Boston in the Fall

Be warned- this is long!

Yes, I hear ya. Another trip. With kids. What are we thinking? Yada yada yada. It's what we do!

When we moved to Williamsburg, we made a list of all of the places we wanted to visit while we were here. Places are slowly being marked off our list, and our time here is growing short, so we were both happy when I found cheap airfare to Boston since it was a destination we really wanted to visit.

I must say, other than checking out a couple of books about Boston and asking advice from friends and family, I really didn't ever get into the full-on, Nazi-esque planning mode I am well known for- this trip was meant to be a laid back perusal of the city, and it was the perfect approach to a great place. Luckily for us, this laid back approach could not have been better timed because we had a few curve balls thrown at us on this trip.

It all started when we got to D.C. the day before our plane left. We planned to meet up with our friend, Kevin, for dinner, and then stay in Baltimore since we had an early flight the next day. We met Kevin at the Air and Space Museum, and Caitlyn was particularly thrilled- she loves Kevin, AND she loves planes, so this was a big hit.

However, 5:00pm rolled around (I like to call it the witching hour), and the girls were cranky, hungry and tired. After much walking and looking around, the boys were hunched over the iPhone looking for a Chipotle that should have been right there, when I decided to just ask someone. We ended up at a Legal Seafood, where everyone had a good meal.

We said good-bye to Kevin, then headed to Baltimore. Or, we tried to head to Baltimore. I, sadly, assumed that Jason knew how to get from point A to point B since we'd done it before. I also, mistakenly, assumed that it would be pretty easy to find the loop we needed, even if Jason didn't know. Wrong, Ashley. Wrong on both counts! After many twists and turns through the Mall area, Jason planning to just pull over and buy a GPS and me telling him to just ASK someone, we did manage to find our way and laugh.

Our next obstacle came the next morning at the airport. We were talking with another couple traveling with two young girls, and their mom was telling me that they are good little travelers, too. We were swapping stories about rough flights, and the other mom told me about two times that her girls threw up on a plane. I laughed that we hadn't had that happen yet.

About 4.6 seconds after I uttered those fateful words, as we were lining up to board the plane, Caitlyn threw up. Everywhere. When Jason turned her to take her to the bathroom, she threw up again, all over him.

We quickly got her cleaned up, and luckily we knew exactly what caused it (not an illness), so we were able to make the flight.

Once in Boston, we took a few moments to figure out the T, and we were off to our hotel. We stayed at the Boston Park Plaza, and all I can say is thank goodness for priceline because I got an incredible deal on a spectacular hotel that was in a great location. Our room was large, and we were right by the Public Gardens.

Since we arrived in the middle of the day, we decided to check out the theater district and the area around our hotel. We strolled through the Public Gardens to take some pictures, and we spent a lot of time being amused by the giant squirrels that would take food from our hands and feeding the ducks in the pond.

We wandered into a few shops, and Jason bought a Red Sox hat, and then schooled Lorelei on the finer points of baseball.

We also picked up a copy of the book Make Way For Ducklings because the girls were enthralled by the statues in the park, and we ended up reading the story no less than 20 times during our 4 day stay.

We also meandered through Boston Common, and ended up stumbling upon the famous Cheers pub. Jason wanted a picture, and Caitlyn wanted to swing on the fence in Mary Poppins fashion.

We ended the day with a quiet walk through Beacon Hill, one of Boston's most beautiful (and affluent neighborhoods. It was gorgeous.

Our second day dawned clear and cold, the perfect day for our trek on the Freedom Trail. We bundled up the girls, and set off for a 2.5 mile journey through history. Taking it slow, we managed to see all the sights along the trail, enjoy a delicious lunch and soak up the quiet ambience of Boston. While Lorelei was content to ride snuggly and quietly, Caitlyn enjoyed dictating from her stroller throne, and there were several times during the day when she pulled out the map and barked things like, "Mama, go down the blue and then turn on red. Attached to that is the road, and that's where we go."

Among other things, we visited two graveyards, the State House, Paul Revere's house and the Bunker Hill Memorial.

Let's talk about Bunker Hill (of "Don't fire till you see the whites of their eyes" fame). You are able to climb to the top of the tower, home to 294 winding stone steps to enjoy a 360 degree view of Boston and the harbor. That doesn't sound too bad, right? Jason and I took turns, not wanting to carry the girls, and I went first. 294 steps is a heck of a lot more than I imagined it to be. The views were great, but I was glad to get back to the bottom where I could rest my weary legs. Working out on a Stairmaster is not quite the same as climbing real steps.

