B,E,C,G,&J: Birthdays

We went to Boston over Labor Day weekend. It was a quick trip, but we got to fit in a lot of the things we really wanted to see.

We walked the Freedom Trail, which is a 2 1/2 mile red-bricked walking trail that goes past 16 key historical sites relating to Colonial America, and the beginning of the Revolutionary War.

There are several burial grounds along the trail. This first one has the graves of Paul Revere, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and the 5 Boston Massacre victims.

This mosaic marks the site of the first public school in America.

The girls had a good time following the red line. It definitely made it more entertaining for them and got them involved in the walk (& helped them to last a lot longer without complaining than they otherwise would have). They had fun dancing, playing follow the leader, and pretending to be robots along the red line.

Here is the Old State House. The Declaration of Independence was read for the first time in public from this balcony.

The Green Dragon Tavern was a regular un-official meeting place of many of the Colonials, and on it's sign it is called the "Headquarters of the Revolution"

This is a statue of Paul Revere on his "Midnight Ride" in front of the Old North Church (which is where the lanterns were placed "One if by land, Two if by Sea"). (On a side note, ever since we came back from Boston, the girls love to say "The Redcoats are Coming!!" when they're playing tag or running out to the car...)

A sign on the Old North Church, and the beautiful organ inside. There were several churches along the Freedom Trail, and it was amazing to look around inside and know that these churches have had active congregations for hundreds of years (and continue today).

The Freedom Trail crosses over the Charles River, and gave us some beautiful views over to the Bunker Hill Monument, and back at the North End of Boston (you can see the white spire of the Old North Church).

The USS Constitution (also known as Old Ironsides) is docked at the Charlestown Naval Yard. It was put to sea in 1798, and mainly was used during the War of 1812. We were amazed by the barricade keeping other boats away from the Constitution. I'd say they're pretty serious about protecting this landmark!

Chloe & Gracie in front of the Charles River.

At the Charlestown Navy Yard...with an anchor, and a huge dry dock. (The Navy Yard is no longer in operation...)

At the Navy Yard, we caught a water shuttle back to downtown Boston. While we were waiting for the ferry, this seagull swooped down into the water and caught a crab. Then he came and landed right next to us, and proceeded to break the shell and eat the crab.

Views of the North End of Boston from the water shuttle.

The Sunday that we were in Boston was Julia & my birthday. We had a nice, relaxing breakfast in our hotel...

The next thing on our agenda (& the thing we were most excited about doing in Boston) was to go on a duck tour. The duck tours are given in World War II era amphibious vehicles. The first half of the tour is around downtown Boston and goes past many of the Freedom Trail sites. It was interesting to see a different view and to hear more information about Boston's history.

America's first library & a Beacon Hill neighborhood

In the second half of the tour, the Duck goes into the Charles River.

The Longfellow Bridge has sculptures of Viking Ships on the pillars.

In the river, our tour guide let all the kids come up and take turns driving the boat. The duck tour was definitely one of the highlights of our trip!!

This is a new bridge in Boston, and was part of the "Big Dig" project (which put the main highway under downtown Boston instead of through it). They made the towers of the bridge to look like the Bunker Hill Monument...

For our Birthday lunch, we went to the Barking Crab. It was a neat restaurant right on Boston's Inner Harbor, and they had really good crab!

Our trip to Boston wasn't complete without going to the Public Garden. We love the book "Make Way for Ducklings" which takes place in Boston. The girls were excited to see a lot of the places from the book come to life, and were really excited to go for a ride on the swan boats.

In the Public Garden, they have statues of Mrs. Mallard and her 8 ducklings...

Celebrating our birthday with Ice Cream (Julia's FAVORITE!!)

Before we left Massachusetts, we went down the coast to Cape Cod, and found a beach. This was Julia's first time at the beach, and she was definitely mesmerized by the water and the sand.