The Redcoats are coming, the redcoats are coming

Hartford is in the Boston Temple district so Eric and I made the trip to the temple and then to also see the city. We had a hard time finding the temple and had to drive around for a while and then also make a few calls to find the right place. We found the temple and were able to have fun there.

After leaving the temple we headed to downtown Boston to find the start of the Freedom Trail. Boston has set up a walking tour that takes you to 18 of the historic sites in the city. The best part is there is a red brick path all the way through the city guiding you where you need to be.

 The trail started at the Boston Common. This is the oldest public park in America. It was really pretty and so full of life.

 On of the stops was King's Chapel. The original church on this site was built under the orders of King George. Boston's first burying ground is right next to the church. After the Revolution the became the first Unitarian Church in the country. It is also where convicts condemned to die heard their last sermon before being executed on the Boston Common.

I also found that this church still has an active congregation really interesting along with the reports of the building being haunted.

 This was one of my favorite sites on the trail. The original building on the site was the home of Anne Hutchinson. The site then became a very active publishing house that published works by a huge list of great authors.

 This is the Old North Church. We didn't get to go in because there is an entrance fee. The church is most famous for being where the lanterns were hung telling Paul Revere the Redcoats were coming by sea.

 Eric was the most excited to see the USS Constitution. Back in the 1800's Eric had an ancestor who had been kidnapped by pirates. He was finally liberated by the USS Constitution. The ship was really cool and it was great to be part of such a momentousness piece of history.

Okay this place wasn't technically on the Freedom Trail but we took a small detour. The whole day I kept noticing people with pastry boxes from this bakery. In a town the size of Boston for so many people to be going to the same place I knew it had to be good. I also knew it had to be on the trail. On our way back to the car we found it. There was a line out the door! Eric and I waited and got a couple treats. My cupcake was divine!!! Eric got a cannoli that we both thought was okay. I highly recommend it if you are ever in Boston. They only take cash so be prepared.

Hubbard Park

Since we are living on a budget but still want to enjoy this year as we travel around we try to find fun parks to go to in the area. This has been great over the summer. Up in Hartford I did find a great Rose Garden that I love. It is about 100x the size of the on in Des Moines at the Art Center. I don't have any pictures of the rose garden but I had to mention it.

Near our hotel Eric found a great trail to hike. We spent a couple hours hiking and enjoying the great views. Here is CT the leaves are already changing so the feeling of Fall is in the air.

   

I also found Hubbard Park near by. My favorite thing about the park was a tower up on the mountain. The most noteworthy thing about the tower is that it is the highest point within 25 miles of the ocean anywhere on the Eastern coast of the USA. The first time we went we started up the paved road but didn't make it all the way up to the top. The second time we went we found the trail that went up the mountain and made it to the top! It was a great view.

Florida

We all wore matching yellow shirts the whole day.

The second week of September I went with my family to Florida for a week to enjoy the beach and a day at the Magic Kingdom.

We were the only 3 brave enough to ride the Tea Cups

Riding the tram from the parking still with lots of energy.

The view from our balcony at sunset.

Chilling on the boardwalk.

Packing the most important things to take home.

Back to Harrisburg

1.  At the beginning of September our original plan was to go straight to CT and then on our way to TN at the end of the month stop by Harrisburg so Eric could visit the program again plus see our great friends again. Well the program in CT changed Eric's start day at the last minute. Luckily we were able to change the hotel reservation, beg our friends to let us stay with them for a week and get the program in Harrisburg to let Eric visit with just a few phone calls and emails.

While we were in Harrisburg Kojun showed off his ability to build like professional. I think his blocks are the coolest I have ever seen. They look like wood but are just a really dense foam so you don't have to worry about kids hurting themselves with the blocks, or hurting siblings either.

 Unfortunately, Greg had to be gone a lot while we were there so Eric stepped in to help take of the kids. He and Jiro had a blast learning how to feed Jiro. Eric also spent a lot of time in the basement (Kojun's favorite place to play) with Kojun. I love watching my husband playing with kids. I am know he is going to be a great dad someday.

 While we were there Jiro turned six months old. Greg and Brittany have the tradition of doing carrot cake for birthdays but since it was a half birthday I made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. I hadn't been able to bake in so long and was going through withdrawals so I found the excuse to make a cake. Now for those of you who are super sharp yes the cake is crooked. I used the silicon cake pans which wiggled and sat uneven in the oven. Plus the plate isn't even either. The sad part was that the cake wasn't all that good. The frosting was great but that was about it. Sorry Jiro.



Greg and Brittany took us to this great park over looking the river and the city. We had a blast hanging out and taking pictures. The only part that was not the best was there were a bunch of teenagers who had a power wheels car that they kept taking down this giant hill. They were almost running people over and going over a cliff. It was making everyone nervous and was disrupting all the people who were trying to enjoy the evening.

 Brittany and I realized that we didn't really have any pictures of the two of us.

Brittany and her little boy Jiro. I love the smiles.

Palmrya, New York

 Back in August Eric and I took a Saturday to go up to Palmyra to the Temple and to see the Church History sites. I had been there once before back in 2001 but Eric had never been there. We stopped first at the Hill Cumorah. We decided to walk to the top to see the monument rather than drive. It was a good walk and helped me appreciate what Joseph would have climbed and then also imagining what he would have had to do with the plates in his hands also.

After that we headed to the Temple to do a session. Once we got inside it was almost identical to the Winter Quarters Temple which kept me from getting lost.

We rounded out the day with going to the Smith Family Farm, Sacred Grove, and then the Gradin Print Shop. Right next to the Print Shop there was a Latter-day Harvest book store so of course we had to stop and see what we could find.

That night when we got back to Johnson City, NY we went to another book store to purchase random books and to find fun things to read. It was a great day and I was happy to see all the sites in NY again.

going in circles

After going to Kingston NY, Harrisburg PA and Hartford CT I am in Fl while Eric is in CT. It is the longest we have been apart. I will do a bigger update and pictures later.