Grandpa Tom's Visit, Part 1

We have tried to keep my dad busy. He flew into Hartford last Thursday and my brother Jeff picked him up. Dad spent the weekend with Jeff, Shannon, and Socha at their place. Sunday evening, I drove over (about 2 hours west of us) to pick Dad up and bring him back here for the week.

On Monday, the kids had no school (Veteran's Day) so while Jeremy worked the rest of us took Grandpa to see some parts of the Freedom Trail that we hadn't seen before. We all rode the train in from our house. The kids have been on the subway a number of times but have been itching to ride the train all the way in. For this particular trip, it was perfect - walk over to the train station, enjoy the ride, and get dropped directly at North Station, which is about as close to our destination (the U.S.S. Constitution in Charlestown) as we could get.

Who doesn't like a train ride?

We had a gorgeous day - bright and sunny. It was a bit cold, but we kept moving. We left the house at 9:30 and returned at 8:30 that night! Can you see the 3 masts of the U.S.S. Constitution behind us?

This large anchor tells us we are getting close!

All of us aboard the ship.

The U.S.S. Constitution museum is actually a pretty nice children's museum - the kids played there for over an hour when I had to drag them away to the next place. Here, the girls help Grandpa learn to roll the sails. 

Grandpa, I am a monkey!

Next, we walked over to the Bunker Hill Memorial. It should have been about 5-10 minutes away, but our crew of 6 was not moving very quickly. Or perhaps more accurately, the our root-mean-square path was not so quick, though there were all kinds of individual, quickly moving particles in many directions.

As the Park Ranger explained, the battle of Bunker Hill is memorialized not because it was a great victory - the colonial militiamen ran out of ammunition and were routed. However, it is considered to be a significant turning point in the history of our emerging nation, because it gave the rest of the colonies the resolve to toss in their hats with the folks up here in Massachusetts.

We climbed the steps in the tower for the beautiful view over Boston as sunset (4:30 pm!) approached. There are 294 steps in all, so I brought back proof that we made it all the way. 

Actually, even Helen climbed most of the tower. I didn't have to start carrying her on the way up until step 225, and she also walked down for the first 100 steps or so. 

Look at me go!

Beautiful sunset back at the bottom as we looked at the statue.

Tuesday was slower - the kids all went to school, and I did chores at home then took Dad to see the Louisa May Alcott house in Concord. He loved it, and I enjoyed it, too. I had just taken the kids on that tour last week, with the same tour guide, but I learned lots of interesting new things this time so I was glad to go back.

Fun fall photos

I have been busy with lots of plain old life lately. Not too much time to think about writing, but I have tried to snap a few photos. The captions will have to serve as the bulk of the story this time. As always, you can click on any individual photo to see it larger.

John and Meg tried out lacrosse this fall. They had about 2 months of "skills and drills" through the local Parks and Rec department. They both loved it, and I loved that it was only a 4-minute drive from our house. 

Here, you see the reason why John's mouth looks odd in the prior photo - he wears a mouth guard. It was highly recommended by the volunteer/parent coaches. Seemed a bit overkill to me, since neither has had any orthodontics yet to mess up, but I complied. :)

Meg dribbles her ball!

Helen loved going to practices and running about with all the other siblings waiting/watching. She was always the youngest one there (excepting non-mobile infants), but she didn't seem to care.

Last week, I took Helen to her day care center on her non-day-care day and stayed with her for an hour during their "special activities" time. The kids had "Movement with Tom" and Helen's teachers thought she would enjoy doing it. They were right. She also enjoyed directing Mommy to put in pigtails, "just like this and here!"

Paying close attention to instructions, the kids scoot!

And they clap in rhythm - serious work!

The scarf dancing was clearly the biggest hit, though.

I am running for all I am worth.

And finally, our ode to Halloween. See the blue plastic bucket on the shelf? Not for long, you won't.

Helen's Parent/Teacher Conferences

I met with one of Helen's daycare teachers today for a "parent/teacher conference." It seemed a bit extreme to me for daycare, but I went with it. And, it was kind of nice to hear someone else tell me how wonderful my child is. Of course I already know it, but an outside opinion, with fresh eyes, is good for building up my prideful heart.

Anyone who knows Helen will not be much surprised by the feedback: independent, quietly assertive, very athletic (and strong), agreeable and friendly with every one, imaginative, self-confident. Unlike the elementary school teachers, her daycare teacher sent me with written documentation so I have posted it here to brag a bit. Since mostly only Helen's relatives read this blog, that seems within the bounds of acceptable.

Also, this seems like the right place to showcase some recent photos of Helen, aged 2 years and 9 months. (I have been taking an online photography class so I got lots of fun photos of the kids last weekend while doing my homework!)

You see her independent streak here? She chose her own outfit to play outside and would NOT be swayed. (Yes, that is a pull-up and mittens.)

