Labor Day weekend was super relaxed and fun for us this year! It started by heading to the dollar theater to see Central Intelligence. It was a funny movie!
Saturday we went to Lagoon! It was SO much fun, we got there early and got on all the rides we wanted super quickly! We also went on the Sky Coaster which was amazing! It’s the HUGE bungee jumping type thing that lets you free-fall and then swing! We had so much fun. We went to lunch with Randy’s family to celebrate his dad’s birthday, which was awesome too!
Sunday we taught our church lesson, then headed back to Kaysville for the weekend. We celebrated Bethany’s birthday which was so fun, and sang Happy Birthday to Candace over FaceTime – and she started BAWLING. It was SO sad!
Monday we woke up and went up to the Ogden River Parkway for a fun family hike/walk and some frisbee! We had a blast – my family is so awesome and we all had so much fun!
Then we had a big dinner with all the extended family that live close by at the Mandarin in Bountiful, which is our very favorite Chinese food. It was wonderful to be with the whole family for the weekend!
Our last day of Boston was wonderful, but it was so sad to be leaving! We woke up and walked with Ben and Kim to the Longfellow house, which ended up being one of our very favorite places we went!
The Longfellow House was first owned by a wealthy Loyalist family, who quickly abandoned it after the Revolutionary war started going on in full swing. The house then was occupied by George Washington during the Revolutionary War while he commanded his troops. After the war was over, the Craigie family bought the house. When Mr. Craigie died, his financial situation made it necessary for his wife to take in boarders to the house. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow lived in the house, until he later met his wife. Her parents then purchased the house for them to live in, they raised their family there until both of their deaths. It’s an absolutely beautiful house and it so amazing, Longfellow’s daughter knew her father was a famous poet, so upon his death she started preserving the house for a museum. There are things on his desk and tables and bookshelves that were exactly where he left them. They haven’t been touched again at all. The house is full of beautiful things, remembrances of George Washington and his time there, and all the owners of the home before the Longfellows. Randy and I were absolutely blown away by it, and all the stories. They were also celebrating the National Parks 100th birthday, and because the home is a national monument they were having a birthday party! It was really cool to be there on such a historic day.
We met up with Ben and Kim and went to Tasty Burger, which Randy and I both agreed was on par with, if not better than Shake Shack. BUT Shake Shack does have superior ice cream, so of course we had to stop there after for one last shake. After that we packed our things, played with Candace, and then got in the car to go home. It was bittersweet, we were excited to get back to our own home, but so sad to be leaving such a wonderful city!
Our flight home was a little crazy, but we made it back with souvenirs and a suitcase full of exhaustion.
Boston was amazing, and is a vacation spot I would go back to again and again!
We started the day by stopping at Starbucks for a frap, and then Insomnia Cookies again, since we’d gotten a free cookie coupon. The cookies weren’t even out of the oven yet so we got hot, gooey cookies and it was amazing.
We got on the T and switched trains a couple times to get to the Boston Museum of Fine Art. We were bummed that we’d totally figured out the subway system, and were leaving the next day!
The Museum of Fine Art is, in a word, spectacular.
*Travel Tip – if you love art, spend some time researching what’s at the museum before you go! I made the mistake of thinking I would remember and was PAINFULLY mistaken! We had an awesome time still, but I wish we had looked through our old Art History book before hand and read up on the pieces there, and some of the vocabulary and artists. Huge shout out to Mr. Orem for instilling that love of art in both of us!
I had been to this museum before, but you can never see enough, and coming with Randy was magical. I can’t even go over everything we saw or how awesome it all was, so here are a few of the highlights:
Roman statues, Egyptian mummies and works of art, Greek statues and art (fresco secco and all!) rooms that exactly resemble real rooms in homes from the 1600s and 1700s, Watson And The Shark, Paul Revere, George Washington, dozens of John Singer Sargent works, a work by El Grecco, An entire floor of impressionists (think Cezanne, Gaugin, Renoir, Degas…) the Little Dancer by Degas (an original, not a copy) and an entire room dedicated to Monet, Pollock, Fredia Khalo, entire rooms of Italian artists (Rembrandt, Titan, etc.)
Basically it was everything. Randy and I were there from the moment it opened and spent almost 4 hours wandering until our feet hurt. There is SO much to see, I wish we had split it up into two days!
