A couple of weeks ago we took out annual trip to Massachusetts to visit the Beantown Menzies. It became a tradition 2 years ago when we went for the first time right before Mattie turned one, and fell in love with the New England area. Of course it doesn't hurt that we love spending time with Wayne, Becky and Co! Last year we went in September, did some apple picking and went to a clam bake. This year I really wanted to see the leaves changing color and also experience some cool fall weather, so we held off until October.
Matt had 3 days off after a 5 day trip, and we decided to meet in Boston, to save time. Well that didn't quite happen! We looked at the flight loads and saw that things didn't look so great for me to get to Boston on that Monday, so instead Mattie and I flew out Sunday evening to Baltimore to meet Matt there.
We got in late on Sunday night, and stayed at his hotel with him. The next day our plan was for me and Mattie to fly to Boston and for Matt to meet us there after the one flight he had to do to JFK. Anyone that flies stand-by knows that nothing is set in stone! Loads looked good on Sunday night, but by the time Monday morning rolled around the flight was full. We headed to the airport to try out our luck, and as luck would have it, we did not make it on the flight to Boston. Matt and I talked it over, and decided that Mattie and I should try to make it on his flight to JFK, so that if we were to get stuck somewhere, we would be stuck together. This idea made me very happy because I was exhausted from the day before, and didn't think that I could handle a whole day at the airport with Mattie by myself. The JFK flight was over sold, and I was starting to worry that Mattie and I would be stuck in Baltimore all day, but our luck turned around and we were able to make it on the flight!
Mattie was so excited to finally be able to fly on one of her Daddy's flights! We got on the plane and Mattie was able to visit the cockpit to see Matt. I took a quick picture of them.
Mattie was very sad that she couldn't stay in the cockpit with Matt for the whole flight!
When we arrived at JFK, we found out that there are very few flights to Boston on Delta from NY. Matt called his brother Wayne, and with a little research found out that there are multiple flights to Boston from LaGuardia, NY on US Airways. We called for a town car/taxi service to take us over to the LaGuardia Airport. We got there and didn't make it on the first flight. I started chatting with desk lady while Matt took Mattie to get something to eat. We were talking about baseball, since the Rays and the Red Sox were playing, and the Dodgers and the Phillys were playing. She told me that she was routing for LA since her team, the Yankees, were no longer in. I told her that my husband grew up outside of LA, and that was his favorite team. I told her that he had even named our girl dog, Gibbs, after his favorite player Kirk Gibson! She thought that was hilarious. Well, about 20 minutes later when they were going to start boarding, she came out from behind the desk and handed us some tickets to first class! We're not suppose to be able to sit first class when we are traveling with a child, but she bent the rules a little for us! It was a very short flight to Boston, but it was nice to sit up in first class, and was Mattie's first experience and probably last until she's older! We got to Boston very late, and we were very tired. When we got to the house we basically called it a night.
The next day all of the kids headed off to school, except Caroline and Wesley, and Wayne headed to work. We spent the day hanging out at the house and then in the afternoon, we made our way over to Tougas Farm for some apple picking!
Our drive over was absolutely beautiful. Now don't get me wrong, I love love love Florida, but New England in the fall was phenomenal!
The apple picking was a lot of fun, and watching Grace, Caroline and Mattie run around was a hoot. Those 3 are so cute together! (Wish we lived closer to her San Diego cousins, so she could play with them too!) Mattie had a great time tasting apples and sharing them with us. 
After we picked our fill, we stopped by the kitchen and picked up some Apple Cider Doughnuts. They are so moist and so 
yummy. We had a wonderful evening with the whole family.
On Wednesday, Wayne took the day off and the kids did too. We made our way over to a park, where Thomas and Christina have both played sports. There was a lake lined with gorgeous trees of all different colors.
We took family pictures, with Wayne and Becky's family looking much cuter than our family! I didn't quite think it through, and Matt, Mattie and I weren't dressed super great like the Beantown Menzies! Oh well, maybe next year! After taking pics, we headed to downtown Boston for one of my absolute favorite things... a chocolate chip cannoli from Modern Pastry.
