Connecticut Getaway

After taking Grandma to Connecticut when she visited at the beginning of the summer, the boys and I agreed that we needed to take James/Daddy there. It was the kind of setting we knew he would love and there was so much that we wanted to go back and do.
We split our time between staying at a hotel in Mystic and then visiting my side of the family in Stonington. Traveling with kids is never boring, the first night at the hotel involved Chase throwing up all of himself and the bed he and James were sharing at 1am. Thankfully we got him, and the bed cleaned up without waking Chase or Asher, I mean thats pretty impressive. We also managed to escape anyone else getting sick while we were away!
That first day we took it easy with Chase still not feeling quite 100%. We decided to visit the Mystic Seaport. I had been to Mystic back in high school and remembered this living museum being so much fun. We all had a great time exploring the big ships, visiting the fishing village and exploring the kids area.

The next day was beautiful so we decided to hit the beach for the day. When we had been to CT back in June, Ruth had shown us their town beach, and I remembered how perfect it seemed for little kids. And I thought right. It was small, not busy, zero waves and had tide pools for hunting crabs. Besides walking up into town for lunch, we spent the entire day there. We built sandcastles, explored the tide pools, swam in the water and played catch. We ended the day with dinner in downtown Mystic on the water where the boys could watch the train go by and boats come in and out of the marina.

The following day we visited the Mystic Aquarium. The boys were so excited to as they love all sea life. We were impressed as this aquarium had a sea lion show, which enthralled the boys and various other sea creatures that we had never seen before, except in a book. The boys favorite part was this huuuuge tank and inside was a puffer fish which just amazed them. My favorite exhibit was the beluga whale. I've never seen one in person and it was such a beautiful creature. That same day we headed to Ruth's house. The boys adored Ruth from our last visit and were so excited to see her again.

We couldn't go to Mystic and not take James to Mystic Drawbridge ice cream. It is the best I have ever tasted. I let Hayley have a little taste and she discovered her love for it at that moment. If i didn't give her more immediately she would yell at me, it was very entertaining for us and those sitting around us.

The kids were way over tired our last full day there in CT so we took it a little easier and headed to a cafe for brunch which was recommended to us, and it was so yummy. With full bellies we took a drive to Rhode Island while the kids took a well needed nap. In the afternoon we visited the Stonington Lighthouse. It's a small building but still fun to go in and look around. We ended our little getaway by going to one of our new favorite restaurants called Dogwatch Cafe. Any place that has backyard games to keep the kids entertained is a hit in our book.
The first half of this year, James has been so busy at work and we were well overdue for some quality time with him. I know it this trip was all what we needed, James had time away from him computer and phone, and we got to spend time with our favorite guy.