The Rest of the Trip

I've already told you about the race, which, though the reason for our trip to Boston, was only 3 and a half hours of an entire weekend vacation! So here's the rest of the trip.

We left Ann Arbor on Friday afternoon and drove to Buffalo, where we had booked a room in a luxuriant Motel 6 (yes, I'm exaggerating). We arrive just in time to get a bite to eat at a Dibella's sub shop and get to bed. It was tricky, sleeping in the same room as Abby. She was ready for bed at 8:30, but Alex and I were not. We tried for a while to get her to sleep while we watched TV, but she (as expected) was stubborn. Finally we shut the lights off and told her we were going to bed too. She was unconvinced, and spent about 30 minutes standing in the pack and play calling out "Mama! Mama! Mom! Mama Sus!" When I stopped responding she quieted for a while. Then she started carrying on conversations with me: "Mama, Buffalo!" etc. etc. She eventually went to sleep.

We drove the rest of the way to Boston on Saturday. Aside from heavy traffic in downtown Boston (probably due to the 27,000 people coming to town for the race) the trip went pretty smoothly. We arrived at Chad and Jardayna's around 4:00, just in time to relax a bit before ordering some takeout Thai food for dinner. When Violet woke up from her nap we introduced her to Abby. Abby was so cute with her. She kept gently stroking her face, and gave her several hugs and kisses. (By the way, Violet is a beautiful, happy baby. See photo evidence below.)

On Sunday, I met up with Heather and family in the morning and we headed to downtown Boston to pick up our "race packets," which included our bib numbers. The subway was insanely crowded. Being crowd-a-phobic, Heather and I decided to skip the second subway leg and walked instead. There were so many people everywhere! While I was gone, Alex, Abby, Chad, and Violet went to a park near their house. Somewhat out of the blue, there were a couple of ladies at the park with a donkey that Abby got to pet and feed. She was apparently extremely excited, but sadly, since I wasn't there, the only documentation we have is on Alex's phone. Sunday afternoon we went to another nearby park before dinner. Abby was in heaven--and so was Violet! After dinner at a nearby restaurant, we spent the evening hanging out, ogling babies, reading books to Abby, and chatting.

Saturday morning was, well, race day, and I've already told you how that went. After the race, we went to Boston Common to sit for a while. Then we headed back home, where there were ribs cooking in the oven. I took a hot bath with Abby while Jardayna and Chad worked on dinner--ribs, coleslaw, potatoes, and corn on the cob! Even in their sleep deprived state, Chad and Jardayna (and Violet) are amazing hosts. After dinner I cracked open the "marathon celebration beer" that Alex picked out for me, then headed to bed early.

Tuesday was unfortunately spent entirely on the road. 14 hours! I'm surprised we all kept our sanity (or did we?).

Park photos.
Chateau Laurent photos.
Race day photos.