Day 13 - Boston (Day 2)

We had a relaxed morning, with plans to mosey up to the T station when everyone was ready. The flaw in this plan was that we arrived after the morning commute, and all of the parking spaces were full. We were even willing to try the garage parking, but the entrance was off of the interstate, and completely hidden from the tourists. AtlMom had had enough of driving around the parking lot (I had taken several children into the Home Depot for a bathroom break.) When I returned, she suggested driving all the way into Boston. I was not terribly enthusiastic about this plan, but reluctantly, I agreed.
We made it into Boston, and after some confusion found the Boston Common. The plan was that I would take the kids and find a place to buy a picnic lunch, while AtlMom found a place to park the car. Believe me, I had the better end of the deal. While we were trying to navigate through downtown Boston, A was impersonating a feral cat, and needed another “Come to Jesus meeting.” She stayed in the car with her mother. AtlMom dropped us off right next to Boston Common, and we set out to find lunch. I had to be dragged past Commonwealth Books, by my children, who knew to grab me before I bolted in and was not seen for the rest of the day. Emerson’s Café was right inside the park, and we bought a wonderful picnic. We had agreed to meet AtlMom at the Information Booth, so we strolled along, and picked out a nice tree to sit under. AtlMom called at this point, and sounded slightly frustrated, as she had not found a place to park. She wanted to know if we had found lunch yet. She said she would keep trying. The kids and I had a great lunch, and ran around a bit. The phone rang again, and AtlMom said she was driving up the side of the park to drop A off. I collected A, took her back to the picnic spot, and fed her lunch. Just as I was thinking we would start heading to the Swan Boats, the phone rang again. AtlMom (near tears) asked if I would mind if she went to go see Harvard. She said she might as well go see something rather than driving aimlessly in circles, since she was never going to find a parking space. With some trepidation, I agreed (5 kids on the Swan Boats – by myself??). Just as we were headed out of the park, she called again, triumphant. She had finally parked! She joined us on the way to the Public Gardens, and as we rounded the corner – there they were! Mrs. Mallard and Jack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Oack Pack and Quack! There were about a million children playing on the statues, and I am amazed that I got this picture of J. AtlMom, meanwhile, was wolfing down her lunch. We played by the ducks for a while, and then set off to find the Swan Boats. M, being Way Too Cool for his family, elected not to ride, and AtlMom had a headache, so she stayed out of the sun also. P, A, C, J and I climbed aboard. C was disappointed there were no peanuts to throw to the ducks.
We then headed back to the car (picnicking and playing with ducks takes a long time!) Both moms were determined that we were going to get back to the Super 8 at a reasonable hour tonight.