Our temple has been closed for well over a year for remodelling. So in July we decided we would drive down to the Boston temple. It is only supposed to be a 5 hour drive, but with crossing the border and plenty of toilet breaks it was closer to 6. In order for both Jason and I to get in a session at the temple we knew we would be done far too late to head home in one day so we found a nearby hotel and stayed the night. Then we explored Boston the following morning (and first part of the afternoon!) before heading home. It was a whirlwind trip but still great.
The trip there went rather smoothly; just a few bathroom stops and a wait at the border that was a little longer than I think we all would have liked. One of the bathroom stops had a great hill to run around on which gave us all the energy we needed to make the last bit of the journey. Phineas also took a few steps solo on that grass as well! We had some races down the hill and played some tag before hopping back in the car. Since Jason was working in the car while we were on our way there, I was doing the driving which wasn't too bad. Vermont and New Hampshire are beautiful drives!
The Boston temple is so beautiful. Jason headed in first so the kids and I had lunch and explored the grounds. Milayla was in a picture mood and was delighted to sit different places and have her photo taken - she was suggesting spots!
The temple reminded me of the Preston temple in a lot of ways, especially in that you could look out from the temple and see the tree covered hills around it. The landscaping along with the fact that it sat on a hill gave the idea of secret pathways to discover and the kids loved it. We even found a bunny! And it was so sweet when I took them in to the distribution centre to use the bathroom, they immediately went into hushed tones. They are so looking forward to the Montreal temple open house and that they will get to go inside the temple.
Atticus has taken to the idea of being Momma's little photographer. And he really loves getting to take a photo for me. He took the ones of Phineas and I. It is rather sweet to see him hold a camera up that is nearly the size of his head to take a photo. He puts a lot of thought into where he wants to line up the picture.
Milayla was in a very dancey mood that day (though I think that is pretty much the norm) and was twirling as her mode of transportation. Love catching that girl in motion. She also walked around the temple grounds singing "I Am a Child of God". Love hearing her sing in her sweet voice.
After I came out of the temple, Atticus wanted to take a couple more pictures which was nice as it meant that Jason and I could be in one together as well. And Milayla was pretty excited about getting her own picture with Mommy. I love this stage. Actually, I have loved every stage.
Then we were in plenty of traffic to get to our hotel for the night. It was a late night dinner. I think next time we will try to find a place close to the temple to eat dinner (while there is afterwork traffic) and then head to the hotel with full stomachs and less traffic. Just need to write that down so I remember for next time.
The kids were ecstatic to stay at a hotel. I was hopeful that we would get to make use of the hotel pool but everyone was a little worn out (and the pool was packed anyhow). By the time we got dinner it was pretty late and we headed to bed. The next morning we packed the car back up and headed into downtown Boston.
We started at the Boston Commons with the intention we would do a little self-guided tour of the freedom trail. Boston is beautiful. I've just got to say that. I really hope we will be able to go back some time soon to see some more of it. And the Boston Commons were a great area with an awesome playground (that had sunscreen dispensers!) where we just played and explored for a little while. There is a great, and large, wading pool but it was closed for cleaning.
We did, however, take the kids on the merry-go-round. I took Atticus and Milayla on first, and then I took Phineas for a turn. Jason was hesitant to have Phineas go on because he didn't think Phineas was old enough to really make much of it. But, after watching his big siblings go on, he was ecstatic about it all. Since Atticus and Milayla waved to Jason and Phineas every time that we passed, Phineas waved nearly the entire time he was on the merry-go-round. He got quite a few people waving back at him. It was a fun time.
We finally did walk half of the freedom trail. There were some interesting bits and it was great to feel some pretty awesome history, but I definitely realized how weak my US history knowledge is.
We stopped about half way through and grabbed some lunch. Then headed to the water side to have a little run around. We also ended up watching a street performer (who has been on America's Got Talent) and the kids thought it was one of the best parts of the day! For lunch Atticus and Milayla both picked pizza and the slices were huge. The couldn't make it through the whole thing, but they certainly gave it a good go.
Phineas decided to give dirt a taste. The picture of his reaction to Jason trying to get him cleaned up is pretty brilliant.
Atticus had been a little reluctant about getting his picture taken that day - not too sure why - so when he saw the garden tunnel and asked for his picture in front of it I was pretty excited. I knew he really liked it when he was ready to get a picture for it. It was definitely beautiful, and it overlooked the water.
After the performer was done we headed to the Children's Museum. The kids were a little skeptical about going to see something called a "Children's Museum" but it didn't take long to convince them. It is pretty handy that our year passes to the Science Centre here in Montreal also get us into the Children's Museum in Boston.
And the Children's Museum was brilliant. When you walk in they have this 3-story set up of curvy ramps that the children can climb inside and up. I wasn't sure if the kids would give it a go, but they both did and ventured on up. Trying to keep track of the kids in there is nearly impossible, so they would peek their heads out and shout to us to show us how high up they had climbed. I'm really proud of the kids for giving it a go. Particularly when they had to go at it on their own.
The other displays are brilliant. We could have easily spent the entire day there and still not been bored. The kids loved everything we tried. Everything. And before we left we caught their little story time theatre. They ask the kids to volunteer to come up and help act out the story. I had Milayla sitting next to me and the story was The Three Little Pigs. She LOOOOOVES that story (we read it to her in multiple languages even) and so I leaned over and asked her if she was going to volunteer to go up to which she said 'no' and so I gave her a little hug and said 'okay'. Then when they asked for the 2nd volunteer she shot her hand straight up into the air and said "Oh, Mommy, I really want to be that!". She didn't get it. Sad, right? But she DID get the next part that she volunteered for and she ended up playing the part of the smart pig who built the brick house (she was hoping to play the wolf) and she soaked it up.
We made sure to compliment her courage to volunteer and go up on stage because this was a HUGE step for her. She did great. And she loved it. Like really loved it.
And Jason even got to volunteer for part of the show as well (maybe he was inspired by Malaya's enthusiasm and courage?).
Seriously, so proud of her. I cannot explain how much my heart was bursting as I got to watch her make such a notable step forward on her journey of growth. Afterwards she told me that because she had the courage to do this, she knows that she now has the courage to give a talk in Primary at church. Oh man. So proud of her. And seeing the joy that filled her as she did something that was previously hard for her with courage and grace was just awesome. Really really, awesome.
Then we had to cut our time at The Children's Museum shorter than we would have liked as we needed to find some dinner and get on our way home. We were already leaving later than we had planned. So with the children exclaiming how much they would love to come back to Boston, we found some delicious food at a to-go restaurant called B.Good (will definitely grab food there again if we go) and headed past sections of the freedom trail, beautiful water views, great skylines, street musicians and great architecture and said goodbye to Boston (after we got lost trying to get out...). It was a loooooong trip home and we got home so late which needs to be altered if we do it again. I was grateful we made it home safe and sound.
No comments:
Post a Comment