Childrens Museum, Dolly Parton, Big...... Beers and Sexual Gum.....

So yesterday we went to Boston....... Getting three kids dressed, shoes on, with all the stuff needed for the trip, which includes but not limited to their cameras, games, stuffed animals, batteries, chargers, pillow, blankets, transformers, mp3 player, and whatever else I might have packed and don't know about.... is exhausting in itself.

Oh did I mention getting April out the door is an even bigger challenge.. Oh.. well.... that's because it isn't.... wink, wink.

So we managed to get out the door and on the road at about 10:30am, which wasn't a bad time. At least until our car started doing some strange things on the highway...... It was jerking to one side when making a turn into the right lane.

"Oh it'll be fine April......" I told April, after she said we should switch cars. Well about fifteen minutes in, after seeing April squeezing the door handle the whole time, I realized it probably wouldn't be alright to drive in bumper to bumper traffic......

So we turned around to switch cars.. Despite a few protests from the kids, the damage control wasn't bad. Kind of easy actually. We just told them that if we didn't switch the car, we might be broken down on the highway and never make it to Boston.

And yes for the record, April did say "I told you so..."


Sooooo fifteen minutes back home, and we switched everything to the smaller car. Yes I said smaller car. But hey, after taking a wheel off the stroller, we managed to fit it all. Well, except the cooler anyway.

Are we there yet?

Back in the car, and on the way again....... We managed to forget the directions...... Luckily I remembered the exit number.

We made it to Boston in about an hour and a half. Got off at exit twenty-three and was parked within five minutes. Five minute walk to the Children's Museum, and we were ready to explore.

We made our way through the first floor. Marcus loved the Raceway room, and I must confess I did too.

Think of a room full of kids, chasing golf balls around so they can roll them down a bunch of tracks that teach them about momentum, gravity and whatever else makes balls go......

Then we went to the bubble room. Can anyone say WET!

Kids and water.......... then add bubbles......

Like I said Kids and Water....

Then off to the second floor, the elevator is always a hit, considering it's all glass and you can see the city line from inside it.

Some climbing.....

We visited Curious George...

April in the Construction Zone saying "Vrooooom!"

Yeah, we're the only normal ones......

We spent about four hours in the museum... and left when they kicked us out. They closed at 5:00 which gave us a good amount of time to do most of the stuff.

So now everyone was hungry and small hunger signs were popping up everywhere... Not that anyone was grumpy. The Ingram family doesn't get grumpy......

No, this isn't a grumpy April......

This is..... Just kidding I would rather stay alive!

We left the museum walked over the bridge, along Congress st, down Purchase street all the way to Quincy Market. It was a nice walk, a beautiful day to stroll through the small parks along the way.

We made it into Quincy Market at about 6:00 and none of us knew where we wanted to eat. April and I wanted to sit down , so that was a start. We walked around the outskirts of the market and looked at some of the menus. We finally decided on a place called Dicks Last Resort.

Dicks Last Resort

We asked the host if she had a kids menu and they did. So we decided why not.... I mean if they had a kids menu, they must be kid friendly, right.

So the host sat us, and on her shirt it said..... Don't ask me about Dicks Last Resort........ I guess I should have known then huh....

So she sat us at a table. The music was loud, blasting 80's tunes, but it was good. Joslyn seemed to like it the most, bobbing her head and dancing in her seat. We didn't have to worry about the kids being loud that was for sure..... So then the waitress came and tossed (yes literaly tossed)the utensils on the table and said. "Here have these....."

She asked us if we had been there before, and after saying no she told us it was a sarcastic themed restaurant. But with a quick look around at the large hats made of wax paper it was a little obvious.

So April and I ordered a beer, and the kids drinks as well. She came back with two buckets with ice and a whopping 24 ounce Heineken in each.......

Yes is says "I eat my boogers!"

So then she asked if we were ready to order. The menu was pretty simple, mostly BBQ ribs, steak and chicken.... But of course April wanted to know what the Dolly Parton dish was...... The waitress smiled cocked her hipo and said. "She's not know for her legs hunny.... Two chicken breasts......"

