Cambridge, MA and Lana

By Thursday night the 2nd Suspect had been caught, so we decided to go spend our last day in Boston.  I was excited because I had really wanted to meet up with my gradeschool friend Lana and her family and it worked out.  We spent Saturday in Cambridge and she and her family came out in the evening.  Morgan and Lana's daughter got along great and her son is so cute. It was a fun reunion! 

 

Tired Girls - On Airplane Flying Home

Portland, ME and Portsmouth, NH

From Bar Harbor we drove south to Portand on the scenic Hwy 1 stopping in Camden, Rockland, a lighthouse, and the LL Bean outlet in Freeport - where we scored some snowshoes for Morgan and winter boots for Bella for next winter!  Portland is a great town with cute pubs and breweries.  We had dinner at Sebago brewery and lunch at Grittys after walking around the city. 

Thursday night we spent in ME and Friday night in NH. The girls loved the hotel in Portsmouth as it had a POOL!!  We went in twice!  Morgan is a great swimmer and completely water safe which makes it nice - less stressful for us. 

Thursday night into Friday we were all glued to the TV watching the Suspect #2 chase.  Great job detective work!  With so many people at the race, we were impressed with how quickly the the photograps could identify the suspects.  Amazing!  Check out me holding the funny magnet - "I'll take a cafe mocha vodka valium latte to go please!" 

Gritty's Pub - Beer for Us and Lolipops for Girls

Maine - Jeff's 50th State

As planned, after the race we headed up to Bar Harbor Maine.  It was a 5 hour drive, and the girls slept the whole way.  There is never sleep for parents on family vacations!  :-) 

Bar Harbor is a very cute town with little shops and restaurants adjacent to Acadia National Park - it's beautiful.  We had dinner at a great pizza place - check out the goofy cute photos - and stayed at a  hotel with 2 Queen Beds (hooray for sleep and the kids not in our bed!). 

The next day we drove into Acadia National Park and walked from Sand Beach along the Ocean Path past the blow hole.  The girls enjoyed touching the Atlantic Ocean water at Sand Beach.  We also drove into Southeast and Northeast Harbors looking for lunch!  It's still a little early in the tourist season, so not many dining options - though all the locals kept telling us there was pizza available at the gas station. 

Dancing Bella

Aww Sweet

Cheese!

Touching theWater - Don't Get Wet!

 

Funny Face

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marathon Monday - Sad, Tragic Day, but a Great Race

We are all Boston Strong!  As everyone knows, Marathon Monday had a sad and very unexpected end.  Our hearts go out to all the victims of the tragedy.   Below is our account of the day.

Monday started early with a 5 AM wake start.  Oh and I didn't mention, we all crammed in one Queen bed at the B-and-B.  There was an additional charge for another bed and knowing our kids would end up in our bed anyway, we decided to forego the expense... 

It was an early start after a rough night of sleep.  I had coffee and breakfast at the B-and-B and at 5:45 AM Jeff woke up the girls and drove me to the T-stop.  I took the T downtown to catch the shuttle bus to Hopkington to the start of the race.  I met great people everywhere - on the T, on the bus, waiting for the race to start.  Friendly, nice and happy people. 

My wave didn't start until 10:20 AM which was tough, as I had eaten a fair amount and tried to figure out my bathroom breaks.  As soon as I started to run, I had to pull off to pee - and moon everyone!  Then at about mile 6 I had to stop again, and wait for the porta-potty to go #2.  Gross!  With 27,000 runners and only about 4-5 port-a-potties every few miles, it wasn't exactly speedy.

The weather was perfect and both sides of the street were lined with supportive fans - offering popiscles, water, oranges - and signs they had made.  It was really impressive.  The Welsely girls screams at mile 14 lived up to the stories.  They were offering kisses to runners to help give them energy!  It was fun! 

Jeff and the girls were watching and cheering at mile 17.  I didn't expect them and was on the otherside.  Jeff's loud powerful voice was strong enough to break my concentration and I zoomed over to give everyone hugs.  We passed Boston University at mile 20 and Heart Break Hill around then as well.  It wasn't that hilly or big and I had to ask fans if that was it, but what seemed worse was the downhill that immediately followed - tough on the quads. 

Mile 25 was also exciting as I saw Jeff and the girls again and gave them 'High 5's' and then everyone else next to them too!!   I finished with a great time - 3:28.50 - another Boston Qualifier. 

This is the first race I've run with my phone in my gear bag.  After the race, I changed and got my phone.  Jeff, the girls and I all connected near the Family Meet area.  I was pretty tired and ready to go back to the hotel, but Jeff said the T was really crowded and the girls were hungry.  We were looking for a lunch spot only a couple blocks from the finish when we heard the first loud boom.  It sounded like a cannon. Then about 5-8 seconds later we heard the second one, and rushed to the end of the street to see what was going on. We saw the smoke and then decided to go inside the nearest cafe to see what happened next.  We went inside and told a few people what had happened and no one seemed to believe us- it was very odd.  We waited about 30 minutes - the girls ate a sandwich and we each talked/texted our siblings. 

Then we decided to get back to the hotel and we just started walking away from downtown.  We walked a couple of miles until we finally stopped a taxi that didn't have anyone in it.  At about the same time 4 really cute college girls saw we were trying to get out of the city so they stopped to help us.  They were able to convince the cabbie to take us to Winthrop which was great. 

In the taxi, Jeff and I each received about 15-20 text messages and I had a nice call with my parents. It was all pretty crazy and surreal.  We got back to the B-and-B and Maggie and Joe, the owners were very relieved as they had been worried. The other runners staying there were safe as well.

Here are the run photos.

Fenway Park - one of the last original ballfields

Saturday we flew across the country to Boston.  The girls were great and the flights easy.  We got our rental car, and plugged in the Harrington House B-and-B in Winthrop into our GPS.  We were happy it was an easy 10 minute drive from the airport.  The B-and-B had amazing views of downtown Boston, the ocean, and excellent food - cookies at 4 PM, coffee/tea and hot chocolate any time, and a fabulous breakfast.

Sunday we drove to the T-stop and went into the city to register for the race.  It was exciting - tons of people and Jeff bought me the embroidered windbreaker that everyone seemed to be buying, plus a sweatshirt, and a cute shirt that says - "I Don't Chase Men, I Pass Them - Boston Marathon 2013". 

After spending some time shopping at the Expo, we went to see the Red Sox play the Rays at Fenway Park.  Jeff was ecstatic and beyond words as a baseball fan/player to see one of the last standing baseball parks of the Original Eight.  Our family had the privilege and honor of walking on the field of Fenway, touching the dirt, feeling the grass, and talking with the players and understanding why Boston is so strong.  He vividly remembers going into Old Tiger Stadium, which is part of the Original Eight, watching Rocky Roe mud the baseballs for the game, seeing the locker rooms, and feeling the dirt that very few have a chance to touch.  Fenway brought the excitement of Jeff's childhood memories, but looking up at the Green Monster - he couldn't help but say - "Damn who the heck can hit a baseball over that?!"  It's a whole different perspective seeing it from the field, and another memory that will last forever.

From looking at the photos it doesn't look like anyone was having much fun because it was FREEZING.  Jeff had on his serious face as he counted all the pitches, balls, and walks - he was totally warm and focused.  Finally after a few innings, Jeff gave in and we got to leave and watch the rest of the game from a warm nearby sports bar.  The Red Sox won.