Everyone was so kind to accommodate my pregnancy craving! After getting cannolis and cupcakes, we went to the Boston Temple to have a little picnic.
The weather was beautiful and we had a great time playing on the grounds and taking more family pictures.
That night Matt went with Wayne, Christina and Thomas to church. Becky and I had a fun night hanging at home with the little girls.
On Thursday, Becky and Caroline took me and Mattie to a super fun place where you can paint ceramic things. Mattie and Caroline each picked out a butterfly jewelry box. They had such a fun time picking their colors and painting their butterflies. We left the jewelry boxes there to fired up and finished. Thank you so much to Aunt Becky for taking MoMo there to do that fun project! She is very excited to get her butterfly in the mail! We did some more running around before heading back to the house to drop the kids off. Matt and Christina watched the kids, so that Becky and I could go and get pedicures. We thought that it would be fun to get our toes painted black with orange polka dots for Halloween. They turned out cute, and Becky ended up painting the little girls' toes like ours that night. The little girls thought that was the greatest, to have toes like their Mommy's!
Becky also made a fun and spooky Halloween dinner for the kids, which included jack-o-lanterns with brains spilling out, eyeballs and bones.
Really it was spaghetti with meatballs in orange peppers cut like jack-o-lanterns, and bread sticks shaped like bone. The kids had cupcakes with brain icing. Mattie thought it was the coolest, and Becky has inspired me to try and be a more creative mommy!
Early Friday morning, Matt headed back to JFK to start his next 5 days of work, and Mattie and I headed back home to Florida to finish preparations for Stephanie's baby shower.
We had such a wonderful and relaxing time in Massachusetts visiting with our amazing family! The colors were breath taking, and the weather refreshing. Wayne and Becky, we can't thank you enough for letting us take this last vacation before baby Reddin arrives. Mattie loves her Beantown cousins! Another huge thank you to Becky for all of the baby boy clothes. They will be a tremendous help when Reddin makes his entrance into this world. We love you guys!
Matt had 3 days off after a 5 day trip, and we decided to meet in Boston, to save time. Well that didn't quite happen! We looked at the flight loads and saw that things didn't look so great for me to get to Boston on that Monday, so instead Mattie and I flew out Sunday evening to Baltimore to meet Matt there.
We got in late on Sunday night, and stayed at his hotel with him. The next day our plan was for me and Mattie to fly to Boston and for Matt to meet us there after the one flight he had to do to JFK. Anyone that flies stand-by knows that nothing is set in stone! Loads looked good on Sunday night, but by the time Monday morning rolled around the flight was full. We headed to the airport to try out our luck, and as luck would have it, we did not make it on the flight to Boston. Matt and I talked it over, and decided that Mattie and I should try to make it on his flight to JFK, so that if we were to get stuck somewhere, we would be stuck together. This idea made me very happy because I was exhausted from the day before, and didn't think that I could handle a whole day at the airport with Mattie by myself. The JFK flight was over sold, and I was starting to worry that Mattie and I would be stuck in Baltimore all day, but our luck turned around and we were able to make it on the flight!
Mattie was so excited to finally be able to fly on one of her Daddy's flights! We got on the plane and Mattie was able to visit the cockpit to see Matt. I took a quick picture of them.
Mattie was very sad that she couldn't stay in the cockpit with Matt for the whole flight!When we arrived at JFK, we found out that there are very few flights to Boston on Delta from NY. Matt called his brother Wayne, and with a little research found out that there are multiple flights to Boston from LaGuardia, NY on US Airways. We called for a town car/taxi service to take us over to the LaGuardia Airport. We got there and didn't make it on the first flight. I started chatting with desk lady while Matt took Mattie to get something to eat. We were talking about baseball, since the Rays and the Red Sox were playing, and the Dodgers and the Phillys were playing. She told me that she was routing for LA since her team, the Yankees, were no longer in. I told her that my husband grew up outside of LA, and that was his favorite team. I told her that he had even named our girl dog, Gibbs, after his favorite player Kirk Gibson! She thought that was hilarious. Well, about 20 minutes later when they were going to start boarding, she came out from behind the desk and handed us some tickets to first class! We're not suppose to be able to sit first class when we are traveling with a child, but she bent the rules a little for us! It was a very short flight to Boston, but it was nice to sit up in first class, and was Mattie's first experience and probably last until she's older! We got to Boston very late, and we were very tired. When we got to the house we basically called it a night.
