The Great Nor'easter Getaway, Part II

After our wonderful trip to Bristol and Newport on Wednesday, Thursday found us visiting family, eating a scrumptious lunch with homemade lemonade (that's impressive to me, clearly), and darting in and out of the pouring rain. Oh! Yes. And sitting in Boston traffic for the better part of several hours. It was a GREAT day, don't get me wrong. Just not one for getting the camera out. For obvious reasons, we don't have a blog about that day. Day 3 in the great northeast is labeled "McRell Friday" in my photo folder on my computer. We met all the "other" girls from "that" side of the family at the Boston Children's Museum. If you are EVER in the area and have any children under the age of 12, you must, must, must stop by there. But only if you have about 6 hours. We got there and stood in line for them to open, so we were among the first to enter. Approximately 6 1/2 minutes after our arrival, no less than 400 people showed up. It didn't seem to matter to the kids and there was more than plenty for them all to do without it seeming crowded. The only time the crowd really appeared to be an issue was when, well, when we lost one of the kids. Let me put this in perspective for you.
First, envision 4 cousins (3 sisters, 1 visiting cousin) who see each other less than once a year, way less. Add 1 aunt we see a couple of times a year. Add 1 man (Chip) and 1 boy (Cooper) and 4 little girls. Then, consider the ages... they are, get this, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years old. Remember we're talking women here, not men. So, we had a few things to chat about. We needed to catch up and discuss family drama (not really, don't panic) and about a million other things. My favorite story from the day was when we loaded up all 11 of us and the 2 strollers onto the elevator when we realized Cooper wasn't on there with us. So, Alyssa and I run off in search of our eldest. We round the corner and who do we see?? Alyssa's oldest, Lilly! Oops! We totally meant to be looking for her, too! Cooper was quickly behind as the sweat began to literally drip from our foreheads. I would tell you stories about lunchtime, but it's still too fresh. I can't talk about it. It was too hard.

We had a few hours to create a birthday gift for Papa. We walked the perimeter of Fenway Park and snapped a *few* pictures along the way.
The House of Blues was roped off and important-looking buses lined the back entrance. We wanted to eat dinner there but I'm not sure the big bouncers in their black sunglasses and thick, crossed arms were too keen on our idea.

3 of Papa's favorite things in life. Great-grandkids and the sox.

The pictures are soooo out of order, but it doesn't change how hard goodbye's are in this family.

I KNOW I promised not to have expectations and I truly didn't. I didn't really think that over 5 days along the atlantic ocean, visiting family, a major historic US city and a wedding was having an actual expectation. I thought it was a SHOE-IN for a Christmas card picture. Alas, THIS picture is the story of my life. I love the lighting, the backdrop isn't half-bad, but that husband of mine just doesn't want cooperate.

The Girls. We honestly would have included Cooper -- had he not been having a MAJOR meltdown during any and all picture-taking with the McRells. He seriously loved the museum and even though we promised to go back in after the other girls left, it wasn't enough to stop the tears.

Above-mentioned tears and meltdown.

Third Cousins. Minus Cooper. Of course.