On our first Ladies Day Out, we planned to take the girls down to the Public Garden to ride the famous Swan Boats. The girls are familiar with Robert McCloskey's classic book Make Way for Ducklings, so they were looking forward to seeing the real thing and taking their picture with Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Oack, Pack, and Quack at the ducklings statue. Jane drove down from NH, we caught the T to Park Street, and walked across the Common and into the Garden.
Maggie and Kate in the Common in front of the State House. We know all about how the "Glistening gold glorifies democracy's greatness" from Martha Day Zschock's book Journey Around Boston From A to Z.
The girls love the fountain in the Common. Well, all fountains really - Maggie likes to throw pennies and Kate likes to drink the dirty water.
Everyone who travels to Boston with kids has to take their picture sitting on the Make Way for Ducklings statue in the Public Garden.
In the story, Mrs. Mallard leads her ducklings from their nest on an island in the Charles River, down Charles Street through Beacon Hill, and into the Public Garden where they meet Mr. Mallard in the pond where the Swan Boats are.
The Mr. Frosty ice cream truck even has illustrations from the book on it.
Next, it was already time to meet Dad at Legal Sea Foods for a swanky downtown lunch of popcorn shrimp and fish-shaped cheese ravioli. The girls were angels and had so much fun having lunch out with Daddy and Gram. A real treat!
Kate is crazy about corn on the cob!
Now for the Swan Boats! Maggie really enjoyed it, but Kate was a little too young yet probably. I spent the whole time wrestling with her while she shouted, "Water water!" and tried to throw herself into the pond.
Gram and the girls
See the sign in the back? The Swan Boats have been a Boston institution since 1877. That particular boat has been on the water since 1910. The same family still owns and operates them!
After the boat ride, we headed back to the T through the Boston Common. We stumbled on this carousel and the girls insisted on taking a ride.
Maggie's horse was named Margarita!
I think Kate was a little scared. The only other time they had been on a carousel, she sat on my mom's lap on a bench. The moving horses may have been a little bit much for her even though she loves the music.
Ladies Day Out #2:
On Jane's last Friday before school started, we ran downtown for one more summer day out in Boston. This time we headed to Quincy Market, which is where Jane used to take Jeff, Mike, and Amy when they were small and visiting Dale in Boston for the day.
Listening to some very talented flamenco guitarists. Kate nodded along with the music and Maggie went up and put a few dollars in the case.
Excited!
We had to get balloons from the Balloon Man!
Lunch at Durgin Park in Quincy Market. Durgin Park has been in business for about 180 years! This kind of thing is why I love living in Boston so much.
I got caught in the middle of a balloon sword fight (really a balloon flower/dog fight) between Maggie and Kate.
After lunch we walked out to the new Rose F. Kennedy Greenway. We were on our way to the North End via this gorgeous chain of parks that exist now where the old I-93 overpass stood when we first moved to Boston, but we stumbled on these fountains and had to take a detour.
The girls LOVE a fountain!
Kate is a daredevil extraordinaire.
I was not prepared for swimming on this trip, so the girls only had the clothes they had on plus extra diapers and, luckily, an extra pair of underpants (because I usually am prepared for everything). I should have just stripped them down to their pants before they flung themselves into the water, but I didn't think of it until it was too late. Jane, however, is great on the fly, so she ran over to Baby Gap at Quincy Market and got them a couple of cute little dresses to get home in!
Kate loves getting drenched - unless we're trying to wash her hair in the bathtub!
After a quick wardrobe change, we headed over to the North End to grab some treats for Dad at Mike's Pastry and some gelato for us girls at Cafe Vittoria.
Kate enjoys people watching while Maggie eats my ice cream - after she already ate all her own!
The girls were totally exhausted after both outings, but they had so much fun and want to go downtown all the time now. We met my friend Erin in the city for lunch a few weeks ago and went to Cambridge see Mike last Thursday. They are definitely becoming urban, sophisticated Ladies Who Lunch. Gram is a good influence!
That looks like so much fun!
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