We had a great time enjoying the wonderfully blunt and spectacular people of Boston, the public transportation, and the amazing historical sites. We were lucky enough to be able to go without a toddler-THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HELPED!! Before we left, we spent some time celebrating Troy's mom's b-day and playing with Sophy in here new "hotel" where she'd be staying for the next few days while we were gone. Here are some pictures of the pool party (she is still very nervous about the water, even with the super neat floating suit my mom sent her), but she's getting better. 
During our trip, Troy enjoyed his conference and I enjoyed the super comfy Marriott bed, large screen flat screen, BBC movies on Netflix, room service, and the gym--you only have free time once as a mom, might as well use it! At 5pm the first 3 nights, we would venture out and discover the public transportation system. We did all but take a ferry while we were there. It took a cab ride to the commuter train to the subway to the other subway in order to get us downtown Boston which is why we ate dinner and then came back. We ate dinner at the Omni Parker House Hotel Thursday. It was there the very first Boston Cream Pie was created. Very very very much the best I've ever had (sorry Marie Calendars)! Friday we were able to check our bags in early and took the subway (which we knew very well how to use by that point!) into downtown and did almost everything we'd wanted to do the whole trip by just WALKING! Next time, I suggest staying in the city as close to downtown as possible.
Funny stories:
- When we first arrived in Boston, our limo driver (a black sedan) met us and was reaching out to take Troy's hand when he stepped off the curb and was 1" away from becoming hit by an on-coming car. Bostonian reaction: continued his conversation as if nothing happened while stepping back onto the sidewalk and taking Troy's bag.
- We got into the car and realized that the drivers were VERY MUCH worse than UT drivers and possibly crazier than (atleast they compete with) the Chinese ones I'd seen when I visited China. We were very grateful to the inventor of the seatbelt and that his invention was able to make it through to our day (and that very moment).
- Then (still our first 30 mins in Boston) the driver pointed out a black car to us (noting himself that Bostonian drivers are crazy) that was swerving in and out of each lane obviously trying to get somewhere very quickly and then it parked in the lane right next to us (on a highway) and the driver got out in a hurry to meet the parked car driver of another car just ahead and they pulled a gun out on someone in a parked minivan with a cop car behind them. My first reaction was that the two parked car drivers were very angry at the minivan person and wanted very badly to kill them before they even noticed (or even after they noticed) the cops. Troy's first reaction (sorry Troy, it's very cute) sounded like sheer amazement that he wasn't watching TV, "HE ACTUALLY HAS A GUN!!" The driver's reaction was, "Well, we should probably get out of here" and proceeded to speed up ahead. We never found out what happened, but the two parked car drivers could have been undercover. It occured to me later that they had parked infront of the green minivan and blocked the person in. That would be quite the sight in UT.
- LOVE the blunt-ness of Bostonians. Always trust them to tell you exactly how THEY see it, and not always how things really are. My favorite quote they ALL say in many situations: "Well, what you're gonna wanna do is..." They try to use it as often and frequently as possible and make sure you know that everyone else already knows this.
- There was a guy on the commuter train going back to our hotel one night that was calling up his "work associates" or "business partners" on some "Cigah" (as they say things) business he had just started up. He was telling them he needed them to be front and center because he had a 5 year old and had just pulled his arm out of the socket by lifting "kegs of be-ah" at his regular job. Each time he called a new person, he told different details of the "recent surgery" he'd undergone. We thought if we turned around we'd see a krippled man with no more left arm. When he got off of at his stop he threw his back over his shoulder and we saw nothing wrong at all. His stories were so funny that we couldn't help not believe them even before we saw the evidence. We bonded on the train with another lady that overheard him and worked in a hospital. She said that by the different shots he claimed to have had to have (to make the business partners understanding of his situation no doubt) the only thing she could think he'd have was Gonorrhea or Syphillus.
When we got home, we found out that Sophy had so much fun and was kept very safe up until the last day when her cute little cousin, Camdyn was chasing her to give her a hug and she was trying to get away and she tripped and landed on her face (biting halfway through her lip with a goose egg on her forehead). Trisha said that she cried quite a bit but once she asked if Sophy wanted to see the kitty, Sophy had forgotten all about it. Her lip is healing quite well, and she was never slowed down by it (part of me says "dang it!" about that). What a girl!
