Sister Reunion

Recently, my sisters came to visit for a few days! Neither of them had ever been to Boston before, so it was very exciting to show them around the city and see them experience everything for the first time. We also adopted a 4th sister for the weekend, Ines- my little sister's best friend who happens to also live in Boston because she is in school here. The 4 of us and Chuck did SO MUCH STUFF. We had a lot of fun as a family of 5.  :)  I can't even tell you everything we did because we did so much. So here are just some of the highlights of the visit.

- Airport Surprise! Sami (little sister) and Ines have not seen each other since the summer of 2011, so Ines and I planned for her to come with us to the airport to surprise Sami when she got off the plane. Sami thought she wasn't seeing Ines until later on Saturday, so she was extremely excited to see her pop out from behind a pole at the airport after they arrived. I love surprises.

This is not at the airport obviously, but I thought Sami might hurt me if I posted any pictures of her at the airport in her glasses after waking up at 4 o'clock that morning. :)

- Freedom Trail. Chuck and I went on our 3rd Freedom Trail tour. The girls loved it- and they learned a lot about Paul Revere! They loved our tour guide the most, especially when we were told to leave the Grannary Burying Grounds by security because it was closing and our guide said "We're not going to listen because I want you all to see Paul Revere's headstone, so just follow me this way and PLAY IT COOL."

Husband and Sister on the Freedom Trail.

In front of The Old State House. It was COLD outside.

Boston Common.

- The North End. You cannot come to Boston and NOT visit the North End, so obviously we took the girls there. We ate dinner at a nice Italian restaurant and then waited in line for a cannoli at Mike's Pastry.

It's very rare that a Mike's Pastry box stays closed all the way home on the train, but we managed to do it.

- Apples to Apples. The sisters got to meet our friends Ana and Jose when they came over to our apartment and played Apples to Apples with us. It was a lot of fun and at one point Chuck played the red card "Toes" on the green card "Elitist" and laughed harder (at himself) than I've ever seen him laugh in our 10 years together. He actually cried from laughing so hard. It was hilarious. I think I'm finally starting to rub off on him. :)

- HBS.  Our Grandpa attended Harvard Business School back in the 30s or early 40s (can't remember) so we walked around the campus and tried to imagine what it was like when he went there.

In front of Baker Library. Grandpa's old dorm is to our right.

- Cupcakes. Yum.

Chocolate & Orange, Mocha (or was it Coffee?), Chocolate, and Pumpkin with cream cheese frosting.

- Life List. Laura has a "Life List" on her blog HERE of things she would like to do in her lifetime. Before they came into town, I was reading her life list to see if I could help her cross anything off while she was here and there happened to be two things! While here, she was able to go to Fenway Park AND experience her first aquarium! I HELP MAKE DREAMS COME TRUE! I didn't get to join the girls at the Aquarium because I had to work, but they said they had fun.

Just pettin' a stingray.

- Toscanini's. The best ice cream in the world that happens to be located a mere 3-4 minute walk from our apartment. Seriously- the New York Times called it the best ice cream in the world in a review once. We went there twice during their visit.

- Agawam. We got a chance to drive out to Agawam, MA for a couple of hours to eat lunch with our Aunt Betty and cousin Barby. We got to see our uncle for just a few minutes. It was great to spend some time with family and we had more delicious cupcakes while there too. :)

To sum up the visit- we ate, and then we walked. Then we ate. Then we walked some more.

Saturday: approx 1.4 miles walked.

Sunday: approx 2.1 before lunch, approx 2.7 after lunch.

The night before they left, my sisters were complaining of jet lag, which was extremely funny because they never left Eastern time zone. I think they were just tired from all the walking I forced them to do.

Chuck and I tried really hard to convince them to move into an apartment in our building instead of going back to Kentucky but they didn't listen. Once again, we've failed to convince our visitors to move here. Our next attempt will be in 3 weeks when my best friend Lauren comes to town!