Here We Wander: Through the Lens

For a few months, we tried to figure out a way to make it out west and hit a few of the national parks. There were just too many to chose from, and we had too much trouble narrowing it down. It's almost going to have to be a long road trip. So for our fall trip, we stayed a little closer to home and took a trip up the East Coast to see two cities we've always wanted to see - Boston and New York.

Special thanks to Grammy and Aunt Kelly for holding down the house and the boys' routines at home so that we could get away for a while. It's nice to be able to leave behind the day-to-day of school and work and CLS workers and bedtimes and school lunches and therapy appointments and sports and activities and just be.

Though Josh's idea of vacation and mine may not be quite the same ... pretty sure we spent more time on the go than any other vacation, and we were up earlier most days that I like to be, but we definitely saw a lot in a short amount of time.

The token airport shot for Xander ...

Beginning in Fenway / Back Bay, Boston ...

We started our time in Boston with a tour of Fenway ...

Rooftop gardens were amazing ...

From the Green Monster ...

From the party deck ...

Museum at the end of the tour ...

Exploring the JFK library ...

And the amazing harbor walk around the library ...

Shot from my camera (above) looking back into downtown Boston ...

The long (it felt longer than they said it was) Freedom Trail ...

The Government House ...

Famous cemetery with notable historic figures ...

Historic building mixed in with modern ones ...

Amazing city parks and green spaces ...

Paul Revere's house hidden among the downtown streets ...

The U.S.S. Constitution in Boston Harbor ...

Bunker Hill ...

Iconic Boston streets leading away from Bunker Hill (how would you like to park here every day!) ...

Taking the train to Foxborough for the day to cheer on the Patriots ...

It was SO HOT (yes, this was the day they ran out of water and charged $5 for tap water - thank goodness they pulled off a last second win to make it worth it) ...

Touring a few college campuses (we liked MIT better than Harvard) ...

More artwork at MIT ...

The boat house was my favorite (can I go to school here just for this?) ...

Another cool building on MIT's campus ...

The iconic gates of Harvard Square ...

More Harvard ...

Harvard Law (paging Elle Woods) ...

Red Sox game on our last night in Boston (we had awesome seats behind the home dugout) ...

Night game (couldn't help the Sox win, but still fun to watch) ...

And our first view after coming up in the NYC subway near Bryant Park ...

The penthouse view from our hotel near Times Square ...

First day stroll through Times Square (in search of our first NYC pizza slice) ...

Passing NBC Studios / Rockefeller Center ...

And stumbling across the Lego Store for Connor (and our first NYC purchase) ...

Rockefeller Center (minus the ice, not quite as spectacular as it will be in a few months) ...

Lego version inside the store (for Connor) ...

Radio City Music Hall (as seen through the windows on our way up to Top of the Rock for a sunset view of the city skyline) ...

Central Park view from Top of the Rock (we were not prepared for ALL the cranes ... apparently the world is always under construction) ...

Token selfie from Top of the Rock ...

Sunset ...

Relaxing on the rooftop patio of our hotel ...

Checking out the Gershwin Theatre, where we'll take in Wicked in a few days ...

Trump Tower on our way into Central Park (I was actually trying to get the cool globe artwork at the base more than anything) ...

Central Park ...

The merry-go-round (for my "Now You See Me" moment) ...

Another bridge ...

Huge open space in the middle of NYC ...

Miles of walking trails ...

"The bridge" from Central Park in most movies ...

Row boats with the skyline in the distance ...

Standing on the rocks ...

The back side of the MET ...

The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir (my favorite part of Central Park) ...

The MET from the street side ...

Tree lined streets and sidewalks around Central Park ...

Looking for Alex the Lion for Xander and Sawyer ...

Fire Station near Times Square as we were walking ...

No pictures allowed during the show, but we took one at intermission of the theatre and stage - Wicked at the Gershwin Theatre - by far my favorite thing to do in NYC ...