John Journal: a boston thanksgiving

Less than 12 hours after the BYU game ended we were on our way to Boston for the Thanksgiving holiday. We traveled Tuesday to Tuesday because it was significantly cheaper. We also hoped it would be less crowded and it was. Hillary & Ben were also flying in from Utah and Meredith & Steven and Alicia & Bryce live in the Boston area so we were excited to spend the week with 3 of Anthony's siblings and their families.

It was our first time flying since Lauren turned two, which means we each got our own seat. A bit more expensive, but oh so nice to be able to spread out a bit.

Both kids were really good on the flight. Will and I sat together and Lauren sat with Anthony.

Upon our arrival in Boston one of the first things we wanted to do was meet Alicia and Bryce's baby Adelaide. While we all loved her immediately, Lauren was her biggest fan. Lauren loves babies, and Addy is everything you want a baby to be--small, cute and snugly.

The kids felt at home right away. On the plus side, they were immediately comfortable around Nana and Papa, most likely due to our video-chats throughout the year. I could have done without the messes they made scattering books and toys all over the place. Just like home and every day.

Nana, Papa and Hillary read and played so much with the kids. Anthony and I were spoiled.

puzzle time

Wednesday Anthony teleworked and the Salazars were recovering from their red-eye flight, so Doug and Tina took Meredith, Alicia, Bryce the kids and me to Chuck E Cheese.

swish - swish

Lauren had as much fun putting tokens in the slots as she did playing the actual games.

Will got really into games, until he realize you could win tickets. Then he would play until a ticket came out, stop playing, retrive the ticket, and maybe start playing again. He didn't understand when I tried to explain to him that stopping mid-game to grab the ticket led to him getting FEWER tickets. In the end he was satisfied with his haul of SweeTarts and Laffy Taffies.

Lauren was the only kid that expressed much interested in the animatronics. Will totally stayed away.

Will and I took Bryce on in a racing game. He came in first and we came in last.

Lauren and Weston started to become friends at Chuck E Cheese. He wasn't too pleased to see Will and Lauren play with Papa and Nana's toys at first, and graciously sharing isn't Lauren's strong point just yet.

That evening Tina treated the girls to a pedicure. It was fun getting pampered and my toes still look good a month later, so clearly it was a good investment.

Thanks, Tina!

Thanksgiving morning was cold. I went on a quick jog, but didn't fully realize how cold it was until we took the kids to the annual Belmont-Watertown High School football game. It was freezing.

Will kept warm under a blanket with Uncle Ben.

Lauren "snuggled" with Dad.

We may have oversold the band (which was slated to preform a halftime show). After about five minutes the kids started crying about how cold they were and that the band wasn't doing much.

Proof Belmont scored at least one touchdown.

We carried out both kids screaming with a few minutes left in the first half. So cold.

We defrosted in time to enjoy a delicious Thanksgiving Feast. Fourteen John's were there, plus Grant & Collen and Tony.

After dinner the kids danced in the living room and rocked out using paint-stirring sticks as guitars.

taking a quick bath

Anthony played with Weston a bit before the adult went to see Ender's Game.

Friday morning the girls headed to Concord to visit the Orchard House, home of Louisa May Alcott.

In preparation for our visit we read Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women. If you are a fan of LMA and are interested in learning more about her I would definitely recommend this book. I was so glad I had read most of it before we visited because it really enhanced the experience. Though Little Women is semi-autobiographical it was not based on the time she lived in this house. This is the home where she actually wrote the book.

This photo is in her room inside the house and you can tell it is taken in that room.

That afternoon Anthony and I took the kids to the elementary school playground. The kids were getting a bit stir crazy and it did them good to get out and play, even though it was pretty chilly. Boston is on the eastern end of the Eastern Time Zone, so it got dark there earlier than it does in KC.

That evening we planned on taking the kids to the gym at the church and letting them run around some more. Unfortunately we didn't realize that another ward was having their Christmas Dinner. Backup plan: McDonald's Play Place.

Hillary climbed a bit with Will, but I didn't get a picture.

Nana was fun and organized races for the kids to get them to run as much as possible.

Nana and the kids also played some sort of game where they were animals in a cage.

Weston roaring like a lion

McDonald's seemed to satisfy the kids that night, but the other day Will mentioned to me that we didn't get to play basketball at the church in Boston.

Saturday morning we got up and helped Nana and Papa pick out a Christmas tree.

We found a great tree pretty quickly. Then we helped Nana find some ornaments and Papa showed the kids the goats and llamas that lived at the farm.

One of the things Will was most looking forward to in Boston was Tuba Christmas.

He drew this picture of 30-something Tubas earlier in the week. He kept asking us over and over how many tubas there were going to be.

Tuba Christmas in Boston takes place outside in the plaza between Faniuel Hall and Quincey Market. Because it was cold we wanted to get there on time, but not too early. I think we timed it about as well as we had hoped.

Though it was cold it felt significantly warmer in the crowd with all the people around you blocking the wind.

After the concert we walked over to the food court in Quincey Market. It was while we were walking that we think Will's hat may have been stolen straight from the top of his head. He was in the middle of the group with Doug and I right behind him when he asked what happened to his hat. It was nowhere to be found.

We snacked on some pizza while we waited for the nightly tree lighting. Then we watched some historical movies in the basement of Faniuel Hall.

Ben drew this picture of Lauren while we waited. I wish I was that talented.

The movies were a little dull.

Lauren and Wes had really warmed up to each other by this point. They are only four weeks apart, so hopefully they will always be good friends.

Finally it was dark enough to watch the light show.

We all enjoyed the lights, but no one as much as these two. They were totally adorable watching the lights, both together and separately.

That night when we got back to the John's Alicia had a surprise for us. She made and decorated a cake for Will.

For some reason I canNOT seem to get this photo to flip, which is too bad because the design is so impressive.

One of the funniest moments of the trip was right after this picture was taken. Will walked over to me and whispered in my ear, "are there any presents?" The kid has a formula in his head for birthdays. If there is a cake and someone sings you the birthday song than presents would naturally follow, right?

Sunday was a the quietest day. We went to church in the morning. Then we put up Christmas decorations when we got home.

The Ricky Martin Santa is always a hit with the kids--

"Here comes Santa, bringin' the presents to ya!" to the tune of Livin' la Vida Loca.

Looks like Fuller, loves Christmas trees like Kevin.

Then Papa built a fire in the fireplace and Will wanted to add logs all night long.

It was a cozy night of reading, visiting and playing.

There is little pictorial proof, but Lauren was obsessed with Adelaide all week long. She loves that girl and Alicia and Bryce were very patient with her constantly trying to touch Addy.

It's always a good time when the kids tackle Uncle Tony.

Hillary was awesome and played memory with Will several times. Towards the end of the trip Will was a bit under the weather. He was usually fine in the morning, but had a fever by the end of the day.

Monday we had our last big activity. Tina took the day off work and treated us to a few hours at the Children's Museum. It was our second time as we went when we visited back in April.