We hopped back on a train and went to the North End for a delicious pasta and seafood lunch.
We then headed over to the Boston Tea Party boat and museum. This was one of our favorite things! *Travel Tip – this museum is PRICEY. It was worth it to go once, and it’s fun for both kids and adults, but not completely necessary if you’re on a tight budget.
We were given the name of an individual who was at the Boston Tea Party to represent, we were given feathers to show that the colonists dressed in disguises to keep their identities hidden. We participated in the town meeting, went onto the boat, threw the packages into the sea, and even saw an actual crate that was thrown into the sea during the Boston Tea Part! We then watched a movie where they said that Lexington was the place of the shot heard ’round the world! SO we decided to agree that Lexington was the place haha – such a funny back and forth during our whole trip.
After the Tea Party Boat we walked back towards the harbor and then wandered in the Financial District. Randy and I love big cities so it was so awesome to walk around and explore. It’s even more cool when EVERY corner has a historical meaning!
We walked past a really beautiful, huge building and we wanted to know what it was! A plaque on the outside told us it used to be the Custom House, and we wanted to peek inside. It’s now a hotel and it’s absolutely BEAUTIFUL. We just walked on in and went up to the second floor where there were paintings and a giant rotunda. It was awesome!
We then of course had to head back to Primark for some last minute grabs.
We then wandered through the parks back to the North End, watching street performers, and ended our night at Modern Bakery where we got some cannoli and cake. *Travel Tip – The best cannoli was from Modern Bakery in my opinion.
We sat in a beautiful park overlooking the city until it started to get dark. We didn’t want to leave, so we just sat and looked and were a little sad but mostly so happy we had the chance to go at all!
We watched the sunset, then hopped on a train and went back to Cambridge for the night, had more fun chats with Ben and Kim and went to sleep very happy campers!
Day 5 of our Boston trip was one of our favorite days! We woke up and went with Ben and Kim to Harvard and had the grand tour. We saw the law library which is HUGE and so beautiful. We went up to one of the floors and could see the whole campus, they also have a museum inside the library with some rare books and paintings, which was really cool.
We walked the Harvard Yard and all the freshmen were arriving that day, which was so fun to see! We went to the regular library and learned about the family that donated the library, basically the story is that the father and son drowned on the Titanic, so the mom donated all their books and built the library, but required the school to never change it and to have an office with fresh flowers for her dead husband. You walk in the library and see the huge marble pillars and the office, with fresh flowers on the table, and it’s really incredible. It was one of Randy and my favorite things that we did in Boston!
We also saw the freshman dining hall, which looks like Hogwarts! People who aren’t freshmen are NOT allowed inside. So we went into the chapel where they have memorials to all the students of Harvard who died in different wars. It’s so beautiful inside!
We also saw the famous statue, it’s like the 3rd most photographed statue in the world! The students go and rub his toe, so it’s rubbed gold!
We also walked through an exhibit on the Harvard Lampoon, the satirical magazine (somewhat like The Onion). It was SO cool to see who was involved with the magazine in the past, including John Adams, etc. And to see what kinds of things they satirized and how far they’ve come! Ben had some awesome stories to tell us all over the campus and we got lucky to have such awesome tour guides.
We then walked to Insomnia Cookies, which was delightful. And then we went and had Japanese ramen. It was SO good, and fun to hear the Japanese and see Ben and Randy both understand it!
We walked to the Harvard Store and saw all the freshmen there buying merchandise. It was SO busy and reminded me so much of the BYU bookstore! It was way cool.
Then because we hadn’t eaten enough yet, went stopped by JP Licks for some ice cream which was delightful! We walked through the campus with our ice cream for a bit, and it was so much fun!
Ben then took us through the Harvard Art Museum while Kim and Candace went home for a nap. The Harvard Art Museum is really awesome! There are works by Monet, Picasso, Rembrandt, Japanese Art, etc. It was awesome to walk through and see artists that Randy and I have studied, and go through with my brother and geek out over artists together!
We walked back to the apartment and just hung out for a while, and then Ben and Kim went to a movie and we got to babysit!
We fed Candace and ourselves, played with lots of toys, read books and did things like this….
basically I’m stoked for when we have kids of our own to play around with.
