Boston Reunion Day Six - The Aquarium

On Day 6 we went to the Boston Aquarium. It was neat but it was hard for everyone to stay together. Groups ended up splitting up so I don't end up having pictures of everyone.

Can you see the animal in this picture?

How about in this picture? Can you see the Sea Dragon?

Sure does look like a leaf to me.

Don't want to run into him anytime soon. I haven't even watched Jaws, but hearing about them is enough for me.

At the very top you can look down into the tank. It's pretty wild.

I forget exactly how old they said this turtle was but he was definitely getting along in age. I do remember the guide saying he was one of the oldest animals in the aquarium.

There they are again, only this time he brought some of his friends with him.

Kaylin had a great time looking at all the fish and aquatic life.

On the way home no one survived the trip. Sleepy heads all the way around.

Some were resisting the inevitable.

But eventually they too gave in and dosed off into the night.

After the aquarium everyone got together for one last meal before people started their journeys back home. It was nice to have everyone together. It doesn't happen too often. I hope we can do it again soon. Next time it's our turn to pick the spot. 

Boston Reunion Day Five - Children's Museum

On day 5 we went into Boston again and to the children's museum. They had an awesome climber that the kids immediately took to.  Corbin and Kaylin are already on their way up.

The kids got a chance to see just how much power their bodies can supply.

Looks like Iolana has lit up 2 lights. Could you light up the target light?

Lanesa, Iolana and Kaylin are now utilizing their leg power.

They certainly are getting a chance to discover just how powerful their bodies are. Pushing, climbing, and now pulling. All in a day's playtime.

This is a cool dance pad that has squares similar to the dance dance revolution game. Step on the squares that are lit up to play. The one in it the longest is the winner. Even the little ones were getting in on the dancing.

At one point we had everyone on the pad. It was the invasion of the orange shirts!

We got Adam's shirt washed so he was able to wear it with the rest of us. 

Next we were off to the TV studio with Aurthor and his friends. I believe we were all pretending to be dogs in this shot.

There's Lanesa and Iolana walking along with Aurthor.

Here they're trying to get out of the way of Aurthor's big feet!

Frightening I know!

Just like the boys to be sitting around. But I must say it does look like fun to me.

Once we had enough of the TV studio it was off to the building department. What a perfect way to end a great trip.

Boston Reunion Day Four - The Talent Show

Sunday was like every other Sunday with my family; crazy. I forget when church started but it was a mad house trying to get everyone ready at the same time. After church was lunch, nap, and a little R&R. Then we had dinner all together and how we managed to get everyone around the table in Marcie's small kitchen will always be a mystery to me.

After dinner we played Pokino, which is a variation of bingo. Only we had made up boards with different pictures of each family member and as such, names were called out instead of numbers. It was a cute idea. Instead of chips for pieces we used M&M's. Once done playing each person got to keep their board to take home. 

After the games came a stroll down memory lane. My mom and Dad took turns telling us how "WE" came to be. They each told us a bit about their lives before they got married and a bit of what it was like after they got married and before us kids came along. My dad doesn't exactly give inspiring talks but it was interesting to hear him speak about the olden days. I won't bore you with the details or to videos of that part of the night but here's a picture. 

And finally we got to the talent show portion of the night. Everyone was asked to prepare something to show everyone what kind of talents you have. I am just going by memory at the moment since I don't have the video transferred just yet. If I remember Jaret played his sax, Niah showed us his drawings and some martial arts, Lanesa did a ballet dance. Toby shared his new kids book with us and I don't recall if Marcie showed us a talent or not. I played the piano (not very good I might ad), Iolana danced to Van Halen's "Jump", Dan shared his newest song with us "Trapping the Fly", and I believe Diedra shared one of her guitar songs with us. But, at the moment I don't remember what Star, Dave, Braydon, Ashton, or Corbin did. I'll post an update once I look at the video.


All in all it was a great day; we spent time together as a family and got to know each other just a little bit better. What more could you ask for on a Sunday.

Boston Reunion Day Three - The Lake

On day two we went to a lake, I can't remember the name of it though. And had a blast. Since it was at a lake I didn't get to take many pictures as I was all wet and looking after two kiddos. I think hubby was able to take some video of the events but I haven't done anything with them as of yet.

After the lake we all went to a camp to greet my nephew on his return from his pioneer trek. The stake youth all got together, were split into families, given rations a hand cart and off they went. They trekked for three days along paths that were similar to the circumstances and environment that the pioneers had endured all those years ago. The experience is one to remember. I had the opportunity to participate in a pioneer trek when I was in YW. It puts things into perspective for a young adult to realize what others had accomplished to enable us to be where we are today.

After the welcome back ceremony we were treated to a barbecue feast but I'm not so sure it was worth the 1.5 hour wait in line for it. SHEESH! On to day three...

