Boston 2024

When we arrived in Boston, we decided to fully immerse ourselves in the city life experience. Our first order of business was to learn how to use public transporation instead of our rental car. We were super thankful for the air conditioning in the subway as we traveled from location to location.

Because the temps were in the 90s, we decided to stay indoors as much as possible. We visited the MIT musuem and were in shock by some of the unique discoveries people had made over the years. There was anything from jars that are made from substances that allow you to fully remove ketchup from the glass bottle without anything sticking to turning chickens pink...Some of what we saw was a bit questionable when considering the Bible. We couldn't decide if we were completely offended or impressed with what they had discovered. We mainly found ourselves fascinated with some of the new party robots and AI technology they were designing. Of course Erin had to take a picture of Kismet because she remembers being fascinated by the robot when she was in college. After we finished our tour, we decided to partake in the local art scene by adding our sticker to the lampposts at MIT.

We also made our way to Harvard in the hottest heat of the day. We had to stop by the Harvard Law School for Analise to get a picture. Who knows where she will end up but the desire to be a lawyer has not dwindled over the years. We especially enjoyed the library and common areas(thank goodness for shade) and spent some time wandering around the dorm areas wondering where Aunt Sharon had lived when she went there.

On our second day, we visited historical sites including Paul Revere's house, Old North Church, the Boston Tea Party Museum and Boston Common. Along the route, we stopped at the occasional graveyard to see the dates going back to the 1630s and 1640s. We were impressed with "Mother Goose's" gravesite. Even though everyone was congregating around Paul Revere's grave, our family believes in giving equal attention to the women of the time and who doesn't love Mother Goose?

We particularly liked the Boston Tea Party where we got to reenact the event and join in the cheers for freedom. "Hizah, Well Said, Boo" and stomping our feet were used frequently as well as the hissing sound and "FIE" when we really were enraged at the meeting. Guests took turns throwing tea into the harbor and getting in the spirit of that night.

At Paul Revere's house, Analise asked if everything in the house was real. A tour guide happened to unexpectedly come up behind us and heard her question. He replied with yes, even to the fake food. Which caused Analise to roll her eyes. We found it interesting to learn that the Revere's had a table in their bedroom where they invited people in to play cards and hang out. Yep, come on over and hang in our bedroom. In the next room was a place for the 16 children that he raised. There had to be a lot of fighting in that room which was smaller than the main bedroom.

Later, we stopped in Boston Common for a picnic lunch. They had a giant fountain that families could walk into and splash around on a hot day. We decided to stay out because of all the birds but the idea was pretty neat. The park had a lot of shade which was perfect for another hot day. Analise had to see the USS Constitution before we headed back to the community pool that we found for the afternoon.

When we arrived at the pool, we were just in time for the lifegaurds to take a 30 minute break. We patiently waited (more like ran around trying to avoid the hornet that was slurping on spilled ice cream). Thankfully, we were able to swim for free and check out a smattering of the folks that lived in the community. We ended the day with church and a trip to Target (where they have cloth bags for checkout...We found this really confusing and spent much time debating whether we would be charged for them...and if you are wondering, the answer is no charge). We also visited the local supermarket where we were greeted by an unexpected robot. Actually Emma almost ran into it and screamed. This was then followed by Erin taking pictures of the creature that just wanted to help clean the floor and block people that decided to steal from the store.

Proceeding to day three, we had our first experience driving through the traffic of Boston. It wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. We did try to avoid peak times of the day. After an hour of tension, we reached Plymouth, Massachusetts where we went to the Plimouth Museum and had the Pilgrim experience reenacted for us and us alone.

