Whale watching

Ron and Marie came to Holden's baptism and stayed a few days past when my parents left.  We had a lot of fun!  One day Marie, Loren, Josh, and I went whale watching by Cape Cod.  Captain John's Boats was the tour.  It was really amazing! 

                                      Marie posing with the Mayflower behind her.  :)

                                                 Look at the view of the Atlantic! 

                                                         One of the many whales we saw!

                            Joshy was having a little snack while we were waiting for whales. 

Grandma Wright saves the day!

Grandma Wright came to save the day/10 days!!  She came and cleaned my entire house, helped pack boxes, man she never sat down!  Then after that she was brave enough to put up with me and 4 of the 6 kids and 1 dog.  Russ had Holden and Max (the other dog) in the moving van.  Loren had stayed behind in Texas for scout camp, which he loved! 
Marie and I had a great time driving across the country together.  She was so amazingly patient/non judgemental of our crazy states we would get in at times.  She lovingly took care of the kids and my needs.  She was a wonderful navigator, would voice her opinion when I didn't know south from north, and then we'd get back on track.  We laughed together, listened to loud music, and cried together.   :) 

                                         Mason walking Max outside the hotels.  The hotel managers loved seeing Max pull Mason.  His feet went so fast to keep up.  It was cute. 

                                            Joshy and Grandma watching the others swim.

                                         Owling it!  Look at the road!  It's rolling. 

                                                              USS Constitution

                                       Duck Tours!!  The kids slept through the whole thing.  :)

 

They gave out these really loud duck whistles at the end. They loved them, of course. :)

 

 She would sit in our home and hold and play with the kids while I was unpacking.  My house was unpacked so fast b/c she helped so much!! 

  This is out of order, but is a pic Ashley took of her working.  I love it!  She does that face when they surprise her.  So cute!

Grandma in the hotel with the kids.

 

                                   The Paul Revere house.  They were done taking pics.  :)

                                                             Doesn't Em look happy? 

                                         I love this pic.  Russ had just finished orientation. 

                                          Thank you so much Grandma!!  We love you!!

4th of July!!

We thought even though we just moved in, like 3 days ago that we'd better live up the experience of Boston and hit the 4th downtown. It was amazing! It was about 30 min of spectacular fireworks. :) It poured with rain 15 min into it so we got drenched, but we still enjoyed it.

                                                                 Our view of the city.

                                                                Longfellow bridge

                                              Ashley showing her red, white, and blue nails.

Em going crazy while we waited for 2 hours. 

Upstate New York and Niagra Falls

We had a great time going to upstate New York!  We spent a few days away going to Palmyra and then off to Niagra Falls, Canada side.  So gorgeous! 

 

                                                            Our Sacred Grove hike. 

                                  Josh had a notebook and would stop periodically and draw the trees.  They were so amazing I couldn't blame him for wanting to remember them on paper.  :)

                                                          We barely fit on the bench!

                                   Loren always piggybacking somebody that is tired. 

                   After the sites we had time to kill before the Hill Cumorah pageant.  We ate, had amazing ice cream (as you can see on Mason's face) and played at the park. 

I'm so sad that I only got one pic of us waiting to see the Pageant.  We sat with the Gibsons.  It was fun to meet up with them there! 

 Now onto Niagra Falls from the canadian side!  We rode the Maid of Mist!  So fun!  Russ, I thought picked the worst spot on top for us to see everything, but I had to eat my words b/c in the end it was the best!  Way to go Honey!  Mason was not happy to have the blue jacket on, but he was happy to be held my me the whole time. 

                                       I love that Ashley looks like she was eating the mist! 

                          The wind was so strong on the boat so Russ just took off the blue coat. 

                                                                  Horseshoe falls

                                                Owling it!  Loren is really annoyed by it.  :)

                          You can see the Maid of Mist going into the horseshoe.  That's how close we got to it.  It was really a fun thing to do!  The mist and wind was really strong.  The kids loved it!

 It was a lot of walking for the little people so in the end Russ was carrying the team, literally.  :)  Look at Ashley hanging from the stroller!!  :)

                            Waiting for the close encounter with the horseshoe.  Russ and I felt like it was a bit of a disappointment b/c we just did the Maid of the Mist.  But if we'd done it in the reverse it would've been worth it.