Boston Reunion Day One - The Freedom Trail Movie

So I put together a video of our first day in Boston, but it's 11 minutes long. You Tube only allows up to 10 minutes. I don't really want to cut any part of it out. I did post a first version on U Tube that you can see, but if anyone knows of a good and FREE video hosting site similar to You Tube that allows longer than 10 minutes let me know.

In the mean time here's the 1st version of the movie. It's in HD so may take a little longer to load on some machines. The 2nd version includes more video and pictures and as such more songs, believe me its much better, so I'll be looking for another place to put it.

>

Boston Reunion Day Two - Connecticut

Friday we took a side trip (while everyone else went to Salem for the day) and visited some friends of Adam and his family in Connecticut. These guys have some nice property I must say. I was also impressed about how much space there seems to be in this area. I've always thought of the east as a very "compressed" place; more people and less space. But seeing this area I stand corrected. We were just south of South Kent CT. It is very beautiful as you can see from the picture, shaded woodlands and such. Very nice indeed. He built the water mill you see in the picture, got it running while we were there. The kids liked seeing them start it up. 

Here's a picture of me and ????

They're in the process of building their dream home right there on the property. He has done everything himself, however it's taken him quite a few years to get to this point, and it sounds like it'll take him a bit longer to get it done. It is a very nice looking house though and to think that he's done it all himself is amazing too.

The kids got to climb up the ladder and take a look out the window from the 3rd floor. I didn't go up but they had a good time. 

Seeing all the work he's done made us hungry, so we went inside their "other" house and had some lunch. It was very difficult keeping the kids occupied to avoid them tearing the house apart. We were reminded about all the things we could have laying about if we didn't have any children of our own. But the kids had fun regardless. After lunch was done we went out in the front for a stroll on the old lawnmower. 

Kaylin seemed to take right to figuring out how to drive it and make it go fast.

Iolana was a lot more timid. She didn't care for the loud motor nor the fact that it could go fast. It's amazing how different siblings can be.

We said our goodbyes a little after lunch and we headed out to Sherman CT to see where Adam spent his high school years. He wasn't kidding that it was a small town. Sherman is one of those "don't blink or you'll miss it" towns. We saw the cafe where he used to work and bought some pies from them to take back to Nashua with us. We went by their old house and took a picture or two for his parents to see how the new owners were treating the place. After a brief visit it was time yet again to say goodbye and we headed out for Mike's Ice Cream Parlor. 

Perhaps the next time we visit, we'll get directions from an actual person instead of the GPS. I don't know how long we were looking but the GPS didn't exactly get us to Mike's parlor. Adam had to "feel" his way for a good part of the drive. But, we eventually got there and the kids had some really good ice cream. Dad got to reminisce about his younger years and throughout the whole day the weather was wonderful, especially for it being summer!

We didn't get a picture of Iolana eating, she ate hers up too fast. But we couldn't resist Kaylin in her pajamas eating ice cream on the step. Too cute!

After Kaylin had enough we all packed back in the Subaru and headed back to Nashua. To our surprise we arrived just in time for dinner.

Freedom Trail Part 2

Here are some of the sites we saw along the Freedom Trail.

The Massachusetts State House - The top of which is coated in 23K gold to prevent leaking.

And here is everyone trying to stay awake while Toby reads from the Freedom Trail pamphlet about the State House which is right behind us.

This is the Old north Church, built in 1723 and is the oldest Church in Boston. It's also the same church that Robert Newman signaled with lanterns the approaching British armies. 

In front of the Old North Church is a statue of Paul Revere. We all know his story about riding off into the night to warn Adams and and Hancock that the British were on their way to arrest them. We also saw the house where is lived which is the oldest building in downtown Boston.  Also in the picture is Niah trying his best to scale the statue.

Even big girls need to rest sometime! Iolana was a trooper through the whole thing. She really didn't have a stroller to call her own and so she was on foot for most of the trek. On rare occasions such as this one she was able to steal a ride while one of the other little ones went piggy back. 

This is the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial. It was built in his memory. He was the colonel in command of the all-black 54th Regiment, which entered the American Civil War in 1863. You can see Dan standing next to it holding Makenna.

Kaylin is surviving but not very well. She hasn't had a nap and is extremely cranky at the moment. We are all hoping that she will just fall asleep. 

Near the end of the day we found a little side park on our way back to the USS Constitution. We had bussed from it to the Boston Common, but we walked back. That should give you an idea of how much walking we did. Anyway, the kids had a great idea and started sliding down the sides. Everyone had a blast, you wouldn't have known we felt like collapsing. 

From the park I had mentioned just above, you could see the ship and naval yard. Very nice in deed. You can probably see the parking garage we parked in if I knew what it looked like.

Here is everyone rounding the corner on the way to the cars. I spotted a Cold Stone and thought we should stop and get a tasty bite before we headed off to dinner. Nothing better than dessert first I say.