EM:  We finished our trip in North Carolina visiting Nana Donny.  I had fun cause she gave us cupcakes.  We watched TV.  We went to see Ramona & Beezus.  In one part she said, "I have to say a bad word.  GUTS! GUTS! GUTS!"  It was funny.  The other part that was funny was when the baby spit on Ramona.

Nana took us shopping.  I got clothes and my first bikini.  I love them.

Now we are home.  There was cat who looks like Sam (VM note:  Our orange tabby male) and Clio (VM note: our grey tabby female) was chasing it.  She was being tough.

Maggie, our dog, was excited to see us.  She slipped and slid on our new floor.

I went to the beach.  I liked it.  It was super clear.

VM:  We are in the final week of our 3-week vacation.  This is what I fondly refer to as the Fort Lauderdale leg.  It is the chance to recoup after being away for two weeks and to get things in order for the new school year starting 8/23.

We had a lovely, relaxing visit with Nana Donny in North Carolina.  Poor AT&T cell service & no convenient Wi-Fi deterred our blogging abilities.

After a go-go-go vacation with lots of activities we all welcomed the slower pace at Nana's.  Girls watched TV while I got to read and sleep without a little bugger kicking me or stealing the covers.  We enjoyed mass on Wednesday with Monsignor Hendrick who is a family friend and who baptized Emma nearly seven years ago (!)

We also enjoyed visiting with Nana Donny's BFF, Lib.  She patiently laughed while the girls told her of all their adventures and all the new knock-knock jokes they'd learned along the way.

Emma practices for her future teen job at Cold Stone Ice Cream.

Now we are home and enjoying the FL summer weather.  Yesterday we all agreed that New Englanders might be passionate about their North Atlantic beaches, but that they have nothing compared to the clear, azure/green Florida Atlantic.  We enjoyed a beautiful day at Fort Lauderdale beach Monday and then came home to swim & BBQ.  Homemade pico de gallo, guacamole & a cold Bud Lite Lime rounded out the evening.

NOTE:  HM is busy catching up with her BFF, Erin, so she will post later.

Last day in Boston.

VM:  How fast it has all gone!  We ended our last day in Boston with a few hits and one miss.  The day started at a famed local eatery, Charlie's, which is right around the corner from our apartment.  It's the sort of place dignitaries/politicos stop in when they're in town.  Excellent breakfast and really nice waitress.  The latter commentary is my one "ding" about the Massachusetts experience.  We have not found the locals to be overly friendly.  Truthfully, the friendliest we have found are dog owners who we befriend to meet their pups.  I suppose the "unfriendly" folks are over the tourist thing.

We made our way to the Boston Public Garden for a ride on the man-powered swan boats.  It's a quaint, sweet experience.  We were blessed with INCREDIBLE weather today, what I would call California weather.  So the swan boat ride was really pleasant.  All agreed Aba (grandma) would've loved it since it was in the midst of beautiful gardens.

Girls also took a "cool off" break in the frog's pond in the Boston Common.  This is a large man-made pond which is essentially a gigantic wading pool.  It is really pretty and the girls enjoyed splashing around.

Next we grabbed the "T" for a visit to Harvard.  A side note for anyone considering a Boston visit -- the T is really terrific.  Clean.  Well-managed.  And probably the friendliest people we have met are MBTA employees helping us find our way.  They also have a user-friendly web site to help you map out your route from home.  I've been super impressed.

We strolled through Harvard Square and visited the Museum of Natural History.  It is just the right size.  Not too big.  Not too small.  And plenty of stuffed mammals and skeletons to make an impression.

Ready for the Ivy League. We better start REALLY adding to the college fund!

By 3pm we had worked up an appetite again so we headed to Barkley's, a Harvard institution known for its yummy burgers.  It did not disappoint.  They were big, juicy and cooked to perfection.

Our one miss of the day was a hike to Toscanini's, a Cambridge ice cream spot which supposedly had been selected as "the best ice cream" by the New York Times.  It was about a mile walk from Harvard Square which I thought would be a good idea after our lunch, but what I didn't know was that just 3-4 blocks from the Square, the area got kind of yucky.  And the ice cream, while good, was not the BEST we had ever tasted.  Personally, I think the Italian festival gelato beat it hands down.  Oh well, you can't win them all.

We returned to the apartment to recharge and later went to Boston Harbor for our last city adventure.  We wined and dined at Legal Sea Foods because HM had read about it in one of her summer reading books and wanted to check it out.  Afterwards, we played with the harbor seals outside the New England Aquarium's entrance.  They were like playful children.

Finally, we were just heading home to pack, when we were treated to the most beautiful full moon rising over Boston Harbor.  While neither my or HM's camera could really capture the incredibleness of it, it was a perfect way to end this lovely Boston journey.

Tuesday we head to Nana Donny's for a short visit.  We are all looking forward to seeing her.

HM:  Boston is clearly a dog city.  In the morning we saw a 200 pound dog named Norman.  He was a Mastiff and really cute.

I think Harvard has a big, pretty campus.  I would want to go there, but I also want to go to University of Florida.

At night when we were heading to the subways to go to Boston Harbor, we saw two cute dogs, one named Riley, a big mutt, and the other one was a 16-year-old Labrador named Jake.  They were going to the dog park right behind our apartment so we thought we should follow.  There were all these cute dogs  playing.

I begged my mom and Titi to go the Legal Sea Foods in Boston Harbor.  It was delicious.

I loved Boston and I want to come back next year for a summer for like a week.