Ben and Kim got home, we put the baby to bed, discussed at length the pros and cons of Star Trek, watched the Olympics and played games.
It was such a fun day, and hanging out with Candace, Ben and Kim was seriously such a blast!
Day 4 of our Boston adventure started waking up and learning there had been a tornado warning overnight! This seemed pretty unusual for Boston, but we decided to go on with our plans!
We started by driving to Concord for another day of fun, we knew we’d want two days with so much to see! We started on the Minutemen Highway, stopping first at the Visitor Center to learn about the path that the British and Colonists had taken to drive the British back to Boston. The actual battle road is still there! It was awesome to watch the interactive video they had to get us back in the history! Again, there was a reference to the Shot Heard Round The World at Concord, and we were still as confused as ever! We then went to the Hartwell Tavern which still is an original building with everything
We were shocked when we got there to find that the tornado warning had meant crazy winds and a bit of a mess in Concord! The street where the Orchard House is was closed due to power outages and downed power lines, etc. We decided to have an early lunch and come back later to see if the house was open. We went to Walden Pizza Company which was DELICIOUS. The pizza was thin crust and everyone behind the counter was speaking Italian! Very authentic and yummy. We then of course had to have ice cream at Reasons To Be Cheerful, and it was SO good. Creamy and thick chocolate.
After lunch, we went back to see if the Orchard House was open yet, we walked down the street to find that it was still out of power and closed. We were pretty bummed (me especially) but it is ok! Because after that, we headed out to Walden pond! It’s one of my favorite places in the entire world.
Henry David Thoreau came to that very pond to live in solitude for a little over two years. It’s absolutely beautiful, and it’s even more amazing to think about Thoreau living there by himself for two years. He wasn’t too far from town or his family, but there in the woods he lived in a peaceful solitude. We stopped by first at the cabin replica of Thoreau’s. It’s SO tiny, cramped for even one person! We then went onto the beach which was full of people swimming and playing in the sand. We then walked in the woods over to the actual location of the cabin. There’s a gigantic pile of rocks that people have set there in memory of Thoreau. There’s a sign with one of his most famous quotes from “Walden” and the outline of where the shed and cabin would have been. It’s amazing to be in that spot, where he lived and walked and thought. He changed a world with the things he thought and wrote there. Something about that place speaks to my soul, and it was so perfect to get to be there and bring Randy there.
Inside the cabin replica
Cabin site and rocks
After hanging out at Walden for a bit, we drove back around Concord and talked about how beautiful the houses and scenery were. We then headed back to Cambridge so Ben and Kim could use their car!
We went with Ben and Kim to Mt. Auburn Cemetery next, and it was super awesome! It’s a beautiful cemetery with people like Winslow Homer buried there. They also have this tower in the middle of the cemetery. We climbed up, and because the city is so flat, you can see EVERYTHING from up there. We looked out onto the city and all the green trees and I wanted to cry, it was that beautiful! We got so lucky to have Ben and Kim as tour guides, and getting to spend time with them and Candace was so wonderful!
For dinner, Randy and I headed off to a sushi restaurant. We decided to order something called “The Party Boat” which had pieces of sashimi and sushi. We love seafood and wanted to get as much as possible! Little did we know….
that the sushi would literally come on a boat! It was SO cute and fun, haha but the people at the restaurant were giving us funny looks! It was delicious and fresh and so awesome.
After that we walked to a chocolate shop where Ben and Kim told us there was great hot chocolate. It was a little bit cooler than normal that night, so we took advantage and went and got some hot cocoa! It was SO rich and delicious!
We then wandered around Cambridge and got a little lost, but we didn’t even mind because it was so beautiful. The homes all look so old and historic, and it was so pretty. We chatted about future trips and dreams and it was one of my favorite nights on the trip.
We interrupt the Boston Travel series, to wish my darling sister and niece happy birthday!
Beth turned 16 this year, and Candace turned 1! Huge milestones for both of them!
Bethany is seriously one of the best people I know. Not afraid to say what she thinks, so kind to those around her, good at everything she tries, and involved with her friends, church, school, and extra-curricular activities, she’s a busy bee. She still finds time for family and we love spending time with her. I was lucky enough to go shopping with her and join her for a sushi birthday dinner. You’re the best Beth!
