My darling little Kate turned 8 over the summer, which in our family means that we take her on a trip with just Mom and Dad. Because Travis had a work conference in Boston, we decided that would be our destination for Kate's trip.
This girl was out of her head with excitement leading up to the trip. She loved her first plane ride, her first taxi ride, sleeping in the cozy hotel bed all by herself.
The first day, Kate and I grabbed some fruit and yogurt from the 7-11 and ate breakfast along the bank of the Charles River. Yes, it was raining a little bit, but it was beautiful!
We took a tour in the Duck Boat which was amazing. It drives through the city and points out landmarks, then heads into the river and becomes a boat! Kate got a chance to drive it along the river.
Beautiful view of the city from the river.
After the Duck Tour, we went to the Museum of Science (Kate's choice). There was an amazing butterfly garden with lots of butterflies for us to study
We worked for almost an hour to construct this system for balls to cycle through the pipes. Boy was it exciting when we finally figured it out!
Later that night we met up with Travis and took a tour of the Freedom Trail. It was awesome to walk in some of the same places that our country literally began. In this picture, Kate and Trav are standing on some steps and right behind them is Quincy Market, which dates way back to the late 1700s.
The next morning Kate and I were on our own again. I desperately wanted to go on a whale watching trip, but the conditions were not looking good, so we opted for the aquarium instead.
Which turned out to be a very good thing. This girl is so fascinated by all animals, so we spent the whole day there-- watching the seal show, touching creepy little frogs, and discussing the incredible brain capacity of the octopus with a staff member. She was in heaven!
That night we met up with Travis and toured the Museum of Art. Apparently I didn't take any photos there, but we loved it. It's amazing to me that there are artifacts that date back thousands of years. I believe the desire to create is part of the human soul, and it's amazing to see the things that were created by people so long ago who had so few of life's luxuries. Honestly, if I had to worry about hunting/gathering/defending my family from wolves-- I would definitely not be worried about what to do for Craft Night! But somehow, these people found ways to weave art into their daily lives.
Randomly, while I took a quick detour to the restroom at the museum, I spotted this statue tucked away in a corner. It's called Bacchante and Infant Faun by Frederick MacMonnies and apparently has a somewhat colorful past. (Google it to learn more.) Anyway, when I saw it, I totally fell in love with it-- while Travis and Kate were both like "You like the statue of the naked lady skipping with a baby?" But to me, this statue symbolizes the mother I wish I was more often (only, you know, with clothes on.) She's just so HAPPY. I wish that more often I could be found skipping, dancing, and generally being joyful with my children. They really do bring me more joy than anything else, but their perception of me is probably less of a happy woman prancing around and more of a "did you put your shoes away/practice the piano/use the potty/ do your chore?" kind of woman. So I really loved this statue. A lot. Which is another great thing about art. Beautiful art can truly uplift and inspire us.
The next morning Travis only had a half day of class and Kate decided she wanted to visit the Boston Public Library. Wowee! That place was amazing! It was enormous, with this giant courtyard in the middle for reading/relaxing/fountain gazing-- and get this, my favorite statue from the night before is actually in this courtyard fountain! We're totally meant to be best friends, this statue and me!
We snagged our rental car (and Travis) and headed up through New Hampshire and on to Sharon, Vermont. The fall colors were amazing. I took this quick shot out of the car window because I love the trees and I love the house-- giant porch, shutters, bay window.... everything I love in a house. The entire drive was indescribably beautiful.
If you didn't know, Sharon, Vermont is the birthplace of Joseph Smith. He only lived there till he was about 2 years old, but there is a very impressive monument tucked in the hills there.
The original house has been torn down, but this stone remains. I can't recall exactly what it's called, but it's basically the foundation stone at the front of the house, where the door would have been. You can imagine a little Joseph Smith crawling over that stone hundreds of times. I know that you can feel the Spirit anywhere, but standing on that stone that day, I truly felt the Spirit. We were hidden away in this tiny little hill a few miles from this tiny little town in this essentially barren part of the country-- and I just knew that no ordinary boy from those circumstances could have done what Joseph Smith did. He was truly chosen by God to do his work on the earth; there is no other way to explain it.
Our visit to Joseph's birthplace took us a little further than we had anticipated and we spent a long time driving that night because we had booked a hotel in Portland, Maine. It was fine though, since we got to drive around Lake Winnipesaukee.
Which you may remember from the movie "What About Bob?" Travis told Kate the story of the movie while we drove and she found it to be the most hilarious thing she'd ever heard. So of course we watched it as soon as we got home.
Now, Portland, Maine.... that's a place I could spend some time. We really only had a few hours the next morning, but man-oh-man it is beautiful there!
There's a little trail that goes along the water, a photographer's playground.
Seriously?!?!
We walked through town a bit too. I love these old houses! Why not paint your house blue and your door yellow?
We stopped to check out a lighthouse that morning as well, then spent the afternoon in Salem, Massachusetts (no pictures, what was I thinking?) We attended one of those mock witch trials which was incredibly insane thinking that people were really tried and killed in that manner. Unfortunately, said trial, combined with traffic and confused drivers meant we were thisclose to missing our plane. We were praying our guts out while we circled around on the freeway trying to figure out how to get to the airport (in Boston, the freeway is built underneath the city-- which is cool so it doesn't clog the city up with traffic, but the satellite on our phone couldn't figure out we were underneath the regular streets and kept giving us faulty directions, making it seem significantly less cool.) Anyway, it was nothing short of a miracle that our flight was delayed and we made it on the plane.
We stopped to check out a lighthouse that morning as well, then spent the afternoon in Salem, Massachusetts (no pictures, what was I thinking?) We attended one of those mock witch trials which was incredibly insane thinking that people were really tried and killed in that manner. Unfortunately, said trial, combined with traffic and confused drivers meant we were thisclose to missing our plane. We were praying our guts out while we circled around on the freeway trying to figure out how to get to the airport (in Boston, the freeway is built underneath the city-- which is cool so it doesn't clog the city up with traffic, but the satellite on our phone couldn't figure out we were underneath the regular streets and kept giving us faulty directions, making it seem significantly less cool.) Anyway, it was nothing short of a miracle that our flight was delayed and we made it on the plane.
I am so glad that we got the chance to spend time with just Kate. She is an amazing young person. So fun loving, full of energy, smart, inquisitive, patient, sweet, witty. She is such a blessing in my life and in our family. I should mention some things Kate learned on our trip: she doesn't like the crowds of big cities, and she REALLY loves her siblings. It got to the point where we couldn't call home because she missed them so much that talking to them made her cry! How sweet is that!
