Boston: Day One!

Our trip to Boston (back in September) was so much fun! For some reason it has taken me until January to post only half of the pics from this trip!!! The boys ask me when we are going again all the time!! A big thanks goes to our homeschool friend Sonja who did tons of leg work for the trip! Here the kids are posed at the church where we were camping out. Two more families met up with us in the city. The church kindly let us camp out in the basement at night while touring the city by day.

Ethan and James had never been on the subway and I had only been on once or twice! It was a real learning experience for us all and by the end of the trip I think I could have gotten us across town??? Ethan and James are posing here with Sonja in the background as we descend into the ground for the first time!

The subway pics came out BAD, but I just had to include their first subway ride!! Ethan's face looks a little scared in this one but Maverick is as happy as a clam!

Now James looking oh so calm for his first ride!

Our first stop in Boston was the Public Garden and the Swan Boats! Even though this is not necessarily a Boston history stop, it was a necessity for those of us who read the Trumpet of the Swan!

A beautiful day for a boat ride! Here Ethan and James pose on the boat.

Our swan boat ride would not be complete with out some swans!!

The nice looking bunch sitting behind us!

A policeman on horseback was kind enough to stop and talk to our group and let us say hello to his horse! I think the horse was named Fredrick (Fred for short). So fun!!

While in Boston Public Garden you absolutely must read Make Way for Ducklings! Thankfully Sonja was prepared for this and brought the book along. Sarah read it to all the kids while we sat near the duck statue and had a snack. At each stop we had a snack themed for that particular site.

Make way for the Homegrown Explorers! And the ducklings too!!

A statue of George Washington! We snapped this just as we were leaving the park.

Sonja set up a visit to the lobby of the Ritz Carlton! A fun treat to those of us who read The Trumpet of the Swan, Louis the Swan was able to spend a night at the Ritz in the book!

Here the kids were able to do rubbings of the Declaration of Independence. They were easily able to see John Hancock's name and everyone wanted to rub it onto their paper!

James took this fun photo of his feet on the Freedom Trail. These red bricks mark the way throughout all of Boston.

This is the Granary Burying Gound named for the Granary that was located next door It was really neat to walk around and see all the old graves.
The boys were looking for several famous graves on their Boston Bingo sheets. Here is Paul Revere's grave.
The boys located the Samuel Adams grave site next.
Then we were on the move again to find more interesting sites on our Boston bingo sheet. Here the boys pose with Ben Franklin at the Boston Latin School, the oldest public school. I thought it was amusing that all though Franklin attended this school, he is one of Americas most noted high school dropouts!!
A fun group photo with the donkey statue also at the Boston Latin School! Click here to check out the history of the statue.

Ethan opposing the democrats! Go Ethan!!

James had tons of fun taking pics of all the "sky scrapers" and other interesting buildings!

We loved the contrast of old and new in Boston! This is at the site of the Boston Massacre.

The big building with the clock is really beautiful when lit up at night! It is the Custom House Hotel.
Ethan thought it would be fun to take a pic with one of the mayors of Boston. He has not one but two statues in this little park near the Holocaust Memorial?? After, we headed over towards Faneuil Hall to Quincy Market for dinner.

After dinner we decided to visit the Boston Public Library since we could not go back to the church until after the bible study was over. This didn't come out great but it is the open courtyard at the library! It was so beautiful and huge!! The pic does not do it justice!

Here is the amazing marble entry way in the Library! We walked around a little and then found a quiet corner to take a break and read before heading back to the church.

James and Ethan thought it was fun to act like they were holding up the pillars of the building like Sampson! As soon as they saw these pillars in the library that is what they thought of! So cute!!

We then headed back to the "T" for another ride to the church where we were staying.

Stay tuned for day two!