Then, you may remember that two years ago, during our first Thanksgiving at home, we decided to take the kids up to Boston the Friday after just to get out of town for a bit and do something different. This year was no different - except we went up on Saturday instead because we had a date with a special someone on Saturday morning...
It's pretty cool. A friend of mine has a family friend who is a professional Santa. So, every year, they invite their friends and their kids over so that they can sit on Santa's lap. As you can see, this guy is pretty legit. Of course, leave it to Avery to question the whole thing. Mom - why does he have a RI accent? Mom - why did he come out of the neighbor's house? Unfortunately, we may be getting to "that time." But, until we do, I'll embrace every second of the season.
Santa started off with everyone singing Rudolph and happened to choose A-Man to be Rudolph during the song. Now, we all know how sweet and sensitive Alex can be. But, he handled it like a pro (even though he admitted later that he was "really embarrassed").
It helped that his sister also had on a ridiculous red nose...
Afterwards, it was time for some photo ops and then off to Boston!
As with all of our getaways with kids, we made sure the hotel had a pool. And, started there...
As you can see, I didn't necessarily partake in the pool activities. The water was way too chilly for this girl. However, I do look forward to the hot tub and have created quite the tradition for myself. Every time, I go and get a Starbucks latte and sit in the hot tub to enjoy it. This time, however? I walked in and there were 3 middle-aged men sitting in there. Given that it would have been slightly awkward if I had joined them, I refrained. However, I was quick to say yes when Alex asked if he could join them! Needless to say, he was in there for about 5 mins shooting the breeze with them and then they decided to leave. Score one for mom!
After the pool, we got bundled up and decided to walk around Faneuil Hall. About one minute into our walk, Avery spots a horse and carriage and begs to go on it. Neither Josh or I had ever done a carriage ride in Boston, so we decided to give it a go!
I will say that it was fun. Was it $40 for 15 mins fun? Not sure. But, the kids enjoyed it.
After that, we were on a mission to find a T-stop so that the kids could ride the train. But, on our way? We encountered one of the cooler things I've ever seen. As we were walking through Faneuil Hall, there was an announcement saying that the holiday presentation was going to start in one minute. I couldn't for the life of me figure out where and what could possibly happen in the middle of all of those people, until this...
How cool was that? I felt like we were witnessing a flash mob or something.
Anyway...once we were done watching that, we headed for the Government Center T-stop. Which, as it turns out.....is closed for renovations. So, we were then on a mission to find another one and ended up at State Street. Mind you, at this point, the kids were already starting to get cold, hungry and tired. NOT a good combo. As you can imagine, we witnessed quite an array of individuals on the T (which is actually why I enjoy doing it with the kids - they need to understand that the world isn't full of white, middle class people...), which of course, led to a number of questions..."Mom, why is that guy sleeping on the street? Mom, if that guy is a vet, why does he need money? Mom, is that his bed?" It was definitely a good lesson to be taught - for both child and mom. Note to self - be prepared with answers appropriate for 5-7 year olds during the next city visit.
So, we get off of the T and then proceed to walk to where we thought another stop was, only to find out that I was wrong. So, we turn around and get right back on the stop that we just got off. Needless to say, the kids are done at this point and ready for dinner.
Thankfully, we get to dinner shortly after that, but only to find a large crowd waiting outside to be seated. Thinking to myself, no sweat! We have a reservation, I march in and exclaim that we have arrived! Only for the guy to not even take my name and tell me to go outside to wait. UGH!!!! Well, no fear, they did in fact not fail us and sat us within 10 mins. All was good. Clearly it was a bit dark and the flash was a bit bright!
Dinner was delicious. But, unfortunately, Alex started to feel sick right when it was finished. There went the idea of walking around a bit and most importantly, going to MIKE's PASTRY!!!! We make it home and the poor kid pukes. Thankfully, in the toilet. And, thankfully only once. As it turns out, I think that it is because the sausage on his pasta wasn't cooked all of the way. How do I know this, you ask? Because, before bed, I reached into my purse to get some chap stick and right there, staring me in the face, was the piece of sausage that Alex had dropped. Disgusting.
The next day, we had our greasy diner breakfast and then made the trip to Mike's to get my pastries. Mama was happy. Afterwards, we went to the Boston Aquarium, which was even better than I remembered it. Then, lunch and then home.
It was a great start to the holiday season!
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