June 20, 2010

Boston June 9-12, 2010

MacKinlay and I in front of Faneuil Hall with Quincy Market in the background.
Some of the Highlights of Boston.
Huge statue of Paul Revere
The view of the Old North Church where the lanterns were hung. Two if by land, one if by sea.
We got to do a tour of Paul Revere's house on the day we did the freedom trail. I love looking at houses and seeing the old furniture and the way people lived. And Paul Revere didn't yell, "the British are coming." He probably was a little more quiet and said the redcoats or the regulars are coming. We get a lot of untrue facts by the poet Longfellow.
MacKinlay, myself and John sitting in one of the boxes that you would purchase and decorate in the old north church. You would pay about $75,000 a year to own one.
The tavern where the minuteman met before the war. This was considered a nice place to stay the night. Some of the rules included no more than 5 men to a bed, no boots allowed in bed. Glad I didn't live in the 1700's.
A statue of the minutemen in Lexington. This is where the first battle was on April 19, 1775. Just 77 of the townspeople fought there. The colonists did not even fire a shot, that is why the "shot heard around the world" is in Concord were the first colonist's fired shots.
Many famous authors lived in this house at one point or another. There was Nathaniel Hawthorne and Margret Sidney. It was just down the street from the home of Louisa May Alcott.
This was the home of Louisa May Alcott. I was so sad that we missed the last tour.
This was the barn on the property of the Alcott's where Louisa May wrote Little Women.
The North bridge where the shot was heard around the world. Nobody knew who shot first but we know that it was the beginning of the revolutionary war.
Here is a statue that honored the men in New England fighting for their land. They were not trained militia but men who worked in the fields or were merchants.
This was a boat house that MacKinlay really wanted a picture of. There was a girl standing at the dock for about 20 minutes and he really wanted a picture. Finally I shouted across the water and asked if we could take a picture. She moved, I was embarrassed and Mac got his picture. Then we saw her while we were waiting for a table at a small cafe in Concord. I was so embarrassed and my hat was a dead giveaway.

New York June 4-9, 2010


New York City is has been nicknamed the city that never sleeps. Even the post office is open 24 hours a day, 363 days a year. I hadn't been to the 2 by 13 mile island in ten years and it was a blast. It was MacKinlay's first time and it met his expectations and he enjoyed all the shopping. We both really enjoyed the view at the top of Rockefeller Center.
June 5th- Standing in Times Square at 10pm after dinner with lots of people. Earlier in the day- Bus tour of the city, Shopping at Macy's.
June 6th- On the way back from the show "A Little Night Music" starring Cathrine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury. John Timms is Catherine's #1 fan so we were able to get the 40% off tickets at the TKTS booth and ended up sitting in the 2nd row. I thought she did a great job.
Here Mac is with his mom standing in front of the Swarovski crystal wall on the way up to the viewing deck on top of the Rockefeller center.
Outside the Rockefeller Center. This is where the famous ice-scating rink is in the winter but in the summer it is a restaurant.
June 7th- We took a taxi down to Wall St on morning so MacKinlay could see where all the action happens when he places trades.
June 7th- Boat ride around the island. Great views of the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges. The view of Lady Liberty was amazing and there were no lines. It was perfect.

Today was our anniversary. We shopped a lot, went out to dinner and went up the Empire State building at night. Surprisingly at 9:45pm it was still really crowded and we were exhausted. But it was beautiful at night.
June 9th- John and Leslie in the horse drawn carriage riding through Central Park.
Nice relaxing way to see the park I have to admit.
June 9th- Went to the American Girl store that was four stories high and it was so cute. Then we caught our plane to Boston for the next couple days.

June 2, 2010

Greysen's Early Birthday Presents

Greysen finally got a sandbox and was in Heaven. He was thrilled and I am sure it will provide hours of entertainment. We decided to give him his Birthday presents a month early and let him enjoy them since he won't know the difference.
Greysen also got a water sink. He loves sand and water and the sink has a pump to pump the water. There were some friends from Canada with their kids so he had a little mini Birthday party.
Here Greysen is with his new sand toy and the sand toys he got in Cancun. Finally put to good use in Utah.