And Candace, the little lady who made me Aunt Vikki officially. She’s a doll and I can’t believe it’s been a whole year since she joined our family! She’s so sweet and fun, she loves family and Pooh Bear and reading books. She’s the best niece I could ever ask for, good job Ben and Kim!
Happy Birthday to these two lovely girls, now back to your regularly scheduled Boston Travel series!
Day 3 of our trip to Boston was a Sunday, so we got up and went to church with Ben and Kim! Their church building was very different from ones in Utah, with an underground parking lot and several floors. The talks were really wonderful, and it was fun to be with Candace and our family during church! After their Sacrament Meeting, we took Ben, Kim and the baby home and we jetted off to Lexington and Concord!
*Travel Tip – we didn’t end up needing to rent a car (HUGE THANKS BEN AND KIM) but I did some research, and found the cheapest way to do it is to rent it beforehand for the days you’ll be needing it.
We stopped first at Lexington green which is really amazing. It’s a large park with a statue in front, and a monument in the middle. It’s where they fought the battle of Lexington. Something Randy and I found funny throughout the trip, is that there seems to be disagreement as to where the “Shot Heard Round The World” actually happened. On the monument at Lexington, it said that this was the site where British soldiers first fired on the colonists, making it the place where the Shot Heard Round The World happened. Here several colonists were killed as they stood their ground in front of the approaching British troops.
It was so cool to stand on the green, and look out at houses and the tavern which all look pretty much the same as they would have then.
We stopped in the tavern, which is now a shop and museum, and of course Randy had to get a Root Beer! We saw monuments to all the ships that were named after the historic city, and glanced at some churches and homes as we drove out.
We then made it to Concord, which is one of my favorite places! It’s a quaint and picturesque little town, and once we got there we stopped for lunch at Helen’s, one of my favorite places. It was bustling with locals and tourists alike and was really yummy.
We then drove up to the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery which is really amazing. The cemetery is beautiful, full of hills and winding paths, and almost all of the headstones are up out of the ground, making it look textured and beautiful. Some of the people buried there include Louisa May Alcott and her family, Ralph Waldo Emerson and his family, Henry David Thoreau, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, and many others. It was quiet and peaceful there, and it was such a nice way to spend some time on Sunday.
After we went to the cemetery we drove to the North Bridge, where we learned that maybe the Shot Heard Round The World happened there! This is where the British troops came after the fight in Lexington, where the Concord and other colonial minutemen were gathered. When the men saw smoke coming from the town, they decided to go to the North Bridge and meet the British. And then the colonists received their first order to fire on the British. We walked across the bridge and up to the Visitor Center where we learned more about the battle that happened there.
Next, we went to the Old Manse right next to the North Bridge. The Manse has been home to MANY literary figures, including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne’s wife has actually inscribed on the window with her diamond in a couple places, and you can also see a lot of the original artifacts including desks and books. This tour was incredibly cool, because we were alone! So we got to see some extra things they don’t show all the tours, ask as many questions as we wanted, and also play a piano in the house from the 1600’s! It was AMAZING. The house and the grounds are simply wonderful.
After going to the Old Manse we drove around Concord, past the Orchard House where Louisa May Alcott lived, saw Ralph Waldo Emerson’s house, and a dozen other historical places. It was so awesome, I just love Concord!
On the way back to Ben and Kim’s, we stopped at the Boston Temple, which was so awesome. It’s an incredibly beautiful building and it was wonderful to walk around and feel the Spirit that is there.
We then drove back to Ben and Kim’s where we had a delicious dinner, and dessert. We played games and watched stand up and had an awesome time hanging out with our family.
Boston Day 2 started nice and early with some breakfast courtesy of Ben and Kim. Randy and I had spotted a PRIMARK the day before and knew we wanted to head there first. For those of you that don’t know, Primark is like H and M but in the UK. I didn’t even know they had one in the US! It was my favorite place to shop when I was in London and I was SO stoked to go again. Randy and I went and shopped like crazy people for a couple hours. We bought Christmas presents, birthday presents, the works. Randy and I are kinda crazy and shopping is one of our favorite things to do. Yes, judge away. It’s kind of a horrible hobby because we spend money, but other hobbies cost way more!
