Another surprise!

Another surprise happened to us Sunday night! After we were back in our hotel room, daddy called. His flight was overbooked, and they were looking for volunteers to be bumped and get a $300 voucher - so he took it! Off we went to pick him up! We all went back to the hotel to swim. Then Monday we went sight-seeing together. We went to the USS Constitution museum. Here are photos from that trip.

Miss I. preparing and shooting a cannon.

Daddy and girls in front of "Old Ironsides." (The USS Constitution)

Exta time in Boston

Well, we were scheduled to leave Sunday morning, but the weather did not agree. Taking small planes, the weather has to be just right in order for it to be safe to fly. It was just right in Boston, but not in Chicago, which was where we needed to change planes. So we were given 2 extra days in Boston! Daddy took the subway with us on Sunday afternoon before his flight was supposed to leave. Unfortunately, we never got to our destination - the Paul Revere House - because the girls were just way too tired and cranky! But the subway ride was fun! After taking daddy to the airport, the girls and I went to Target to buy some more diapers and groceries to get us through our longer stay.

Special friend

Here is Miss O. with Miss D. Miss D. is the sibling of one of the 1p36 kids, and both Miss I. and Miss O. really love her! She was great with the kids, and such a sweet girl to be around!

Sibling Group

Thanks to Gavin who led the sibling group at the conference. It made Miss I. feel very special, and she really enjoyed playing with the other siblings of 1p36 kids! What a blessing! She is still talking about them a lot!

More conference pictures

Miss O and Miss I coloring with some of the siblings.

Miss I playing with Miss A.

Miss O Playing with Miss A

Miss O with her friend Miss E and her grandma.

So the conference was really quite informal, and the speakers were very gracious with all the commotion going on. The speakers were really interesting and informative. If you would like to know more about their presentations, visit our friend Whitney's blog. www.raisingadisabledchild.blogspot.com Her daddy is on top of things!

Conference time

During the conference, the girls played in the back of the room, daddy sat with them, and mommy took notes.

The 1p36 crew

Here's a group picture of those who were at the conference this yaer. Aren't the kids adorable? We feel so blessed to have found this "family." There's nothing like being with others who understand what you go through day-to-day.

Boston Community Gardens

When we got downtown, we found our way to the Community Gardens. They are really beautiful! We took a ride on a swan boat, and read "Make Way for Ducklings" by Robert McClosky while we were riding. It was a really great way to spend the afternoon! (Although it would have been more fun if the girls had not been so tired.) It's nice to be able to connect books we read with "real life."

Here are the girls on a swan boat!

Here the girls are on the bridge that goes over the pond.

This is the pond in the gardens. Unfortunately, I was not able to get a good picture of the island in the pond where Mr. and Mrs. Mallard built their home.

A view of part of the gardens.

The girls in front of the George Washington statue in the park.

Subway

For our second full day in Boston, we decided to take the subway downtown. This was a new experience for mommy as well as the little ones. It's fun to learn things together! No book can tell you exactly what it's like to ride the subway.

Picking up daddy

The girls (including me) were EXTREMELY tired out from the day. We went to pick up daddy from the office in Boston, and they both felll asleep - so we just waited in the parking lot for him for a while.

Aquarium favorites

Below: Miss O. is posing in front of the girl's favorite exhibit at the aquarium: the penguins!

Below: My favorite animal at the aquarium was this sea turtle. It was really much bigger than it looks here!

And above is my favorite picture from the aquarium: my girls sitting on fake turtles. :)

New England Aquarium

Yes, just like at Valleyfair, they take your picture when you enter, and then charge you a ridiculous amount to purchase it when you leave. And I bought it! I figured it was my only chance to actually be in a picture on this trip. :)

Here are the girls each posing in front of the sand tiger shark measuring thing.

Above: the touch and feel tank took some getting used to, but eventually they each touched a starfish, and Miss O. also touched a hermit crab.

Above: There was a fun play area in the aquarium as well. Miss O. discovered how to throw the magnet pieces to the wall and get them to stick, as her arms were too short to reach. She's so resourceful!

More whale watching

Here we have Miss O. watching as the boat docks after the whale watching tour is complete.

To get the girls to pose for this picture in front of the boat, I had to bribe them with going to the New England Aquarium (which we were going to do anyway, but don't tell them that!).

And that completes our whale watching trip! Even though they seemed a bit squirmy and impatient waiting for the whales, they have both shown a much greater interest in marine life in general since this trip. :)

Whale Watching

On our first full day in Boston, the girls and I went whale watching!

Below: A view of downtown Boston from the boat as we went to sea.

Below: Miss I. on the bow of the boat

Below: I really loved watching the whales, and the girls thought it was fine. But the highlight of the trip for them was that there was a dog on the boat with us! - $30 well spent! :)

Above is the only picture of a whale I took that is anywhere close to decent. Unfortunately, trying to keep both Miss I. and Miss O. interested in watching for whales, while also trying to run a camera, didn't go too well for me. The girls won out, and I didn't get the best pictures.

Plane #3

These are pictures from plane #3, which took us from somewhere in Pennsylvania to Boston. This was the fastest plane we were on.

Home from Boston!

Above: Inside plane #1 with headsets on!

Below: Outside plane #1 with the pilot!

This pilot took us from Rochester, MN to Chicago.

Above: Miss O. inside of plane #2

Below: Miss I. inside of plane #2

Below: Outside of plane #2 with the pilot and co-pilot

These terrific men took us from Chicago to somewhere in Pennsylvania.

We are home from Boston! The trip to get home was a trip in itself. - I'll spend the next couple of days posting pictures and stories about our last week. Here are the first pictures of the week - the planes we took to get out there.

Adventure!

We're in Boston! We (the girls and I) recieved a LifeLine Pilots flight to come out for the 1p36 deletion conference! Mike flew out on a commercial airline, because he scheduled a work trip to happen when we were here for the conference. It actually starts tomorrow, so today the girls and I had time to do some tourist things while Mike worked. We went on a Whale Watch! Then to the New England Aquarium for the rest of the day! The girls and I are TIRED! Tomorrow we have some time before conference stuff starts. Don't know yet if we'll find something else in Boston to do, or maybe just hang out at the hotel and use the pool. We'll see how we're feeling. Thanks for your prayers! This is such a fun trip! It took 3 small planes to get us here, and the girls both did really great! I will post more about everything when we're home.

Bike

We got Miss I. a bike that has hardly been used at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago. She's taken to it really well!

Post surgery

Not so perky anymore. :(

Miss O. was great while visiting - she was really quite patient.

Miss I. had so much pain that she wasn't drinking, so she and I had to stay overnight in the short stay unit. - By the way, a gernie is not a comfortable place to spend the night! It's good we were there though, because at about midnight they had to give her morphine for the pain. Poor baby!

This picture is just before leaving the hospital. Miss O. brought her a stuffed elephant and a balloon. I'm happy to say that just today she is FINALLY feeling better! It's been over a week, and we finally didn't have to give her any Tylenol with Codine today. :)