We were one of the only families that got there at the opening time. Everyone tried to interact with the actors and actresses. Erin and Emma got to do some Pilgrim laundry. According to Mary we weren't really the housewife types. I guess we didn't flip up the blankets and get the dust out in an efficient manner. Analise ground the corn into flour for bread and Dan asked lots of questions about hunting and sharpening of tools. We found ourselves speaking with British accents to get into character with the actors. Some of the accents even stayed with us until people begged for them to stop. We also got to experience life for the Wampanoag people. Since we were the only ones there, the tour guide let us ask question after question. It was interesting to see how they burned out the canoes as well as to learn how long they kept each settlement. The heat circulation for the native home in particular impressed us. Having the double walls so the heat from the fire circulated back down was amazing. The curved roof also allowed the snow to slip down the walls so that it became almost like an igloo in the winter months. They were so respectful of the animals in the area and would leave so that their populations would regrow before they returned. When they made decisions, they considered enough for seven generations out. What would our current society be like if we considered seven generations after ourselves in our decision making?

After the museum, we visited the Mayflower replica and were fascinated by way the boat was steared by the whipstaff. We all picked a character to be on the Mayflower and at the end we got to read how our character lived out their life.

When finished with our historical adventures, we decided to walk the beach. The beach wasn't just sand. There were many rocks to climb on. When we have been in Duluth these rocks were quite enjoyable entertainment, however, the rocks created a wall that was hard to scale at one point and there was no going back once we started. When we got to the top of the rock wall and looked over the other side, we saw another wall, Erin decided we might as well capture the situation on our phone to later tell of our unlucky situation. However, when taking out her phone, her ID slipped out and fell between the rocks. UMMMMM...St Anthony needed to come to the rescue. Thankfully St. Anthony is a good friend of Erin's and he did help to locate it. Dan had to dig it out because it is too far down for anyone else to reach. After the search and rescue, we decided that a lake would be a better choice.

We found College Pond in the Myles Sandish State Forest. This ended up being the highlight of our trip. The water was perfect, the beach was perfect, the sky was yes perfect, the breeze was perfect. It felt like we were in a postcard. A highly recommended stop. After swimming for an hour, we decided to eat out at a seafood restaurant on the beach. As the sun was setting we returned back to the Airbnb for some much needed sleep.

Day four consisted of a hiking day. We started off by hiking at the State Forest in Malden next to our Airbnb. We climbed to the top of a cliff and were able to see the entire Boston skyline. We also found funny rock sculptures in the park as we climbed.

As we drove north into New Hampshire, we stopped to walk around a lake that had a shaded trail. This was followed by a stop to the American Stone Henge. Here we learned about the sun, moon and stars. We learned how the rocks in the area showed how people lined things up according to the solstices. There was a giant map in the visitor center that showed all of the Native cultures and things that they had built with stone. Suprisingly they all seemed to line up with similar time periods. The actual Stone Henge in Europe lines up in a very similar pattern to the American one. This left us wondering if people of those ancient times all had the same idea given to them somehow. They were all separated by great distances yet they were all lining themselves up with something. Dan and Erin got into some really weird discussions from that about space and aliens. Maybe they are real.

At the end of the Stone Henge experience, we were able to dig for gemstones in the original site where they found old artifacts. We even saw some alpacas that weren't really into meeting us and stayed a good distance away.

Next stop was a castle that apparently burned down on the inside but the stone still stood. As well as a walk around another shaded lake. Last stop for the day was a little town where our Airbnb was located. We walked briefly into the downtown and then hung out at the house. Emma and Analise were fascinated with the owners kettlebells and other weight lifting materials. They also had a giant glow in the dark Jenga. When it fell it sounded like fireworks went off. Based on Emma's reaction the camera flash might have been a bit too bright when trying to capture the entertaining experience.

Our fifth day consisted of visiting Dover and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In Dover we walked along the river and went up the firetower to lookout.

In Portsmouth, we walked around the town, found the love locks (fence where people place a lock when they have found their partner), strolled through the gardens and did a bit of shopping. Then we traveled up the coast along the beach. Erin showed the group where she biked 15 years ago with her group. We stopped at a few beaches and located an ice cream shop for a fun treat. We definitely got the summer vacationer feel when we visited the crowded beaches. The water was a bit cold. The girls went up to their knees before coming out. We were fairly tired from the whole experience, not to mention covered in sunscreen, so we decided to head home early and just hang out at the house.

