Boring

I've just been recuperating from vacation and running errands the past few days. I visit several grocery stores so it takes a while to restock the refrigerator. It's been a lot of mundane things around here recently.

The birds killed two pea plants and damaged the squash and tomato plants while we were gone. Buddy thinks they were trying to get the string I used for the peas. I took that string down and replaced it with fishing line. The lettuce is growing nicely and Bohdin loves picking it. Here he is eating a piece. We'll have to plant more in the next few days because he is eating it faster than it is growing.
 

Nyla was being silly one day and brought her dolls to the bedroom, set them on the floor and then lied down between them. Don't mind the carpet. I ran out of vacuum bags unexpectedly and the carpet was a mess.
 

On Thursday I installed a computer game we had picked up at the thrift store back in February when we were in Colorado. It was a Clifford reading game. I was surprised when he completed the game in two days. I didn't know he could read. He doesn't either but I watched him play those games and he had to match words to pictures, find the correct word quickly in a group of three, and some other things. He did it fine. He won all of the prizes in the game and that was it. Since he was bored with it after he won he played with some colored water yesterday doing "science". He started with four cups of colored water and had lots of fun creating different colors. He accidently colored his hair while working. He is now freezing all of the little cups to make colored ice cubes. The last batch is in the freezer right now so we'll have to think of something new soon.
 
 

We've also been doing some rearranging. Since a move is no longer imminent we are bringing back the stuff that was in storage. Bohdin was excited to see his toys again. He is also very happy to go to the storage shed and help. He really loves that place.

There was one funny thing. Bohdin was upset one night just before bed. He had hit his head on the corner of the metal bed frame. He still needed to brush his teeth and I told him I would be fast and get it done by the time I counted to 30. He asked me if I would count by tens.

Home again

I don't feel like writing everything we did in Boston so last night I asked Buddy and Bohdin some of their thoughts of the trip. All of us contributed to this list even Nyla but Bohdin said he didn't understand the language she was speaking and I didn't either. I left her memorable parts out.

1. Sand castle - It was the best decorated sand castle we ever had. Bohdin said he liked putting the shells on. He also said one of his favorite parts was collecting the seashells.

2. Children's museum - shooting the ball up. That was my best part. (Bohdin)

3. We had the worst gelato ever at the highest rated place in the city. I told Paul and he couldn't believe that it could be so bad but it was. Nobody was fighting over it. The texture was chewy and stringy. I don't know how you ruin gelato but they did.

4. Buddy's best food was the fruit tart from Modern Bakery, mine was the pasta dish the first night in Boston. Bohdin is suffering memory loss and picked the tuna fish in the pouch I had brought as our snack while we were waiting for the plane back home. When I ask about the gelato he says he liked that much better. I'm sure he meant the one in Maine.

5. Bohdin saw a man dresses as a British redcoat and asked me if he was a pirate.

6. The second hotel we stayed at was Inn by the Sea. It was a really nice hotel. I liked the way the fireplace lit up the room after the lights were out. We rarely stay in such nice hotels so it was a real treat. Buddy is more in love with the Embassy Suites than ever which was the first hotel we stayed at. Our last hotel was the Hyatt. It took 10 flushes to get the pee to go down. That hotel was a letdown but it was also the cheapest but just barely. The thing about Priceline is you sometimes get the hotels that nobody else wants and they are not wanted for a reason.

7. This was our first trip that we bought Bohdin his own meal on several occasions instead of having him share with us. He and Nyla would share.

8. Buddy says Maine is very very relaxing. He's never had so many conversations with strangers. I could say the same for Bohdin. He seemed to pick up friends everywhere we went which is a huge difference from here.

9. When Bohdin first entered the rental car (Honda Accord) Bohdin said there is another seat in the middle. He was amazed. He also liked how fast we could go through toll booths since we had an EZPass.

10. It seems like most of the meals on our trip was seafood, pizza, or fried food. Buddy had lobster rolls on three different occasions from three different places. The first and cheapest was his favorite. The last pizza from Boston was the best.