Staying on my toes today

Remember back in elementary school when we had to write those "Fortunately, Unfortunately" books? They are a useful device for helping kids learn to sort out sequencing and development of a story line. But I have found that the idea sticks with me as an adult because, well, life really does go that way sometimes. Here is my latest adventure in the genre.

Fortunately, I had a chance to volunteer with M's 4th grade class for a Halloween craft.

Unfortunately, I had to miss my Thursday morning exercise class to do it.

Fortunately, I could make it up Friday morning. (What's a few more hours of missed work for the sake of the 9-year-old daughter who adores singled-out parent attention?)

Unfortunately, that left a 20-minute gap between dropping H off at daycare and exercising, which felt wasteful when I was already missing an extra morning of work time.

Fortunately, I had just found one of the things I need to read for work available for Kindle and downloaded that to take with me to read while I waited for class (which is right next to the daycare).

Unfortunately, I didn't think about carrying the Kindle home on my bike after taking it out of H's backpack and leaving the bag with her at daycare.

Fortunately, I found I could ride well enough one-handed to make it one mile home while holding the Kindle in my left hand.

Unfortunately, I ran into a blocked road (downed power line) which forced me to retrace my (steps? wheels?) path and take a detour to home. I wasn't sure how far out of the way that would be or if I wanted to do it all one-handed.

Fortunately, the detour took me right past daycare again, so I darted back in for the backpack.

Unfortunately, the road had just been blocked off and no detour signs were up yet. And I don't know any alternate routes through town and the GPS was of course in my car.

Fortunately, a nice town crew worker gave me understandable directions to wind my way back towards home.

Unfortunately, when I got home, the power was out. (Our house, and everything on that side of the downed line, were out of business.

Fortunately, I found that we still had water! Now quite thirsty from the hour of aerobics and longer bike ride, I got a nice long drink.

Unfortunately, I couldn't warm up my hot tea from breakfast in the microwave.

Fortunately, I could make a nice, hot, fresh pot of tea using the propane-powered stove top.

Unfortunately, I was dripping with sweat and recalled that the hot water heater was electric.

Fortunately, as I gritted my teeth for the fastest, coldest shower ever, I discovered that I was wrong and the delightful hot water was propane-heated.

Unfortunately, I realized that with well water, I shouldn't have any water, and thus might have just used up all the reserves in the pressure tank with my shower.

Fortunately, I could walk across the street to the grocery store and buy bottled water if needed.

Unfortunately, the store was out of power, too.

Fortunately, I was the only one at home for 5 more hours, so I could survive if the water ran out.

Unfortunately, I couldn't work in my home office because the internet was out and the laptop battery died within 45 minutes.

Fortunately, the town library is on the other side of the downed power line, and has outlets and internet.

So, back to work!

Sometimes it's the little things in life...

Monday afternoon, 2:30 PM.

"Helen, it's time to go get the kids from school. Let's get the bike."

 

"No! I want the stroller!"

"No, we don't have time to get there walking now. We need to bike."

"No!!! Stroller!! I want to walk!!" [She was getting a bit more emphatic.]

"Why won't you get on the bike? You love a bike ride."

[Crying now...] "I want to walk with the stroller."

[Light dawning on Mom] "Helen, you don't have to ride in the bumpy bike trailer any more. Daddy put the seat on my bike. You know - the one Grandma and Grandpa brought out for you from Michigan."

[Reluctantly...] "Well, okay."

About 1/2 a mile down the road, I called over my shoulder to Helen, "Are you having fun? Is this better than the trailer?"

[Giggling] "Yes!"

"So are you glad that Daddy got your seat ready for you?

[Gleefully giggling, now] "Yes! My daddy can do...everything! Because he is a big, big daddy. And I love him."

The End.

The cure to sibling rivalry

I recently found a short paper written by Meg at school, in a pile of papers that she brought home and dumped by my computer which I wanted to share. Meg had handwritten it, but in typing it here, I decided to leave her editing errors in for "authenticity."

By the way, did I mention that Maggie (nee Margaret) is now Meg? Try to keep up. :)

ASSIGNMENT: Writing Homework
Think of a person you admire. Does s/he have any of the six traits of good character (thoughtful self-reflection, responsibility, respectfulness, caring, civic-mindedness)? What does s/he say or do that helps you know?

"Meg                                                     9/30/13

My brother James has many of the traits of good charecter. For example he is responsible. If you give him a job it will get done. He makes sure all the jobs are done and if you need help he will give you it he won't tell you the answer but will help you figure it out so you can learn. It makes your synapses fire. He is fair because he makes sure everyone gets what they need. He also follows the rule that fair is not equal. My brother is awsome and I love him, altho he makes mistakes he is human and he is amazing."

My first day in Seattle - Research Meeting

September 19, 2013 (5:48 AM PDT/8:48 AM EDT)

I have arrived safely in Seattle and have a while of pre-dawn quiet to whittle away in my host’s home before I can start making morning noises. It seems like a good time to catch up my blog, which is woefully behind.

