National Travelers

We can now add Rhode Island and Massachusetts to our growing list of state's visited!

Curt's wedding week was a success and we gained a new sister. Emma and Penny did as well as could be expected with the flights and being so far away from home for almost a week. We talked flying up so much to Emma that once the time came to take off, she acted like a pro! She acted like it was just another trip in the car lol! Thankfully, it was not like just another trip in the car for Penny (she HATES her car seat). With just a couple of small meltdowns due to being overtired, we successfully made it there and back.

The trip on Tuesday was pretty uneventful, even with the 30 degree drop in temperature from when we took off in Birmingham until we landed in Providence. We came prepared with jackets and boots though so it wasn't too bad of a transition. We made it to our house just in time for supper and to relax for just a little bit before heading of to bed completely exhausted! The house, btw, was seriously awesome! Built in 1677 and every part of it (except for the indoor plumbing and heating) was exactly what you would expect from a 340 year old house - creaking floorboards, somewhat drafty rooms, and low ceilings - seriously, these people were probably like 5' tall back in the day! It was still the coolest place I've ever stayed in. They rent it out to help pay for the upkeep of the house.

Wednesday was a full day of getting pampered at the nail salon before the rehearsal. Then it was our first of three trips into Newport for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Thankfully for us, the sun came out and it warmed up for the rehearsal. Seeing all those sail boats and yachts in the harbor was so cool! It made me really wonder what all these people do for a living to afford a $6M yacht! The venue was absolutely beautiful and the harbor was the backdrop for the wedding ceremony. We were told not to eat a lot on Thursday because there was going to be PLENTY of food for the reception. Apparently, the food is a big deal up in the north...not that food isn't a big deal in the south either! We love our food down here too :)

Toll #1 of like a million that we paid!

The bridge heading into Newport

There were so many cool little islands in the bay

Newport, RI

There were TONS of old cemeteries like this all over Rhode Island

An old train depot

The Red Parrot, where we had the rehearsal dinner - delicious!

The Bohlin

Getting everyone settled and ready for the rehearsal

Getting the tent ready for the wedding reception

This girl and her little sister were such troopers!

Adorableness!

The rehearsal dinner was off the chain delicious! And it was only a couple blocks from the wedding venue so it wasn't much of a trek after the rehearsal (thank goodness, cuz after going through the ceremony no less than 3 times, I was ready to eat!). It got real after dinner that this was really going to happen - my last brother was really getting married!

Thursday was another full day that started with hair, then makeup, then finally the wedding. The wedding wasn't until 5:30 but the day seemed to fly by! I wasn't used to being pampered and having my hair and makeup done sans kids so it was weird to not hear "mama" 50 times or have a baby to carry around on my hip - sorta nice, but I missed my little stinkers. To say Thursday was a long day would be the understatement of the century. I was up and going by 7 am to feed Penny and get everything ready for both girls before I left for my hair appt at 11 and then we didn't all get back to the house until after 11 pm that night! Yankees sure do know how to party!

Sustenance for getting ready 

Ready to get my dress on!

Del's served before the wedding! No trip north is complete without it!

I don't think these pants could have been any tighter ;)

My stinkers!

Mr. and Mrs. Couchman bustin' some moves!

They're so stinkin' adorable!

The wedding was beautiful and perfect for them! I was told that it was a shorter version of the traditional New England-style ceremony, but 30 minutes was enough to make me want to pop a squat on the pier and chill out. I'm used to quick and painless 15 minute ceremonies in the south where you say - "do you?""do you?""you're now husband and wife""kiss the bride" and done! I will say that the reception was pretty epic. Del's frozen lemonade was served before and directly after the ceremony along with hors d'oevres of crab cakes, lobster rolls, and deep fried mashed potatoes (they had some kind of fancier name, but fried mashed potatoes is basically what they were). Then it was the main course once the bridal party was done with pictures. They had burgers, turkey burgers, BBQ, a taco bar, a salad bar and sides to go along with everything. Then it was a short break for the toasts and some dancing. These people sure did know how to get down too! Emma had an absolute blast getting out on the dance floor! I got in a couple of dances with the hubs and my dad before I had to collect my other child who had just about had enough of being a good sport. I did get to enjoy a big bowl of Ben & Jerry's ice cream from the ice cream bar! There was more dancing during and after the dessert bar was opened so people could work off all those calories! Lol! They couldn't forget about the late night snack of grilled cheese and chips before everyone headed out. I told you...these Yankees know how to eat! There wasn't a traditional sendoff so we headed out with three exhausted kiddos at about 10:30. 

