Christmastime is here

Spike and I took our annual walk into Boston on Sunday to see the decorations, check out the trees, and be filled with the holiday spirit. This year was made even more festive by the fact that my new sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and niece and nephew joined us for the adventure. Kirby-Rose and Seamus had never been into downtown Boston and having them see it for the first time made the afternoon even more exciting. "Look up at the buildings," Seamus kept exclaiming, "they're so tall!" "Let's follow the red line again," Kirby Rose would plead. As a sucker for the Freedom Trail I especially appreciated this.

We met them in the Common and watched them play on the playground for awhile. Once my legs became numb from the bitter wind, we moved on to the Christmas tree from Nova Scotia. Then we went through Downtown Crossing to see the tree and window displays outside of Macy's. I already think my niece and nephew are the cutest kids around, but the addition of their extra rosy cheeks doesn't hurt the case.After warming up in Macy's, we kept another Rosemary Kitowicz tradition alive by visiting Chinatown for some pork buns. I declined to try one, but Spike said that tasting one was just like traveling back in time 25 years to when he, his mom, and his sister would come into Boston around Christmas. From Chinatown, we headed through the Financial District to Fanueil Hall and Quincy Market for lunch. After much discussion and some heavy duty decision making skills, Kirby Rose decided on pizza and Seamus on a hot dog (Spike got a kielbasa and Christine, Jimmy, and I all got Greek food, in case you were wondering). For some reason, no one besides me wanted to visit Fanueil Hall, even with its pretty wreaths, so we headed back to the T.Spike and I always have a fun time on our adventures, but for a great time, just add kids! They make everything more exciting, and are more appreciative of little things that boring old adults don't even notice. I think I also really enjoyed their company because it gave me the excuse to act like a kid again. No one would think it was strange if I got really excited over some silly old Christmas decorations if it was for the sake of the children. Or maybe it's just that I wanted an excuse to play around in a revolving door again.