Catching Up--A Very Busy Few Days!

Well, after last week where I was posting every day, I suddenly was tossed into a whirlwind of travel, arriving home and catching up on all there was after ten days of vacation. Piles of mail, loads of laundry, groceries to be bought, suitcases and bags to be unpacked and put away....and then came Sunday when we did our holiday decorating! Every year is tough because we like to have the tree up before Rachel's birthday, and of course the best time to do that is on the weekend. So that usually means we get home from Boston on Saturday and then we only have Sunday to go get a tree, put it up (which always involves some sort of hassle! This year it was that the trunk was too big for the stand so Matt had to trim the trunk, which took quite some time--and then we finally got the tree put up only to remember that our lights last year were mostly broken so we blithely said we'll get more NEXT year...so I had to run to Target to buy lights! Meanwhile the kids were itching to trim the tree...sigh.)

This year we made a hefty investment in LED lights, which are supposedly indestructible (this is my main reason for getting them, since regular lights drive me nuts with half the string constantly out) and use far less energy (Matt's main reason for wanting them)--however, they are much different from normal lights in that their light is much whiter and brighter than traditional white lights. It is hard for me to get used to them, because I think they look almost flourescent. But Matt pointed out that they look like stars, which made it easier to stand them....

Then yesterday was Rachel's thirteenth birthday. How strange to think of her as being a teenager! I still can't wrap my mind around it. We had a nice day--went to Port Jefferson to see "Barnaby Saves Christmas" at Theater 3, which has become tradition for us. In the afternoon we hung out on the computer and with movies, and Emma helped me make the birthday cake (chocolate with mint whipped cream and ganache on top) while Julia helped me make the sauce for spaghetti and meatballs (Rachel's choice). Gifts weren't much fun because she wanted cash....and today she gets a belated gift--her braces are coming off even as I write this! We have kind of a crazy day today because she will have an impression made of her mouth after the brackets come off, but will have to go back to the orthodontist later when her retainer is ready, plus she has a library program at 4:00, so she avoids school work for another day! (Ben is finished for the day and Julia did some in the morning and is going back to it after a shower.)

--Jen

Daily Quote

Luck is where opportunity meets preparation.

--Denzel Washington

Boston, Day Five...Children's Museum

Today we rode the T down to South Station and walked over the bridge to the Children's Museum. I was very happily surprised to see that the entire place had been renovated, and it was completely different from the last time we were there. Well, not completely different, because there were many exhibits that were the same at the heart of them (Arthur's World, the Bubbles Room and the Raceway, the Construction Zone) and yet were changed just enough to make them more interesting to us, who have been there over and over again. The strangest part was that, although it was obviously in the same building that it's always been in, they changed the layout around so much that it was nearly unrecognizable. They moved exhibits from the floors they'd always been on, they changed where the front desk, coat room, lunch room, and gift shop were, they added floors where there used to be openings for climbing, and even the hallways seemed to be laid out differently. Strange but it definitely made the day more fun.

Highlights included a game of basketball between me and Ben, the new climbing structure they have with curved platforms instead of flat, the room designed to show kids exercise can be fun--complete with rock climbing, a light-up dance floor, seats that you could raise in the air by pulling your weight on a rope, bouncy seats that raised a ball up a tube, and incumbent bikes that lit various lights to show how long you could ride. The bubbles and water play are always great, and the exhibit about kids in China was very good too. We were disappointed that the Japanese House was closed today, and that we couldn't play in the Art Studio because we didn't travel by car and I didn't want to lug projects around with us! Arthur's World was fun too, since they added to it, though we laughed at the kitchen doorway that was marked to show the kids' heights at different ages--they had Arthur at 8 years old marked shorter than Emma is, and D.W. at 4 years old marked about the size of your average 10 month old! And in case you say anything about them being aardvarks--Mom was marked taller than I am, and Dad taller than that!

Anyway, we played all afternoon, and at one point Rachel and I were sitting together watching Julia, Ben and Emma play in the climbing structure. I mentioned that she didn't seem to be having too much fun, and she said that it was getting a bit young for her....I then said that maybe next year she would want to stay in the hotel room by herself for the afternoon, watch movies, read, etc. and she was at first shocked and then interested--and it led to a discussion about getting her own cell phone...which I am not going to go into now. She's turning 13 on Monday! Yikes......

We walked over to Quincy Market after the museum and met Matt and our friend Sharon for dinner. We also got Emma the pair of fuzzy Crocs I mentioned not buying the other day--because this week while we were here she has had TWO pairs of shoes break! Including her old beloved Crocs that she's been wearing for two years...we got her pale pink ones with sheepskin inside for winter. I love them but the only problem is that of course with the lining they are no longer waterproof...also we had to get them huge because of the lining, so they look just a bit weird. But she seems to like them and at this point I can't ask for any more than that with Emma and her shoes.