The next day all of the kids headed off to school, except Caroline and Wesley, and Wayne headed to work. We spent the day hanging out at the house and then in the afternoon, we made our way over to Tougas Farm for some apple picking!
Our drive over was absolutely beautiful. Now don't get me wrong, I love love love Florida, but New England in the fall was phenomenal!
The apple picking was a lot of fun, and watching Grace, Caroline and Mattie run around was a hoot. Those 3 are so cute together! (Wish we lived closer to her San Diego cousins, so she could play with them too!) Mattie had a great time tasting apples and sharing them with us. 
After we picked our fill, we stopped by the kitchen and picked up some Apple Cider Doughnuts. They are so moist and so 
yummy. We had a wonderful evening with the whole family.On Wednesday, Wayne took the day off and the kids did too. We made our way over to a park, where Thomas and Christina have both played sports. There was a lake lined with gorgeous trees of all different colors.
We took family pictures, with Wayne and Becky's family looking much cuter than our family! I didn't quite think it through, and Matt, Mattie and I weren't dressed super great like the Beantown Menzies! Oh well, maybe next year! After taking pics, we headed to downtown Boston for one of my absolute favorite things... a chocolate chip cannoli from Modern Pastry.
Everyone was so kind to accommodate my pregnancy craving! After getting cannolis and cupcakes, we went to the Boston Temple to have a little picnic.
The weather was beautiful and we had a great time playing on the grounds and taking more family pictures.
That night Matt went with Wayne, Christina and Thomas to church. Becky and I had a fun night hanging at home with the little girls.On Thursday, Becky and Caroline took me and Mattie to a super fun place where you can paint ceramic things. Mattie and Caroline each picked out a butterfly jewelry box. They had such a fun time picking their colors and painting their butterflies. We left the jewelry boxes there to fired up and finished. Thank you so much to Aunt Becky for taking MoMo there to do that fun project! She is very excited to get her butterfly in the mail! We did some more running around before heading back to the house to drop the kids off. Matt and Christina watched the kids, so that Becky and I could go and get pedicures. We thought that it would be fun to get our toes painted black with orange polka dots for Halloween. They turned out cute, and Becky ended up painting the little girls' toes like ours that night. The little girls thought that was the greatest, to have toes like their Mommy's!
Becky also made a fun and spooky Halloween dinner for the kids, which included jack-o-lanterns with brains spilling out, eyeballs and bones.
Really it was spaghetti with meatballs in orange peppers cut like jack-o-lanterns, and bread sticks shaped like bone. The kids had cupcakes with brain icing. Mattie thought it was the coolest, and Becky has inspired me to try and be a more creative mommy!
Early Friday morning, Matt headed back to JFK to start his next 5 days of work, and Mattie and I headed back home to Florida to finish preparations for Stephanie's baby shower.
We had such a wonderful and relaxing time in Massachusetts visiting with our amazing family! The colors were breath taking, and the weather refreshing. Wayne and Becky, we can't thank you enough for letting us take this last vacation before baby Reddin arrives. Mattie loves her Beantown cousins! Another huge thank you to Becky for all of the baby boy clothes. They will be a tremendous help when Reddin makes his entrance into this world. We love you guys!
4 comments:
Grace was a little late to school Fri. a.m. because she was beside herself that she didn't get to say "Bye" to Mattie. (She woke up hours after you guys left:)).
We love you guys and love it when you come visit. Thanks for making the trip even though getting here was tricky. Tell Mattie her butterfly will be in the mail this week. It's adorable!
Seriously, you guys packed it all in!!! What a fun time you all have together. And there's your belly picture! So cute... We wish we lived closer too. Lexie and Izzie are constantly making pictures for Momo...I'm just lame and don't send them! I'm glad you had a 'getaway' before Reddin arrives!
It sounds like it was hard to get there, but well worth it! How fun to see boston this time of year. I've laways wanted to go.
What a fun trip!
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