Boston Part 1

Last Saturday afternoon our family headed out on our summer trip - first leg... Boston! 

Dave worked in the morning and the kids and I spent the morning getting things ready to head out (I like to leave my house the cleanest it's ever been when I go on a trip - hahaha) and then my dad drove us to the airport.  We literally walked through security and settled in with some drinks and snacks to wait for the plane. 

So we board the plane, sit down, and Luke all of a sudden says that he can't find his wallet.  He had taken it to get some food with Mason and G so we knew he had it but he thought he left it sitting on a chair by the gate OR it fell out of his pocket when he was walking back from the restaurant.  He's repeatedly searching his bag as people board and Dave talks to a flight attendant to tell them what happened (we can't get off the plane since we've already boarded) and she said she'd see what she could do.  We set about freezing his credit card (he has a card tied to or account), debit card, etc. and he's pretty much said goodbye to his license and his $100+ in cash.  We were literally about to taxi away from the gate when the kindest AA employee BRINGS HIM HIS WALLET!  I almost clapped I was so happy. hahaha. Not sure Luke has ever been more relieved!  

The rest of the flight was fairly uneventful although it was HOT (the worst kind of flight) and we were sitting pretty much directly behind two crying babies - so that was a good time.  I always feel so bad for parents with fussy kids on a plane because I can't imagine a whole lot of things more stressful than that. 

We landed in Boston about 10 pm, grabbed an Uber, and got checked into the Westin Copley Place. Hotel options always stress me out, but this one was in an ideal location and could accommodate five people without having to get two rooms and we were SO PLEASED with the room and the location.

We grabbed some room service (if you are ever there - the grilled cheese with bacon and apple with tomato soup was SO GOOD!) and all pretty much crashed.

 

The next morning we were so excited to wake up and see the view...

... and we headed out around 8 a.m. to grab some breakfast.  It was overcast and chilly and we were loving life!

We stopped into a bagel shop a couple of blocks over from the hotel...

... and while it wasn't a NYC bagel they were quick and the breakfast sandwich bagels were delish!

I pretty much packed only dresses for this trip and could have even gotten away with one less than what I brought.   I bought this Clare V dress on major sale at the end of last season and I ADORE it on  regular basis but really loved it for this trip. 

Dress/Cardigan/Hat/Shoes/Bag

Our first official stop was a 9:00 a.m. Duck Boat Tour

I had been on this tour when I was in Boston for a girls trip and knew my kids would all love it and thought it would be a fun way to kick off the trip by seeing a bunch of the city and kind of getting a feel fo things.

The tour starts on land, makes it's way to the Charles River where the truck actually becomes a boat, and then ends back on land.  Our guide was super funny and engaging and provided a lot of points of interest and history along the way.  Mason even got a chance to drive the boat ;)

After the Duck Tour we stopped walked over to the Boston Public Garden (about a 20 minute walk) where we hopped on a swan boat for a trip around the pond.

Kids tickets happened to be free (it was Father's Day) and it was a sweet little side quest ;) 

The weather was beautiful and we even saw a couple getting married along the bank!

Next we walked over to the Make Way For Ducklings statues...

... and continued through the park meeting every dog we could and stopping to take in the views and listen to the one man band performing.

We walked through the garden and ended at the George Washington statue...

... before starting our trek along the Commonwealth Avenue Mall....

... and ending at Fenway!  Last Father's Day we happened to be in Seattle when the Rangers were playing the Mariners so this year when I knew we'd be in Boston on Father's Day I decided to check and see if there happened to be a baseball game happening and as it turns out it was the third game of the Red Sox vs the Yankees which I figured had to be a pretty iconic game to go to so I grabbed tickets and am so glad I did because it was a blast!

The whole "vibe" outside the stadium was unlike any other sporting event I've been to and was such a cool experience in itself. 

We made our way to our seats and got to watch the Yankees pitchers warm up pretty much directly in front of us which was cool.

The sun came out and we kind of roasted (me, in particular if you caught my IG story) - but had so much fun watching the game and eating #allthesnacks ;)

At some point during the game Mason went down to get a drink refill or something and ended up winning a lab coat in a game of some sort and he kept it on pretty much the entire rest of the day ;)

YAY sports! ;)

The Red Sox won, we sang Sweet Caroline, and checked something off of a really cool list of experiences.  

We started walking back to the hotel with a couple of stops along the way for Boston FD merch...

... and puppy snuggles. 

We hung out at the hotel for a bit - some of us napped, some of us went to the gym to work out, some of us just chilled...

... and some of us went and ran part of the Boston Marathon route.  hahahaha

We were WIPED and it was nice to just do nothing for a bit ;) We seriously debated just ordering food in that night, but ended up rallying and went out in search of some quick burgers.  We landed at Tasty Burger which was just that...

At this point of the day these two were deliriously tired ;)

When I bought our Duck Boat tickets I went ahead and bought the combo tickets for View Boston at the Prudential Center so after dinner we walked that way and headed up 

I tried to time it so that we'd be up there right around sunset and it turned out PERFECTLY!  You get 360 degree views and it was cool to be able to spot several of the areas we had been to on the tour earlier, our hotel, and Fenway.

This would be on my must-do list if I was going back again.  It was multi-level and REALLY well-done.

Mason got an iPhone for his birthday back in April and he shares my love of photos ;) 

As the sun went down the views just kept getting better and better.

We took the elevator back down and then were able to walk to our hotel through the Prudential Center.  The stores were closed and my super giggly and tired children were cracking each other up walking past all the designer stores.  

We got back to the hotel room and the boys talked me into ordering room service ice cream and fruit kabobs.  It doesn't take too much to convince me and after the day we'd had I'd say it was well-deserved ;)

Phew! I don't think I realized how packed this day was until I recapped it ;)

If you have any questions or want additional details on anything let me know! Drop a comment or email me and I'll make sure to get it answered either in a post here or on email. 

HAPPY Monday, friends!