Boston Adventures Part 1: Make Way For Ducklings

One of my favorite books when I was a young girl was the classic, "Make Way For Ducklings". When I realized that the book takes place in Boston, I thought it would be fun to bring the book along to share it with the kids.

We had an uneventful drive up to Boston, arriving right around midnight. So first thing on Tuesday morning I was so excited to take them to Boston Commons to read them the book while we were in the actual setting (okay I admit I may be a little funny that this would be the first thing I would choose to see in a city like Boston). °Ü°

Now I figured that there would be some ducks, but I had no idea how many there really would be. There were ducks everywhere (and a couple of swans too) and the kids were enamored.

So right when I was reading them the part about the swan boats (remember...Mrs. Mallard thinks it's a real swan) we look up and right in front of us is a passing swan boat that looks EXACTLY like the swan boats in the illustrations. The kids were completely tickled (especially Ellie, Emma, and Adam).
Of course then we had to take a ride on the swan boats. Surprisingly the rides were not the tourist trap they could've been and only cost $1.25 for the kids to ride and $2.75 for adults. The "driver" actually pedals the boat around, so it is quite a lumbering, peaceful ride. We highly recommend it!

Just when we thought we were all done with the duckling fever and we are walking out of the Public Gardens we find these cute little statues built as a tribute to the author and illustrator, Robert McCloskey.
There's the Mom duck and her eight little ducklings, Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack, which just cried out for my own five little ducklings to go and sit upon them.

All in all--a very fun beginning to our Boston adventures!