11. One of the best parts of our time in Boston for Bohdin was the bagel store. They had a conveyor belt for the bagels that would lead them to a rotating blade which cut them and then shoots them to the end of the counter at lightening speed. We watched the bagels for a long time over the course of two days. The employees knew us and would make sure the kids were ready to watch before putting the bagels on the conveyor belt.

12. We passed one of those people all in gold who pose as statues. I saw my first one years ago and did wonder for a bit if it was a person or statue. Bohdin didn't think for an instant that it was a statue even though Buddy tried to make him doubt himself.

We mentioned food and hotel a lot because when traveling with kids a majority of the time is spent eating or in search of food. The remaining time is resting or getting ready for something.


The camera battery died after leaving Maine so we have no pictures of Boston. Here are more of Maine.
Eating the good gelato
 


 

Our last restaurant in Maine. The food was disappointing but the view was good. We stopped there because Nyla was tired and we didn't have time to drive further.
 

Boats and Gelato

We drove up to the Brunswick and Bath area yesterday. We were going to stop for a donut in Brunswick but the store wasn't open on the weekends. Bohdin was sad and determined to walk and find some sort of treat. We walked down a few stores and Bohdin said he found gelato. He did and we were surprised. We're guessing that this gelato place uses the same spiral symbol on the door as the gelato place in Philadelphia. We went in and were treated to some really good gelato. It was easily as good as the place in Philly. We had strawberry rhubarb, cake batter, chocolate malt, graham cracker, pineapple lime, and raspberry. It was a lot of gelato. Bohdin's favorite was the cake batter and pineapple lime. After the gelato we bought a few marbles and then headed to Bath a few miles away. Nyla fell asleep in the car and we just piddled around until she woke up. Then everybody was hungry for lunch. The restaurant we went to had a nice alcove with books, puzzles, and games to take back to your table. I've been impressed with how child friendly it seems here. We picked up a few treats from their bakery for later. Bohdin wanted the cake. Buddy chose a brownie and blueberry cheesecake square.

We headed to the Maritime museum in Bath. We started inside but should have started outside. Shipbuilding was an important part of the local economy for a long time. The museum is on the site of an old shipbuilding site. We were able to explore all of the accessory buildings where they cut the logs and mixed the paint and did all sorts of things. There was also a large sculpture showing the scale of the hull of one of the ships built on site. It was pretty cool. The outside closed before the inside and we were kicked out prior to finshing. It was an interesting place.

 

We headed south again for the night. We stayed in a hotel near the beach we had visited earlier in the week. It's a nice hotel. Buddy and Bohdin swam in the outdoor heated pool and then warmed up in the steam room afterward. Nyla didn't like the water and I didn't have a bathing suit so we stayed inside. This morning we went down to the beach and Buddy built a huge sand and rock castle. We're trying to get ready to go to Boston now so I don't have a lot of time to write. Our next hotel doesn't have free wireless so I may not update again until Tuesday evening when we return.

There is photo proof that I'm here too. I was in charge of the whiny baby.
 

Buddy was in charge of the building
 

Bohdin was in charge of the decorating.
 

Nyla and the giant lobster

Since it was another and the last unseasonably warm day of our time here I took the kids to a beach again. It was a different beach that was just outside of Portland. When we arrived the park was closed so we had to walk. It wasn't a very long walk. On the way in we took the scenic trail through the forest and the grassy area. The grassy area was filled with raspberry plants. That would be a great place to visit when they are ripe. The first beach we came on was very rocky. Bohdin collected lots of shells there. Nyla was tired of it after a while so we continued on the grassy trail to the next beach. This one was much bigger and sandier. Bohdin continued to fill his bucket to the top with seashells. Nyla had to ride on my back since her bare feet or shoes touching sand was unacceptable. It was a short walk back to the outside gate from the sandy beach. The advantage of the park being closed was not having to pay to get in. By the time we were leaving crowds were starting to walk in to enjoy the nice weather.

