Boston

The adventure for this week was a big one: an overnight trip to Boston! It's just about 2.5 hours away, not a bad drive at all (especially compared to Philly). Oh, but the fun began before we even got there...Oliver had his first episode of car sickness! He had been fussy and unhappy the whole trip, we stopped for breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts (the only place around) and he had part of a egg & cheese croissant. Still fussy, he kept throwing his bink (pacifier) and his toys and I kept risking my life by unbuckling my seat belt to reach over the backseat to replace them. Months ago we had decided that I would quit riding in the back with him on longer car trips, because he tends to want "upeeeeeez!" (up, please). Instead, he just turned on the fake cry/tantrum until I would give him a new toy or retrieve his bink. Sigh. Anyway, he was finally happy and quiet with some books, then suddenly got fussy again. So, I was leaning over to find the bink, and blech, breakfast came back up in two big heaves. So now I'm unbuckled and leaning over and picking up vomit with my bare hands and the few napkins I could grab and throwing it in the bag. Only a mother's love, right?  Then using all our wipes to clean up the rest. Fun times. Not to mention the smell. I'm thinking it was the books, combined with him still being rear facing (recommended as safest these days). We were on the toll road, so not a lot of places to pull off, but when we finally did and got him cleaned up he was happy as a clam and was the rest of the weekend, so I'm sure it was car sickness and not an illness.

I'm so sorry, I don't have any pictures to illustrate this story. Aren't you sorry?

And of course being the prepared mother we all know that I am....I brought three shirts (yay), but only two pairs of pants (boo) on the trip. So he wore the same pants all weekend. Eh, he didn't notice. Actually, I should be spending this time scrubbing down his car seat. But I'd rather blog, wouldn't you?

The rest of the weekend was happily less eventful. The weather was amazingly beautiful, 68 and sunny on Saturday, 73 and sunny on Sunday. As a result we spent most of our time outdoors and even skipped the art museums. Boston has some amazing art museums, but we'll just have to save those for a later trip. On Saturday, we had tickets for a trolley that tours all over Boston and lets you get on and off wherever you want all day. That worked out pretty well, despite a few long waits for the trolley. On Sunday, we went to the New England Aquarium and then walked the Freedom Trail and then the neighborhood of Back Bay with it's beautiful streets and brownstones while Oliver napped in the stroller. On both days we spent time in the beautiful Boston Public Garden, with a pond of ducks and swans and swan boats riding around, which was Oliver's favorite spot, of course! Now for the pictures! Disclaimer: my camera was on the wrong setting and/or running low on battery so I did not get a lot of great photos like I usually try to do. Here are some highlights:

Oliver and Marty at the Charlestown Navy Yard (where the USS Constitution is located), with the city in the background. 

Oliver & I at the same spot. He was obsessed with this bell!

 

 We spent a lot of our time at the Navy Yard following Oliver around and making sure he didn't walk off the pier into the water.

Cute Oliver Story #1 (the vomit story wasn't cute, so it doesn't count): We would let Oliver out of his stroller to walk around anywhere it was safe without cars, like here or in a park. He's just too adorable when he walks around like this. First of all, he'll find a line or path and follow it very determinedly. Also, I guess people don't often let toddlers this young out of the stroller, because strangers are often fascinated by him doing this. Of course, it's probably also because he's just so cute! I always hear people saying "Did you see his eyelashes?!" Anyway, we were walking around like this, and he walked by a line of people waiting to go on the USS Constitution, and they were all ooohing and ahhing, and of course he plays right into this by throwing them all kisses (Muuuuaaaaah!!!). Then, a little bit later at this same place, we were waiting for the trolley and Oliver became very interested in this tour bus parked nearby (guh-kuh! aka truck!). The passagners returning to it stopped to watch him, and he'd act all shy and smile and throw a kiss. Soon a crowd gathered. Seriously, we should have put out a hat with a dollar bill in it! He was the star of the show. He actually got a little overwhelmed by it and walked back and tried to climb into his stroller, which of course they all thought was the cutest thing ever. Some of them even followed us as we kept walking asking about him and telling us how cute he was. I'm somewhat used to this because he often charms the ladies in the grocery store, but never a whole crowd of sightseers! Oliver, making friends everywhere he goes!

 

Here are some shots from the Boston Public Garden, a beautiful spot where we spent time both days, and as you can see, where we let him run around freely!

 At the Aquarium on Sunday. At this aquarium, they have a huge tank in the center, and a ramp going up in a spiral all the way around it, kind of like the Guggenheim Museum in NYC. The penguin areas are open all around you on the lower level where the ramp starts. Oliver loved running up and down the ramp!

This is outside the Aquarium, near the seal habitat. It's a beautiful deck overlooking the water. As you can see it was a gorgeous day. Yes, the thin wire railings freaked mom out too! Especially because Oliver really wanted to go swimming!

For lunch Saturday, we ate at one of the Cheers locations at Quincy Market (it's a chain there, spun off from the tv show). Here's Oliver enjoying a pickle. This kid has some really weird food tastes right now. I can't say we had any amazing meals, but on Sunday we ate at the Green Dragon Tavern, where the Paul Revere and those guys hung out, and where the plan to invade Lexington and Concord was overheard starting his famous ride. Only it turns out they moved it to another location in 1993, so maybe not as historic as we thought when we entered. Oh well, the food was decent. Oliver ate cole slaw and a tomato, weirdo!

Enjoying a pretzel bigger than his head as a snack before the ride home on Sunday (he shared it with daddy).

 

Cute Oliver Story #2: After the pretzel, we let Oliver out to run around in this little green space area to burn some energy before the ride back home. He became obsessed with these manhole covers. At home when we walk around the apartment complex, he often walks from one metal thing in the road to another, but this time he stopped at every one. He'd point at the letters and grunt, "Uh?" (aka, "what's that?"), and make Daddy tell him each letter. I'm telling you this kid is going to be reading in another month or two! He did it with every single cover, which as you can see by the above picture, there were a lot in this one area. It really was too cute!

Overall, it was a great weekend, and I definitely think we'll go back again while we're on the east coast. The ride back home was uneventful, thank goodness. Now, I better go clean that car seat before he wakes up from his nap!