Back at BYU Halley, Sarah, and myself called ourselves the Triforce, which I never really understood because it's some Zelda reference and I was never into Zelda, so to me it just meant we were best friends. Now that we live on the East Coast I get to see Sarah a lot but all three of us haven't been together in years so Sarah and I hatched a plan late one night to convince Halley to come visit us. She was very willing and so we were all together again just weeks later.
We had a very busy week planned and because I have two kids I didn't get to participate in as much as I would have liked but I did get to see a lot of historical sights and mostly it was just fun to be with my best friends again.
I don't think about taking pictures while I'm out and about so the pictures I did get are kind of random and there were plenty of opportunities that I missed. But I always think it's better to be in the moment than constantly on my phone snapping pics.
Our first stop was Salem, MA. This was an art piece in someone's yard. It looked kind creepy, giant nests or something, so it fit in at Salem very well.
We also went to the Salem Witch Museum. I had Oskar and Ivy with me and I asked the people taking tickets if it was too scary for my kids and they said it wasn't that scary and they should be fine but if I needed to leave I could. So we went in to a big dark room and the recording started with a loud deep voice and the spotlight shone on an animatronic devil with red eyes. Super scary. So I quickly averted their attention to the devices I had with me and mostly distracted them because I wanted to stay and listen. Ivy wasn't really bothered but Oskar kept looking up every once in a while from his game and asking what was going on. It was really creepy ... and interesting. I learned a lot.
We also went to a witch house which wasn't actually a house that a witch lived in but the house of a judged that accused and sentenced the witches to death. I didn't go inside because Ivy was restless but I did get this picture. Ivy took it so that's why it's all slanted.
Next day we went to the zoo in Rhode Island.
This is Ivy after getting home from the zoo. My kids aren't known to sit still so the fact that she was laying on the floor for a while meant she was real tired.
Next day I left the kids at home with Joel and our first stop was Fall River, MA where we took a tour of Lizzie Borden's house. Halley and Sarah both knew and were interested in Lizzie Borden's story, I had never heard of it so it was really interesting to me. Basically it's an unsolved mystery of the death of Lizzie Borden's parents. They were killed by an axe to the face and I think most people think Lizzie did it although nothing was ever proven. We went through the whole house while the tour guide gave us a step-by-step explanation of what happened on the day of the murders.
Then we went out to lunch at a seafood place so Halley could have authentic New England seafood.
Last stop of this day was Plimouth Plantation where they have a pilgrim settlement and reenactors, and an Indian camp. They lived in squalor, I would have been a TERRIBLE pilgrim.
And Plymouth Rock. I thought it would be bigger.
Our second to last day we went to Concord where Emerson lived along with Thoreau and Louisa May Alcott and family. We went to Walden Pond and my brain wasn't on right so I didn't have their swimsuits with me. That didn't stop them from freezing their tails off in the water. I did remember to bring the paddle board so Sarah and I, with Oskar, went paddle boarding around the pond, it was so great. Halley and Sarah went on to look at Emerson's house and Minuteman Park but I had to get my grumpy kids home.
The last day I got pictures on my phone which I'll have to add later. We did the Freedom Trail in Boston and saw the Boston Common, Park Street Church, King's Chapel, Site of the Boston Massacre, Paul Revere's house, and a few more. I was so exhausted this day it was kind of rough going around the narrow, crowded, cobblestone sidewalks with a giant double stroller and kids who's only goal in life is to run away from me. But again, it was the most fun to hang out with Halley and Sarah again.
