Waterfront

Today we went to Plymouth, saw the Rock and toured the Mayflower II. We also ate lunch at a little cafe on the waterfront that my mom loved when she came last year.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Nantaskett beach in Hull. Ethan thoroughly enjoyed himself and it felt really good to cool off from the heat.

Whales and Witches

The next morning we woke Ethan up bright and early again. Our first order of the day was a sweet deal I snagged on Groupon to go whale watching from Gloucester.The weather started out cloudy, but ended up being gorgeous. We saw three different kinds of whales. My favorite is when the tail swing up. They actually do that to help propel them down. Afterwards, we had a seafood lunch and drove around Gloucester. This was my first time there as well and I think it is adorable.

Apparently the jet lag makes 6 a.m. even earlier. We tired this boy out!

Luckily, Ethan had been looking forward to Salem, so we were able to revive him with the promise of witch sightings.

Good thing Ethan isn't afraid of anything!

Life and Liberty

I had so much fun sharing the Boston Fourth of July with my family. We rode down bright and early to hear the Declaration of Independence reading from the Old State House, then followed the parade to see the festivities in Faneuil Hall. Jess brought some fun tattoos for us to wear.

We headed over to the North End to see the USS Constitution afloat, which was preceded by a spewing fireboat.

Since we were already there, we did the Freedom Trail sites in the North End. It was so boiling hot that day, at this point Ethan begged to run through the shooting fountains. I think it cooled him down enough to endure a few more sites around Quincy Market.

That evening, we headed over to the Cambridge side of the Charles to watch the fireworks. Jess and Ethan made friends with the cute toddler near us. She was tackling Ethan to give him a hug.

The fireworks were spectacular as usual, as were the Boston Pops. These fireworks were pretty neat how they floated down like ghosts.

Happy Independence Day!

Ethan in Boston

My nephew Ethan got his turn to come visit me in Boston this year. Just like with Preston last year, Ethan came to get a preemptive dose of American history before studying it in school. He came with his mom, Jessica, my sister.
For his first day, we started off in Lexington, visiting the Green and touring the three homes there.

We saw the cutest ducklings following their mom all around the neighborhood.
Next, we went to Concord to see the Old North Bridge and Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, then Ethan ran over to Walden Pond for a little dip.

Goodbye ASCOA

Well, folks, I did it. I've decided it is time to go leave Boston and today was my last day at ASCOA. I worked here for exactly three years, to.the.day.

Brian, Gretchen, Cody, Rob, Me, Michelle

They were kind enough to get an ice cream cake as a farewell.

Sweet Denise, my admin in South Carolina, sent me these beautiful flowers.

I am sure going to miss the friends that I have made while working for this great company.

New Stake Center

On Sunday, I was able to attend the new Cambridge Stake Center dedication. We have always had to borrow the Boston Stake's building or broadcast Stake Conference to the multiple buildings our wards met in. The Stake Center is 36,000 square feet and even has underground parking, a valuable commodity in Cambridge. As an aside, it was so nice to be in an actual LDS chapel for a meeting. We've been renting space since the fire at Longfellow Chapel last year. My ward will actually be moving to the Davis Square chapel until the Longfellow Chapel is completed. The LP wards will be sharing the Stake Center with the family wards that meet there.

Yellow Night

This month's movie night revolved around the color yellow. We had pineapple, lemonade......grilled ham and yellow cheese......corn on the cob... ...yellow squash casserole...

...and a yummy yellow soup.We then enjoyed the old Jimmy Stewart movie 'You Can't Take It With You.' As usual, delicious food, wonderful company, and good times all around. :)

B: Miriam, Nancy, Bishop, Suzanne, Ruby, Michelle, Nate, Daryl, Charlotte, F: Jarick, Emily

Nod to Mr. Rogers

Do you remember that classic clip on Mr. Rogers about making crayons? Well, my friend Cristi informed me that you can actually go to the Crayola factory in Easton, PA, so that is just what we did.

The number of crayons made... constantly increasing.

We played and did crafts in the attached Crayola museum. Lots of fun stuff there.

The next factory on the list was in Hershey, PA. Who knew there were so many cool places in Pennsylania?

My favorite thing on the ride/tour of how Hershey's chocolate is made was the singing cows.

Funny story... after leaving Hershey, we headed to NYC. After putting the address into my GPS, it showed us the route, but didn't show an arrival time. Very unusual, so I tried it again. Same thing. No arrival time. I checked a page of the travel directions and the highway looked right, so I figured there was just a gliche. Luckily, Cristi noticed that we were going towards Pittsburgh, ie, the wrong way. Finally, I realized that the setting to "Avoid Toll Roads" was checked, causing the GPS to route us around through Ohio and then up through Canada to get us to NYC. There wasn't a time showing because we weren't going to get there that day... or the next for that matter. ;)

We spent the night with Cristi's awesome friend, Jessica, in Harlem. We ate a little Indian food in Ghandi's Cafe then had a little frozen yogurt for dessert.

We attempted to go see a movie on the battleship Intrepid, but the security guards wouldn't let us on, even though there was only a little bit left of the movie.

After church on Sunday, one of Cristi's friends invited us over for his family's Father's Day tradition. He made breakfast: first, omelets with spinach, mushrooms, carmelized onions, seven Italian cheeses, and red, green, and yellow bell peppers; then stuffed french toast filled with strawberry jam and cream cheese on cinnamon swirl bread, topped with powdered sugar and a strawberry. It was definitely a delicious gourmet breakfast. On the way back to Jessica's, we passed an open fire hydrant, water spewing into the street. Of course I had to dance in it. :)

As we were leaving Harlem, these boys egged a car just as we walked by, making me jump. Punks.

"How he lived, and toiled, and suffered"

After skydiving, four of us decided to have breakfast at Henrietta's Table inside the Charles Hotel. Jason had the fantastic idea of sharing different items, which I love because so many things always sound good on a menu. We shared cinnamon cranberry french toast, eggs benedict, and an omelette. It was all delicious. I love being able to spend time near Harvard Square. I am usually only in Cambridge on Sunday, when I can't really enjoy all the fun shops and restaurants.

On a whim, we also decided to tour Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's home on Brattle Street. This house was actually General George Washington's headquarters for a time during the Civil War. There were little nods to George and Martha in many of the rooms. All of the furnishings and decor are original to the Longfellows (except for tapestries that had to be replaced), which is so unusual for historic homes.

Isn't the portrait of the three girls adorable? Longfellow described his three daughters as "grave Alice, laughing Allegra, and Edith with golden hair."

Henry spent most of his time in this room.

The second story window affords a view of the Charles River... or at least it used to. The Longfellow's owned all the land between, and Henry made sure that nothing could be built between them, which is why that park is there now. Can you see the orange construction going-ons on the left side of the picture? That is where our church that burned down last year is being rebuilt.
One of my favorite things about the house is the double staircase. One on each side of the house, connected at the landing with this beautiful window. I'm sure the kids loved to play there.

That evening my friend Cristi came over to watch a movie and she introduced me to the Purple Cow. Have you ever heard of it before? It is like a root beer float with grape soda. It was yummy. You should try it.