Well that feels weird to write. After a year+ of mostly staying home, we went on an actual vacation recently. Considering G has been to Maine once when he was not even crawling, and Vermont over a year ago, it was a big accomplishment. Both kids were equal parts excited and confused.
But we had a four day weekend and so we figured that going somewhere for a few days and dealing with whatever crazy that would bring would be better than being trapped at home and dealing with the crazy we knew would come. So we packed up and drove into the city. It seemed like such a funny vacation to take normally, but we all know these aren’t normal times.
We stayed in a hotel a few blocks from my office, in a part of the city I used to frequent daily. It felt a little surreal being back after so long, but also kind of nice. As much as I’ve had no desire to be there during this pandemic, I’ve missed Boston.
I had dreams of showing the kids all the cool spots to explore, and all the boats, airplanes and duck boats we could watch. Of course nothing is ever easy, so despite it being 90 degrees and sunny the entire previous week, it was barely 50 degrees and rainy the entire time we were there. THE WHOLE TIME.
Here’s where it’s a good thing we didn’t plan much or have many expectations. We knew the kids were young and weren’t going to be able to last very long at an activity. They’re also nervous around things like trolleys, so we hadn’t planned any tours anyway. Our whole plan for the weekend was just to walk, explore, and experience, so we just altered slightly what we explored.
One of my favorite parts of staying in hotels when I was younger was just running up and down the long hallways, and it turns out that’s still fun for kids. We’d let them run off in any direction they wanted, on any floor they wanted, and it was a great way for them to get a bit of independence (the hotel was built as a series of squares, and also pretty open, so you could see them across the balcony fairly easily) and also get out some energy.
We had packed swimsuits, so upon finding the pool empty one morning, we quickly went back to the room to change into our suits. G spent some time splashing around in the water with Tom, while E and I slowly explored the steps and mostly watched. We stayed until the kids’ lips turned blue and they were shaking, but I’m pretty sure they had fun. Even though when I asked G if he’d had fun swimming (he was laughing and giggling the entire time) his answer was “It was SO COLD!”
Leading up to the trip, all E would talk about was how he was going to Boston to celebrate his birthday, and he was going to get ice cream! I’m sure I had mentioned it as a possibility at some point, but it was definitely an idea he latched on to. So the first night we were there, we made sure to venture out to Quincy Market and get them some Ben & Jerry’s. It pretty much didn’t matter what happened after that, since they were both so excited by both the ice cream and the exploring they were able to do on the way there. G was quite excited by the pigeons, and E loved all the sky scrapers.
We did a lot of take out/ room service, and watched movies in bed, and honestly it was fun to be doing something different. It was a weird weekend to be in Boston since the state mask mandates had been lifted that day, but the hotel is a private business that still required them (without enforcing it of course). That’s probably my biggest annoyance during this whole pandemic - either have a rule and enforce it, or don’t bother. So while the four of us wore our masks in any public area, there were many people there just giddy with the possibility that you suggest they put one on, so they could start a fight with you. If this pandemic has taught me anything, it mostly reinforced how much I hate most people, and am fine avoiding them.
So while most people ran to the aquarium as a good rainy day activity, I knew the crowds just wouldn’t be for us. Instead we watched the seals that swim around outside the aquarium, and even visited the gift shop to let the kids pick out their own souvenir from the trip. E picked a blue penguin (which we later found out one of his best friends has the same one because of course she does - I swear they have some sort of psychic connection) and G picked out a seal that matched the ones we’d seen outside (most likely because it was white and fuzzy and the closest thing to a sheep he could find).
Overall it was a perfect trip to get us used to traveling a bit, and gave us something to do on a cold and rainy weekend. It seemed like a good length too, since as I was putting E to bed our last night there, he told me that he missed his bed, his house, and his best friend (who we were seeing when we got back home). I was also ready for my bed back, instead of a toddler that kicked me or pet my face all night.