Anyway we shopped and shopped until we had a huge bag of things. We realized we didn’t want to haul around a bunch of clothes all day. So we sat down on some random steps, and proceeded to shove all the clothes in Randy’s new backpack. Hahaha it was crazy, but luckily not too heavy for Randy during the day. I just felt so silly that we hadn’t thought it through! *Travel Tip – buy souvenirs or clothes towards the end of the day if you can!
After our shopping we walked through downtown to get to the Old North Church. On the way we passed by Paul Revere’s home, which was super cool! It was awesome to see the place where such an amazing historical figure was born and raised. We then got to Little Italy and the Old North Church! The church is AMAZING, so full of history! There’s a huge statue to Paul Revere out front which we loved, and going into the church is wonderful.
We were starving by this point, so we went to lunch at a little Italian place called Cantina. It was SO GOOD. I had mussels and pasta, and Randy had sausage and goat cheese penne. It was so authentic and the seafood is to DIE for! After lunch, we trekked on to the rest of the Freedom Trail! We went to another cemetery on a hill, which was so beautiful. It was a little hot so Randy and I quickly moved on. We crossed a bridge over the Charles river which was a little sketch! It was wobbly and we could see the water underneath the grates we were walking on. But the Charles river is beautiful and we saw birds catching fish, it was way cool. We then walked through a little park on the way to Bunker Hill. Let me say, it’s a little bit of a hike up to Bunker Hill! There aren’t any mountains or really hills in Boston, so this is one of the highest points. *Travel Tip – I brought a cross body bag that was neutral, so when I got exhausted from carrying it, Randy could just pop it on his shoulder for a little while. It was a lifesaver for weak little me!
We stopped in at the Visitor Center first and saw music, handkerchiefs, and other pieces from Boston in 1776. They also have a cool light up diorama thing explaining the places and events of that day. It was good to get a feel for what was happening in history instead of just seeing the monuments *Travel Tip – if history isn’t your thing, go to Boston! It will quickly become your thing, promise!
After the visitor center, we went to the Bunker Hill monument. They have people telling stories and giving you information about the people, and they had one shooting guns that they would have had at the time, which was sweet!
We then started our climb to the top. Bunker Hill has a winding staircase, and it’s really narrow and HOT. It’s 294 steps which doesn’t sound too hard, but I didn’t see one person who wasn’t huffing and puffing at least a little bit. It was a cool view at the top, but there were tiny windows, not much room, and too many people so we didn’t stay up there for long! Or get pictures, I’m afraid 😦 We then trekked back down, and our legs were a little wobbly for the rest of the day! We started walking down the hill to get back on the Freedom Trail. Right at the bottom of the hill, was an ice cream truck (genius location). Of course, we were hot and tired so we decided to get something. Well, Randy decided to get something, I said I would just have a bit. It was a $3.00 root beer float which really is highway robbery, but it was literally the best root beer float I had ever had in my life! No other root beer float will ever taste that good, because we were so tired and hot, it was like heaven.
We made it to the last stop on the Freedom Trail, the USS Constitution. It’s a ship that was used during the war of 1812 and is still able to be toured today! It was SO cool to get to see the ship, most of it still in original form. It was so cramped below deck, Randy had to stoop the whole time. Good thing he wasn’t a sailor! The crew’s quarters were so small, they taught us about what they would have had to eat and how they would have warded off scurvy, it honestly sounded miserable!
We then went into the museum and learned more about the ship, and ship life. Randy’s favorite part was the toy goat they had rigged up that you could pull in, like you would have done on a ship. We got to test our ability to be a sailor, see what our fates would have been (I died very quickly. Randy actually survived though!) and we had a blast.
We decided rather than walk or take the T, we would take a water ferry back across the Charles river to the main part of Boston. It was sweet to be on the river, see all the party boats and sail boats, all of it was awesome! Next time we go to Boston I would want to try paddle boarding or something on the Charles!
When we got back to the Boston Harbor, we felt SO gross and hot and tired. So we ran into 7-11 and found some hand/body wipes! *Travel Tip – I would HIGHLY recommend finding some of these wipes and keeping them around! After being hot and tired, it was nice to just run in a bathroom and freshen up a little bit.
We then watched some street performers in a cool little park by the restaurant where we had dinner reservations.