We decided on Wednesday that we would hold off on going to Boston until Saturday since it was expected to be much nicer that day. So we decided to get a full day of sightseeing in Newport in on Friday since we'd only been able to see the yacht club and a couple of blocks Wednesday and Thursday. We started off with a few miles of the Ocean Drive around Newport before heading back downtown to eat lunch. I definitely want to go back and finish the whole ten mile drive one day! It was absolutely beautiful!

St. Mary's church where JFK and Jackie got married

An old ship parked at Fort Adams

The Atlantic Ocean

The Guthrie's (minus Emma)

Rory tried to skip rocks

So many sail boats!

I would LOVE to live here!

The Pell Bridge going into Newport

The US Naval War College

Just one of the many mansions in Newport

We couldn't ever figure out if you pronounce the street "THames" or "Tims"

Someone was worn out!

Newport was such a nice and cute town! It reminded me so much of some of the beach towns at the coast, but without the nice white beaches. There were SO many sail boats and yachts in the harbor and going out in the ocean. It was definitely an affluent part of the state with a mansion about every quarter mile or so. Will, Audra and Miya decided to tour one of them while the rest of us walked around some of the shops downtown. After a quick afternoon rain shower, we loaded up and headed back to the house to wait for Curt, Ashton and her family to come and hang out at our house in Cranston. We had a lot of fun playing games and talking after the kiddos went to bed. 

Saturday was our Boston day. We decided to drive into the city and park instead of taking the train from Providence and it actually turned out great. Traffic wasn't bad at all and parking was only $18 total for the whole day. We did, however, pick a very interesting day to come into the city. It just so happened to be the 57th annual Boston Pride parade on Saturday...yeah. We were able to steer clear of the hot spots in the city where no doubt several fights broke out (one side of the road would be pride people and the other side were protesters). We were going to try and do the Duck Tour but they were sold out for the day so we opted for the Hop on Hop off Trolley Tours. This worked out much better since we were able to get off the trolley at some of the stops and eat and shop and then catch another trolley after we were done. It definitely took all day but we didn't expect to do much more than just a few things. After the trolley tour, we still had about an hour before we could head back to the car (the garage was closed from 11:30-4:30 because of the parade) so we decided to do the harbor tour. This was my first time riding on a big boat. It was so neat! We rode around the harbor and saw the USS Constitution and the USS Cassin Young that were parked at the Boston Naval yard. Next time, we'll have to make a trip just to tour those boats because they looked really cool. 

Boston!

People were dressed up like this all over the place!

These boys were awesome! I'm sure they hope to attend Berklee one day :)

The New State House

 

The Charles River

The USS Constitution Museum

The Zakim Bridge going into downtown

The "Gah'den"

This building was interesting...it is still unfinished because they ran out of money and the builder decided to put this frog on the side of the building lol!

The oldest bar in the city. You can't see it, but the date is 1795

A long look at the old state house - the sight of the first reading of the Declaration of Independence and the sight of the Boston Massacre

The Lion and the Unicorn represented the British monarchy at the time

Brownstones were everywhere too!

 

Yawkey Way at Fenway Park

The oldest baseball stadium in the country!

The Guthrie's at Fenway :)

Our view from the Harbor Tour

 

WaterFire on the Woonasquatucket River in Providence

After a full day in Boston, we met up with Curt and Ashton to eat in Providence and watch WaterFire on the river. We took a little longer getting our food so we got to the river as they were winding everything down, but we still got a cool look at exactly what WaterFire is...apparently, they're just really big fire pits that sit on the water and every other weekend, they light them all down the river. They have gondolas that ride up and down the lanes so people can ride right next to the fire. It's pretty cool.

Our trip back to Birmingham was pretty uneventful and all the girls did as well as could be expected. We had a blast in New England but were glad to be home! Now it's getting back into a routine and celebrating Penny being 4 months old today! Where is the time going for real?!

We're glad to be back in the south and looking forward to not doing anything for the next few weeks. I am looking forward to my girls trip to NYC in three weeks! :D I'll miss my gang but I know they'll be fine. Rory did amazing taking care of the girls this past week while I was doing wedding stuff so I know they're in good hands while I'm in NYC for a few days. He's definitely racking up a really good father's day present ;)

I hope everyone is enjoying their week and staying cool! "Summer" is fast approaching!

God bless!