Took our last T ride and our last swim in the pool....the kids are of course bummed that the trip is over. I am too, in a way, but it's always nice to go home too. Besides, we can now quit hemmorhaging through the wallet when we leave here--oh, wait, it's Christmas time, so we really can't! Which reminds me that I have done NOTHING for Christmas....hold on, I'd rather stay here indefinitely!

--Jen

Daily Quote

Dreams are the illusions in the book your soul is writing about you.

--unknown

Boston, Day Four...Quincy Market, Walking, Dinner with Friends

Today was another first for us...we went to Quincy Market. We've never done that before because there's nowhere to park and what with never taking the T it was never feasible. However, today we had the good combination of beautiful weather and the no stroller thing, so I decided to go for it. We took the T to Government Center, and to my delight, it wasn't crowded at all. In fact, we were accosted by a Boston Globe truck to tell us that Santa would be arriving in around ten minutes' time if we wanted to hang around. We browsed in the Croc store, where I nearly bought Emma an adorable pair of winter Mary Jane Crocs--but then came to my senses and decided not to spend $35 for a pair of shoes she could decide to never wear (something she is famous for)...

We went back to Santa, who had a very detailed conversation with Ben about what he wanted for the holidays and where he lived...he was amused when Ben told him that what he wants most for Christmas is an alarm clock--which I have to say is pretty much going to be a big disappointment for him, as the last thing I need is for him to get up any earlier! He talked to Emma and Julia as well, but not to Rachel since she was pretending not to know us so she wouldn't have to speak with Santa--till I ratted her out and he beckoned her over! That was good for a laugh, I can tell you. The photographer from the Globe took some photos of the kids with Santa, so who knows whether or not they might be in the paper.

We meandered through the shops in the North and South markets, as well as the kiosks inside. We came upon a hat seller and watched the embroidery machine do its work, when it hit me--the perfect way to get Ben to give up his ratty old hat for a nice new one. It took a bit of convincing, but then he was swayed by the fact that he could choose the color and watch them machine embroider his name on the front. He chose dark green with white writing, and it looks very fine. I promised him no harm would come to the old hat in my purse, and he handed it over and put on the new one.

We ate lunch inside and then listened to a fireman's band wail on the bagpipes for a while--I'm not really sure what they were doing. There were fire trucks parked in front with a huge American flag strung up between them, and they played "Amazing Grace," but it didn't seem very solemn or sad. Then we walked on and watched a South American combo play for a while--they were very good but then it began to get too cold to stand still. We talked and decided that we were done at Quincy Market and wanted to walk back to the hotel through the Common and the Public Garden.

We began to walk and soon came up Beacon Street by the State House, where we crossed into the Common. We had a brief struggle when we passed the Frog Pond and saw the ice skating--the kids of course were clamoring to skate but I said no because I knew that I didn't want to ice skate for two or three hours and then try to walk back to the hotel! Also, it was a more crowded rink than we are used to, and a broken arm or even a bump on the head isn't fun when on vacation....however, once we passed the skaters everyone got over it. We bought some honey roasted peanuts and cashews and soon noticed the squirrels.

Now remember, Matt and I spent five years living in Boston, and we have been coming here this same week of the year since Matt started working at APS, so that's been eight years. I know all about the super-tame squirrels. And we have fed the squirrels before too. But this was the first year that Julia was almost 9 years old seeing these squirrels...Julia the animal handler. In a trice, she had these squirrels sending their little squirrelly signals all over the park, and she had them eating out of her hands. Literally. (This was helped by the fact that we were feeding them the honey roasted nuts as opposed to whatever toddler snack I was digging out of the bottom of the diaper bag in former years, I'm sure!) These squirrels were precious--they certainly knew their audience. They came to kissy noises, sat on their haunches and when we held out our hands they came right up, put their paws on our hands and took the nut, lickety split. Julia even had them climbing onto her knees to get the nuts!

We made our way through Boston Common and through the Public Garden, squirrels on our heels, till we ran out of nuts. At the end we even had pigeons and sparrows following us, and they loved all the candy bits at the bottom of the bag! We played on the duckling statues and climbed trees and watched the ducks (lamenting the fact that we had nothing to feed them...) Finally we made it to the other side of the Garden--right by the statue of Paul Revere by Arlington Street. I pointed him out and said something about his horse and how he warned the people that the British were coming, when Emma piped up, "I don't see a horse, and he looks like a BABY!" I realized she was looking at a Cupid in a fountain, not at the correct statue at all!

