Road Trip (part one)

Ever since we took the plunge and got a minivan we have been anxious to take a serious road trip.  This past week we finally did it.  It was awesome and it was hard with a 16 month old.

First of all I apologize for the lack of photos on this post....iphoto has decided to not allow me to access them yet.  I'm sure if I reboot it at least 5 more times and whisper the magic word - nicely -  it would grant me access. I'm not in the mood.  Thinking about storing photos somewhere else but that is for another post.

Our first leg was to Rhode Island.  13 hours in the car.  We were most worried about this - because of James.  But he was a CHAMP!  He was a better traveler then I.  I had to stop at least every two hours to empty my tank (potty break).  I think it drove Rocky nuts.  But we still made it in 13 hours....so there!
James fell and got come MAJOR road rash on his cute little face at our first rest area stop.  It was pretty sad.  We had...
Lots of movies
Lots of music
Lots of laughs
Lots of stops
and 13 hours later we were in R.I.

This is when things got really interesting with the 16 month old.  So interesting that we considered turning around and heading home the next day.
He was up once every hour through the night crying unconsolably.
He refused to eat
He had to touch EVERYTHING
He HAD to have the phone, the remote, the laptop, the door open, the door closed, the lights on, the lights off.  My oh my.  And of course we didn't want our neighbors in the room next to us think that we beat our son so of course we gave him what he wanted.
The next morning he fell into a tub of ice (no worries, not enough to hurt him - just enough to make him cry...again)
He squeezed cheese all over his tummy.
He fell off the bed.
He cried and cried.
He wanted up
He wanted down
He wanted mom
He wanted Dad
He wanted a show
He wanted the door open
He wanted the door closed.....and so on

We were so happy when we got him in his car seat and he fell asleep by the time we had him buckled in.    (not quite that fast really, but it was close)

We drove around for two hours while he slept.  He NEEDED it.
When he woke up we parked the car and got up close and personal with the HUGE mansions and strolled along the cliff walk.  So beautiful.

Then it was off to Boston.
This was a quick drive.  Just over an hour (I think).  We got to our hotel and were soooo happy that we went with a suite.  We had a separate space for James and a little kitchen and we were all soooooo happy.

Boston was wonderful.  I would love to visit again.
We went to the children's museum - James threw his first MAJOR temper tantrum in public (on the floor - thrashing, kicking, screaming, crying, rolling around).  Rocky was totally embarrassed.  I thought it was funny.  It was all over a broom the cleaning lady had left in the bathroom, I wouldn't let James keep it.

We went to church, walked along the pier, walked the Freedom trail, stopped by Mike's pastries, went to the science museum, went to a red sox game, road the train (lots), walked around Harvard and MIT (thanks to Liz), we walked and walked and loved it.

Maine - burrrrrrrr - we hit up the beach.
Well the temperature was soooo nice but when you put your little toes in the ocean they would freeze off.  I mean it felt like they were going to freeze off.  I still have no idea why (or how) so many people played in the ocean in just their teeny, tiny, thin swimsuits.  I would have gotten in if I were wearing 10 wet suits.  James HATED the feel of sand on his feet and cried.  We got smart and put on his shoes and he was happy again.  We had some very yummy lobster and walked along the coast.  Maine was so beautiful.