I have traveled here to meet with Melani, Denise, and Caitlin: 2 professors (engineering) and 1 graduate student (psychology) who have been my collaborators on this research project which is occupying my sabbatical leave. I have been working with Melani for nearly 7 years now, and she brought the others on board later. Although we attended the same conference 2 years ago, and had brief meetings there, and submitted a grant proposal together a year ago which involved daily email or skype conversations, this is our first extended, face-to-face meeting in 3 years. I am hopeful that is will give my research “juices” the same kind of creative bounce that it did then, so that I can have a much more productive year working on my own on the east coast.

I spent Wednesday morning packing, with Helen as my helper. Jeremy was working from home so I tried to keep both of us out of his hair. At 12:30 we rode our bikes up to the school and picked up the 3 older ones. (They have an early release every Wednesday.) After 3 weeks of this, I have noticed that the sidewalks are flooded with kids walking home each Wednesday, which still catches me by surprise since there are almost no walkers on the other days. I am curious as to whether this is a warm-weather phenomenon that will soon end, or a parents-at-work phenomenon that will continue through the school year. It is nice to see more activity, but it does make riding bikes home a bit difficult. The sidewalks are really too crowded for the bikes, and I am not comfortable with the kids on the road. It was Meg’s (her chosen name for this year) suggestion that we walk on Wednesdays from now on, and I am considering that seriously.

When we got home, I had a short time to eat lunch with the kids. James was kind of funny – he wanted to know the exact time I was leaving, then took off across the street to where his school chums meet every Wednesday for lunch. He left their party a bit early so he could come say goodbye to me. He was the one I had been least concerned about leaving for four days, of course, so I was a bit startled when he asked to walk me over to the train station. As we waited on the platform, he didn’t say too much, but did mention several times that he was really nervous about how the next few days would go. He has always been a pretty independent kid, and far more so since arriving in MA, so this was unexpected. It was a good parenting reminder to me – both that he is still 12, and that he holds a lot inside. He is often stewing on something that he won’t let on about. I tried to reassure him that even though Jeremy has been out of the day-to-day parenting loop for a few months, he is more than competent to care for them all.

Travel was relatively smooth, yesterday. I had a 6:35 PM direct flight from Boston to Seattle scheduled. To avoid having Jeremy negotiate the drive through afternoon traffic with all the kids in tow, I elected to take public transit. Since trains into Boston are a bit sparser in the mid-day, I caught the 2 PM. (The next choice, at 4 PM, would be cutting things a bit too close for my comfort.) I really enjoyed the train ride, along and past the route where Jeremy commutes each day. Although I have driven into Boston many times with the kids, this was the first time that I saw the trip from his perspective. I am so used to always knowing what daily work life is like for him, because I share it, that this has been a strange interlude of sending him out the door into a strange, unknown sphere. Thus, I found it very comforting to finally see what he experiences and talks about each evening. The train is actually quite pleasant (at least in the uncrowded afternoon) – it starts out through forests and nature preserve areas, then through the inner suburbs, and finally the views change to the gritty parts of Boston itself. (Not that the areas are necessarily gritty, but the views from the train tracks are.) I then had a short walk through North Station to transfer to the T, where the Orange and Blue lines brought me to Airport Station. Thus, after 1 hour of travel, I was waiting for the free shuttle bus over to the terminals.

It took another hour to check in and get through security. I couldn’t believe the line for security. I was very glad that I had elected to take the earlier train, as I would have been sweating it otherwise. As it was, I could enjoy people-watching instead. I struck up a conversation with the young woman behind me in line, who turned out to be a high-school senior at a Boston-area boarding school. She hailed from Oslo, Norway and her parents had sent her (and before, her 2 older siblings) to 2 years of U.S. boarding school to finish their schooling, so that they would supposedly have a better chance of admission to U.S. colleges. She was on her way to visit two colleges so that she could decide which to apply to with Early Decision, but as we talked, it came out that what she really thought she wanted to do was go back to Norway for school, and she didn’t think her parents would like that. She was also nervous about her traveling. Obviously air travel was not new to her, but she said that in the past, her parents would arrange everything, get her to the airport, and then her school picked her up. This trip, she had to arrange it all on her own, starting with getting to the airport from her school, and she was clearly a bit overwhelmed.

When I pulled out my Ziploc bag of liquids for security inspection, she started a bit and asked where I had gotten it. 

“Do you have any liquids or gels in your carry-on?” I asked her. 

“Yes, but where do you get the bags?”

Aha. She knew of the requirement for the bags, but apparently someone else had always helped her pack before, so she didn’t know where the bags came from. I gently pointed out that one had to go to a grocery store and buy them. However, this didn’t seem very helpful as we were already in the security line. I was so happy to (for once) have my natural hoarding tendencies pay off. I reached into my suitcase and pulled out a spare for her. (I had left one in there from my last flight so that I could be sure to find one, then forgotten and packed a new one for this trip.) The look on her face indicated that was the best gift I have given anyone in a long time – and the price was right.

