So we're going to the Budweiser brewery on my birthday

What have we been up to in the past few days? Oddly when we're not rushing around sightseeing we tend to slow down completely, so while we've been chilling out more than in Brookline and therefore more time to blog, we've just become too lazy to do it!

On Saturday Tich and Lori were possibly coming over with the twins, so in the morning Maureen was running around writing shopping lists and shopping and tidying, and Boris was trying to mend the mower so he could cut the grass. We went to Burlington mall and got hideously lost going both there AND back. Having no map didn't really help matters. Probably it's good that Tich and Lori didn't make it over that day as we wouldn't have been there! On the way we took a wrong turning and ended up going south on the highway not north, then had to do a very convoluted turn-around. Then we got confused again and missed another turning and ended up coming to the mall from the opposite direction. On the way back we just got confused because the road was labelled north when actually it was going south, so we drove around for a bit getting even more lost before going basically back to the mall then guessing the way. Also it was raining quite torrentially by this point so we couldn't really see where we were going, apart from when a car went through a puddle when overtaking us, at which point it was like being under a tidal wave and we simply couldn't see anything at all for a scary 10 seconds.

Tich & Lori came over on Sunday instead. We were planning to go to the lake with the twins, but it was thundering so the water was shut (when they hear thunder they shut it for half an hour afterwards just in case lightning should miss all the tall trees around and strike the water and electrocute everyone in there). So we ran around the back yard with the hose instead. Oz has some pictures of me spraying the twins/getting sprayed by the twins. Possibly because I never got to run around anyone's back garden with a hose, it was very entertaining for me. 

Today we haven't been doing much of anything, apart from re-jigging some of the central part of our trip. Oz decided to read up on all the hostels we're staying in, at which point he discovered that we're booked into a hostel in Charleston, SC, whereas our train tickets take us to Charelston, WV. Not ideal. However with a little guidebook-reading and creative thinking, we've sorted it so we don't stay in Charleston at all, but go straight from DC to Cincinnati for three days, then from there to our next destination, Chicago. Oz phoned Amtrak so we have tickets, and we booked a Travelodge online (technically we're staying across the river in Kentucky, though the main body of Cincinnati is in Ohio, so that adds another state to our trip, which I am rather excited about). The timing is not ideal as we arrive in Cincinnati at 1am on the 14th August, stay overnight, then hop on the train again at 1am on the 16th. Still, our journeys on that leg were all long/at antisocial hours anyway.

Tomorrow Maureen's planning going a trip to a beach somewhere (it had a weird name and I can't remember it). Then on Wednesday we begin our journey across the USA on the train. I am excited!

PS - if anyone is desperate for us to bring them back anything in particular, please let us know. It might not be possible if you want a 5 foot tall scaled model of the Statue of Liberty - bear in mind we will be carrying everything ourselves on and off trains until we get to San Francisco - but once we get there we'll most likely be buying a suitcase to bring things back, so we can buy things there such as foodstuffs you can't get in the UK  or clothes that are dirt cheap over here, if you have any requests of that sort. Or if you are desperate for state/city-specific small things such as I *heart* NY hats then we can carry those too =)

So far the gift list is:

- Cool mug for Crin

- Bloomingdale's brown bags

- Bottle of Everclear for Ali (Texas - The only place that will legally sell it to us!)

- Pepperidge Farm goldfish (I love my cheesy snacks!)

- Baking chocolate, for brownies of course 

Code monkey like Tab and Mountain Dew

Today we stayed at home in the morning, as Sammy was insistent that he wanted to play at home instead of going to the Museum of Science. Richard had a gig in Maine last night so he wasn't here when the boys got up, but I got up fairly early and they remained under control.

This afternoon we went to Natick mall, as Oz was itching to go to an Abercrombie & Fitch. I tried Mountain Dew, which is basically Sprite but a sort of nuclear yellow colour. It felt a bit obscene that a "Regular" was about a pint. I can't understand how Americans can possibly eat so much, because with drinks like that I feel full halfway through my meal. I think because I've been drinking so much I've actually been eating less, but there you go. 

The mall was good. I bought a t-shirt and a long sleeved top from Abercrombie, which in total cost about $60 I think. I also bought a travel alarm clock so we won't miss any of our trains, also it's so small and light that I can carry it around with me when we go out as I have no watch. Just in case Oz and I want to look in different shops, then I'll actually know what time we're meant to be meeting up again. I also bought a summery dress (in XS petite size...) because I didn't try on the one I brought before I left and it's just that bit too small. As in, it does up okay but heaven help me if I should for any reason need to take a deep breath (or perhaps drink a pint of lemonade). Oz bought a shirt and some tops, and the boys got new shoes and some toys. We managed to meet up again by accident in Macy's, then we went for pizza in the mall. 

Here is a picture of Oz in his lovely new shirt:

And the boys eating ice cream yesterday evening (Sammy in green, Jason in blue):

Tomorrow we're going to the train station to collect our rail passes and tickets. It would be good if the boys wanted to go to the Science Museum because that's vaguely nearby, but it's pretty impossible to get them to do things they don't want to do, at least not without a lot of noise...