We’re here!

Boston!

Beantown!

Taxachussets!

M. and I are celebrating our 15th anniversary next month, so we (and by “we” I mean “M.”) planned a trip to Boston to celebrate. Usually I do all the planning, but this time M. took care of everything on his own. I just had to pack and show up.

15 years of marriage is a big deal! There are very few people I have even known for 15 years. I think very few people can tolerate me for 15 years, really, and the fact that M. and I are still married is a credit to his patience and perseverance.

Yesterday we dropped the boys off at Grandma and Grandpa’s house and drove to Milwaukee. The boys have been looking forward to spending the weekend with their grandparents for months. Me…. not so much. I think the last time I was separated from the boys was when I was in the hospital after Colson was born. Being apart from them, even for just 4 days, is hard.

I spent a lot of time hugging and kissing them yesterday before we left. Braden’s reassuring words to me were, “No offense, Mom, but I don’t think we’re going to miss you very much. We’ll be too busy having fun.”

Well, okay, not quite the reassuring words I was hoping for, but I’m going to choose to focus on the upside: they won’t be crying inconsolably at Grandma’s. Me, on the other hand…….

This morning we boarded the airline shuttle with a couple of pilots and what seemed to be a pilot in training. They were participating in “getting acquainted” sort of small talk, and I tuned out until I heard the veteran pilot say, “….then the fan went out. It was totally fried, and that really frosted me.”

“Didn’t they have a backup fan?” asked newbie pilot.

“Well, there’s supposed to be one, but you know how that goes,” replied veteran pilot.
Not a conversation I wanted to hear while en route to the airport.

Once on our plane, the pilot announced that the rear auxiliary engine wasn’t working, so they were going to have to fire up the main engines and get help backing away from the gate. The thought of an engine not working seemed to me to be a big deal. But no one around me was reacting. All of the flight staff were cheerful and calm, despite the fact that we’d lost one engine already and hadn’t even left the ground yet.

But, we made it safely to Boston, picked up out luxurious rental "cah" (I'm lovin' the accents heah.), and drove to the hotel. We drove through the notorious "Big Dig" on the way.

Here's a photo for Aunt T.:

Just kidding! They've improved it a bit. Here's a real photo:

We’ve been here a total of 5 hours, and what have we done? Umm… well, we spent a lot of time driving. Traffic here is, well, there’s a lot of it. And it’s not necessarily bad, just….plentiful.

We’ve unpacked, gone for a walk, and ate dinner at Vinny T’s, an Italian restaurant nearby. Tonight we plan to rest up, enjoy the quiet, and relax.

Tomorrow is jam-packed with activity. Historical tours and a trip to Concord, Mass. are on the agenda, and probably a trip downtown. Sunday we plan to visit Plimoth Plantation, the Mayflower 2, and Cape Cod. There will be lots more pictures tomorrow night.