Boston and Birthday (very lengthy)

It's been a very eventful month for us here in the Hill household. I went to Boston to visit my sister for a few days a couple of weeks ago. The travelling part was a bit crazy. My flight to Houston to connect to Boston was late (the plane didn't pull up to the gate until 5 minutes before we were supposed to leave), making me almost miss my connecting flight. I got to the gate right as they were doing the final boarding call. Then, we were at the runway and we were about to take off when the captain came on and said that due to weather in Boston we'd be delayed by an hour. So we went back to the area rght before the runway and waited our hour, then when we were about to take off again, they said that a thunderstorm was moving into Houston and we'd have to go back to the gate. So we headed back to the gate, but right when we got there the captain said that we'd been cleared for takeoff! Crazyness....anyway, we got to Boston a little over an hour late, but thankfully I had gotten in contact with my sister so she knew and didn't have to wait at the airport for a long long time.
On Monday we went whale watching in the Atlantic Ocean. We saw so many whales, and they acted like they were trained at SeaWorld. There was one baby whale that kept jumping out of the water and waving its fins at us, and its mama came up to the boat to make sure her baby was safe. :) After the whale watching, we went on a Duck Tour, which is an amphibious vehicle that took us on a tour of the city, then it turned into a boat and we went on the Charles River, where my sister got to drive it a little bit. After the Duck Tour, we went to FHE and did yoga. It was so hot in there that I slipped and fell on my butt three times, but I just laughed it off and got right back up.
Tuesday we went walking around downtown Boston, around the Boston Common area. We went to the Boston Public Library and I drooled over how beautiful it was. We also went to the Boston Public Garden and took a Swan Boat tour. That's basically a paddle boat, but a very big one with rows of benches and one guy at the back pedalling and steering the whole thing. Tuesday night we went to Walden Pond and went swimming. The water was so clear that even in the dark I could see everything! It was so beautiful!
Wednesday, we went sailing with one of me sister's friends. She and I got to help sail the boat and everything, including raising and lowering the sail and pulling various ropes to make sure we were going in the right direction. After we went sailing we went to a Finnish sauna that was about an hour outside of Boston. We would sit in the 180+ degree heat and humidity for a couple of minutes, then go outside and jump into the lake (which was very cold, although my sister will try to tell it differently), and then repeat the whole process several times. The last time we were in the sauna we used this lemon mint salt scrub which made it bearable to sit in the heat because it cooled us off a lot, but when we jumped into the lake again it was so cold that I couldn't breathe for a minute. But it all worked out all right in the end. :)
Thursday morning we went to the Temple for a session before I had to go catch my plane to go home. We got to the airport at about 2 for my 3:30 flight. I tried to check in electronically, but the flight was delayed so it wouldn't let me. So I had to get in the long long long long line to check in. It turns out that everyone who was in that line was also on the flight I was on, so there were a few people who missed that flight. It didn't help that there were only 2 people checking people in, and one of those people was only checking in first class passengers. Eventually 3 or 4o more people came out and helped with check in so it went much faster, but I still didn't get to check in and through security until about 3:30. I got through security and luckily my gate was close because as I went through they were calling for Passenger Hill to board the plane because it was about to leave. The rest of the trip was very uneventful. On the flight from Newark to Dallas I was sitting next to a student from the school district I substitute for, so that was interesting.
Anyway, fast forward to the past few days. On Wednesday we drove out to my parents' house for my birthday dinner. As we were driving through Dallas, I had the feeling that I should get my tires checked because it's been over two years that I've owned that car and I have never done anything with the tires. Well, when we got to White Hall I missed my turn so I had to get on the highway. There was a really weird sound as we were driving on the highway, but we thought that maybe it was just the road. But when I got on my exit, it became very apparent that it was my tire. It went very flat and had lots of holes in it. I'm not sure exactly how that happened, but oh well. We were only a mile from my parents' house, so they came to help us. Before they got there I was looking for my hazard lights, but I couldn't find the button to activiate them. Then a police car pulled up and asked what we were doing. I told the nice lady cop that I had a flat and couldnt' find my hazard light button, so she pulled up behind my car and turned her lights on and put a spotlight on our car so we could see. Then my parents got there and turned their hazards on, and then another cop came up and turned his lights on too. It looked like we were in trouble, so that was funny. :) The next morning we were planning on getting to the tire store right when they opened, but my spare tire went flat on the way to get a new tire, so we aired it back up and continued on our way. Then when we got to the store, the spare was low again. Anyway, to make a long story short (too late), I had to get 4 brand new tires for my birthday. Hooray. Thankfully, my parents bought two of the tires so we didn't have to spend $400 all at once.
Later on Thursday, we went up to Little Rock for my birthday dinner. A few of my friends were able to come, most of my family was there, and Rex's aunt and uncle that are on their mission and are serving in my grandma's ward were also there. It was lots of fun! Lots of laughter and loudness took place. :) Yesterday (my actual birthday) we got up and drove back to Dallas in time to go to birthday dinner at Chili's with Rex's family. That was really nice because all of his sisters were there with their families (except for the brother-in-law that is a police officer and was working the Rangers game) and one of my friends from work was also able to come.
All in all, I had a great birthday, and have had a great summer!