Boston Day: Boston Duck Tours and New England Aquarium

Yesterday was a whirlwind day for the boys and myself: New England Aquarium, Boston Duck Tours,  out to lunch, and then to the King's house for Declan's 4th birthday party where I got to hold my godson for a while!

 The Aquarium was awesome - the changes since the renovations have been spectacular.  Really, there was not much that could be done with the place, there will always be a smell of fish since the penguins are the centerpiece, it will always be dark and cement-like, but they did a good job making some additions here and there, modernizing the exhibits, making the touch tanks look nicer and brighter, and the top of the big main tank is gorgeous.

The sharks were missing though, and my boys were disappointed.  We were thrilled to be there on a weekend day, as I think the weekdays get overrun with school groups and the weekends are actually better.  I couldn't believe the amount of people piling in, and how much money they must be making.  Not to mention the awesome selection in their gift shop - but that was the museum director in me.  Now back to the day with the boys.

My mom had won a duck tour at an auction we went to last year - and we finally used it.  Both boys loved the trip though there was some fidgeting.  They really pack you on the duck, and it does pay to get there as soon as possible to wait for your seats.  We ended up sitting in the last row, which was a bonus by the way -when they shut the door a whole additional seat comes down and so you can spread out a bit.

We had some snacks on the tour to help keep the fidgets quiet, but driving by the big city with the trucks, cars, people, all sorts of things really kept us occupied.  By the time we hit the water we were super psyched - the boys even got to each drive the boat!  Best part is, since we were at the back James walked up with the big camera, which is larger than him practically, and did a really good job.  So cute.

The Duck Tour handed out a booklet listing all of the color ducks out there, and when we ate lunch, outside on the street in Boston - Joel Andrew and I continued to identify all the colors and check them off as we saw them in the book.  Lunch was also fun because they handed out "iPads" as James calls them - or etch-a-sketches.  Ha!

Some further walking around the greenway and Fanueil Hall was also done, we were able to get a Duck Tour ornament, which sadly I think is the only addition to our Christmas ornament collection this year.  We have hardly gone anywhere or tried anything new lately...  This is all sure to change as I think 2014 will be our year of travel.

Love that dirty water, Boston!