Unfortunately, air travel can never be completely smooth. I soon learned that my flight was delayed 2 hours. Still, this was not as devastating as it might have been. Coming from a major airport, I had a direct flight, for once, so no connections to miss. Also, the reason was crew rest time, so the delay should be fairly precise and not drag out into the continued delays and eventual cancellations that have sometimes plagued me in the past. (Apparently, I should pay more attention to local news. There had been a fire at the airport the day before, in the refueling area, which delayed a great number of flights. Thus, the crew on this flight was late the day before, and was still catching up on mandated rest hours the next day. I am all for a well-rested crew, so what could I complain about?)

Of course, arriving on the west coast 2 hours later is unappealing from a jet-lag point of view, but it was manageable. I slept an hour or two on the plane, and arrived at Melani’s home by midnight (3 AM for me), but still got another 5 hours of sleep before my own clock nudged me awake for the day. I think I should be in decent shape for a long, productive day of work. Speaking of which, the sun is up and I hear Melani starting to move about the house, so I think that I will get on with that day. Let the work begin!

Plymouth!

Friday, August 30: Plymouth, MA

Today was Free Fun Fridays! at Plimoth Plantation. How could we pass that up? (Yes, it really is spelled that way. The town is Plymouth, so the museum chose the alternate spelling to differentiate itself. They felt free to do this since spelling in the 17th century was not yet regularized, and this spelling was often used.)

About a 65 minute drive from our home is a living history village (a reconstructed 17th century settlement with interpretive actors in costume and character to interact with; a living history 17th century Native People homesite, a reconstructed Mayflower sailing ship, a reconstructed grist mill, and the ROCK. Given the huge admission price savings, we were not the only ones to think of doing this today, and the museums were very crowded. Still, it was a nice day, and we had cleared all of it for this trip, so we could just take our time and enjoy.

We started at the Grist Mill shortly after 9 AM. It is certainly the least famous and least-attended of the various historical sites, but I actually really enjoyed seeing the engineering up close. John enjoyed trying to use the huge mortar and pestle to grind corn faster than the giant stone mill could.

We then took a pretty half-mile walk along the river to the harbor, where the recreated version of the Mayflower is anchored. The ship is partially furnished, to give an idea of the size and placement of items, but I still can't figure out where they put all 102 passengers down in that hold. (Later, I was to learn that they also crammed into that space a full complement of furniture for each family, food stores, animals, and more. It certainly makes Noah's ark seem more literally feasible!)

We briefly enjoyed the views of Plymouth Harbor - the ocean is still a novelty for us. Then we strolled along the boardwalk at the beach to Plymouth Rock. Today, it is a large enclosure with a small rock at the bottom, about 12 feet down in the sand. The rock is about the size of a small dog. There is a national parks guide standing there giving the same speech over about every 45 seconds. According to him, the rock was once large enough to be a landing dock, but souvenir-hunters over time chipped at it and carried most of it away. 

M. took a turn at the camera. She managed to catch us in a truly candid moment.

 By now, it was lunchtime. We drove three miles down the coast to the Plantation, where we waited for a parking spot (yes, it was a busy day) then ate our picnic lunch in the car. Then, we moved on the Wampanoag homesite, where Native Peoples share about the history of their people.

A demonstration of making a dug-out canoe by burning and scraping the insides.

Next was the craft barn, where artisans create the artifacts used throughout the museum. Margaret was particularly taken with the pottery wheel, and begged to return over and over again. Helen, on the other hand, thought weaving was the best, because she got to do it herself. The photo below does not do justice to the way she beamed when the woman handed her the shuttlecock.

Finally, we walked on to the English village. The view from the Block House (2-story lookout/fort/assembly hall/church) down to the ocean was lovely.

We spent several hours ducking in and out of houses, looking at the vegetable gardens, meeting the rare breed livestock, trying our hand at kneading bread dough, and more. 

Margaret really enjoyed hearing the interpreters singing in 17th-century style.

.The timing worked out just about right. As the park closed at 5 PM, we were all just about ready to quit, in any case. We drove into town and found a restaurant with gluten-free pizza for John. Helen enjoyed sitting between John and Margaret so that she could easily eat from both of their pizzas. The kids did great at a place with tablecloths - they all even tried a bite of Jeremy's salmon and my roasted beet salad. (They didn't all manage to swallow, of course, but they tried it!)

Finally, we returned to the Plantation for one last event. The Plimoth Players run a Shakespeare repertory theater in August, so we were fortunate to catch the last showing of Much Ado About Nothing. I was surprised to see that the theater was so tiny. There were 55 seats, arranged in 3 rows around a corner, with the stage making up the other two sides of the box. We sat down late (general admission) so got the last row - but that was still 3rd row. 