The rest of the walk was uneventful, just up Newbery Street to Dartmouth and over to Copley Square to the hotel. We spent the remainder of the afternoon in the room relaxing--I checked email, read a while and even napped just a bit while the kids played and then watched some PBS shows. We went to Charley's with a group of friends, which is one of the restaurants Matt and I loved when we lived here and always make a point to go to when we're here. We had a delicious dinner and fun talking with our friends, and then made our way back to the Westin, where Matt took pool duty.

Only one more full day and we are all so sad! I love Boston!

--Jen

Daily Quote

I have found the paradox: if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.

--Mother Teresa

Boston, Day Three...Mall Day, Seeing an Old Friend, Indian Food

Today the kids and I decided to stay near the hotel. We slept late, first of all, and by the time we were dressed and had eaten breakfast, it was 11:30. Matt had an evening reception tonight so we had to have an early dinner, and it didn't make sense to try to go to a museum when we had to be back at the hotel by 4:30. So we went to Barnes and Noble, a favorite hangout of ours. We spend hours there, looking at books, reading aloud and playing games with assorted stuffed animals. I also snicker to myself, listening to Boston mothers complain about their nannies and assorted servants...and sometimes about problems collecting Social Security payments. (That was snide, I know--but having lived in Boston I feel confident in saying that the average mom in this city is pretty close to ancient!) Today we had another reason to linger in the bookstore, and that was that my old friend from elementary school, Dara, was coming in from Chestnut Hill to meet us, and I wanted to meet her somewhere the kids would be reasonably busy so that we could chat and catch up.

When Dara walked into the children's section, it was so weird! It was like seeing a taller version of the girl I knew...same eyes, same face, same laugh. We started talking a mile a minute--and then her phone rang, and it was her daughter's school nurse...Dara had told me that her kids had been sick over the weekend but were now back in school, so it was just very unfortunate that she wasn't quite well enough to stay at school--Dara had to basically fly back home almost before we'd started to talk. We promised to make better plans for next year, we took a few photos and then she had to be off.

After she'd gone the kids and I figured out what we were going to buy. Rachel got two of the "Maximum Ride" novels, Ben got two "Star Wars" activity books, I got a school book for Ben--and had to get the 2nd grade level because 1st grade was way below him--and Julia and Emma got small stuffed animals. Sigh. Not that we need any more stuffed animals in our house! But they were spending their own money and they are playing great games together with them, so I gave in. We paid for our stuff and headed back to the room. The kids played and then watched a bit of TV while I read my book, took a short nap, and knitted a while. Then Matt came home and off we went for dinner.

I'd found a restaurant.com coupon for an Indian place called Mela, just a fair walk from the hotel on Tremont Street. The kids have branched out into some Indian food lately--Matt has made some for us at home. We had a feast--lamb and potato samosas, chicken tikki masala, lamb shank curry, garlic beef, rice and garlic naan, mango lassis....it was all delicious. (Though Emma was the least adventurous and had to be persuaded to try the main dishes--she loved the samosas but the saucy entrees made her suspicious! Julia, as always, was the most adventurous eater and loved it all.)

After dinner, Matt had to go to his reception, so I took the kids to the pool. I am pleased to note that they are keeping the water far warmer than in previous years, so the swim I was dreading was pleasant, and of course the hot tub was fantastic. We stayed for quite some time, then headed back to the room for showers, pjs and "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" on tv. Now everyone is asleep and I am blogging, playing on Facebook and anticipating staying up very late, thanks to a venti Starbucks Matt brought back to the room for me! Tomorrow will either be Quincy Market or the Children's Museum, depending on what the weather report holds....

--Jen

Daily Quote

As you wish.....

--"The Princess Bride"

Boston--Day Two...The Museum of Science

Today everyone but Matt slept till 9:00! (Hooray for hotel drapes, which make any hour of the day seem like midnight when closed! Matt had to get up early for his meeting; otherwise I am sure he would have been right there with us.) We got dressed and headed down to Starbucks, our traditional place for breakfast (and grand coffee!) where we had egg sandwiches and coffee cake. Then we headed out to the Green Line T to get to the Museum of Science. I'd misremembered that we could go there on just one train; I thought I'd remembered it being on the red line, but when the concierge told me it was on the green line, we decided to do it. The kids are enjoying the trains and I like saving the money on parking.

A small aside about the museums. While I love going to museums, I have a hard time with repetition, and although we are only in Boston once a year, the museums here had gotten somewhat tedious for me. It seemed that everything stayed the same year after year, and I had started to feel a well-worn path developing. We didn't go with Matt on this trip last year; so I was hoping that the breach would improve my feelings at going. I am very happy to report that at least at the Museum of Science, a lot has changed, so I didn't feel bored at all.

