Actually, Burlington, which is a little northwest of Boston. That's where I am right now, in fact. Neil is attending Readercon and the boys & I tagged along for the ride. We borrowed my parents' mini van and hit the road around 10:00 this morning, and got here about 5 hours later.

It's pretty much just going to be me & the boys on our own until Sunday afternoon when the con is over, and I don't really have anything planned to do that is kid-friendly... I wanted to take them to the Boston kid's museum (their website looks so cool!) but I'm a little hesitant to take them into the city by myself, and then to keep an eye on them in a fun place like that all alone. They have a tendency to go off in different directions - it's tough on one adult. I still may do it - we'll see. For now, we've been to a park down the road, ordered room service, and swam in the hotel pool. That seems to be exciting enough for them, thankfully

We'll see what happens tomorrow when I drag them shopping into bead/craft/artsy stores. I've already decided I'm going to bribe them - something I don't normally do, but, hey, it's vacation, right? I bought a few big rolls of stickers, and I'm going to give them one for every store they are good in. Stickers are a hit around here, so I'm hoping that will work.

Thanks for all of your suggestions for local getaways. I'm still keeping some of those ideas in reserve for a Fall getaway, or for next Summer. I was this close to going to the Red Caboose Hotel, but Neil was lukewarm on the idea, and we decided we could combine business with pleasure by doing it this way.

Lisa

Glad you are having fun! My kids often just love being at a hotel and swimming too. You could go to Lexington/Concord. The boys probably wouldn't be all that into it, but you can walk along the battlefield and be outside at least. Also, not sure how close you are to NH, but there's a great Children's Museum in Derry. http://www.childrensmet.org/index.htm Ben and Mei really like it there, it's small so it's very managable and right off of the highway.

The Boston Children's Museum is really cool. If you can take Neil with you sometime, you should definately go!

Have fun

Susan, mom to Ben (6) and Emelia (3)
When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it? Eleanor Roosevelt

That was enjoyable. THe kids liked it because I dragged them into six stores and they had the potential to earn six stickers

I drove through another town that I would have liked to wander around if it had been open (it was Sunday morning). I think it was Arlington. On one block alone I saw an art/craft/creativity supply store, a jewelry boutique, and a place called "Clay Crazy" which is probably pottery rather than polymer, but still... It looked like a fun artsy kind of town. If I tag along with Neil next year, I'll definitely be stopping in that town at a better time of day.

Lisa

It's on the coast, it's a very fun little shopping town. I have never been to Arlington, I'll have to keep that in mind. It sounds like you had a really nice time!

Susan, mom to Ben (6) and Emelia (3)
When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it? Eleanor Roosevelt

With only a couple of days to do things, and not wanting to have to drag the poor boys all over the place, my options are a bit limited. I ended up working in a few trips to the park while we were there this time - I think it bought me a few more hours of good behavior when we went places I wanted to go

Lisa

you always have to fit fun things in to make life easier! Hope you get to visit again, there's so many fun thing to do.

Susan, mom to Ben (6) and Emelia (3)
When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it? Eleanor Roosevelt