Back from Boston

And what's wrong with us? We didn't have any baked beans while we were there but Ben had some clam chowder. We went to the New England Aquarium and the Children's Museum so we weren't exactly taking full advantage of Boston but we were catering to Sam. And this trip was perfect for him...penguins, a hotel with a pool, and a museum that was filled with all the things Sam loves to do.

We did a bit of wandering in snowy Boston although we've certainly seen plenty of snow here in Vermont lately.

We wandered on over to the aquarium and saw the place was just packed. Turns out we'd come during school vacation and everyone seemed to have the same idea. We were herded into a tent and forced through cattle runs (supplemented with cookies and hot chocolate though) just to buy tickets to get inside. It was worth it though because we got to see penguins! Lots of penguins!

These penguins are very spoiled. People in wetsuits armed with a bucket of fish and a clipboard come into their pens and hand feed them fish. Each penguin appears to have his or her own feeding spot because they don't swarm the people coming in with the fish and the people come to the penguins even if they're perched way up on the top of a rock. Oh, and penguins are picky too. They give each fish the once over prior to eating it and they're often rejected. The feeders record the number of fish eaten by each penguin and they eat a lot of fish!

We witnessed penguin poop too and apparently their insides are under significant pressure. Alas this shall remain pictureless. Feast your eyes on this little cutiepie instead. We saw other types of sea creatures but none were as interesting as the penguins. There were some fish with glow in the dark eyes that looked a bit like little Halloween nightmares but I didn't think they'd photograph well. How about this little bird fish? That's not it's official name but doesn't it look more airworthy than seaworthy?

We also met Moray. He didn't move much but he was a lovely shade of green.

Turtle on the other hand was curious about all the people staring at him.

After the aquarium we went to the hotel and went to the pool. This is always a highlight for Sam and I think we were back and forth between the pool and the hot tub at least ten times. I think I'm going to send Sammy to my parents for the summer just so he can swim to his hearts content.

On Sunday we headed for the Children's Museum and it's a wonderful place for kids Sam's age plus or minus a couple of years. Sam got to be on TV

Check things out under microscopes
Drive a bobcat
And fly a plane with his eyeless copilot

There were also all sorts of golf ball runs, a bubble room, and an area where he could run, climb, jump, pull, and all those other things kids like to do.

All in all a very kid oriented and quick weekend but we had fun and I think we'll have to go back sometime soon and perhaps do a few things for the older kids (us) this time.