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Published: October 19th 2015
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DC Visit:
Eventually, nearly two weeks after leaving home, we reach our gorgeous family in
Reston,
Virginia just outside Washington DC. The overwhelmingly warm welcome extended to us by Denise, Eva, Tilly, Charlie and Max the dog, was truly wonderful. In no time at all, the long months since we last saw them all, seemed a distant memory. As very tired senior travellers, we thought we'd never keep up with the energy of these beautiful young children, but, it's amazing just what such happiness and excitement can do to keep you going! Trent was still overseas for business and we knew we'd have to wait another three days to see him, when we would re-unite in Boston.
We arrived on the Thursday afternoon, with Friday a designated public holiday. Our day ended after a lovely leisurely evening family meal. The pace was going to be hectic and on Friday morning, with snacks packed and suitable attire chosen, we drove 1 1/2 hours to Hollin Farm to select pumpkins for Halloween decoration of the family home. Also on offer was apple picking, potato digging, peanut digging and green vegetable picking. The sky was grey with showers threatening, but we were
fortunate that the showers were light and didn't last long. The children chose their trolley for loading the pumpkins into and off we set up the hill to make the selection. The trolley was so full, Poppy needed assistance with pulling it. We then presented our stash for weighing, and decision time as to just how many would be kept! With two bags full to overflowing with fresh juicy apples of several varieties, it was time to dig to unearth potatoes, peanuts and pick greens. It was a load of fun and the children loved sharing the experience with us.
Saturday was an early start leaving the house at 7.30am, with the girls having to be at the local arena, Turner Farm, for a Horse Show Event. They each competed in seven events, presenting their ribbons to Denise after each, for safe-keeping. As a special feature for the day, the girls could then process their horses in fancy dress of their own choice. The hours spent on the floor with both girls, the night before, assisting with glueing and decorating their horse blankets, was an unexpected task for me but very rewarding! Eva and her mount, Dusty, were dressed
representing Buckbeak and Hermione Granger. Tilly and her mount,Sadie, were dressed representing a Fairy and Unicorn. They were very proud of their efforts and looked great. At the conclusion of this very busy event, 2.00pm, we visited the local Fire Station for their Open Day. Charlie was in his element and the girls enjoyed the experience much more than they had expected to. The day finished with ice creams!
As though Saturday wasn't enough for our energetic youngsters, Sunday was another early start as Eva and Tilly both had their regular horse riding lessons. Fortunately, Charlie was very happy to stay at home with Poppy for the morning while Denise and I took the girls to their lesson. After Charlie had attended his very first "friend's" birthday party, after horse riding, Denise took Les and me to the airport for our flight to Boston.
11 October finds us landing in
Boston City, where are meeting up with Trent, who flew in from London after watching the Wallabies defeat Wales at Twickenham in the last of the pool games, of the Rugby World Cup. Les and I spent the afternoon walking around the Back Bay area where we were
staying. The Boston Common and Public Garden, the oldest park in the US in existence since 1634, was a peaceful and magnificent area for us to enjoy on several occasions as we walked to and from the various tourist attractions and restaurants. Trent was able to join us for most of the day as a tourist when we took in the attractions via coach and on foot. The Faneuil Hall Marketplace with 100 shops and specialty pushcarts, restaurants and endless elements of history, the world-famous Quincy Markets, was a treat. Buskers and entertainers were everywhere, adding to the atmosphere of the Columbus Day public holiday. It was a magnificent, balmy day with brilliant blue skies. Dinner at a lively Italian Restaurant in the Little Italy District was a perfect end to our day.
Tuesday and it's quite showery and cold so we abandoned our plans to visit Harvard before departing on our train journey for
New York. After settling into our hotel, the Roosevelt, Manhattan, not far from Times Square, Les and I set out to orientate ourselves with our new surroundings. Trent had a very busy work schedule for New York and we knew we wouldn't see much
of him during our stay here.
Our two and a half days were packed, as we walked until our legs couldn't take us any further on our first whole day, Wednesday, covering Fifth Avenue, The Rockefella Centre, St Patrick's Cathedral, Central Park, Times Square and Theatre District. After dinner at a Turkish Restaurant, we treated ourselves to the Broadway Show, Lion King. It was brilliant! Times Square really lights up after dark too!
Thursday we decided to take a hop-on-hop-off tour bus of Lower Manhattan as it would take us down to the 9/11 Memorial. The tour enabled us to visit Chinatown, Little Italy, Greenwich Village, Union Square and Flatiron District, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, the World Trade Centre and Battery Park. It was another wonderful day touring the Big Apple, finishing with dinner with Trent at a superb Steakhouse.
Friday we returned to
DC, via train, to Trent's gorgeous family, who welcomed us with smiles and laughter carrying through to the night. Tilly prepared a great pasta meal for dinner while Eva was our waitress. So much fun! The kids were thrilled to have their dad home after his 10 days away. Our weekend was
busy with horse riding lessons both Saturday and Sunday, Trent's company Chairman and a friend joining us for dinner and enthusiastically watching the Wallabies v Scotland Rugby game.
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