Wicked Awesome

We've wanted an excuse to go to Boston for a while and we finally found one last week while Melissa was here visiting. It's only a 4 hour drive from NYC but we hit Friday rush hour traffic and it took us about six and a half. We wanted to do all of the historic touristy things in Boston and they make it really easy to do. All you do is follow the Freedom Trail, which is literally a red brick line that weaves throughout the city's downtown leading you to all of the sights.

Bridget waiting in the grass while we made our plans for the day

One of our first stops was an old graveyard where Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Benjamin Franklin's parents are buried. The Puritans that settled here often carved skulls with wings on their headstones so it added an extra creepy touch.

The freedom trail path

The actual steeple where Paul Revere hung the lanterns as a warning that the British were coming

Paul Revere's family pew

Sitting on a donkey. I have no idea why there was a statue of a donkey in the same plaza as the statue of Benjamin Franklin.

The USS Constitution first set sail in October 1797 and is the oldest warship still afloat in the world. On board the USS Constitution a.k.a "Old Ironsides". It was made of live oak, which is so dense that during it's first battle the cannonballs just stuck into the sides and bounced off.

At the USS Constitution museum. The ship's crew was allowed only 4 hours of sleep per night and they had to do it in these hammocks.

Walking around the historic Beacon Hill neighborhood

Bridget climbing the steps at Harvard

On the steps in front of one of the Harvard University libraries

The following day we decided to visit Salem, MA, the site of the infamous witch trials. It was such a cute, friendly little town that we actually enjoyed it more than Boston.

The town has constructed an outdoor memorial for the victims of the witch trials. Each victim has a stone bench engraved with their name and date of death. We are sitting on the bench for Bridget Bishop who was the first person tried and convicted of witchcraft during "the frenzy".

Giles Corey was the only victim who was pressed to death rather than hanged. He was in his 80s and was very wealthy. If he entered a plea of not guilty and then was found guilty he would have forfeited all his possessions so he refused to enter any plea at all so that his decendants would still inherit his fortune. The court was obviously not impressed so they ordered that he be pressed under stones until he entered a plea but instead he just kept saying "more weight" and died without ever entering a plea.

City Hall. This is the site where the first victim, Bridget Bishop, was dragged by a mob, tried, and convicted by the audience in attendance which acted as her jury.

Yeah, they are a little fanatical about the whole witch thing but it was actually really fun.

Gravestone of William Hawthorne who acted as a judge during the trials.

Bridget LOVES her pool time!

Bridget Skywalker

For some strange reason Jason has been seeing Star Wars in everything lately. Nolan looks like a Rancor, B looks like Luke Skywalker. I'm with everyone else though and don't see it at all. Maybe this will help.

Youngling

Kate showed me this picture that she took of Bridget the other day and it reminded me of a shot from Star Wars (see below).

Ding, Liberty. Dong, Freedom.

Last week Jase had some time off so we decided to finally take that trip to Philadelphia we've been talking about for 3 years. There was lots to see and we stayed right in the downtown area so we could walk to all the attractions. The best part is that most of the things we wanted to see were free. One of our first stops was the Liberty Bell, where we finally learned why it's such a big attraction. I'm not going to tell you though. If you're interested you'll have to look it up yourself or go to Philly and see it yourself.




This is Elfreth's Alley. It is the oldest residential street in America.

On old warship and a WWII submarine at Penn's Landing.

One guess who took this shot.

City Hall

While I was in the visitor's center some young guy asked me if I knew where the "Love Park" was. I thought he was talking about something dirty until we happened to come across this park later in the day.

B on the grass at the LOVE Park

Our little pillow mint is growing up!

We loved our Philly cheesesteaks at Reading Terminal Market

Independence Hall in the background

The old courtroom at Independence Hall. It's modelled after the British system and I especially like the round table in the middle where all the lawyers from both sides would all sit together.

The room where both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed.

The chair in the back is original to the room and was the actual chair used by George Washington.

Watching the geese at the art museum.

The Rocky statue in front of the museum.

B at the top of the "Rocky" steps

We all had a great time and can check one more city off our list!

Crawling

Bridget is crawling around now. She's very content to go exploring and gets excited when she finds something she likes. The other day she was in front of the laundry machine intently watching the clothes tumble.

Spring Has Sprung

Now that the weather is nicer we have started taking Bridget to the park and she finally got to try the swings for the first time. She absolutely LOVED it! Although it's hard to tell whether she prefers the actual swinging or watching whatever kid is in the swing next to her.

There's something about a burst of warm sunny weather after a long cold winter that just makes me want to garden. However, that's a little difficult when you live in an apartment without a backyard. Jason is really the green thumb of the family so he was totally on board for doing a little gardening...Jersey style.


Jason with his latest avocado plant. Classic!

Our fire escape garden.

Bridget admiring our handiwork.

B is so excited to wake up and get ready for the day.

Bridget's favourite thing to do is go to the park by our house. She loves crawling around on our blanket and watching the other children, birds, squirrels and dogs. It is the perfect park for us because there are so many kids her age that also like to play there so she is constantly meeting new babies.

Such a ham! It's amazing how many different faces she makes.

Just soaking in the sunshine.

B showing the tree some love. It's never too early to start developing a love of nature!