Now We've Been To Boston in the Fall

(L's family - Do you know the song referenced in the title?)

We just returned from a 4 day family trip to Boston. It's been over a year since the whole family was on vacation together (we had lots of vacations involving different parts of the family this summer but none all together). We felt like we needed to go somewhere all together so we took the kids out of school for a couple of days and went to Boston. We had a great time and got to enjoy Boston in the fall.

After driving over Saturday morning, we visited to the Children's Museum where R kept insisting we were going to get to see children of all nationalities in the exhibits. He only fooled P for just a second. What we did see was an exhibit about trees where C and P had fun dressing up as woodland animals. Here they are as a bird and an owl.We also saw a real Japanese house that was sent from Japan and then re-assembled in the museum. It was my favorite part. We have no pictures though because it was at this point in the trip that I realized that I'd lost the camera. Thank goodness an honest person found it and turned it in to lost and found. But, due to my stressed out condition, I forgot to go back later and take pictures of the house.

We also watched a production of The Three Little Bigs, had an art lesson on drawing with charcoal and all drew our own pictures, played in sand, danced on a lighted floor, and so much more.

Sunday, after attending church, we visited the Minute Man National Park that encompasses the old road that leads from Lexington to Concord. We walked parts of it and drove the rest.We saw the site on the road where Paul Revere was captured and then later let go during his midnight ride. We saw the grave site of 3 British Soldiers. We saw some historical buildings and walked across the North Bridge in Concord where "The shot heard round the world" was fired. I heard someone behind us say "This place is too beautiful to have a war." It truly is a beautiful place, especially this time of year.I jumped out of the car to grab a quick picture when we drove past Louisa May Alcott's house. Little Women is my favorite book.Monday we headed in to Boston to walk the Freedom trail. The kids enjoyed the train ride in and were troopers as we walked all over the city. There is so much to see. Highlights were the cemetery where we saw the graves up Paul Revere, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and victims of the Boston Massacre, the site of the first public high school attended by several great men including Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin didn't graduate though, he was a high school drop out. We also saw Paul Revere's home where he was living at the time he made his midnight ride.
Not far from his home we stopped at the Old North Church where the lanterns were hung.
Today we went back in to Boston to visit the USS Constitution and Bunker Hill. The kids loved the tour of the ship. The USS Constitution (Old Iron sides), which was used in the war of 1812, is the oldest commissioned, still afloat, war ship in the world.We concluded our trip by putting our physical fitness to the test at the Bunker hill monument. We all, including P, climbed the 294 stairs to the top of the monument where we had a great 360 degree view of the Boston area. (P was only carried for about 50 of the steps.) Here is the Boston sky line as seen from the top of the monument. The white steeple across the river is the Old North church.