After a ferry ride back to downtown, we walked to P.F. Changs to enjoy a quiet dinner while Caitlyn slept in her stroller, and Lorelei entertained us with chopstick antics. She was so happy to have our undivided attention, and it reminded us of our early days of parenting when we only had one baby most of the time.

Our third day was cold and damp-- the perfect atmosphere for a trip on the train to Salem. Getting to the station was an adventure in itself, but I am proud to say we did it with nary a misstep. I am utterly fascinated by the Witch Trials, so it was incredible to me to be able to see the Witch House, the Memorial and the hill where 19 "witches" were hung by religious zealots.

We enjoyed another stroll through the Public Gardens, along with stops to feed the ducks and squirrels. After dinner, the girls and I settled in while Jason explored some of the city on his own.

Sadly, our departure day arrived with Caitlyn protesting that she wanted to stay in "Fauston." It might be more heartbreaking if she didn't say that at the end of every trip! We explored Newbury Street, where we bought a set of watercolor paintings for the girls' room that detailed the duckling statues in each season. We headed to the public library to gaze at the massive marble foyer. Caitlyn and I explored the upper floors, where she wanted to know who Galileo and Plato were after I read off the names carved into the walls. Lorelei enjoyed looking at all of the books, and both girls were very respectful of those who were reading.

Finally, we headed back to the Gardens for one final visit with the ducklings. We fed ducks and squirrels. Again. We climbed on the statues. Again. We played in the leaves. Again. It was bittersweet to leave behind the park that felt a little like home, especially when we said good-bye to one of the dog owners we'd seen each day of our trip during our park jaunts.

Boston tops the list of my favorite cities. The people are friendly without being boisterous, and the history is crushing and omnipresent. Before we left, I read somewhere that Bostonians live history every day, and I can see now what the writer meant. Everywhere you turn in Boston, there is an integral part of American history, and it is nestled right in among the every day facets of life.

The colors were truly awe-inspiring, and the backdrop of red, orange, yellow and brown was intense and lovely. There were times we didn't know whether we should gather the leaves up and toss them with joy, or simply stand and marvel at their beauty. Of course, we did a little of both.

As we headed to the airport, I felt sure our adventure was over, and I began to think about all of the things I would need to do once we got home. Little did I know we had one more adventure in store.

When we checked in for our flight, we ran into the family we'd seen on our way to Boston. We exchanged stories, and they were so glad that Caitlyn had not been ill again during our trip. Our flight was very bumpy, and Lorelei was inconsolable during our final descent into Baltimore. She fussed like I have rarely seen her do, while Caitlyn sat in stone cold silence as her unease with the landing grew. As soon as the wheels of the plane touched down, Jason handed Lorelei to me, and she promptly threw up. Yes, she did. No, I am not joking.

Luckily (for everyone else), she mainly got me, and we were able to clean up quickly. Jason and I honestly just laughed. Lorelei was fine after that, so we were relieved, and it was just unbelievable that on a single trip, both of our girls vomited in close proximity to the plane.

When we ran into the other family at baggage claim, I told the other mom, and she and I just laughed about the fact that neither of us will ever tell a story about throwing up at the airport again.

What a trip.

Airplane restrooms from a 3 year old perspective

When the kids and I went to Texas, our flight had some interesting moments--pretty typical when one adult flies with 3 kids.

It began when we got to the airport at 4:15. Yes, that is am. As in 4:15 in the morning, before the sun is even awake, which means I had to drag 3 kids out of bed at 3:15. Which, for my kids, means that they are now up for the day.

Anyway. We got to the airport, and waited to check in. When we got up to the desk, the agent informed me that the flight was oversold, and since we had not paid to preselect our seats, there might not be space for us on the plane. Are you kidding me? You want me to wait in this tiny airport for 3 extra hours AFTER I have gotten 3 kids out of bed because YOUR company oversold the flight by a dozen people? I was really nice to the woman, hoping she would be able to help us out, and she got us onto the flight by bumping us up to business class.

Oh, I can't tell you the less-than-thrilled looks my crew and I got as we marched in single file to business class. I am sure there were lots of pleasant, happy thoughts coming our way. I got the kids settled in. Chris read the entire flight. Caitlyn, of course, talked the entire flight. And Lorelei, who normally flies so well, was fussy for a solid 30 minutes. I guess she felt it was her duty to live up to all of those dirty looks.

