Whirlwind New England tour

Jer had a week's vacation that needed to be used in late May, so we decided to take a babymoon + 2. Since we're leaving this area next summer, and don't anticipate being mobile at all between now and then, we decided to try to cram all of our northeastern to-see sites into a whirlwind tour. We got to do pretty much everything on our list (except for our food tour: Moosewood Restaurant, King Arthur Flour, Ben and Jerry's, Cabot Creamery, we'll have to sample you in another life!).

We started with the mansions in Rhode Island. The fog set in pretty much as soon as we left New York -- in May! Strange, but beautiful

The mansions were spectacular, what we saw of them. Not so kid-friendly... to tour, that is: These boys would have eaten this place up had they had free reign!

Right on the coast and oh-so-purdy. The second place we visited had topiary gardens the boys could run through

A shot of the dimples that will be gone *all too soon!* I will miss them

The twins treated me pretty well. This was my 23 week belly. I thought I was so big then...

Next stop: Provincetown on Cape Cod. Did anyone else not know this is really the first stop for the Pilgrims?

I had a very strange hip thing going on at the time that made it so I literally couldn't walk by the time we arrived at the tower, so Jer took the boys up to the top solo. What a trooper!

The boys were pretty pleased with themselves

Later we found a gorgeous beach for the boys to fill their britches with sand on. It was a *perfect* day! And -- no offense to eastern beaches -- but I was surprised at how pretty it was there. I could have watched the surf for hours...

We walked to a White Cypress Swamp, which, although beautiful and unique, was hands-down the most intense mosquito experience I've ever had in my life! Since we hadn't thought to bring the repellent, we only caught a few glimpses of the strange rusty water and dense trees as we ran over the walkways to mosquito-free safety.

...much better...

That night, since it was the week before peak season, we scored a beachside hotel on the southern shore of cape cod. It was lovely! A bit chilly, but sunny and gorgeous. In the morning, I went out for a bit and came back to the room to get my sunglasses and have the boys get in their swimming gear. Literally 20 minutes later, this is what we found:

FOG! And lots of it! It almost toasted our camera, but the boys, of course, still found fun

Next stop: Sandwich to see the glass museum and have some sandwiches on the water. Loved the glass museum -- highly recommend it if you're ever out that way! No good pictures, but lots of great memories. Scotty got to help with the glass blowing demonstration, and we resolved to become collectors of beautiful glass once the kids are less of a liability and our pocket book is a little chubbier.

Next stop: Plymouth. Meh. This is about all we got out of it:

It was expensive and touristy, and we had to laugh at Plymouth rock and the history behind it. The boys did love the hotel (read: TV) there, though, and recouped a bit from a busy few days

Next we headed to Boston proper and the Public Gardens. It was fun to have prepped them with "Make Way for Ducklings."

That day was unfortunately the first of a heat wave, and with my hip the way it was and Scotty complaining about the 10 minute walk we had taken through the Gardens, we decided to forego the Freedom Trail :( Next time, Boston!

The alternative, while much higher ticket, ended up being super fun. We decided to Ride the Ducks. After a quick snoozer for James

both the boys got to drive the boat! I like that the tour included historical as well as contemporary facts about the city and that our boys felt like superstars for a day.

Two more highlights of the day: The USS Constitution (awesome -- and FREE!)

and .lobster tails. A first for the Tilton family. Yum.

Last, but not least, we headed to Tilton, New Hampshire.

It was a bit of a last-minute addition to the trip, but as Jeremy researched the town before our trip, we were so glad we decided to add it on! It was renamed in the 1700's after one of his ancestors passed away. We visited the random Triumphal Arch built in the middle of a field by a later (non relative) Tilton

then a graveyard, where we found some headstones of forefathers, and finally to... wait for it...

There could not possibly be a more fitting end to our visit of the town for Jeremy Tilton. If you ask him, he'll dissertate on that pizza's perfection for as long as you'll listen :)

In all, we had an almost-perfect whirlwind farewell-to-eastern-sightseeing trip to New England. We've loved living in and seeing more of this part of the world. Since then, things have been pretty quiet. Jeremy's enjoying third year and the boys and I are kicking it at home most days. Pictures of my blossoming belly forthcoming. Stay tuned!