"Adrienne, where are we going?"
"S'Boston!"
(Carrie - you're going to LOVE this...)
We left Farmingdale at 2:30 on the nose & as expected the kids fell asleep before we were ever on the highway.
Yes, she's asleep. This is her new thing when napping in the car in the daytime.
It's TORTURE for me to see this.... because I'm SURE she's suffocating in there!!! I had already yanked it off once before she was fully asleep which she was NOT happy about.
All refreshed from her nap & getting cozy (HOW this is comfy I have NO idea) with her new Pillow Pet...
We opened the door to our hotel room & there was a HUGE gift bag sitting on the table from Chris as a welcome to Beantown treat...
After getting the kids in their PJs I let them have at it.... ummm, maybe I should've taken a peek first.....
We each had a stocking filled with COOKIES THE SIZE OF THEIR HEAD!!!
And CANDY CAAAAANNNNNNEEESSSSS!!!!
Strung out on holiday candy I then tried to get a first-night-ever-in-a-hotel picture.
Bunch of candyheads.
Christmas Day 2010 now over.... And with our stockings hung from the cheesy 80's brass lamp with care, we all finally settled down for a long winter's nap....
And Nick was nestled all snug in his bed
(since he only lasted about 2 hours in the Pack N' Play & I REALLY did not want him to fall out of the bed.... hence the pillow barricade)
Our first morning in Boston!
And with a whole new state to explore what's the FIRST thing they wanted to do.....!?
Hop in the Pack N' Play of course!
The reason for our travels up north.... the annual Billows / Demakes Christmas party!
A Clarice Build-A-Bear!?!
I LIKE Boston!
"No! MY RUDOLPH!!"
Uncle Tommy, Chris, Drew & Bobby...
(if I tried to explain how they're all related we'd need to set up another blog...)
WHY does it seem like Nick's belly is hanging out in EVERY picture!?!
Packing it in to face the impending storm.
Nice Nick. Real nice.
Here's our little Bostonian corner of the world.
Yiayia & Papou got the room right next to us... we ended up with the entire end of the hall to OURSELVES since right next to their room was the elevator & right next to our room was the staircase.
The kids had a ball toggling back & forth between the 2 rooms. And while they had both adjusted AMAZINGLY well to the long drive & strange accomodations the moment Yiayia & Papou got there, and it clicked that they would be right next to us, Greg & I BOTH saw the question mark over Adrienne's head simply vanish. She went from being ok with everything to having a BLAST.
Which was great.... because then the snow hit.
Snowed in.
Cable out.
How do you while away the hours locked in a hotel room with 2 toddlers...
Ahhh, back in the Pack N' Play.
I seriously might set ours up when we get home. Seriously.
Upon our arrival yesterday Adrienne had IMMEDIATELY inspected the bathroom & informed me there was NO mat and NO toys. Well, the mat wasn't needed since it was one of those pumice-floored fiber glass tubs (poor tushies!) and who needs toys when we have tupperware and measuring cups!? Oh, and it turns out the water in Boston splashes JUST LIKE the water in NJ. Crazy co-in-ci-dink, right?!!
OK, the worst of it is over. The plows have come thru. Are you SURE you're ready to go out there!?
(I'm flashing back to an all-too-recent 10mos ago when Adrienne would break down sobbing on the mere SIGHT of snow sticking to MY pants....)
As it turns out, I need not worry!
Snow..... her new BFF.
And when she wasn't trying to hug it she was eating it.
(she was also taught to NEVER EAT THE YELLOW SNOW!!)
"OK guys... you can walk along the sidewalk. Just DON'T go into the drifts!!"
Can't really say why I even bothered to make that announcement since I was ignored less than 5 seconds after spouting it. 
We knew the cabin fever was at a whole new level when Papa Nick resorted to cannibalism.
We ventured out in the late afternoon & when in doubt there's one place that never lets you down... the mall. Between the pet store & the rides.... they were ready to move to S'Boston! 
Back at the hotel.... waiting for Chris & Erin... what better way to pass the time but............
BACK in the Pack N' Play.....
Believe it or not, the Pack N' Play did wear out after a while.
And oh yes, we were THOSE parents.
Long empty halls.... An elevator all to ourselves.....
Run! Elevator! Pick a button! DING DONG!
When the elevator wore out its fun-factor (which was rarely) there was the staircase to tear up & down.
Poor Chris (who is a SUPER good sport about it) got instantly harassed by & bombarded with toddler technology the SECOND he walked in the door.
Adrienne, "Uncle Beetle! Let me show you my Leapster!!"
Nick, "'Puter! See my 'puter!!"
Another installment in the 'How many Greeks does it take?' series...
