Boston
The unfortunate accident Matt’s parents were in has resulted in him going home for a few days while I fly solo with these three wild ones. Â I’m good solo, I actually like it now and again but….we’re in Boston! Â I have lived in and travelled through many big cities, I’ve navigated my way through Tokyo when I was 18, New York, Chicago, Mexico City, Milan and more….. but something about being responsible for three littles in the city made me a bit nervous. Â Thoughts of locking myself out of the house, a child jumping into the subway tracks, getting lost, being abducted by an alien, all crossed my mind. Â The good thing is I’m always up for a challenge so off we adventured. Â 1st stop the subway which may have been the most exciting part of our whole week in Boston. (for the kids not myself) Â A train that travels underground at high speeds with soooo many people on it, despite the smell of urine, is like a dream for my country kids. Â Jump on the Braintree express, first stop Park Street – Boston Commons bound.
Freedom Trail – Day 1
I will admit I know so little about history its embarrassing.  You know the people who end up on late night shows, after having a mic shoved in their face, when they can’t answer the obvious question about something from history and everyone laughs for weeks?  That pretty much could be me!  I’ve often thought I should buy “History for Dummies” or something equivalent so I can at least converse with my children about history, yep I need to do that.  Well, that aside we decided to walk the Freedom Trail on day 1.  The kids became Junior Rangers in Acadia National Park and there is a Liberty Junior Ranger program through the Boston National Historic Park.  You can’t get a better opportunity for homeschooling, and anything resulting in an oath and badge is pure motivation for the kids, so off we went.  The Freedom Trail is a 2.5 mile path winding through Boston with stops at 16 historic landmarks.  It is amazing, you literally feel like you are traveling through time as you discover the roots of our country.  The trail is marked with red bricks which makes it incredibly easy to navigate.  Sienna made sure she walked the exact line like a balance beam, probably displacing many people along the way, but that’s pretty fitting.  Top stops were the Granary Burial Ground where Paul Revere, Samuel Adams and John Hancock are buried along with Benjamin Franklin’s parents.  The site of the Boston Massacre, the Old State House where the Declaration of Independence was read for the first time, and Quincy Market.  We stopped for the day after reaching Quincy Market where the kids had a choice of 50+ food stands for lunch.  The decision making was tough but we ended up with sushi for Colette, bacon mac and cheese for Sienna and watermelon for Lennox.
Boston Children’s Museum
We spent the entire day here! Â It made me want to be a child more than ever and I was mesmerized by each exhibit. Â Dinosaurs, bubbles, water, physics and gravity, Japanese culture, the world of Arthur, history, construction, building blocks, lights, an interactive dance pad, climbing wall…..this place seemed to have everything and more. Â The only hard part was keeping the kids all in the same area of the museum at once, or at least on the same floor.
Harvard
Today I get my partner in crime back!!!! Â Yippee…no better place to meet up than Harvard. Â But first… the Harvard Natural History Museum. Â It is CRAZY! Â A pretty drastic change from the Children’s Museum but the kids loved this museum. Â My only regret is I didn’t take more photos, you might be happy not to see them though. Â There were jars upon jars of things, specimens, creatures stuffed into glass, weird stuff it’s hard to believe exists. Â Then you move to the walls and there are millions of creatures, birds, bugs, butterflies. Â Moving on to mammals you encounter a silent stuffed zoo of wonder and floating above your head are skeletons of whales, huge bones dangling. Â It is really something worth seeing and gives you a good idea of the brain power captured in the walls of Harvard.
Harvard Museum of Natural History
More Harvard Sites
Freedom Trail – Day 2
We returned for a second day on the Freedom Trail. Â This time we had Matt with us. Â We started at Faneuil Hall, went to Paul Revere’s House which was built in 1680! Â Checked out the Old North Church, where two lanterns were lit signaling the British were coming by sea, “One if by land, two if by sea.” Â We ended at the Charleston Navy Yard which was closing for a party but the girls were excited to see a female soldier. Â Since we had walked a lot and it was 75 degrees ice cream was well deserved to end the day.
 Freedom Trail – Day 3
Bunker Hill Monument
They were excited to get daddy on the subway which ended up with all the kids piled on him in excitement. Â Next stop for our final steps of the Freedom Trail, the site of the Battle of Bunker Hill. Â You can climb to the top which we had to do, it was a workout with 294 steps, and a little claustrophobic near the top but we had a great view and it was well worth it. Â I carried Lennox half way down but I couldn’t feel bad as we passed a man at least twice my age who was heading up for the second time and was doing this 6 times for his workout! What?!?
The USS Constitution “Old Ironsides”
The oldest commissioned boat in the US Navy the USS Constitution must also be the most majestic. Â It is amazing to look at and even more astonishing to stand on. Â Lennox loved the cannons and you couldn’t help but imagine the places this ship had sailed. Â The museum nearby was pretty great too. Apparently, this ship still sails on occasion which must be incredible to experience. Â Guess we will have to return for that. Â At the end of it all, the kids earned their Junior Ranger badges which took a lot of work and they were super excited to complete. Â Does that mean they can now arrest their parents? USS Constitution Museum
All aboard! Â Watch out for these sailors
Duck Boat Mania
The Duck boat ride… what can I say, it was epic. Â The first sign of luck was winning the lottery of a super garish pink and purple duck boat, it had to be a good one. Â Then we met MEATBALL, our guide. Â Not just any guide with a few jokes up his sleeve passing the day away, this guy was hilarious! Â Soon he had us doing the Meatball salute, quacking like ducks and belly laughing as we rode a crazy vehicle through the city then directly into the Charles River, and a boat it becomes. Â Way too much fun and even though it’s so touristy I would highly recommend hopping on board. Boston Duck Tours
Random Fun… Science Nerds… Ramen… Candlestick Bowling and Wild Encounters
The coolest thing about the Boston Science Museum was the Van de Graaff Generator. Â It is the largest of its kind in the world I believe (it fills an entire room) and it creates lightning! Â Loud – beautiful – bolts of energy. Â Pretty spectacular to watch, very hard to photograph but the video below is pretty cool. Â We also found our way to a lab in the basement which was actually holding a free Saturday science day. Â They had various experiments and volunteers to help the kids, from painting with pipettes to creating chemical reactions it was a great experience.
To end our Boston adventures we went candlestick bowling and ate delicious pizza. Â Our friends showed us this gem called Flatbread and we ended up here on three different occasions, the first two visits we struck out (couldn’t resist) on bowling but we had success with number 3! Â It looked so cool and intriguing we were super happy to finally try it out. Â Way harder than it looks, the ball is super small, there are 10 pins and the pins are not reset after each turn. Â The retro vibe and amazing pizza make this place a knock out. Â Flatbread Company