We had checked out several "Shakespeare-\for-Kids"-type versions of the play from the library, and I had read one of these to the kids during the drive. Still, even though this gave them a basic plot summary, I was amazed at how much they could follow what was happening. For 2.5 hours, they sat still (more or less) and paid attention. They giggled at appropriate times. They strained in their seats to better see the actors. Even Helen, whom I had assumed would fall asleep instantly (having missed her afternoon nap), followed along closely until well into the 2nd Act. Apparently, good old Will really is timeless. 

When we pulled into home at 11:30 that night, even James was asleep in the car. Truly, we wore them out this time!

On the town

Jeremy and I and Helen went out to dinner tonight. Someone from Jeremy's research group is leaving (another visiting scholar, returning to Germany after a 6-month stay) so about 20 people (grad students, post docs, visiting scholars, and a few significant others) went out to eat at a Tex-Mex / Lousiana Cajun place in Harvard Square (Cambridge).

As an aside...Quick review of the Border Cafe: Menu is interesting...a variety of choices that sounded interesting. Mostly TexMex (fajitas, burritos, fish tacos, empanadas) and Cajun (etouffee, blackened catfish) with some burgers and salads thrown in. Prices were surprisingly reasonable, particularly for being right in Cambridge. Most dinner entrees were $8-10, with burgers less and a few fish or steak entrees closer to $15. Kids' menu items for about $4. Food was fine - not amazing, but tasty. Definitely spicy.  Service was acceptable. Ambiance was pub-like; in particular, loud/grungy/garage-deco-theme: lots of wood, old machine parts. But fine to bring small children as they won't add to the din. Given the price, a place we could go back to with kids.

We didn't feel that James and Maggie were up to watching Helen, but thought they could handle a few hours at home with just John. Fortunately, that went very well.

We set off at 6, half an hour later than planned, because Jeremy was finishing up some work emails. (He had worked from home today so that he could go along in the afternoon to meet the kids' teachers at the school open house.) We ran into a traffic jam trying to get into the city on Route 2 (must have been a game or show?). We elected to get out of the traffic by turning off at Alewife Station, where we could park and ride the subway the rest of the way in. I think this was a wise decision, overall. We got to Alewife at 6:25 and found the restaurant right outside the T-stop at 6:50. I think we would have been much later driving the rest of the rest of the way and then searching for parking.

I was a bit ambivalent about the evening. It felt nice to be on a "date" of sorts with Jeremy (if it counts as that with a preschooler in tow). But, introvert that I am, I wasn't sure about meeting all of these new people at once. Fortunately for me, it turned out wonderfully. I kept thinking to myself throughout dinner how nice it was to be having lively conversation with a group of interesting adults. I guess I have been feeling more isolated than I realized this month.  My interactions with people in the last month have been mostly with the kids, some with strangers (cashiers, secretaries), and a bit with family. I certainly have loved all the time with the kids, and it has been a real treat to see extended family with whom I don't usually get to spend time. But tonight, I was really just enjoying getting to sit and get to know new, interesting people. I guess at some level, it affects my self-regard, to be able to interact with new people, take and interest in them and feel like they are taking an interest in me. In any case, I was glad that the group was friendly, outgoing, and interesting. I will have to find more ways to interact with adults this year.

We got home as the kids were getting ready for bed. Tomorrow is a "getting ready" day - preparing for some travels over the holiday weekend. More to come!

School Update

The kids met their new teachers today. They seemed simultaneously underwhelmed at the open house experience, and yet relieved to know more about the coming year. The teachers, not surprisingly, all seemed nice.

Both John and Margaret will have male teachers this year, which should be a nice change of pace for them. Mr. Reed (John) has 4 kids/step-kids in his family, too, and likes to play soccer. He should be fun.

Margaret apparently had quite an interesting conversation with Mr. Dexter about the books she likes to read, before we arrived from John's classroom to meet him. I think Margaret (or Meg, as she has chosen to go by in school this year) will have fun with that class, also. The "personal" web page about Mr. Dexter indicates someone who loves literature (as she does) and is thoughtful (as she is). I have high hopes.

James, but not the rest of us, met his homeroom teacher, Ms. Nam. He gave us a characteristically uninformative response:
"What was she like?
"Fine."
Did she seem nice?"
"Uh-huh."
He went in earlier than the rest of us to get a tour of his classroom areas and was able to pick up a schedule and the like. He seems a bit concerned about figuring out the complexity of the schedule and switches, but I think he will work it out.

Weekend Report

After our marathon museum day on Friday, we needed to lay lower for Saturday. We slept in a bit and had a quiet morning with books on the couch. Still, by early afternoon, we were getting some cabin fever. It was a lovely day, so we set off to explore our town. Using the trail map of Lincoln posted on the office wall in our house, Jeremy plotted a hiking route for us. I was glad that he was willing to carry Helen most of the way today, as my hip joints were protesting all the hours from the day before with her extra weight in the backpack. I was also glad that Helen was willing to ride in the backpack today, since our walk the previous weekend was pretty slow when taken at her pace.

