4th revision

When Nate and I were in college and in the years immediately following, we regularly made the trek to Boston from central NY for the 4th of July.  It was a long trip, but Jason's family had a big pool and were willing to host a group of crazy 20-somethings at their house.  How could we turn that down?  Plus they threw in some fun Greek traditions like roasting a lamb on a spit and making souvlaki.  Yum.

Through those years, we created lasting bonds with not only friends, but with Jason's welcoming and generous family.  Nate speaks fondly of working on cars with Jason's dad and brothers, and in an ironic tale of having the people in your life that you can easily talk to and truly need, Jason's mom was a special needs kindergarten teacher for several years in Peabody, MA. 

During our trip, they graciously welcomed all of us (and our gaggle of kids) into their home and pool, so that we could relive our glory days and enjoy a special 4th of July with our families.

We were also joined that day by some good friends from Connecticut - Jaerid and Kirstin and their kids.  You may remember that Jaerid and Kirstin completed in the Tough Mudder with Will's Warriors in May.  They have never met our kids, so it was a great opportunity to finally make the grand introductions!

The day was hot and muggy, but the pool was cool.  And that's where we spent most of the day.  As always, a barrage of photos for your enjoyment.  Three Williams, two Matthews, and a partridge in a pair tree.

William #2 got the party started in his new Cars kiddie pool.

Matthew #1 soon joined in the fun. Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?

Soon Matthew #1 decided he was ready for the big pool. He might have been the littlest kid, but he was the most fearless and the first off the diving board. The older boys soon followed suit.

Jacob and the moment before impact.

William #3 stayed out of the way of the big jumping splashes in the safety of his raft.

Luke was a little tentative off of the diving board at first, but with Jaerid treading water for hours and catching him for every jump, he got a lot more comfortable.

Matthew #2 kept a watchful eye on the big boys in the pool.

The dads could not be out done by their sons. Jumping off the diving board quickly turned into a competitive game of "who can throw their kid the highest?" Jacob and Jaerid during the competition.

William #2 enjoying Jason's toss into the air.

Matthew #1 caught up with his godfather Brian, and learned about the importance of NY sports teams.

Cute William #3 during snack time.  Great pic, Jason!

Josh contemplates sharks.

When the jumping kids took a break, William #1 got into the water and splashed around with Nate.

Jacob and William #1 do some laps together.

Mike and Josh do some daddy-son laps together as well.

Ellie was happy to have the crazy boys out of the pool for a while. As the only girl amongst 9 boys, she did amazingly well!

Yum, cake! Ellie and her blue lips.

Happy 4th of July! Jacob and Luke and their blue tongues.

Spectacle

On the second day of our Boston adventure, we went back into the city and caught a boat out to the Boston Harbor Islands. Before our trip, I didn't know that there were islands in between Boston and Cape Cod.  I wanted to take our boys on a boat trip while we were in New England and Jason suggested the short boat trip to the Islands as a good starter ride.

He did so much leg work beforehand to make sure that we could get Will's wheelchair on the boat.  They assured him that there would be no issues.  Sadly, though, when we arrived at the wharf, there was a very skinny plank to walk across to get on the boat - not wide enough for a wheelchair.  We aren't that easily deterred, though, so some cool dads got together and lifted Will's chair safely onto the back of the boat.

Once we were on the boat, we had another ADA challenge... the back of the boat was like a split level entry to a house.  Steps up, steps down... not a lot of room on the landing.  The hosts on the boat suggested that we leave Will on the back of the boat, because there was no way to get him to the upper deck. 

Yeah, because that sounds like a good idea.  I want to leave my 5 year old on the back of a boat, by himself, sucking in diesel fumes.  Sure.  Again, cool dads conquered all and found a way to get Will and his chair safely onto the upper deck so he could enjoy the boat ride with the rest of our party.  I guess that is what they meant by "no issues" in getting a kid in a wheelchair on the boat.

We set off through the Harbor and were excited that the 2012 Tall Ships Boston OpSail Festival was going on that week.  The tour guide on our boat showed us tall ships from Germany, Denmark, Singapore... it was pretty cool to see those beautiful big boats with their large white sails.  Such a contrast from the (also super cool) tankers and air craft carriers that were docked in the Harbor!

The kids all seemed to enjoy the boat ride, though none of them seemed enthralled like I thought they would be. They were more interested in eating Goldfish than enjoying the rocking of the boat.  But thankfully no one got sea sick!

When the kids were stuffing their faces with Goldfish, the adults were entertained by little tidbits of neat information provided by our tour guide. Some of the highlights:

• There are 27 islands that belong to the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.  There is one last private land owner holding onto island #28.  They are waiting for him to die so that the Recreation Area can take over his land.  But we shouldn't worry, because he will be fairly compensated for his land.

• Boston Harbor used to be considered very dirty.  Boston built a consolidated sewage treatment plant (we rode past it) to help alleviate the problem.  Now Boston Harbor is decidedly cleaner.  Instead of being dumped directly into the Harbor, the sewage is pumped 17 miles out to sea where no one has to see it anymore.

• There is a lot of tanker traffic in the Harbor.  Tractor trailer sized shipping containers are lifted off of ships and onto land via a very large crane.  There was a crane operator who dropped a shipping container into the Harbor and lost his job. 

Enlightening. 

We arrived at Spectacle Island after a 30 minute boat ride.  There were some issues getting off the boat (the boat's engine cut out and the wind started carrying the boat out to sea with half of our party on land and half of our party still on board)... but eventually we all made it off the boat safely.  We had lunch by the water, and started on a hike.

If you're familiar with the Boston Harbor Islands from decades ago, you may not have heard of Spectacle Island.  That is because Spectacle Island used to be the Boston dump.  And then when the Big Dig unearthed millions of cubic yards of earth and other material, it needed a place to go.  And so, Spectacle Island was formed.  Then it was cleaned up a bit and covered with natural grasses.

I am trying to be a bit sarcastic and make you chuckle... but we really did have a great trip on the boat and the island is very beautiful. 

The day we went out was a little warm, but gorgeous and sunny with some puffy white clouds in the sky.  There are two peaks on the island, and we hiked up one of them for a lovely view of the Boston skyline.  We 6 adults were a little tired after reaching the top.  We sat down and hung out in the shade while the kids ran around the grassy hills.  As we recovered, we took a whole bunch of photos of their fun (all while imagining how well they would all sleep that night).  Shocked?

I took all the photos above. Our friend Jason took all the lovely photos below (except the one of his family - the other family with 3 young boys!). What a gorgeous setting for some family portraits!

After our photo session, we walked back down the hill (definitely easier) with a gaggle of very tired kids. We got some ice cream as we waited for our boat to take us back to Boston. Between the sun of the day, the running around, and the rocking of the boat, several of the kids fell asleep.   I was close behind.  What a great adventure we had on our second day in Boston!  And how wonderfully we all slept that night!