A great place to be

Random lines from the old Veggie Tales' song have been running through my head today...

"Well I’ve never been to Greenland
And I've never been to Denver

And I’ve never buried treasure in St. Louie or St. Paul

And I’ve never been to Moscow

And I’ve never been to Tampa

And I’ve never been to Boston in the fall"

We've checked in to a super cool hotel in a city I've always wanted to see. The leaves are not brilliant shades of reds and oranges, but this city is still so full of character and charm. In the short while we have been here, Boston has delivered. It is an amazing place to visit.

One can't help but to be fascinated with the story of the past while walking the streets of Boston --even for someone like me, who can never quite remember any historical facts. The city has done a great job at preserving its old charm, and historical sites are found all around. It doesn't feel like we're on an educational trip, but we are drawn in by the story of the past. The children remember names and places we have read about, and history becomes more real, more valued. It's a fun way to kick off the school year since we're here anyway.

The shops in this town will be fun to explore. I saw some cool maps and signs that gave me some ideas for the boys' room, and there's a little store I walked by that does some really fun reupholstering. The store fronts alone -- the windows and doors and displays -- make it hard to pay attention to keeping up with Jon and the boys. I'm thinking Olivia and I will have to have some girl time before we leave.

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This afternoon, just after we checked in, it was clear that the kids needed to take a quick nap. Jon was out looking for some stores to buy a few items we needed, so I ended up with a little free time as I hung out in our hotel room. I suppose I could have done something responsible like read, but instead I had some fun with the camera, a tripod I'm figuring out, and a new remote shutter release. I've recently been thinking how I have seen so few pictures of my mom when she was in her 20's and 30's, and how I'd really like to know what she was like at my age. So I thought I would take some pictures of me outside of my usual mom pose. I didn't take any time to freshen up my face and hair even though it was late afternoon and we had been clearing out of our beach cottage, site seeing, and traveling. That much extra effort would have been enough to discourage me from doing it. Maybe someday Olivia will be glad I took these.

~Katherine