 
 
 

After a very short nap and some playtime in the hotel room we headed down to the waterfront area of Portland. I think it is called Old Portland. Parking downtown is easy and cheap. We headed to a flatbread pizza place with seating outside. The kids watched the water taxis and other boats come close. We also watched the pizza being cooked in a large woodfired oven. After our snack we walked through town. Nyla found a person dressed as a giant lobster advertising a restaurant. She thought that giant lobster was so neat. She pointed to it, waved to it, roared at it, and just couldn't stop looking at it. She thought it was a monster. She would have been happy staying there forever but Bohdin does not like giant lobsters. He was on the hunt for ice cream. He found an ice cream place that was selling just regular grocery store ice cream. I told Bohdin we could go to the Whole Foods just down the road instead. I would buy cones and a big thing of ice cream and there would be a lot. Or we could get a small cone there and we would all have to share. He chose not to wait. He regretted that decision big time. Nyla is not good at sharing and Bohdin is not good at being assertive so Nyla held the cone almost the whole time. Bohdin saw that he made the wrong choice and was very very sad. Nyla ate most of the cone. We didn't go to Whole Foods

After picking up Buddy and relaxing in the room for dinner. Our seafood pick looked really busy so Buddy took us to a brewpub he had eaten at earlier in the week. It was the perfect spot since they had a huge fenced in grassy area with balls and frisbees. There was also a playhouse and playset with swings and some other stuff. The food took forever since they were so busy but the kids were well occupied. Here is a picture of Buddy swinging the kids around at the restaurant.

 

We stopped at the LLBean flagship store afterward. They had a trout display area that Buddy wanted Bohdin to see. It was very late by the time we got back and we all went to sleep immediately. I'm still not sure what we'll be doing today so time to figure that out.

Repeating History

Buddy called me around noon yesterday. I told him that I once again arrived at the airport too late for my flight. He didn't believe me. Who is dumb enough to make the same mistake two days in a row? Me. Unfortunately it was true. I talked to Buddy Wednesday afternoon. He hates Dulles even more than I do and convinced me to just buy tickets and then I could fly from Baltimore. I agreed to it. I wanted to leave at 6:45 for the 8:34 flight. The airport is about 15 minutes away and the terminal is easily navigable. I woke up plenty early and leisurely took my time getting ready. I looked at at the clock and realized I needed to start moving fast. Both the kids were still asleep. I woke Bohdin up as I was dressing him. I loaded up the car and came back for a sleeping Nyla. She didn't wake up until we were outside. We left a little bit later than I wanted. When we arrived at the parking lot we saw a bus pass by. That was okay since they run every 10 minutes. We could just catch the next one. I took my time getting Nyla dressed and saw the next bus pass by less than two minutes after the first one. If we had hurried we might have caught the second bus but I didn't know they were running behind each other instead of staggered like they were supposed to. We had to wait a long long time for the next bus. The next bus arrived and it took forever. I wasn't the only one waiting forever for a bus. It was packed. I saw the other bus directly behind us. It took us nearly 45 minutes to get from the parking lot to the terminal. We were late as a result. I walked into the terminal cut in front of everybody at the ticket counter and explained the situation. "Sorry. The flight is closed. Here is a standby ticket for the next flight." The flight was scheduled to leave in about 30 minutes. I decided to try and hurry anyway. Maybe they would let us on. We made our way around the corner to security and saw a long line. My hopes were dashed. I was carrying two carseats, Nyla, a backpack, and I was lugging a rolling suitcase. An employee took pity on my pathetic state and pulled me out of line to go to the fast special line. She also gave me a cart. It was awesome. A guy in a wheelchair cut in line in front of us and that slowed us way down. His companion must not have ever flown before because he didn't realize he would have to empty his pockets and take off metal. We had to wait what felt like an eternity for them to get through the line. We made it through finally with no problems but then had to wait for the wheelchair guy to clear the aisle so we could get around him. We finally did and walked as fast as we could to the gate. Bohdin had his suitcase and Nyla's suitcase. The plane had already finished boarding when we arrived at the gate. I explained the situation and asked if we could get on. I promised that we would board as fast as humanly possible. They agreed. I had to check both car seats and my suitcase but at least we made it on the plane. Bohdin boarded and put his seat belt on. I shoved our stuff under the seat and put my seatbelt on. We took hardly any time. I'm so glad we made the flight. I highly recommend AirTran for their wonderful service.

