Day 3 – June 7, 2005

9:30 AM was the leisurely hour that the Salter family arose this morning, throwing all our plans for the day in disarray. So much for the theory of the kids being the wake up call each morning. By the time we had breakfast, packed and checked out it was almost eleven and we hopped on the subway for the JFK Library.

The John F Kennedy Memorial Library was well worth the effort and delayed travel plans. The memorabilia is first rate and the Kennedy story is a great yarn – so many great moments in history occurred on his watch. Liam’s knowledge of US Presidents far out weighs that of Australian Prime Ministers and is something that will change when he returns to school in Australia.

Time to leave Boston behind and we are now on the bus to Newport, Rhode Island to stay with Brett and Robin Sampson.

And how we end up each day!!

Wandering through Harvard.

Dinosaurs galore at the Harvard Natural History Museum

Harvard ... what are the odds of Liam returning in 12 years time???

.... and Isabel as well.

At the helm ...

Excitement on the "duck tour"

Day Two - June 6

A big sleep in followed by a big breakfast. We made our way into town and joined "Boston Duck Tours". A bit different and something we had hoped the kids would enjoyed. Isabel promptly fell asleep but was awoken with a splash as we changed from road to the Charles River. A very entertaining tour and managed to kill the boat cruise at the same time. Both Liam and Isabel has turns at the steering wheel, fortunately whilst we were in the water and not on the road.

After lunch we hopped onto the subway and headed out to Harvard. This old, old university is beautiful to walk through and the place was ready to graduate the next generation. Chairs, tents and graduates practicing speeches added to the atmosphere. We strolled through the grounds and found ourselves at the Harvard Natural History Museum. Nearly as many stuffed animals that Isabel owns, albeit a bit more lifelike, and a few dinosaur fossils to boot. A collection of Indian memorobillia from Lewis and Clark was also excellent.

The most amazing exhibit was the glass flowers - a father and son team have made glass replicas of some 8000 different flowers and they are awesomely lifelike. Somehow both kids ended up in some Pyschology experiment being conducted by a Harvard Graduate (I hope he was a Harvard Graduate) and received Harvard Teddy Bears for their trouble.

A fine Sunday afternoon in the "Common".

and the beer was good!!!

Cheers ................

Something to do with Democrats and Republicans.

Mother Goose's final resting place.

Airline Security is tight - two terrors up front. Isabel thanked all for flying ATA over the aircrafts PA system - she is not shy

Day One - June 4/5

Having only just moved into the new house 3 days previously it was time to start the flight from hell - Honolulu to Boston, via San Francisco and Chicago. All went reasonably with the exception of Isabel deciding to be airsick for the second leg!!!

On arrival in Boston at lunchtime we checked into the Best Western in one of the more salubrious parts of Boston - Kirsten and the kids walked past a drug bust on the way to McDonald's this evening, complete with four police cars and executed just as on Cops!!!

As if the kids needed tiring out but we headed into town and walked the Freedom Trail starting at Boston Common and ending up at Faneuil Hall, seeing a lot of history within a couple of blocks. Back to Boston Common Kirsten and I took an opportunity to rest our weary legs whilst Liam and Isabel joined the million other children enjoying the playground.

Unable to resist a tourist trap we had dinner at Cheers, not to mention a beer or two and enjoyed the last vestiges of the day back in the Common.

Summer Vacation

Well the school year is over, 3 months to kill until Isabel and Liam are back at school. We have taken off and are touring the East Coast - Boston, Newport, New York and Washington D.C. before the obligatory stop at Disneyland.

A photo record of our vacation follows.......