How many Greeks does it take to rig a lamp chain so it doesn't knock 6' 6" Chris repeatedly in the head during dinner?
Dinner for 8 at the hottest nightspot in Boston - the newly opened, alas short-lived, 4-star Greco Marriottizki.
So when we last spent QT with Erin we suckered her into doing Adrienne's hair. This time I had the nail polish ready to go for a little mani-pedi action.
Adrienne & Itty Baby in matching outfits... C'MON!!!!
Greg planned a family day at the Children's Museum of Boston.... Kudos to the museum (ok, and to Greg for picking it) - AWESOME.
This is the VERY first activity - making whirlybirds. The guide explained what they were going to do & how they were going to do it.... but scissors were involved. The minute the word escaped her lips Adrienne cut her off, "Ummm, HE can't use scissors. He's TOO LITTLE!"
Scissors be damned, he made his whirlybird (or some may called it a shredded piece of paper.... all open to interpretation....)
My little protege....
On to the physics room (golf balls & lots of ramps).
They even had ramps built into jungle gyms...
BUBBLES
I had spotted it while they were making the whirlybirds & shooed them into the golfball room instead. Now mentally prepared for the mess to come.... bring it on.
You have to look real close - but you can see the bubble coming up around Greg & Nick...
Didn't last though........
OK.... I HAD to try this myself.....
Like I said, bubbles were nothin' compared to what was to come.
They even suckered Papou into making a good ol' school mess!
Nick..... just one suggestion.... ummmm... PAPER!?!?
The water room! Miles upon miles of water troughs with gadgets, gizmos and water porting devices....
Finally! A non-messy room!
Looks like Nick's shadow is talking to some sort of big-headed alien....
It's killing me not to Google how this works.... but I really prefer to think of it as some sort of technical magic....
Nick was standing so still watching the butterflies land on me that they started landing on his head.
"Nick!!! There's a butterfly on your head!!"
Laughing..... "Nooooo!!!" as he reaches around up there trying to find it....
"Look! Now it's on my shoulder!!!"
"NO IT ISN'T!!!!!"
A whole room set up like a kitchen... I said to Greg, "Oh my... Nick's going to have a CORONARY when he sees this!" Greg said, "You mean a CULINARY!"
ba-dum-bump
They even had a woodshop. Nothing compared to Pop Pop's though.....
Awww! Look at that! He's sawing wood!
Could you tell it was time for a lunch break?
Post-lunch, back in the game.
Adrienne went right for the jungle gym!
Nick was having a blast with the trucks & construction 'sites' UNTIL....
Nick! You ok buddy?!
Ahhhhhhh, the after-poop-shiver.
Feel better!?
We walked into a section of the museum set up like main street... a barber, a bodega, a grocery store... With signs everywhere announcing Boston Black! Sure, ok.... Red Sox.... Boston Black... so they like their colors up here in New England...
Anyway, Adrienne weasled herself into the cash register & was in HEAVEN! First she checked out the boys & their basket of veg...
Then she hit up this grandma who kindly handed over her credit card - for real! - to be rung up.
I needed a crowbar to get her to come out from behind the counter.
It was after the grocery store that we wandered into the salon... Greg pointed to this arcade looking thing & said to try it out. So we did. By the time I got to the 3rd hairstyle I finally figured out Boston Black LITERALLY meant being black in Boston!! Wow.... New Englanders certainly aren't subtle. Or PC. Can you even IMAGINE a museum trying this in Jersey!? Good grief. Rev. Al would be all over this like white on rice.... Wait. Maybe that's not the right cliche....
OK, one final picture & JUST as I snapped it the snow finally got the better of Nick....
WHOA!
Billows in Boston
Yiayia & Papou watched the little troublemakers while Greg & I got to make a little trouble of our own out on the town with Chris & Erin...
One final ride in the elevator but to trump all other rides they got chauffeured on the luggage rack.
I like to move it, move it
I like to move it, move it
I like to move it, move it
I like to.... MOVE IT
And when she doesn't know the words she just makes them up. Literally. Made up words.
Peter, in an act that must be considered pure sainthood, drove down from Cranford do dig a path at our house & his parents so we could get into the house. He kept telling us we wouldn't be able to get in. We kept telling him we'd be fine. He was right & he was a godsend!!!
(not to mention, you think I'M anal?! look at that path.... it's PERFECTLY chisled out!!)
And I KNOW they have no coats on - I wasn't going to have them in full winter gear all the way from Boston... rest assured the heat was on in the car....
They thought it was HYSTERICAL that the snow was perfectly mouth-level. They munched on the snow the entire walk up the driveway.
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