The Mansions....

So there is a group of homes...mansions that have been preserved and are open to the public to see. We saw three of them, The Breakers, Rosecliff, and Marble House. Unfortunately, you can't take pictures inside so I just have a few shots of the outside and one of just a mansion we passed on the Cliff walk. We saw The Breakers mansion first and it kinda ruined the rest of them. I mean, they're all amazing but the Breakers is CRAZY! It really is just amazing how much time and money went into this house that was a 'summer cottage'. The whole house is just busy, wall to wall, there is something covering every inch of the house. The whole point of these summer cottages was to have these amazing balls, so each house had some sort of ball room. They also had like a type of patio that had like french doors that opened up around the ball room so people could stay in the ball room or go on the patio but the ocean breeze could come in a cool off the ball room. I liked that idea. But back to the house and it's craziness...The study had walls that were painted to look like leather walls and one of the room had platinum panels. Those walls will never tarnish, and would cost a fortune now to have. The kitchen...I loved it, it was so big and there was so much room to cook, probably because the staff was cooking for so many people usually. But I'd love to cook in a kitchen with that much room to move about! Now, out of the three houses we looked at, The Breakers was amazing, but I'd never want to live there, it's just too much. I like things a little more simple! Marble House was pretty amazing in that there were so many different kinds of marble used. Some rooms were kind of ugly in my opinion and I felt sorry for her kids. This lady had 2 sons and 1 daughter. She wanted her daughter to marry a duke so she pretty much dictated this girls life for her, how she sat, what her room looked like, who she married...not fun. Her sons almost seemed forgotten. They had very small rooms in the corner of the house and always had a nanny. Rosecliff, was a much smaller house, compared to the Breakers and Marble House. I like it though. It wasn't quite as extravagant and just looked a little more like a home. And they had this exhibit of wedding dresses throughout the tour that was fun. It was really interesting to see the different styles through the years.

This was just a pretty tree, and it looked perfect for sitting and taking pictures so...naturally, I sat and took a picture!

This is a great mystery of Newport. No one knows what this structure is exactly. Some think it's an old windmill, but it just stand there. So of course we had to see it! It is pretty interesting to go and speculate what it could be, but no one knows....da da dummm! We did a few other sights and ate dinner at a fun little pub/restaurant and then drove back to Boston. We did try and see the coast but it was a little too dark by the time we got there to really see much. I did love Rhode Island, definitely one of my favorite days!

Newport

This is Newport, Rhode Island. I have to say this was one of my favorite days. It was cold but the drive here was pretty great, and I just really loved the town. This is where we started our day. Those houses are at the start of the Cliff Walk. You can walk on a trail that takes you in front of the houses and along the ocean. As you can see, it was a really gray day so the ocean blended in really well with the sky, but I still loved it!

Now this is just a classic picture! I can really see Andrew coming out in the expression Dad is making. Dad likes to make lots of faces any time we try to take a picture...This was a great shot! Dad loved the ocean. He would just stop and stare out on the water while we walked along. I think if it weren't so darn cold up there, he'd love to live near the ocean. I can understand the love of the ocean though. This was only like my 3rd time being near an ocean, and I love it. It's just so amazing to watch the water. Kalli said that the other times they had seen the water it was so peaceful but that day, it was crashing on the rocks. I think sometimes you forget just how powerful that water can be. I remember the first time I swam in the ocean, it was so awesome until that current takes you under longer than you plan. When I put it like that, I'm not really sure why I love the ocean that much...

Here are some other shots of us walking along the Cliff Walk. There were a couple places where you could walk out on the rocks, as you can see, we did walk out. I would hate to lose my balance out there, that was a bit scary!

We stayed on this trail for like 1 or 2 miles, I can't remember. We were on our way to see the Mansions. I'll save those for another day. They were pretty spectacular. I can't imagine living in some of those houses....more on that later!

Walden Pond

I know all these pictures are kind of small, but I just have so many and this was an easier way to share them! Sunday after Kalli and Steve's Stake Conference, we packed a picnic and headed out to Walden Pond. Let me just tell you that we picked a heck of a day to go on a picnic. It was pretty darn cold. If you can see Mom in the pictures you can tell she was cold. She was wearing a down coat, sweaters, a scarf, a nice wool hat and mittens! We gave her a hard time because she

was always cold. But truthfully, I was also quite cold that day! Walden Pond is BEAUTIFUL! I don't know that my pictures really do it justice. We walked around the pond to the site of Henry David Thoreau's cabin. All of these houses we went to visit, were pretty amazing...because they were so small!

I wish that I could take some of the scenery I saw on this trip home with me. I'd love to be able to spend more time at some of these places. The pond was so peaceful and I can only imagine what it would look like in the fall.

After Walden Pond, we drove through the Minuteman National Park and stopped at some of the historical sites along the way. Then we got to Lexington and stopped at the Lexington Battle Green. There is a burial monument here where all those who were slain in battle are buried. I didn't get a picture of that. These pictures are all from the Battle Green. There was a nice man who works for the city I believe. He dresses up all revolutionary style and people can just talk to him about the city, about the history, or just whatever they want to...He was very informative though!