About an hour into the flight, Caitlyn announced that she needed to go potty. I gathered her and Lorelei, told Chris where we would be, and marched her off to the potty. I'd barely opened the door, when she eyed the tiny space and announced indignantly, "Mama, that is NOT a potty." I tried to explain that it was, but it was just smaller than normal. Having none of it, she decided she would wait until we landed. Which was great since I'd not figured out how the 3 of us were going to fit.

Shortly after we got back to our seats, I realized I needed to change Lorelei's wet diaper. I want to emphasize that it was ONLY WET. Very discreetly, as I always do on plane rides, I grabbed a fresh diaper, and changed it quickly with Lorelei laying in my lap. As I was snapping her jammies back up, ready to stow the ONLY WET diaper in a plastic bag for disposal, the loud-mouthed flight attendant shouts, as she passes us on her way through business class, "Excuse me, ma'am, you cannot change that dirty diaper here. You need to go to the restroom to take care of that next time, and I will be by shortly with a plastic bag so you can throw that dirty diaper away."

Ah, humiliation and a strong desire to let everyone know it was just a wet diaper. And I didn't smear the contents on a seat or passenger near me.

Of course, Caitlyn had to add her two cents. "Mama, you can't change Lorelei in that potty. Where would you put her?"

My thoughts exactly, Caitlyn.

How do we do it?

I am often asked how we manage to cram in so much travel with a family the size of ours- usually people want to know two things: 1. how we afford it; and 2. how we manage it with little kids. I think I've talked a lot about how we manage the kids- we have really high expectations, we plan extensively, we set rules, etc.

The bigger question, for most people, is how we manage to finance all of our travel, especially since I am a stay at home mom. Without going into too many details, here is the answer:

First, I budget pretty tightly- Jason likes to brag that I squeeze the most out of every penny. I was raised with my mom's attitude towards money, and that means I only spend on a credit card what I can afford to pay off that month. We try very hard to keep our "luxuries" realistic. We drive newer, nice cars, but nothing excessive or over the top. We have average cell phone, cable and internet plans, but we don't overdo it- no HBO, no internet plans on the phones. (Who wants to be that in touch, anyway??) Also, we only have one television in our house. We don't watch tv all the time, and we are perfectly happy not having a tv in the bedroom!

Hmm, what else?? I like to cook, and I plan our meals to minimize little trips to the grocery store. In fact, I only spend $350 a month on groceries. I try to watch sales, and I end up getting lots of free things by using coupons. I save a lot on clothes by watching clearance sales and shopping for the next year at the end of the season. For example, I just bought a ton of gymboree clothes for the girls for $3-5 per item. We like to go out to eat, but we don't do it all the time. When we do, Jason and I often share an appetizer and an entree since portion sizes these days are enormous. We budget amounts for lessons for the kids, preschool for Caitlyn, entertainment for all of us, and we try to stick to those amounts. We really like to have nice things and be able to do fun activities, but that doesn't mean that we have to pay a lot to do so!

The result of all of this is that we have enough left over each month to sock away into the vacation fund. Of course, then we are also careful with how much we actually spend to travel!

We watch airline sales, which is how we were able to score $30 flights to Boston for this fall. I also keep an eye on hotel specials- this netted us a cheap hotel at Disney World (40% off!), as well as a great deal on a couple of extra days at a non-Disney hotel that included breakfast and dinner each day. Websites like priceline and hotwire are full of amazing deals, if you know how to make them work for you.

If I know we are taking a trip, I keep an eye out for souvenirs related to what we will be doing. The kids are all still young enough that if I buy a Mickey shirt from the Disney Outlet and give it to them on the trip, they don't realize it didn't come from the gift shop. That allows us to get them a couple of gifts AND spring for something from the overpriced gift shop- what lucky kids!

Another trick that has saved us a lot, while also allowing us to do and see a lot, is to buy family memberships to zoos and museums. Our National Zoo membership gives us free parking in Washington, DC, but also allows us to go to the VA Zoo, the Houston Zoo, and many others for free. Our Living Museum membership gets us discounts to lots of other places, and our Busch Gardens season passes get us discount tickets to other parks, like Sea World.

When we travel, we try to really be able to see the spirit of the city. There are so many free things to do in every city, many of which are unique to that locale and give you a true feel of where you are- we try to take full advantage of those sorts of things. We don't travel to spend time in a shopping mall.

This mentality is paying off for us- with the economy in the tank right now, we are able to take advantage of so many great deals and opportunities. I figure that the more I save in our daily lives and on our trip just adds up to more money we can spend on yet another trip!

