Best of Intentions

 Want to hear a story on this fine Monday morning?

Once upon a time, there was a husband and wife that had the best of intentions. They made a plan to take their little family to Boston for Little weekend getaway, but mostly so they could attend this temple.

They decided it would be better to stay the night, so they both could attend a temple session while the other watched the kids at a hotel. So in the spur of the moment, they booked a priceline hotel, making sure to get one with a swimming pool for the boy. They built it up to the children as a fun family vacation. And the next day, the drove the few hours to Boston.

 But a few hours turned into 4-5 when the GPS had the wrong Frontage Rd., and the one-way streets were abundant, patience dwindled, and traffic looked like this on every street.

 The weather was a little dreary and the quick drive turned into an unanticipated tour of the entire city, even the shady parts. 

But then they finally found the temple! And it was beautiful and elegant...but the parking lot was mysteriously empty. So she climbed out of the car, and they made plans to meet in 2-3 hours after he checked into the hotel. And he started driving, and she walked to the temple doors.

 But there was a suspicious note on the glass that read "Temple Closed for Cleaning". And she turned and hustled to apprehend her husband before she was stranded.

And then they were very disappointed, because they had the best of intentions and really wanted--no, NEEDED to go the temple that day. But it didn't work out.

So they made the best of it instead. They swam and watched cable. The boy jumped all over the beds, and the baby tore every piece of paper from the hotel notepad. The next morning, they ate continental breakfast, and set up to explore the city a little bit more.

The weather wasn't nice enough for the Freedom Trail, and the wife always had a thing for historical campuses, so they chose the Harvard Natural History Museum.

 The campus was charming and they began to feel better about all the other fiascoes. 

The museum had the usual prehistoric fossils and specimen.

 But there were a few new and exciting things they had never seen before. 

The extinct Dodo bird fossil and a plesiosaur.

 The boy touched a living cockroach for the first time (and last time) and learned a little about rocks and minerals.

 And of course, a trip to a museum wouldn't be complete without a dinosaur fossil or two. 

They all felt a little smarter when the tour came to an end.

 But she was still miffed that it didn't ALL work out. 

And then they found Pranzi's pizza and had split this calzone.

 

No more disappointment. The trip was totally worth it.