*Travel Tip – my biggest Boston travel tip is Legal Seafood! I’ve had other seafood in Boston, and in all honesty all of it is really good because it’s so fresh! Legal is just a bit of a step above in my opinion! Randy got surf and turf, and the lobster was absolutely amazing. I got oysters which were heavenly, and some clam chowder. The first time I ever had clam chowder in my life was at a Legal Seafood in Boston, when I was about 7. I’ve been hooked ever since and it was SO good to have it again at Legal Seafood! If you don’t think you like lobster or oyster or things like that, just go to Boston and give it a try there!
After this, we walked back to the downtown station, hopped on the T, and got back to Cambridge. Ben and Kim had made banana bread so we munched on that while talking and laughing with them. We were so lucky we got to stay with them and spend some time with them during our trip!
Vlog day 2 is also blurry and annoying I’m sorrrrrrry. We will get better.
Randy and I are home from Boston and we had the most wonderful trip!
I’ve been trying to figure out how to blog about it, so here’s a travel guide series that gives you the scoop of what to do in Boston, food, costs, etc. while going over what we did on our trip there. Enjoy!
*Travel Tip – Randy and I used our American Express Skymiles card to get points and pay for our flights. Flights to Boston are normally around $400, we both flew for only $200! I recommend this card if you have good credit, and know how to manage your money, as this card has a pretty high interest rate.
*Travel Tip – Randy and I flew a red-eye, which I highly recommend if you’re looking to save money! We got to the airport around 10:00 PM, ready for our 11:50 flight. We slept (or tried to sleep) on the way to Boston and around 5:00 AM I woke up to see this gorgeous sunset outside the window!
My brother came and picked us up from the airport and drove us to their apartment. They live in Cambridge which is really close to Boston, just a train ride away! We rested for a few minutes, saw our niece, freshened up and were off! We wandered around Harvard Square, lost, until we finally found Mike’s Pastry! It was HOT and HUMID and we were dying a little bit. After locating Mike’s Pastry we got a cannoli and a tiramisu – both really good! *Travel Tip – There is also a Mike’s in downtown Boston that is usually BOMBED. It’s fun, but if you just want the pastry without the hassle and the pushing and the rush, go to Harvard Square instead.
Randy and I then got on the T, which is the subway system in Boston. *Travel Tip – we got Charlie Cards and just loaded money onto them for the week, instead of having to buy a ticket each time. This was faster and easier than having to purchase individual tickets, and we could control how much money was on the cards!
We got downstairs in the T station and waited….and waited….and waited…..we were down there for about 45 minutes with a hundred other people. A disabled train was preventing everyone from getting into the city and lots of businessmen and women bailed – we heard that there were no Uber’s or taxi’s left leaving Cambridge because they were all taken! Finally after we were thoroughly hot and sweaty a train came! And we couldn’t fit on it. So we waited for another train! We were squished and Randy was pushed up against the door, and it was quite the adventure.
When we finally got to Boston we went to the Boston Common. We were a little tired, hot, and I was a bit confused and lost in the city even though I’d been there before HA. So it was a bit rough. We people watched, sat on the bench that we’re pretty sure is the Goodwill Hunting bench, and saw the duck statues from the book “Make Way for Ducklings” (it’s adorable. If you haven’t read it, go read it now.)
Then we headed off on the Freedom Trail! For those of you that don’t know, Boston has a red brick trail that goes all over the city and leads you to some of the most important historical spots. It’s really awesome! *Travel Tip – and it’s free so basically if you go to Boston, DO IT.
The Freedom trail lead us first to the State House, which is beautiful. Then to the first Church in Boston, which is also really beautiful. It was so fun to go inside and see the memorials to all the leaders of the area, etc.
Then we went to a cemetery which was BEAUTIFUL. The headstones were all rubbed off with age, sinking into the ground. Some pretty famous people were buried there including Sam Adams, Paul Revere, and John Hancock. We then went to the King’s Chapel which was the first church built for the Church of England. It was a beautiful building, and again so interesting to go inside and see the organ and the pews. Then we went to one of Randy’s favorite stops, the Old Corner Bookstore. It’s now a Chipotle which is hilarious! But it’s amazing to think that Nathaniel Hawthorne and Charles Dickens both worked in that very bookstore. So much history in one little shop! We then saw the old South Church where the town meeting was held when they decided to go forward with the Boston Tea Party. It is so amazing to be in places where so much history happened! It was about this point that we were just so excited and happy to be in the city. Downtown Boston is beautiful, and Randy and I just LOVE the city, so it was awesome to have all the historical buildings right next to all the new skyscrapers.
