New England -- Days 7,8,9 & 10

On Wednesday we went to the Public Gardens and rode the swan boats. You can read all about this in Robert McCloskey's famous children's book, Make Way For Ducklings. The Public Gardens are very beautiful and there is a different vibe from them and the Boston Common. It is probably because you aren't allowed to play ball on the grass and stuff like that. There is a higher expectation of decorum.

I set the kids free with the camera to take pictures of whatever they wanted at the park while I fed Eli. There is a statue of the duck story and it looks just like the book. Zach took a picture of every single duck. I think this one's name is Quack, but it could be Lack. Who can really say for sure?

After our jaunt at the gardens, we headed over to the subway and went to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. It is a beautiful museum and I was able to see many of the works of artists I greatly admire: Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, El Greco, Velasquez, John Singleton Copley, Thomas Gainsborough, Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, and Gilbert Stuart. These are just the ones that come to my right now, but there was so much more. I wish I could have spent all day there, but with three kids I lasted about 90 minutes or so. Zach and Raef were pretty good, actually. It was Eli that sent us packing early. Crying baby and hoity-toity museum do not mix well.

I ran out of gas on Thursday and I really did not want to walk anywhere. So we decided to go to the Commons and swim in the Frog Pond. However, it was closed for cleaning so we killed time in the park throwing a frisbee and chasing pigeons. The kids really enjoy that activity for some reason. Then it was time to go see Kung Fu Panda again. It took up the entire afternoon so it was great. We ended the day with a dinner at Fanueil Hall.

I got my second wind of Friday so I braved the subway again to take the kids on a tour of Fenway Park. It was really more for me than them. I love visiting baseball stadiums, and this is a historic landmark. There was a game later that night so everyone was getting ramped up for the evening. When we finished our tour we went to the Frog Pond finally and then in the evening we took Dad to the Children's Museum again. They had a lot of fun showing all the stuff they knew. But all that walking produces two very tired 6-year old boys.

We arranged for a ride to the airport because our flight departed out of New Hampshire. After thinking of all possible options, we opted for hiring a driver to take us. Take a look at our ride...