Don't Tread On Me....

So this is day 3...We started out the day visiting Bunker Hill monument. Part of the museum was closed so we just wondered around outside before we moved on to the USS Constitution. I've never been on board a ship like that. It's crazy! I can't imagine climbing up all the rigging and putting up sails and whatever else has to be done on a ship...Later on this trip, we actually saw a ship very much like this one but it was a working ship, complete with many, many sailors climbing up the rigging and everything. I think it was actually a Spanish ship, I'm not sure...Anyway, we chose to do the self-guided tour so we didn't get to go below decks. It was still pretty awesome to climb aboard that ship, it's not all original. There have been a few touch-ups here and there, but still amazing to think of all that ship has seen. If I were really awesome I could've purchased a flag and have it flown on the USS Constitution for like 2 seconds....I chose not to be that cool!

After that, we went to the Aquarium. I have to say, it was pretty neat to see all the animals...fish..turtles! They had lots of different penguins to see and I kept trying to take pictures of them swimming but those little guys are fast! I also got to hold a starfish and touch a sting ray. They had little sharks that you could pet too, but I missed out on that. It was kind of nerve-racking petting the sting rays, I just kept waiting for one of them to flick their tail just right...but luckily I survived!

Now I think this was all the same night...We also got to experience Candlepin Bowling. Which is basically bowling but the pins are much thinner. Much like a candle...The balls that you use are like the ones you use in ski-ball. So, it makes it much more difficult to knock down the pins because the balls are smaller and weigh less. The nice thing about it though, is they don't clear the pins that fall so if you're talented you can aim for the fallen pins and hopefully knock down more...I got lucky a few times! Mom, took us all by surprise the first game and won! I think Kalli won the next game. It was lots of fun though! You also bowl 10 frames and you get three turns each frame. It makes the scoring a little different, that still didn't help me the first game. I did do better on the second game and I won on my lane but not all around. So, if you're ever anywhere where they offer candlepin bowling, I'd highly recommend it!

P.S. The title of this post comes from the USS Constitution. I forgot to include the flag. But the flag that flies on the USS Constitution has those words on it...for those who didn't know!

Duck Tour

So on Friday we picked up Kiersty and Seth from the airport and then headed out to the Museum of Science and on a Duck Tour. Most of the pictures below are from the Duck Tour. We were Symphony Hal, that's the yellow Duck. The rainbow one is South End Sally, we just got a picture in front of that one, because it was just too good to pass up! The Museum of Science was pretty awesome. It was filled with kids though...crazy I know. There was so much to see there, we didn't make it to it all but, it was still fun. The Duck tour was also fun...it got quite chilly at the end though...Anyways, they take you all around Boston. We saw a lot of the same places we did on the Freedom Trail but lots of place we didn't see. It was still fun to hear about the history of Boston. Our tour guide was "Old Quackdonald" and he was quite funny. Kept us all entertained throughout the tour. He also had us quack at random people on the street.

At the end of the tour the Duck turns into a boat. It's pretty awesome...So at the end of the tour we went out on the Charles River and saw the Boston skyline. I got a few pictures of that but the sun kind of ruined some of them...! Again, there are so many things I could talk about in these posts but it would go on and on. So, I'm just going to stick with the basics and let you know I had fun! I can tell you this, seeing Boston and the history and beauty that the city has, made me a little sad to come back to Tucson. I mean, there are things I love about Tucson, but it is not a pretty town! Nor does it have the rich history that Boston does...And more importantly, it doesn't have the T. I was super excited to get to experience the T, Boston's subway! I know I'm a dork :)

P.S. Because most of us were pretty turned around while we were in Boston, the Museum of Science just seemed to appear wherever we were. It was always there...kinda creepy! It was mostly because we were always going to the same area of town but...sounds better when I say it followed us!

Freedom Trail!

Alright, I've been back for almost 3 weeks now so I figured I should get some pictures up from my trip! For those of you reading this that don't know where I went...I went to Boston for 11 days in May. Kalli and Steve graduated so Mom, Dad, Kiersty, Seth and I all flew out to Boston to celebrate with them!

None of us except for Dad, have been that far east so it was an adventure. These pictures are from our first real day there. It was just Kalli, Steve, mom, dad and I for the first few days. This is Thursday May 19th, we went on the Freedom Trail. Thats basically just the walking tour of historic Boston. It was pretty amazing to see all of the history. I loved walking around Boston, its so old and there is so much history in the city. We started out at Boston Commons and worked our way up to the North End, which is basically the Italian district. We ate some amazing Italian food and got some wonderful cannolis from Mike's Pastries...yummm! Anyway- so this is definitely the short version, I could go on describing what all we saw and did, but it would be super long! So, my favorite part about the freedom trail? It's really hard to narrow it down. I really enjoyed it all. I think it's amazing to be in the places where our nation was born. I know that they are just buildings and it's been hundreds of years since they were used to build a nation but it's really just amazing to think about it. We did go inside Paul Revere's house and I've got to say, it sure made me grateful to not have to live back then! I can't believe how many people they could fit into such a small place. I am extremely grateful that growing up, I didn't have to share my room with like 6 other people....just 2!