Massive Summer Vacation!

Last week we were really lucky to be able to fly to New York and Boston and spend 9 days catching up with some old friends,visiting the sights, and being with Grandma and Grandpa Haskell. Bear with the huge post, but hopefully it will be interesting for you.

We started by flying into New York. We stayed on Long Island with some friends who used to work with Andy at the hospital. We hadn't seen them for a couple of years. We asked them to take us to see the statue of Liberty. Stockton learned about it in school this year and I thought it would be memorable for him.

The kids loved just playing in the grass and having some snacks. They amused themselves for quite a while with sticks. (Tell me again why we have so many toys?)

You have to ride a ferry over to Liberty Island. The kids had fun doing that. He we are getting a first glimpse of Lady Liberty.

Andy and Peyton overlooking Manhattan.

We looked into getting tickets to climb to the crown inside, but they were booked out through September already. So we just enjoyed the nice day and wandered around the island.

The next day we had hoped to spend at the beach, but we woke up to rain and so decided to take the kids to the Long Island Children's Museum. It was very cool. We could have easily stayed there all day, but it started to clear up in the late afternoon so we decided to try and make the beach if we could.

Peyton really liked this mirror thing. I was watching wondering if he was trying to figure out where all the other Peytons were coming from.

They had a little tv studio where the kids could pretend to be anchors and weather men. They you could watch them on little tv monitors.

We were lucky that the rain blew over and we got to hit the beach for half a day. I knew the kids would have a great time.

Peyton loved the Sea gulls. He kept following them around pointing and yelling gibberish.

The kids LOVED!!! the beach. They all loved playing in the sand.

Relaxing and watching the kids.

Stockton was the same age as our friend's daughter Ellie. They played together and hit it off really well.

We walked to this light house. It was pretty cool. It was too late to go inside, but we still liked looking at it from the outside.

We went to a place called the "plimoth plantation." It has an indian village and a pilgram village with costumed actors and indians that you talk to. You can see what life was like for them and how they did things. The kids liked seeing everything and learning about the people. Abby loved being able to go inside all the different houses, both pilgrams and indians. I laughed. They had signs up in a couple of different places telling you not to say "how" to the indians.

An indian lady was teaching them how to start a fire.

Watching the goats. Peyton loves animals right now, especially from a distance.

The kids got to feed the goats as well. There were plenty of weeds around to give them. They thought that was pretty fun.

Grandpa is teaching stockton about the cannons in the fort at the top of the village.

A view of the village overlooking the ocean. I loved being able to go inside the homes and imagining what it would have been like to be a mom in one of those. I love history!!

I guess this is the Plymouth Rock. Personally I think they just found a boulder somewhere and carved 1620 on it and stuck it in this cage thing. But at least we didn't have to pay to see it.

We got to go on a ship called the Mayflower II. It is an exact replica of the original. They had people dressed up and acting in the period to tell you about what it was really like. Maxyne had also read a book about some of the girls on it and told me some interesting things. I wish I had taken more pics to show you what it was like for them. It was super interesting for me to see. I loved it. Abby kept asking me where the pirates and their treasure were. So I think the kids liked it too, but for different reasons.

Here we are by the Mayflower II. Don't look too close, humidity is not my friend for hairdos!

Here we are at Fenway park we went to the Mariners vs Redsox on the 4th. Andy has great timing with ballgames and vacations lately. The park is really old and so it is much smaller than some of the newer ones. We had great seats and enjoyed a sunny, but nice day.

They unveiled this huge flag over the green monster. It was ginormous! They did a jet fly over just as all this was getting started. It always puts a lump in my throat!

I loved this shot I actually got of Ichiro sliding into home. It looks cool close up to see the dirt fly. I wish I could have zoomed in a little closer but that is as far as my lens could go. I amused myself at the game playing with my camera and trying to get action shots.

The kids were thrilled to be able to swim a little bit in the pool at grandma and grandpa's condos. The water was cold and it was an overcast and cool day anyway. But they didn't let that stand in their way.

Andy and I got to walk the "Freedom Trail" in Boston. It is a path that weaves through the city connecting several historical sites. We love history and had a great time looking at things while grandma and grandpa let the kids play in a giant splash pool called the frog pond in Boston Commons park. It worked out super for everyone.

This is the "old north church" where the lanterns were hung to signal the british were coming. I liked the view of the steeple with this statue of Paul Revere in the foreground. Although, there is more to history than just the Paul Revere story we all remember.

This is the Bunker hill monument. I had always heard of the "king of bunker hill" game and even played it. I didn't know this is where it came from. It is memorialized because it was the first battle that (even though the minutemen lost) the colonists showed that they could put up a good fight against the skilled military of the british and that they would not be easily defeated. Andy and I climbed all 294 steps to the top and looked out over Boston. I am still sore!!!!

Headstones from the 1700's. These pics are for you mom.

This is the "old state house" it is the second oldest public building in America. I thought it was interesting the stark contrast between the old 1700's building right next to the glass and metal modern ones. I loved the old architecture.

Some more cool headstones. We read about the history of the carvings and how different images were popular at different times. The scull and crossbones with angel wings seemed a little macabre to me, but was quite popular.

This cemetery had the graves of Samual Adams, Thomas payne, and John Hancock. As well as many other less famous people. I love looking at all the old headstones and their inscriptions.