Ella was able to check off another state as being visited when she touched down in Boston Friday night. It was a little more of an ordeal than we had planned due to weather and air traffic control delays – but the best-laid plans of parents often go awry, seemingly. Despite our timing being thrown off almost all weekend as a result, we all had a great time, and got to see my cousins Jane and Sarah, as well as Sarah’s husband Andrew and their 14-month old son Alex (who’s made a previous appearance or two on Clarketales). And as a super-cool bonus, we got to see Jeff’s new digs, days before he officially becomes a grad student at Brandeis University.
After a morning playing in the park and a short nap, we took the Green Line downtown, and Sara, Jeff and I showed Ella Boston City Hall (ooh…), Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market, and the New England Aquarium. Ella’s day was made the moment she saw the sea turtles, and her newfound vocal abilities were put to use as she was pretty good about directing us around to see more fish and penguins. We finished up a long day by dining al fresco with Sarah, Andrew and Alex joining us down by the harbor.
This morning we met up with a college friend of Sara’s for breakfast and Ella got to make a couple of new friends who showed Ella exactly how her dad should give piggyback rides. While Ella napped for a bit, Jeff showed me around his new apartment, and he looks well on his way to getting settled in and ready to hit the books (comparative history books, in case anyone’s wondering).
The trip back was much less eventful, and Ella was a rock-star as usual on the plane (even earning extra cookies for the car ride home from the flight attendant!). We’re home and off to some well-earned sleep, but had a great weekend getaway – thanks to all of our many hosts!!