We set off along the railroad tracks to the west and quickly veered off into the woods. We made a wide clockwise circle, following a high ridge line for some time. Other traffic was sparse - we encountered a couple on bikes and a man jogging. The trail ranged from wide and well-worn to barely a break in the underbrush. We came across the back end of a camp that seemed to involve horses for campers with disabilities. Finally, after about 45 minutes, we left the trail to cut across a mown hay field and came out in the playground behind the kids' school. They played for a while, then moved over to the city playground across the driving loop. Finally, dinner time approached so we returned the 1-mile home along the main road.

Nothing too exciting, but it is always fun to take a walk in the woods with your family. We finished the day with a quiet dinner at home and a family movie night on the couch (Jeremy found The Gods Must Be Crazy on YouTube and while it looked a bit dated - from 1980 -  the kids very much enjoyed the slapstick humor in it. Apparently that is something that doesn't go out of style.)

Sunday, on the other hand, was the 35th birthday of my brother, Jeff.

Birthday Boy Jeff

He called on Saturday to invite us to join them on a canoe outing. Since he lives just under 2 hours drive away, it seemed like an easy decision. I can't recall the last time I was close enough to Jeff to celebrate his birthday with him. Maybe 1991? So, it was good that we had lain low on Saturday. We were out the door by 7:45 and arriving in Deerfield at 9:30.

Jeff can access a good supply of equipment through his position as leader of the outdoor club at his school. Thus, he had a van, trailer, and canoes all ready to take us up the Deerfield River. There were two canoes for our family, and another for his (plus a friend). About 2 hours along, Shannon decided to bail out with Socha for nap time, so a friend drove to pick her up at a bridge. Their friend, Peter, also apparently decided he had had enough canoeing, and left with them. The rest of us finished another 90 minutes or so of drifting and paddling. The going was pretty slow, both because the paddlers were not very enthusiastic and because the water level was low enough in places to require stepping out of the boats and pushing. Still, it was a very relaxing trip. The scenery is beautiful, through state forests and agricultural lands, with regularly placed low-grade rapids to keep the boating interesting. I don't have any photos of the trip since I didn't want to manage my camera and kids in the canoes, but Jeff got a few "landing party" pics on the beach at his school where we pulled out.

Note that Socha and Shannon are missing - they left early for naps and so all that is left are their life jackets, being held up by Jeff and James. 

We all like seeing Socha. Jeff's birthday was a nice excuse to see her again.

Yes, it was of course nice to see Shannon, also! :) 

After a few hours of hanging about, we packed up and started for home. Jeff and family followed us, and we all had dinner together about 15 minutes up the road. It was a great place to go with kids - burgers and fries from the outside window/counter service, eaten at picnic tables while the kids played in sight with the bean bag toss and tetherball. (Helen just napped in the carseat through dinner, having worn herself out with no nap all afternoon, but fortunately, we could sit right next to the car and just let her sleep. The food at the Wagon Wheel was surprisingly tasty - mostly homemade/prepared on site, with some fresh and local ingredients. I was the only one impressed with the deep-fried green beans, but Shannon's salad with raspberries, peaches, and goat cheese looking tempting to everyone!

The only downside to the place was that they got swamped just before we arrived, and it took several hours to get and eat our dinner and ice cream. However, since the ice cream was homemade and the flavors interesting and delicious, I can forgive that easily.

Birthday Boy Jeff with Shannon and Socha. Socha (and her parents) are a bit messy, thanks to Socha fully enjoying the baked beans and sweet corn with cajun butter.

Busy Museum Day

Unfortunately, no photos for today. I have misplaced my little pocket camera (oh no!) and I couldn't lug the nice camera along with everything else. Still, try to imagine our great day in your mind. To compensate, I have tried to link to photos from the official websites, which are probably better than I could have taken anyway. Except that these will be lacking my adorable children.

Friday. Jeremy left for work a bit late, catching the 9 AM train. We were all dragging this morning - maybe it was the heat? It has been in the upper 80s  for the last few days - not that I mind having a bit of warm weather after such a cool summer. The rest of us finally managed to be packed and out the door by 10:15. We had a busy day planned.

First, we drove to Alewife Station to park the car and hop on the subway. By the time we parked, paid, boarded, and went 7 stops to Park Street Station, it was 11 AM. At Park Street we switched over to the green line. I berated myself for forgetting the option to get off one stop sooner and just walk, particularly since it was such a nice day. The green line had seemed like a slow trip last time we took it, and it did not fare better today. In fact, although we didn't wait nearly as long this time for our green train, it did poke along for the four stops. Then, at our stop, a bunch of people wanted to get out, and the conductor just closed the doors in the middle of unloading! We just narrowly avoided my nightmare, which is to have some of the kids on or off the train with the rest of our group cut off and separated. Whew! I had worried about it but didn't really think it could so easily happen.

