Fall Break Adventure: Days 1 and 2

One of the things that I have been so excited about with John Mark's new school is the schedule. Since they are on a "balanced calendar" (year round), they get 3 weeks off for Fall break. So we are now on a 2 week adventure in the Northeast.

Now the worst part of vacation for me is the travel. My kids are not known to be "good" travelers. There is often crying, squirming, drama getting through security, and vomiting. But this trip was pretty good. At least no vomiting. Dramamine is our friend. And it even allowed for Riley to nap during the last leg of the flight. And I was complimented in the airport about how well behaved my kids were (at least at that momet). So we were off to a good start. A relatively un-eventful travel day.

Our first stop....Acton, MA: home of the Pittorinos. Our arrival was celebrated by signs and screaming. The cousins were so excited to see each other! They jumped right into playing and it was at least 10:30 before the last one was asleep.

Today we woke up early (thanks girls), ready for a full day. After dropping Ali off at her grandmothers, my sister Wendy and I headed into Boston with the other 5 kids. The kids wanted to ride the train, so we parked and took the T into the city. They did relatively well and our only mishap was getting on a train that wasn't going far enough down the line! But we ended up where we needed to go....the Science Museum. There we boarded a Duck Tour of Boston. We were on an authentic WWII DUKW vehicle (ironically named Beantown Betty...yay Nana!) and toured the city. It was really cool. We got to review a lot of American history and see the places that have been made famous. Riley and Paige even managed to fall asleep! Once we finished the driving portion of the trip, we headed onto the Charles River. The boys all got a chance to drive the boat....a favorite part for all of them!

Our tour ended back at the Science Museum where we had lunch and spent some time visiting the museum itself. A lot of the exhibits were a little over our kids heads, but they had fun just being with each other. Only one minor mishap when Riley insisted that she did not need help on the escalator and wiped out on her face. That'll teach me to trust a 2 year old!

We arrived back at home tired and I'm sure covered in germs. The kids all bathed and headed to bed (the girls are still awake talking though). Now I am ready to watch the Vice-presidential debate and try to gain some clarity about this awfully hard decision I am going to have to make!.