Another change for us was that we didn't bring a stroller! First time we have gone into a museum without a stroller since 1995, I might add! We simply stuffed our coats into a locker and went. And we had a glorious time. Some highlights:

The Omni theater show about dinosaurs was a huge hit! We have never gone into one of those shows because I was afraid to spend a ton of money and then have a small child terrified of the intensity. Because I got a membership to the museum, we had two free passes, which meant we only had to buy 3 children's tickets, so we went for it, and I did not regret it. The show was breathtaking and informative--it was a combination of information about paleontology and archaeology, with scenes of dinosaur life thrown in--and with scenes of the Gobi desert and the American Southwest, it was visually stunning. We all were sad to see it end.

We saw a chick actually hatch from an egg! This was the first time we'd seen the process completely (ironic since we have chickens of our own!) Our library hatches chicks every spring, but we don't ever get to see more than maybe a beak chipping at the eggshell. This was full-on, egg cracking, chick sliding out, panting on its back, having to garner its strength to stand up action! We also watched the white topped tamarins for a while--they are so cute it started the kids talking about monkeys as pets---um, yeah, they can forget THAT!

There was a wonderful exhibit on mythical creatures--dragons, mermaids and unicorns. I was a bit taken aback when we got to the entrance of the exhibit and were immediately accosted by a photographer...they were taking photos in front of a green screen that when printed made it look like a dragon was wrapped around you (and of course, you could purchase the package they had neatly bagged with a 5x7, 4x6, 8 wallets, a key chain and a magnet for a mere $20, but since we are members we would get 10% off....uh, no thanks!) The exhibit itself was fascinating and the kids especially loved the computer where they could create their own dragon and release it onto the screen to play with all the other dragons...

Julia's favorite was the butterfly garden, a greenhouse full of live butterflies. We saw many different varieties, and they landed on us at will, especially Julia who was dressed in pink from head to toe and looked like a flower! Emma was not as happy in there because they had to keep it hot for the butterflies (85 degrees, according to the guide) and she was wearing a velvet outfit! So after a while she sat on a bench near a small jet of cool air and watched as Julia and Ben exclaimed over each and every butterfly. We got to watch them eat fruit, sip from flowers and even from puddles of water on the floor. They ranged from the size of a quarter to the size of a large man's hand, and one owl butterfly (so named because of the spots on its wings that mimic an owl's eyes to keep it safe from predation) took a half hour ride on my purse! I don't know what he found so interesting--it is a brown leather purse, so not colorful like a flower, and with nothing to eat unless he could smell the gum residing inside!

We spent a great deal of time in an exhibit about the senses. Emma really liked a game where you squeezed plastic squirt bottles (like the ones ketchup is in at a diner) and put pictures of the scent near the bottle. She was very good at it, too--although I think the one they thought was grass scented smelled much more like flowers. I played the advanced level game, which combined three scents in one, and did pretty well, though the third scent sometimes eluded me. In general, there was always a very overpowering scent (like chocolate or coconut) which made it hard to identify the other two. Emma and Ben also enjoyed a game where they sat on opposite sides of a curtain and one would build a block tower and direct the other to build the same one, and then they'd check to see how close they were. I am proud to say that their rapport and listening skills made them get it correct every time!

And, of course, no visit to the Museum of Science would be complete without a trip to the children's playroom--though I am a bit sad to report that my kids are growing a bit too old for this place that we used to spend no less than an hour in each visit. They enjoyed watching a black chipmunk in the tunnel tank, and Julia, Ben and Emma played a pretend game of bees for a while (there is a giant plastic hive complete with cubbies to sit in and bee jackets to dress in, as well as pollen to collect and little bee puppets to play with) but since Rachel was bored there she convinced the kids that they really wanted to go see the chicks and monkeys!

So when we were tired and the museum was closing anyway, we headed to the gift shop, where we bought some postcards, small souvenirs for Rachel and Julia's good friends, a rocket model for Ben and silver frog necklaces with crystals on them for me and the girls--Rachel and Julia got green ones and Emma and I chose pink. They will be a sweet reminder of a lovely visit to the museum. We rode the T back to Copley in the middle of rush hour, met Matt and went to Legal Seafoods with some friends from the office, so all in all it was a wonderful day. More tomorrow!

--Jen

Daily Quote

It seemed the world was divided into good and bad people. The good ones slept better...while the bad ones seemed to enjoy their waking hours much more.

--Woody Allen