On our sixth day we headed to Hampton beach. Here Dan and the girls body surfed the waves. This beach had a ton of lifegaurds and felt safer than the previous day's beach. It was interesting to see the life gaurds training by running laps on the beach and swimming out into deep water for a fake rescue. We also saw a swimming race which started in the river and went out into the ocean. Everyone had a flotation device with them and people on jet skis went ahead of the group checking the water for safety purposes. Emma and Analise seemed to get a lot of pleasure chasing seagulls down the coast. They definitely gave themselves and the birds a good workout.

When we finished with the beach, we made our way down to Salem. We were thankful that the rain held off for us until our last stop in Salem. Salem is the perfect place to experience in the rain. Most people that came to visit did not have umbrellas but we checked the weather and were well prepared. We visited the Salem Witch Museum to learn what really took place during that period of time. It was very sad that people who did believe in God and were practicing Christians were hung, put in prison or killed in some way. We were thankful that one of the girls who lied about her condition in the beginning did confess to making things up even though the story was a very sad one. We also learned how witches have evolved within our culture and explored everything from Fairy Tale witches like Hanzel and Gretel to the Wizard of Oz and Harry Potter. Our perceptions of witches continue to change over time based on cultural trends. Although we had 19 people that were killed in the Salem area, there were millions killed in Europe that were believed were related to witchcraft. It was interesting to see how something unexplainable at the time like a plague could turn people toward believing some very strange things and how their fear ultimately destroyed large groups of people. A witch at that time could just be someone with a disabliity or something that made them different from others and scared them because they did not understand. Today we label people with things like ADHD or other mental issues. It will be interesting to see what the future generations do with and believe about people who are different. Hopefully we are becoming more accepting of others differences.

The day ended with one walk along the beach and a visit to the hotel pool. We were up at 3:15 to catch our 6 am flight back to Minnesota. When we arrived home, we had to start to put all of our furniture and items back in their original places. The painters did a wonderful job. The girls were in school mode as soon as they got home. They packed up all their supplies for the year. Emma gets her expander put in this week and we have our final dental checks. AHG starts on Monday and Emma is continuing with flying trapeze in the coming weeks.

Let Me In...IN...IN...

Analise and Emma used to sing this song called, "Let me in" when they wanted to get in the bathroom or somewhere they were not allowed or that was currently being used. Well today an opossum decided to sing that song to us at 6 in the morning. He fell in our window well and couldn't get back out. Emma and Ani created a ramp but it did not have a 45 degree angle...it was more of like a 75 degree angle and he still couldn't get out. So Dan took on title of opossum savior and rescued him with a rake and a box. Of course there were some onlookers who were ready to run if the opossum turned out to be a Tasmanian devil in disguise. Opossums are pretty cute but they sure do know how to hiss. It was a great surprise for the start of our week of camp.

Artist Display and Science Before Heading Away...

We are wrapping up camps for the summer. Analise just finished an art camp with Ella and Tessa. Analise liked learning how to weave and doing work with mosaic tiles.

With Friday open, we decided to do something for everyone. For Analise, we checked out the open gym so she could show us her new skills on the bar and vault. Then we headed to the beach so mom could swim under the clouds. Our final visit was to Paint a Plate so Emma could show us her perfect painting skills. As Emma outlined her perfect hearts on her mug, mom and Analise worked on a flower bowl. The flowers ended up looking like runny undercooked eggs. Thank goodness we were there for the experience and to support Emma in her desire for the perfect mug.

Next week we have our final camp of the year. Emma is taking a STEM and medicine class and Analise is doing film making. Analise will get to write a script, act it out, add special effects and edit her production. Emma will get to explore forensic anthropology to learn more about how scientists use bone structure to help identify different bones, will do virtual dissections, will learn the science behind standard medical tests such as X-rays, CTs, and MRIs and will get to look at gene therapies and mRNA science. Each day her group will be given a made up patient to diagnose and treat.

Next up, Boston Trip!