Instead, we all ended up riding an extra stop, and walking the 1/2 mile back to the museum. This turned out to be pleasant. We passed a playground that caught the attention of all the children, so we stopped to play, then that led us on to a pretty park (Lechmere Canal Park) where we ate the picnic lunch we had brought along.

We finally made it to the Boston Museum of Science a bit after 1 PM. Since I had purchased a membership at our first visit a few weeks ago, I felt able to let the kids take it in at a leisurely pace, knowing we could come back. Of course, there is nothing leisurely about following four kids through a busy museum. My one firm rule was that we all had to stay in the same exhibit hall together. Of course, whichever exhibit someone picked, there was a quick dissenting vote from another. There are times when I think my kids enjoy disagreeing more than anything else. It actually worked to my advantage, in this case. Our membership includes free admission, but the many movies (IMAX, 3D, Planetarium) are extra, ticketed events. I vetoed the 3D because they make me nauseou - Dad will have to take the kids to any of those - but I offered to go to an IMAX film this time. Margaret was sure she would enjoy the Rocky Mountain Express (about a steam locomotive in Canada) or the Greatest Places that shows interesting geographical sites, she couldn't imagine sitting through The Last Reef, which was of course the only one the boys wanted to see. So, that was easy enough. I didn't have to fork over more money for tickets and we enjoyed the exhibit halls.

We started with a Live Animals Presentation, where the kids got to meet a box turtle, an African bullfrog, a lubber grasshopper, and a black rat snake. They were actually all quite interested. We then spent time in the Mathematica-sponsored room (about... Math!), the room on models, and the exhibit-in-development sponsored by Pixar, on graphical/digital animation. We stopped in to hear another live show, this time reporting on research projects in the International Space Station. We finished up in the Playground, where common playground equipment was used to study the joys of physics: pulleys, angular momentum, levers, speed, and more. Throughout this time, I learned that if I placed myself strategically in each room, I could usually keep track of at least 3 kids most of the time. The challenge in each room was to figure out who was the fourth one whom I couldn't watch, and then determine which of the other kids might be able to track him or her. I left with the same four kids and no heart attack, so I count that a success.

We gathered forces and departed at 5 PM because we had more to do and see this day. First, after consulting a map, I went against the advice of the info booth staff and decided to walk rather than try to cram back on the subway at rush hour. Perhaps my near-separation-scare of the morning was influencing me. The staff at the Museum of Science information center looked at me like I was crazy when I asked about walking to the Boston Children's Museum, but they did have a pre-printed page with directions, so I wasn't the only one to try it. My careful estimates (made by measuring with the width of my pinky finger on the downtown map I now keep in my purse) put the walk at maybe just over 1.5 miles - that seemed doable with the kids since I had the backpack carrier today so we didn't have to go at Helen's pace. We set off.

It was actually 6:15 when we arrived, but that included a detour one block up to Faneuil Hall where we bought dinner at a hot dog cart and ate them while enjoying music from the street performers. There were also tents set up where people could stop in and play Wii U on huge TV screens - go marketers. That was an unforeseen delay that almost cost us the evening. We rallied and marched on!

You might be wondering why we would try to hit two museums in one day? That is a good question. After doing it, I wonder that myself. But it seemed like a good plan. You see, I wasn't sure if the Boston Children's Museum would be a hit with all the ages in our family, so before I bought a membership for this year, I wanted to try it out. They happen to have a special Friday-night-only admission of $1/person, which beats the standard $14. The kids agreed several weeks ago, when they first asked to come here, that it made sense to wait for a Friday night to try it out. But then, I got to thinking, it is a big endeavor to make a trip into downtown. If we are coming for Friday night, why not make a day of it? And so we did.

As a bonus, Jeremy joined us here. That was very welcome. Not only was I glad to see Jeremy in general, of course, but I could probably not have left this second museum with all the same four children, on my own. Perhaps it is not always such a madhouse as on cheap Friday nights, but wow. Still, the kids seemed to love it. Even James, who really is a bit old for this museum, seemed to enjoy chasing Helen through the play equipment when there was nothing else to grab his attention.

The kids would have happily stayed playing until the 9 PM closing, but Mom and Dad were done for by 8:30 and started shuffling the kids out the door for the 1/2 mile walk to the subway station. Nine stops later, we were back at Alewife Station, finding our car, and making the 15-minute drive home. I had the kids tucked in bed at 9:45. Success!

So, in case you were wondering (as I was) just how far we traveled today, here is the summary (including links to the map in case you really want to follow our travels):

Drive 11.4 miles to Alewife Station.
Subway for 7 stops, transfer to green line, 5 more stops.
Walk 0.4 miles to Museum of Science, with stop at Lechmere Canal Park for lunch
Walk around Museum of Science for 4 hours.
Walk 1.8 miles to Boston Children's Museum (stop for dinner at Faneuil Hall)
Walk around Children's Museum for 2 hours.
Walk 0.4 miles to South Station
Subway for 9 stops
Drive 11.4 miles home.

