My boy is nine years old!
We celebrated with presents and an ice cream cake from Ben & Jerry's.
Gavin decided that instead of a friend party, he wanted to go on a family adventure to Boston. We haven't spent much time in Boston -- we usually tend to go to Montreal when we start hankering for some city life -- so we are woefully unfamiliar with this very cool city only 3 hours away from us.
We stayed at the "W" hotel, which is a pretty edgy place. The decor was very . . . interesting. Gav was a bit freaked out about the eyeball in the bathroom watching him brush his teeth. The W redeemed itself when we arrived back at our room after an evening wander around town to find that the staff had left four special cupcakes an a birthday note. That and the fact that there was a Panera Bread across the street made Gavin insist that we stay at this hotel every time we come to Boston.
We saw some of the Freedom Trail monuments and the Swan Boats in Boston Common (but alas, no Louis the Swan playing the trumpet). Our biggest adventure was spending the day at the New England Aquarium. They had great displays and even though it was a Saturday it didn't feel overcrowded.
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| Watching the penguins. |
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| Unusual sea life. |
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| Lucy had a perfect seat for the fur seal show. |
On our way out of town we stopped at the Isabella Stuart Gardner museum. They have gone through a major expansion since we were last there, with a huge modern addition leading into the quirky old house. But it is still the same old collection of wonderful and unexpected pieces of art, in a perfectly-sized museum. A great way to end a fun Boston birthday.