We landed in Boston about 90 minutes later. I was so glad we made it. Now we just had to get our rental car. The adrenalin rush I had earlier was over and I realized just how much weight I had to carry out of the airport. I had a 25 pound baby on my back. A heavy backpack on my front. A 22 pound car seat in one hand and a 16 pound car seat in the other. I don't remember the recommendation for the most weight you should carry when pregnant but I know I was way over. My body was telling me that this was not good so I started dragging Bohdin's car seat which was in a bag. I'm sure it wasn't great for the car seat but baby comes first. I put holes in the bag from the dragging. Once I picked up the suitcase I was able to put Nyla's seat on that but I was done by that point. I had help getting on and off the shuttle bus which was much appreciated. I took so long getting to the shuttle bus that some adults were wondering about Bohdin who was boarding the shuttle bus by himself with the two small suitcases. They finally turned far enough around to see me following him. He was so helpful throughout the airport.

We picked up the car and made our way out of Boston. Nyla ended up falling asleep. Bohdin was getting tired of being in the car so we looked for a beach. It was unseasonably warm in Maine and a perfect beach day. When we arrived at the beach Nyla woke up. We spent maybe two hours there. It was nice. Nyla didn't like the sand or the water. Bohdin didn't like the sea plants that had washed up. There were kids putting their feet in the water and I told Bohdin to try it. He did and said it was cold. I decided I couldn't come all the way to Maine and not try it for myself so I did. It was refreshing cold not ice cold. Nyla wanted to try the water also but her clothes got wet so I had to take them off. We went to go dig in the sand but then Nyla got sand on her and didn't like that. I wouldn't take her diaper off though. A few times I asked her if she wanted to leave when she came crying to me about being sandy but she always decided to go play again. The funniest moment came when Bohdin kicked a small orange ball that we had. He started chasing it but the wind just kept rolling it further. He ran all the way across the beach to get that ball. He eventually gave up when he came upon a large collection of sea plants. I had to carry Nyla all the way across to get that ball. It was off limits after that. There was a playground next to the beach and they played there for a few minutes before leaving. I pushed some older girls on the tire swing while Bohdin and Nyla watched. Then they wanted a turn. I wish I still had the camera at that point because they were laughing going in circles with the ocean behind them.

We had to drive a little further to get to Portland. We stopped at the Children's museum while we waited for Buddy to finish working. It was a nice museum. We spent about an hour there. We picked up Buddy at the hotel and went to eat at a restuarant called duckfat. I decided to eat like a local and ordered the fries with cheese curds and duck gravy. It was interesting and filling. I had to bring some back to the hotel. Buddy and I had the same view of Maine. It's so nice and relaxing. People are friendly and polite too. It's such a nice change. We don't belong in Maryland.

I'm sore today but the kids are ready to go do something. Today is the last day of really warm weather so we may try out another beach.

Bohdin trying out the water
 

Looking for seashells
 

Digging in the sand
 

Sad that she has sand on her
 

Too long in the car

I jinxed myself last night when I mentioned Bohdin doesn't wake me up in the morning because this morning he did. I had him go to the kitchen to check the time and it was 6:18. I decided to take advantage of opportunity and try to catch the 10:15 flight. I had to put our name on the standby list, get a rental car reservation, and finish packing. My goal was to be out of the house by 7am. That would allow two hours to make the one hour drive to the airport. We would be hitting rush hour traffic and doubling the time seemed reasonable. It would have been but we didn't leave at 7. We left at 7:20. It did indeed take us two hours to get to the airport because traffic sucked. No accidents just the usual sucky commuting traffic around here. I unloaded us out of the car as fast as possible to catch the bus. We watched it drive by. I thought maybe we could catch it further down but Nyla was moving slower than a three legged turtle. Actually she was moving just as fast as our car earlier in the trip. It was too late anyway. We needed at least an additional 20 minutes to make it for our flight. We sat down on the curb and Bohdin and I cried. I hate Dulles and driving to Dulles. It was such a disappointment.

