7 States in 7 Days

Monday morning, May 12th, Spencer, Madi and I set out for a week long trip up the East coast. We'd been looking forward to our family vacation for a while and we had such a blast!! Here are the highlights:

DAY 1: DC to New York City

On Monday afternoon, after a short 4 hour drive that took us through Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey, we arrived in New York City!! We checked into a Marriott just outside the city and after a quick jump into the hot tub, we went out for some site seeing. We got as far as the Newport harbor to take a few quick pics of the Manhattan skyline and then nearly froze to death from the cold wind blowing off the water. Since it was already Madi's bedtime, we decided to head indoors and save the sightseeing for Tuesday with hopes that we would have some sunshine.



After Madi and I got settled in at the hotel, Spencer went into the city to meet up with his good friend Brian Swiss. He forgot to take along the camera though, so no pictures of their fun evening together, but we have to give Brian a shout out for taking Spencer out to dinner at Porcao Churrascaria. Spencer ate a lot of meat and slept well that night!!

DAY 2: New York City to Boston

We woke up early Tuesday morning and headed into the city to squeeze in some site seeing before we headed up to Boston. We had just enough time to see the WTC site, Trinity Church, and Wall Street before we had to head back to the hotel to check-out and get on the road.





After a quick 4 hour drive through New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, we arrived in Boston to see our friends, the Harpers, who live right on Harvard Business School's campus. Since it was Tuesday night (American Idol night) we couldn't go out on the town, so the Harpers ordered in some really good Thai food (actually Scott got carried away and ordered the entire menu!). I'm sure many of you are now thinking: "Anie...Thai food??! No...." I'll admit that I was very apprehensive, but I must admit it was pretty good stuff! I'm coming along from my strictly peanut butter and jelly diet when I was a kid!

DAY 3: Boston and Cohasset

We got up early Wednesday morning so Spencer could attend a class at Harvard Business School with Scott. After class, Spencer, Heather, the girls and I set out for some exploring of the Harvard campus-it is SO beautiful! Madi and Reina (who is about 2 months older than Madi) hit it off right away after not seeing each other for 5 months!!



Heather and I had a great time hanging out as well!! It was a beautiful morning, perfect for walking and taking pictures!






Later Wednesday afternoon, Spencer, Madi and I headed out to Cohasset (about 45 minutes south of Boston along the coast) where Spencer's mom grew up.



This is the house that Spencer's mom grew up in (built by his grandfather Ralph Keegan)!!



The highlight of the day trip was visiting with Spencer's great uncle and aunt, Eddie and Elinor. We had a delicious lunch at their place, learned a lot of neat family genealogy, and then Spencer drove while they gave us a tour of Cohasset, including all the family sites! It was lots of fun!!



DAY 4: BOSTON

After a late start due to sleepy girls, we got going around noon. We met up with Scott for lunch at the business school's "cafeteria" (this is Harvard we're talking about, so its not your ordinary cafeteria!) and then took "the T" (the subway) to downtown Boston where we visited Boston Common, Beacon Hill, the public gardens, and then did some shopping at H&M. Madi especially loved all the ducks around Boston! Then, we headed back to meet up with Scott for dinner in Harvard Square. Afterwards, we hurried back to the Harpers to catch the season finale of "The Office" and then stayed up until 1 am. Spencer and Scott reminisced, as always, about "the good old days where everything made sense" while Heather taught me to make cute bows for Madi. Thanks Harpers for a great time!






DAY 5: Boston to Wolfeboro, New Hampshire

After 3 fun days in Boston, we left early Friday morning and drove 2 hours north to Wolfeboro, New Hampshire to visit Joyce and Joel-who are on Spencer's dad's side of the family. They have a beautiful home right on Lake Crescent (which for those of you who are familiar with the movie "What about Bob?", it's right next to Lake Winnipesaukee!!) Joyce and Joel really spoiled us and we had such a fun time being with family that we don't get to see frequently.





DAY 6: NEW HAMPSHIRE

Madi woke us up really early this day, but that was ok when we pulled up the blinds and saw the view from our bedroom doors leading to the back patio! The lake is SO beautiful. I snuck out for an early morning run along the lake path and Spencer just laid in bed while Madi plopped down in front of the window-pointing at the trees, the birds, and the fishing boats slowly trolling along the lake. Yup, this was pretty much paradise!




That afternoon, more family came up to visit! Madi loved all the attention she got and really enjoyed having her cousin Jessica to play with.



After lunch, we all went down to the beach to watch the annual canoeing/kayaking races. Joel took me out kayaking to get a closer look and then Spencer jumped in one and we kayaked up to Lake Wentworth and back. It was so much fun and a great workout! After a really nice visit with all the family, Joel (who by the way is quite the chef!) cooked up some delicious steaks and we had a really good dinner!





Here's a picture of the whole gang: The guys from L-R: Fred, Peter, Aaron, Joel, and Spencer. The gals from L-R: Joyce, Miriam, Jessica, Seron, Madilyn, and Anie


DAY 7: New Hampshire to Home

On Sunday morning, Madi woke us up early as usual and we began packing up for the long drive home. Spencer ran down to the lake to take advantage of the perfect light for pictures. Here's a good one-



Then, Joyce and Joel cooked us a pancake breakfast (with real New Hampshire maple syrup!!) and then we were on the road at 9 am. Thanks Joyce and Joel for a really fun weekend!!



10 hours and 7 states later, we were home. We had such a fun week and hope to be able to do this trip again sometime soon. For now, we have 2 days to do the laundry, clean the house, and then pack up again for our long summer in California. The fun never ends!!