Next we got to the State House, which is where they read the Declaration of Independence to Bostonians for the first time. Queen Elizabeth later made a speech here about how our countries are friends, no longer enemies, which I thought was really cool.
Right outside the State House is where the Boston Massacre occurred, which Randy thought was the coolest thing ever. We heard a bucket drummer at that point, so Randy raced me across the street to listen to him, he was really good! That’s one thing we love about Boston, there are lots of street performers so there’s no shortage of entertainment.
The last Freedom Trail stop for us on day 1 was Fanueil Hall. It used to be a big marketplace and now it’s full of restaurants and stores! *Travel Tip – you can do the whole Freedom Trail in one day, we loved breaking it up so we weren’t history overloaded! Randy and I had lunch at the Cheers Bar which was cool, even though neither of us are particularly crazy about the show.
Randy then spotted his all time favorite store in Japan, Uniqlo and was seriously on cloud 9! We had no idea they had one in the states, so of course we had to go and shop! Randy got lots of cool things, and it was so awesome to shop at his favorite store!
At this point, we were exhausted so we got back on the train and headed to Cambridge for a little nap. We slept and played with Candace and Ben and Kim. Then at about 5:00 we figured we needed to get back up or we would never get to bed! So we got ready and ventured out again to Harvard Square where we went to Shake Shack. Now, I love Shake Shack, and Randy had never been. He’s a bit of an In N’ Out crazy fan, so I wanted to see if we could convince him to convert. No such luck. Watch the video for his full explanation of why In N’ Out is better haha. But Shake Shack is really good food and has AMAZING ice cream!
We wandered around Harvard Square for a bit after, then walked back through the park to Ben and Kim’s apartment. The park by their place is awesome, it has the tree marked where George Washington took charge of the continental army, some stole British canons, and statues to many people who fought in different wars. It just has so much history, it’s incredible! *Travel Tip – literally almost every building and house in Boston has some history behind it! Check out things as you’re walking, the history is there!
We also attempted to vlog on this trip, the camera we used is blurry and weird for some reason which is lame! So here’s our day 1 vlog, very weird and very scattered but still! We are trying!
Can you believe it, Randy and I had ANOTHER wedding last week! And of course it was also absolutely magical.
My parents jetted off to Paris the day after Liv got married, so Randy and I got to house sit/drive Bethany around when she needed to get places. It was fun to hang out with the three of us, mooch of my parents amazing garden and food, etc.
Friday Caleb and Nannette got married and it was absolutely wonderful. Seeing them walk out of the temple was a dream! We’ve gotten so close to them as they have been dating and gotten engaged, and it was so awesome to get to see them be sealed together for all eternity.
I got their early to do Nannette’s hair and makeup, they had a beautiful sealing at the Provo City Center temple which was awesome, we grabbed some Chinese with Dallin and Alexon after the sealing before Randy had to jet back to work, I made us almost late getting back to the reception, and the night was a party. I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off to get all the stuff to decorate the car, which was fun! Randy and Alexon wrote a beautiful song, like Alexon and Caleb did for our wedding. We have a really awesome group of friends and hearing them sing this song specifically written for the bride and groom made me a little teary. They’re just so in love and it was amazing to be a part of their special day. The day ended with late night Chic-Fil-A which was awesome, except for Randy getting a completely burned, meatless nugget as one of his 8 pieces HAHA.
Randy and I celebrated 5 years of dating on August 13th. If you don’t know the story, you can check it out here.
I had no idea that five years ago, a guy I had a crush on would turn into my husband. I honestly can’t even describe how much these last five years of falling in love with him have changed me. I wouldn’t be who I am without him.
Randy thanks for every single memory. I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the universe.
We celebrated with some sushi and shopping (two of our favorite things).
Sunday we went to church, then had a birthday party for Matt and opened all of he and Liv’s wedding presents! It’s so fun to see them get all the things to build their house together.
Anddd Monday my parents celebrated their anniversary. It’s so awesome to have parents who are so loving and caring, and who love and car for each other. We’re so lucky that they chose each other, and continue to choose each other every day. Love you two crazy kids.
Here Is The Low Down 