Final Disney Day

Our last Disney day dawned bright, clear and surprisingly late! Because we'd been out so late the night before, Caitlyn actually slept in a bit, as did Lorelei. When they finally got up, all of the girlies headed down to the pool for one last swim.

We spent most of the day relaxing- snacking in the food court, browsing in the gift shop, wandering around the resort, and finally napping in our room. Yes, on our last day, I was finally able to get both girls to take an actual, lengthy nap in the peaceful quiet of our room! Go mama!

We headed out to the Magic Kingdom late in the afternoon, under clear skies that would quickly become cloudy and eventually dump buckets of water on us. Remember how I said I think I might just be slightly OCD? One of the things I packed for our trip was a large tote filled with stroller fans, sunscreen, bug spray, first aid items, extra snacks, flashlights, plastic baggies, extra everything, and ponchos. Why ponchos? It rains a lot in Florida, and Mickey charges $10 for a poncho, whereas I bought them on clearance for under a buck.

Throughout the entire trip, I was always able to whip out whatever was needed to fix a scrape, calm a kid or change wet clothes- Super mom to the rescue! But on this night, my super powers failed me as I had neglected to bring the much-needed ponchos on the one stinking day that it rained!

Luckily, I was able to somewhat redeem myself as I heard a passing man ask his wife if they wanted to get out the ponchos and stay in the park. She declined, so I approached the guy about buying his ponchos. He agreed to sell them to me, at the only slightly inflated price of $5 for two. Not having change, I ended up buying them for $5 EACH, which was still a savings over what Disney wanted for the darn things. Oh well- couldn't let it spoil our last day!

Because of the rain, the park wasn't very crowed, and we were able to walk right onto Pirates (which Caitlyn loved!), as well as fit in two rides on the flying carpets. Caitlyn fell in love with this ride, quickly proclaiming it to be her new very best favorite ride, ahead of her beloved Dumbo.

We had a date at Crystal Palace to meet Pooh and all of his pals, so that was our next stop.

We enjoyed a great dinner, and Caitlyn was literally dancing in the aisles with excitement at the prospect of more characters.

She hugged and loved on every single new friend, and she was sad to leave them behind!

Lorelei was still nervous, but seemed to warm up a bit when Eeyore came by. So, like many mothers before me, I decided to push my luck. We were able to get within a couple feet of poor Eeyore before Lorelei declared she'd had enough with a shriek!

Once dinner was over, we rode a couple of rides, and then grabbed prime spots for Spectromagic. By this point, the rain had stopped, so our prime parade-watching spot quickly became overcrowded, but we didn't let that rain on our parade.

Spectromagic is my all-time favorite Disney event- it is pure magic and wonder, wrapped up with beauty and a hint of sparkly pixie dust. Every float in the parade is illuminated with thousands of lights, and even the characters are adorned with lights. My very best favorite float, to use Caitlyn's words, is the one that starts out with all white lights. As the 3 Little Pigs get out their paint cans, the entire float changes into a colorful spectacle, replete with princesses galore! Ah, the magic of Disney!

As soon as the parade was over, Jason and I, along with Lorelei, were able to walk right into the Haunted Mansion. As we came out, the fireworks were just starting, and we had a perfect view of our 3rd and final viewing.

From there, we did a whirlwind visit to Fantasyland to ride a few rides "one more time." Because it was nearing midnight, the lines were fairly short, and we were able to ride Small World, the carousel, and Dumbo. In fact, Caitlyn got to ride Dumbo 3 times, while the adults switched off. Jason was even able to capture a video of her excitement:

It was so hard to leave that night. In all honesty, I was just as guilty as Caitlyn of wanting one more ride. As we glided through the air on Dumbo, the entire park lit up beneath us while the castle shone above us, all just seemed right in the world. I was tucked into a magical ride with my beautiful, sweet Caitlyn, whose face was purely lit up with the wonder of the day. My husband, who can drive me crazy, but whom I love with my whole heart, was capturing memories of our evening and waving as we flew past. My wonderful mom was sitting with my sweet, sleeping baby girl, smiling both as she watched Caitlyn grin and Lorelei dream peacefully.

I think that is what I really love about Disney- it brings out the magic in innocent, everyday moments and highlights the special gifts we have. The magic isn't really in the castle, the fireworks, the parades, the food or the rides. The real magic is right there within my perfect little family- Disney just helps us to see it more clearly.