Boston Trip

We survived! Hooray! We are back safe and sound after 7 days in our old stomping grounds and are only a little worse for the wear. The weather was GORGEOUS during our visit, making us completely homesick, and it was great to see so many family and friends. There were of course some friends we were unable to see due to time constraints (some of you may be reading this), but we could only fit in so much and our main reason to be there was for Scott (Elliott's friend)and Lisa's wedding.

We flew in on Tuesday, arriving at 12:30am Boston time. The girls flew SOOOO well. Lily slept almost the entire time and Ava entertained herself with watching "Elmo's World" DVDs on our new portable DVD player. (Seriously, how did we ever survive our own childhood without one of these??) She fell asleep during the last hour and stayed that way the entire van ride then straight into bed. Not a peep out of her until morning.

My brother Travis and sister-in-law Abra picked us up at airport and shuttled us all back to their new apartment, where they graciously hosted us for the week, even giving us their master bedroom. During our visit they got to spend lots of time with the girls; Ava calls them "Aunt Kitty (because they have two cats) and Uncle Trakus". So cute!

On Wednesday we went into Boston to visit the Museum of Science and hit the North End for some yummy pastries (I must have whoopie pies and cannolis!). Ava LOVED the children's area at the museum and seeing all of the animals that they have. As for us, it was such a joy to see the places we love through her eyes.

Thursday we took it easy in the morning, picking up Elliott's tux for the wedding and visiting a mall. We wanted to make sure Ava got a good nap in (she did) before we went to Stoneham to see our friend Pat Kilty and enjoy our favorite Asian restaurant, Sato II. Oh YUMMMM! It's true - Elliott and I planned our entire trip around food and we couldn't wait to get back to enjoy sushi and crab rangoon (the best on the planet).

Friday morning we went back to Stoneham and visited the Stone Zoo. It's a pretty small zoo but it had animals for Ava to squeal over nonetheless. That night Elliott and I enjoyed an Ava-free evening (thanks to Abra and Travis) and went to Harvard Square to meet our friends Jeremy and Mike at our favorite Mexican restaurant (and site of our first date), Border Cafe'. The salsa and margaritas were as good as we remembered. Sigh! And it was great to have a conversation without manhandling a toddler (again, sigh!).

Saturday we packed up a traveled out west to the Berkshires for the wedding weekend. Abra and Travis let us borrow their minivan and it was simply heaven on wheels. Elliott fell in love with how smooth it is and I love the space for children and stuff. We had been planning on investing in a van for awhile, but this really cemented the idea for us.

The drive was gorgeous - through the mountains, the green, the rivers, the lakes. Ahhh! I had actually never been this way before, so it was new and beautiful to me. We arrived at the hotel in time for Elliott to get in a game of golf with the other groomsmen and for me to get two girls down for naps (I have to say, I am quite impressed with myself for accomplishing that in the same hotel room at the same time). In the evening we joined the rest of the wedding party at the rehearsal dinner, where Ava managed to behave fairly well and lasted as long as we could have asked for.

Sunday was Scott and Lisa's wedding. It was the most beautiful day (they had an outdoor ceremony) and they were such a lovely couple. We have the privilege of knowing them back when they first started dating and were so excited to be able to celebrate their special day with them. Our two girls were adorable in matching daisy dresses. Lily slept alot but Ava made up for that - boy, was she wired! She was in serious "daddy's girl" mode and hollered at daddy when he walked down the aisle. She was super squirmy and I was relieved to have Elliott's pair of hands back to kiddy wrangle once his groomsman duties were wrapping up. However, she was completely in her element the rest of the evening as it featured a dance floor!! She spent the entire night on the dance floor, either dancing with herself, with the little 5-year old boy who took a shine to her, or simply sitting in the middle of the floor enjoying watching people dance around her. She ran out of energy a little after dessert, so we said our good nights and best wishes and headed to bed.



Monday morning we joined the wedding party and guests for breakfast, where we managed to get a few pastries and coffee (for me!) in us before Ava lost all patience and Lily pooped out her pants. (Sigh!) Well folks, that's our time I guess, so we headed back upstairs after wishing Scott and Lisa all the best, and packed up the van for the ride back to the city. Ava slept during most of the trip, which was lovely, and was ready to go when we stopped at our friends Frank and Laura's in Stoneham for a late afternoon BBQ. Since we left Boston we have had two children and they have had one, Bruno Anthony. It was so great to get to introduce each other to our kids and reminisce about the "old days". Back to Travis and Abra's.

Tuesday we took it a little easier, laying around the house through lunch and Ava's naptime, then (after packing all our stuff into the van) doing a little shopping at the Natick mall before heading to the airport. We were fortunate that the bad weather was rolling in just as we were leaving and that our plane was headed in the opposite direction (as all the flights to/from NYC, DC, and Philly were cancelled at the airport). Ava enjoyed watching all the comings and goings at the airport while waiting to board, and once on the plane fell asleep withing the first hour. It was a fairly smooth flight, but we were still very relieved to see our friend Babette at the Vegas airport and to get back to our own bed.

As for the aftermath, it could be worse. Both girls fared the 3-hour time difference going there beautifully, but the trip back had them messed up for a day. I think I got about 3 hours sleep Tuesday night. However, we got them back on track fairly quickly so not too bad. I picked up a bit of a cold from the plane (or allergies back home or a combo) and we are currently trying to stave that off for the girls before they succumb to it (both are a little congested).

In the end, it was GREAT to see all the people we were able to see and to be able to be at Scott and Lisa's wedding. But traveling with two under two is a handful and (even though they were as good as we could ever have hoped or imagined) I am not sure Elliott or I want to have to travel with them again any time soon. Plus all the packing and unpacking of two suitcases, two Pack 'n Plays, a diaper bag and a computer bag took its toll on me. If we were to do it again we would have to stay one place and one place only. I think it was the packing that did me in more than anything. It is exhausting!! But we have LOTS of great memories and that is priceless!