We got back in the car and I thought we could check out the annex of the Air and Space Museum which is near the airport. I missed my exit to head north and headed south east instead. I've made this mistake before. It is a long long way before an opportunity to turn around comes up. I decided since we were heading towards downtown we would go to the zoo instead. Traffic sucked. There are red lights every 50 yards and they are timed so you hit every one. It took us over an hour. We got to the zoo and Bohdin got the cotton candy he has been craving for months. I don't really like cotton candy and neither does Nyla so Bohdin had it all to himself although he did keep trying to share it with Nyla. It's almost the end of the school year and there were a hundred buses there. The zoo was packed and the child to adult ratio seemed to be 1:10. Bohdin was shoved and bumped around a bit since there were so many kids trying to look in a small window. Nyla never got bumped because she always made her way to the front. Her presence was always known. Bohdin hung out in the back and kids were surprised he was there. We didn't stay long.

Bohdin and Nyla fell asleep on the way back. Another hour in the car. I stopped at Burger King once we got on post because it was after one o'clock and we had only snacked on things in the car so far that day. After that was the commissary for something for dinner. We finally made it home after 3 o'clock. It was a long pointless day. The kids were glad to be home to play with toys. Bohdin discovered a balloon and pump I had bought for the trip. He tried it out in the house and then we decided to take it to the playground. Some kids immediately congregated around him wanting turns. Of course Bohdin shared. There were four kids but two left pretty soon. The two that remained were almost 6 and 6. They seemed way older than Bohdin. He did talk to them and sort of had a good time. Bohdin is not very good at sticking up for himself so sometimes he didn't get as many turns. At one point he started crying. The kids asked me and him why he was crying. I can't remember what it was now. Maybe he didn't catch the balloon or they skipped his turn. Anyway he really needs to learn to speak his mind. Too bad he doesn't feel comfortable speaking to them the way he speaks to Nyla. I left the kids after a while because I didn't want to play turn referee. I couldn't remember whose turn it was either. I took Nyla to the swings and watched Bohdin. They seemed to do okay. Bohdin cried again at one point but he didn't come over to me and it looked like it was resolved quickly. He also played some other stuff with the boy that was almost 6. A cool toy icebreaker was successful to get Bohdin talking to other kids. We'll try it again sometime.

In the butterfly room
 

Bohdin wanted me to take a picture of this
 

He also wanted me to take a picture of the sea serpent and wondered why he was in the picture also.
 

Nyla was more interested in the kimodo dragon than Bohdin. I thought the coolest things we saw were the gorillas and blue crabs. Nyla liked all of the babies at the zoo.
 

There were two things I forgot to mention about yesterday. Nyla can open the refrigerator by herself now. Yesterday she took the egg carton out and cracked two eggs into a bowl. She's not a huge fan of eating eggs but she loves cooking eggs. Luckily I rescued the last two so I could use them for the banana bread.

Nyla wanted to make popcorn last night, another favorite activity. She had the popcorn popper full of popcorn when she tripped and popcorn kernels went flying everywhere. Bohdin offered to sweep it up. I was putting toys away while he swept and I heard him mutter under his breath that "We should get a shark vac". Bohdin loves to watch infomercials and that morning I heard him watching an infomercial in the other room early in the morning. When I asked him about it today he couldn't remember the name of the product but he was able to tell me all of the things it could do.

Maybe leaving

I'm supposed to fly into Boston tomorrow and then drive to Portland Maine. It's 8:37, less than 12 hours before I need to leave. I haven't finished packing. I still need to do all of my stuff, diapers, and misc stuff like the camera. The fridge and trash are emptied, the house is a half mess, and Bohdin and Nyla are still awake and playing haunted house in the closet. They should have been asleep an hour ago. I may have to wait until Thursday to fly. Luckily I also haven't made a car rental reservation. If I wait until Thursday I may be able to fly directly to Portland. That would save a 2 hour car drive and give me more time to prepare. That's sounding pretty good. That may be my new plan. I'll have to check the flights again but that is sounding like a good plan to me. Bohdin will be tired in the morning anyway. He was up before 6 this morning and he won't be asleep until 9. I guess I need to put them to sleep now. He doesn't usually wake me up in the morning luckily.


Here are Bohdin and Nyla playing in a fort a few days ago.