Boston in Late Winter

Hola!

Wow, a whirlwind week! Last week was Spring Break for us, starting Good Friday and the week following Easter. I took the kids to Boston so we could visit Frank (yippee!) and see the area. Kara and I celebrated our birthdays on the planes…we flew out on hers (March 21), and flew back on mine (March 29).

We went to be tourists and to house-hunt, and we did a bunch of each. The kids thought it was a big slumber party, to sleep on mattresses on the floor in Frank’s apartment, and they each had opinions on the houses we looked at. We probably saw around 20 or so houses, not a huge selection at this point but we’re hoping more go on the market as spring progresses.

The “tourists” part was made much easier with the GPS in the rental car. Those things are like magic! “Stay to the right. Now exit Right.” “Make a u-turn if possible.” We had a good time just imitating the voice. (I know, I know, we should probably get out more…?)

Frank worked a couple of days of the week, and when he worked, I took the kids downtown to the Old North Church (one if by land, two if by sea), and Paul Revere’s House. I learn so much from those small museums. Paul Revere was a silversmith and married twice, and had 8 kids with each wife. 16 kids!

With Frank, we saw the U.S.S. Constitution, a.k.a.”Old Ironsides,” because cannonballs bounced off her sides and someone shouted “she has sides made of iron!” The name stuck. It is the oldest commissioned ship afloat in the world.

We also walked to Bunker Hill. Its monument is very similar to the pillar of Washington’s Monument in D.C. This one has 294 steps, and we climbed to the top for a fabulous view. Of course, Bunker Hill is actually Breed’s Hill, site of the first Battle of the Revolution. Whether by mistake or by design, the Revolutionary forces were ordered to go to Bunker Hill and went instead to the next hill over, Breed’s Hill. Supposedly this is where the order was given (not sure by whom): “Don’t shoot until you see the whites of their eyes!”

**It should be noted that upon learning that we would soon be walking over to Bunker Hill, Kara (2nd grade) immediately started chanting the words her grandpa (“Papa”) always recited, with the kids bouncing on his knee: “I’m the king of Bunker Hill…I can fight and I can KILL” and then they’d fall down or get swung around in a circle, or whatever. The verse is forever ingrained in their brains, and while it is not quite politically correct…it does rhyme.

This is a teaser for you, so you will start planning your next trip to Boston and come visit us. Of course it was cold in March, but it surprised us by being sunny every day but one, when it really poured. Frank says “Don’t think all this sun is normal!” But it was a good week.

Here are some photos, since Jolyn introduced me to this new option on the blog.

ALSO: David (7th grade) has started a blog, where he highlights the Children’s Museum and the Aquarium we went to. (BTW, he mentions a 1000-gallon tank. Correction: it was a 100,000-gallon tank. You wouldn’t even believe this thing.) His blog is http://www.maxridewings.blogspot.com/ if you want to check it out.

Love, Kari