the T the rest of the way in to Faneuil Hall, where we met our friend Jenny and her two daughters for lunch at Cheers. 

Then we did a walking tour. I wasn't crazy about the tour but did like one stop -- the cemetery. I liked seeing how old everyone was when they died. Most of the people were in their 70s but I found one person who died when they were 26. I told Mom, "That's just not right!" Mom agreed.

Then we took the T again, to Prudential, where we went to the top of the building. We were on the 50th floor and I was excited to learn that we were 750 feet up. After Mom listened to most of the audio tour, we went down and took a nice walk through the area outside the Mary Baker Eddy Library, where they have a large pool and fountain. I took my shoes off and stuck my feet in the fountain, and we liked seeing how beautiful it all is and what a nice day it was outside. We really enjoyed the cool weather.

We went back on the T, then the shuttle, and when we were back at Wonderland, took a short walk on the beach before getting back in the car. Dinner with Oma and Opa at a place called Londi's, where I had pizza and Mom had a cheesesteak.

Sunday was a fun but calmer day. We kicked the day off with breakfast at the Little Train Depot in Peabody. It’s a diner inside a 1929 Worcester Lunch Car. Nobody but Mom could believe I could eat a whole HUGE chocolate chip pancake. 
We next headed to Salem for some kayaking. While Mom and I were on the water, we saw a fishing boat pull up to the dock. When we came back, we learned that the fisherman had given Oma and Opa a large fish they caught. Next, we walked over to a nearby jazz festival. I was feeling a little burned out and grumpy, so we headed back to the house. I spent more time with Oma’s mop on her deck and Mom and I ewwwwed at Oma and Opa's fish, which they tried unsuccessfully to cut up. We had a nice cookout dinner and finished with ice cream at the Dairy Witch.
Monday Mom and I set out for Boston again, and met up with our cousins Katie, Luke and Ryan at the Boston Children's Museum. I really loved seeing my cousins and liked playing with the airplane, construction zone, kitchen and climbing structure in the museum’s foyer.

After saying goodbye to that gang, Mom and I got on the T and went to Boston Common. I splashed in the Frog Pond and played on the playground, then we walked across the street to the Public Gardens where Mom took photos of Duck and me at the Make Way for Ducklings statue. We rode on a swan boat and met up with our friend Zhenya, who moved from Austin to Boston five months ago.

We walked with Zhenya to the North End, and passed another fun cemetery on the way, then had dinner. We looked and looked for a restaurant that had pizza for me and eggplant parmesan for Mom. By the time we found one, we were starved! When the food came, I learned that Zhenya ordered mussels – via my nose – and totally freaked out. I told Mom the smell hurt my nose so she took me outside for fresh air. When we came back, Zhenya had packed up her food, but I still wouldn’t eat any of my pizza. I had totally lost my appetite. I played with my iPod until Mom and Zhenya finished eating, then we went out in search of cannollis. They’re so yummy!

By the time we finished, we realized we had 10 minutes to get to our train or we’d have to wait until 9:30 at night to catch the next one. Fortunately, Mom had spotted bike taxis across the street from the park where we ate our cannollis, so we took one of those to North Station and after running for it, barely caught our train. That bike taxi was the ride of my life! I loved it! It was a great end to a great day! I was super tired on the train ride back.


Tuesday was our last day there and we took it easy. Mom slept in for the last time while I played with Oma and one of the twins from across the street, Aubrianna. We fed the ducks again and played on the deck. I really enjoyed Aubrianna. Since we came home, I've been sleeping with my photo of her.

Mom said we had to get to the airport around 2:00 for a 4:00 flight, so we headed out in the afternoon. When we got to the airport, Mom was surprised to see she misread the flight info. Our connecting flight left New York at 4:00. We were supposed to leave Boston at 2:00! 

Fortunately, we came across the nicest airline employee ever, who just put us on another flight. He didn’t even charge us anything, which made it a lot easier for Mom to explain to Dad what happened. We were supposed to get into Austin at 7:30, but instead flew through Detroit and got in at 10:30.

We were very sad not to get to talk with Hazel and Turner that night because – since Mom was able to arrange for a babysitter while Dad picked us up -- they were asleep when we got home. It all worked out in the end -- we were happy to see Daddy after our fun Boston adventure and it was fun seeing Hazel and Turner when we all woke up Wednesday morning.

To look at pictures from our trip, click here.