EM:  I'm sad that we're going to leave Boston.  I wish I lived here.  Lots of cutie babies, lots of cute doggies.

I liked the harbor seals at the Aquarium.  Can't wait to see Nana Donny.

Titi (special guest blogger!):  I had a fabulous trip to Boston with my nieces and my sister.  Although I need to go home to get some sleep.  Don't know how two little kids can kick so much.  Hope at least one of my nieces ends up in college in Boston (VM NOTE:  Hope she'll help pay for it too!)  Until the next trip...

Boston - Day Two.

EM:  I finished the Freedom Trail!  We met some dogs.  They were cute.  I saw this tiny Beagle puppy.  He was playing with his "sister."  And I ended the day with Banzai, a Wheaten Terrier, at Boston Common.  We walked A LOT.  Mom says around 5 to 6 miles.  I like Boston and I got a T-shirt which says, I "heart" Boston.  And I'm really happy Titi came.

I saw a street performer.  I liked how he got tied up and got out by himself.  It was funny.  I also liked Paul Revere's house.

HM:  I loved the whole Freedom Trail.  We walked up the Bunker Hill monument.  294 steps each way!!! When I stood still, my calves shook!!! You could see them vibrate!!!

I did not expect the trail to be like it was, but I thought it was interesting how it took you through the city.  My favorite part was Paul Revere's house and Copp's Burying Ground.  It was cool to read the tombstones.  Some had skulls on them.

At lunch, I tried Titi's Maine lobster and even wore a bib.  I loved it.  We saw a street performer at Faneuil Hall.  He was an escape artist who went upside down and escaped by himself.

VM:  We did it!  We had some rough points, but we all finished the Freedom Trail, including Miss EM.  For those who haven't visited Boston before, this is a fabulous way to see the city and learn it's history and historical significance to the birth of our country.  I'm a bit awed by it.  The trail takes you to wonderfully interesting sites.  We, of course, got sidetracked to meet local city doggies along the way, but for the most part, we followed the red line throughout the city which marks the trail.

One of the most interesting sites was the USS Constitution, our oldest commissioned warship.  They have a great museum really geared towards kids.  Girls even practiced hoisting a goat onboard!

We also all enjoyed a musket demonstration at Bunker Hill after Titi & Hannah braved climbing up & down the obelisk which as Hannah says, "looks like the Washington monument."  EM made it up 50 steps and said she had enough.  I was happy to oblige returning to terra firma.

We lunched at Faneuil Hall and enjoyed the good food, beautiful weather and great people-watching.  HM tried Titi's lobster but EM was happy to stick to mac n' cheese although she DID try my salmon and proclaimed, "it tastes like chicken!"

We finished the day at the Massachusetts State House across from the Boston Common, the oldest public park in the U.S.  It used to be the common grazing ground for the patriots.  Miraculous that we all made it.  At one point, I even thought we were going to lose Titi!  Girls played in the park and took several carousel rides.  Titi tried to recover.

P.S.  During the trail, we came across a memorial for current soldiers in the Paul Revere mall.  I was moved by the simplicity of the idea but its large impact.  This city is a constant reminder of how fortunate we all are that there are soldiers who sacrifice for our freedom every day.

Boston - Day One.

VM: We couldn't leave Maine today without a look at one really good lighthouse, so we drove along US 1 on our way to Boston in the morning. We were not disappointed when we saw the Nubble Lighthouse in York Harbor. It is the quintessential lighthouse, complete with a keeper's home & the good ole' red, white and blue guarding it. It was beautiful.

HM, EM and I have all agreed that we must come back to Maine for a longer visit. It is a beautiful state.

We made our way to Boston and were in the city by noon. Fortunately, our one-bedroom Back Bay rental apartment was ready early so the girls and I were able to get settled prior to Titi (my sister Michele) arriving at around 3pm.

By 4pm we were on our way to Boston's subway -- the "T"-- to head to the North End which is the city's Little Italy section. The weather was glorious & we had a lovely al fresco dinner at Mother Anna's, a local eatery. Afterwards, we headed further down Hanover Street to check out the St. Joseph's festival. Apparently, this is a Little Italy summer tradition, every weekend they feast a different saint. It is mostly an excuse to party, but we had fun checking out the tacky booths, eating gelato & Italian ices and soaking in the mix of colorful locals & tourists. All four of us invested in new shades from a guy who couldn't stop talking.

Couldn't resist this!!!

How would you like it if the valet parked your Phantom Rolls Royce like this!?!?!

We got a small dose of history too. We took a look inside Saint Leonard Church which was supposedly founded in 1875 and is the first Roman Catholic Church in New England. And we saw a statue dedicated to Paul Revere.

City strolling in new shades.

We came back to our pad via the T again, to recharge the batteries for tomorrow's adventure -- the Freedom Trail!

HM: I thought Boston was beautiful the second I drove in. I love how you can walk everywhere like New York. Fortunately, it seems it's not as crowded as New York.

We went to a real festival in Little Italy. I got two bracelets for 8 bucks! And mom treated me to some new sunglasses. We also saw the oldest church in New England. That was interesting.

I like our apartment. It's cute. Tomorrow we're hitting the Freedom Trail and I'll write more.

EM: I like Boston. I like my new sunglasses and Titi's new sunglasses. And Hannah's. And Mama's. I like where I had dinner. I had spaghetti and meatballs. It was good. I can't wait for the Freedom Trail although I'm not sure about all the walking. That's it for now.