So I ordered the ribs and chicken and April followed suit with ordering the same. Jorgie ordered fried shrimp kids meal and two corn dog meals for Joslyn and Marcus. The waitress returned a few minutes later with two hats for the kids....... Jorgies said "I don't even know these people!" And Marcus' said "I eat my boogers!" Marcus quickly took his off and threw it on the floor, so I scooped it up and put it on.

We got our food in metal buckets, which was interesting....... but fun. It was an overall fun time. At one point one of the waiters was yelling (and it had to be loud to be louder than the music) if anyone wanted to buy his paychecks for a month, they could..... No one bought them...

All around the restaurant were signs like "Size does matter." Behind the bar, the bartender was dressed in 80's garb, sporting a mullet and sunglasses. On one of the ladies hats it said.... "Wanted, sober hairdresser." I guess I can feel grateful that I didn't have a hat like that.... Proably would have said something about my bald spot.

They were nice to Jorgie. "I don't even know these people.."

We left the restaurant and Jorgie wanted to get a trinket. So I waited outside with Joslyn and they went in.

She is such a patient little girl....

I had the camera and was taking some pictures of Marcus and Joslyn and an older man stopped and asked if I wanted him to take our picture. I said sure, and handed him the camera. The whole time I was thinking, "If he runs with my camera, I'm running after him...."

But he handed the camera back....... Thank goodness.

After waiting outside and people watching..... they finally came out and April handed me some gum...... "I got you something."

I read it. "Oh thanks hun..."

Then she said "Do you think it's real?"

I just shook me head... "Oh April....."

We then made our way into Quincy Food Market and found four large cookies..... April got a double chocolate, (which seemed to keep her up all night...which in turn kept me up all night. She is such a gentle toss and turner...)

Cookies are always a hit!

I got chocolate chip and walnut and the kids each got m&m cookies. We all enjoyed them thoroughly. After we finished our cookies we walked back, enjoying the wonderful weather we had yesterday. We made it back to the parking garage at about 7:30pm and we were all ready to go home.

It was a good ride home, no traffic jams, which luckily we weren't going south...... Not so lucky there. It was a fun day.

Hood Ornaments, New Kids On The Block Concert and Yahoo Stock...

So I just dropped Jorgie (my daughter) off at school and she'll be off to Boston tonight for a Museum Of Science sleep over. Ahhh to be young again. She's so very excited about the trip.

So on the ride back home from dropping her off at school, I found myself thinking..........

Yeah I know big surprise right, thinking.........

So I was contemplating what I might do differently if I had a chance to go back to high school having my thirty-seven years of wisdom with me.....

Well minus my baldness... no not boldness, baldness.

So what would I do differently?

Well a few things ran through my mind.

Okay let's see.

I wouldn't change the hood ornament incident. Yeah even the fact that we took the principals hood ornament either. I mean seriously........ how could we have managed to pick the principals car and then take her hood ornament. Gee why don't they put hood ornaments on cars anymore...... I wouldn't change the fact that we got caught and I was the one who had to ride around in the cruiser at 1:00am with the officer, to get all the addresses of whom we took their hood ornaments. So anyways, I wouldn't change what happened that night. No really, simply because it built character and oh heck, it gives me some writing material some day when I have writers block.

I wouldn't change the New Kids on the Block Concert New Years Eve with April....... Yes you read it right.. NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK.....

I was going to say that I would have purchased Yahoo stock when it went public, but that wasn't in my high school years, that was in April 1996......

Okay, no more kidding around. Honestly, knowing what I know now about myself, I would have developed my Art and Writing skills.....

Funny thing is, even if I did develop my Art and writing skills, I would probably still have the same amount of money as I do now. Not much.

So my question is, what would you do differently?

Post it on my Facebook status if you have any ideas.

If you have any ideas for me... let me know.

And no not my hair cuts, they were cool.

Well, those are the Thoughts Of A George for today.