Altogether, that gives me well over 3 miles of walking today, most of it with Helen on my back. Thus, I feel that I at least get a pass on my running program for the day. Which is good, since I have only been once in the 3 weeks since we moved here. My hips may not work tomorrow, unfortunately, given the way they feel tonight.

A great day - Ipswich, MA

After working over 27 hours in two days, Jeremy had met a publishing deadline and was ready for a break. He agreed to take Wednesday off from work and accompany us to the ocean for the day. The kids have been very excited to see the ocean, and I didn't think I could manage all four of them there on my own, so this was a much appreciated offer. The weather promised to be perfect - high 80s and sunny all day.

We selected Crane Beach in Ipswich, MA - it seems to be universally recommended as "the" beach for the Boston area. At just under 1 hour's drive from our home, it is not out of reach, but not a minor trip, either. We decided, therefore, to make it a full day's outing by combining the beach with a tour of the nearby Castle Hill  on the Crane Estate. That was definitely a good decision!

After a leisurely morning, we set out at 10:45. Traffic was heavy, but thanks to our new GPS (a gift from my aunts and uncles, on its maiden voyage), we found it easily and arrived shortly after 12 noon. We joined a 12:30 tour of the house, which looks, not accidentally, like the best lord's estate in a Jane Austen period film. The Crane family (of four) were from Chicago and made their fortune in plumbing. More specifically, they manufactured bathroom fixtures (Crane faucet, anyone?) at the turn of the 20th century - just the moment that everyone was beginning to install indoor plumbing and bathrooms. This house was their summer home, which they occupied for 6-8 weeks each year.

The house had a bed/bath/sitting room suite for each of the four family members, plus at least 3 guest rooms (which we saw), plus housing for approximately 60 (yes, SIXTY!) live-in staff. Of course, there were also numerous out-buildings, including housing for a live-in staff that might swell to over 120, depending on projects underway, and guest housing for single gentlemen, who were not welcome in the main house. Apparently that would be very improper.

Castle Hill - the grand entrance drive.

Castle Hill - the view from the rear of the house.

Enjoying the patio after our tour, with a view of the ocean.

In a 60-minute tour that stretched to 90 minutes, we were fascinated, and left wanting to come back for some of the alternative tours, such as the "behind the scenes" tour that shows the servants' quarters, the mechanics of the house, and such other hidden gems. (Admittedly, John was not quite as enthusiastic as Jeremy and I were, but he may also have just been hungry by this point; he seemed much more cheerful after we returned to our car for the picnic lunch.) We then, by general acclamation, spent an hour roaming the grounds of the estate, including the 1/2 mile walk down the Grand Allee to the view of the private beach below.

Picnic in the park - or the parking lot, anyway. 

Happy to catch a ride.

The "Grand Allee" - walk from the house to the sea. The kids thought this would be best put to use as sledding hills in the winter time. This photo doesn't quite capture the steepness of these hills. 

Looking back at the house from partway down the Grand Allee.

We finally made it to the end of the Allee, and were treated to a view of the Atlantic Ocean, including Plum Island just behind us here.

After all of this walking, we were more than ready for a swim. We drove over to the public Crane Beach and were in the water shortly after 3:30. The water felt really cold! (According to various posted reports, it was 56 or 65 degrees Farenheit. I would bet on the 65.) The kids giggled in surprise at the taste of the saltwater, particularly when James dove under and came up spluttering, "I forgot to close my mouth!"

After a quick dip for each of them, they retired to the "river" in the sandy beach formed by the hastily retreating tide, where they found many children willing to join forces with them to engineer every kind of dyke, moat, channel, or other water diverting device. James remarked to me near the end of our stay, "Next time we should come first thing in the morning and stay all day. But we should be certain it will be low tide so that there will be a river in the sand that we can play in the whole time."

At the very lowest tide point, around 6 pm, the kids joined with all the others on the beach in hunting clams, hermit crabs, sand dollars, and other creatures, capturing them for a time in shallow pools which the kids dug in the sand to contain them and study them. What giggles when the clams shot water out at them! What surprise at the suction-cup looking bottom of the periwinkle.

On the drive home, Jeremy and I remarked to each other how nice the beach day was, although neither of us had a chance to just sit on the beach and read our books, as we had foolishly hoped we might. (Keeping track of four children turned out to be our full-time job. We expected this, but one day things will change, so we have to keep bringing those books to be ready for the day.)

We ended the day with a stop in Beverly, MA for Italian take-out (chicken alfredo for Margaret, who wondered if it would be as good as the Olive Garden - the counter-clerk with the thick accent smirked and assured her it would be; calzones for Jeremy and James who were satisfied but not overwhelmingly so; eggplant panini for Jennifer, who was very happy with her choice) and some McD for the younger crowd. When we pulled into our driveway at 9 PM, John and Helen were asleep and everyone was happily fatigued.

A great day, indeed.