Giddy-up!

I know that someday, in my not so far away future, my adorable daughter is going to KILL me for posting these. But look at her, can you blame me? We recently watched her brother's performance that had a Paul Revere scene. So it was VERY entertaining when she came riding through the apartment yesterday on her "princess" pony with a Sheriff hat on saying, "The Rediler is out". (She was thinking, The Red Coats are coming.) Close enough. Needless to say, I was laughing pretty hard.

Massachusetts says "Hi" to Papa George

Yesterday we picked Papa George up at the airport. We didn't even get back to the apartment, parked the car and ate dinner at Mr. Bartley's. (Yes, I know. We take EVERYONE there!) Then we followed the meal with the "Harvard Tour" as Owen likes to call it.

Papa George and Owen

Allie wearing the hat that Papa George drew for her.

Dad and I found this church hidden on our walk.

There is so many cool buildings here!

Today I called Owen's school and told them that he wouldn't be there. We loaded up the car and drove to Salem. It was a little cool, but we had a BLAST!

We went on a "History of the Witch" tour.

Salem has a way of "bewitching" you!

The crew sitting on the front step of "The Witch's House".

ARG!

I can't wait to see what else we do this week!!!

Mother's Day-Boston Style

Where do I begin?

This is my #500 post! So you know it's going to be a BIG one.

I'll start with, I've had the BEST "Mother's Day" WEEKEND...EVER!!!

I had my training run Saturday morning. (I forgot to take a picture.) It was another 6 mile run with 4 miles of it hills. I got to do it around Fresh Pond, and the weather couldn't have been better. They were setting up for a community day there, so I got to see a new crew of people. After the run, we went to eat lunch at Coolidge Corner, like we usually do.

Then we took a trip to the Arboretum. We've been there 3 or 4 times and every time we've seen a different part of it. This time we went off the path and explored some of the area's flora at it's best. We had an amazing hike for about an hour, then we decided to "try" and find our way back to the car. I'll admit it, we got a little lost. But it was fun and we found the car right before it started to rain!

These are a few of the pics from that trip.

My crew

So handsome

"I picked these just for you!"

Today, being Mother's Day, we decided to take the whole family to a Red Sox game. It was Allie's first game. We left the apartment around 9:30 and didn't return until about 8:00. Talk about a BIG day. Instead of wasting words, I'll just share the amazing day in photos.

We are on our way!

The view from our seats.

My wonderful family.

4th inning ice cream

Face painting

Wii baseball (at Fenway)

Singing "Sweet Caroline"

Allie got a stuffed Wally, the Green Monster and Owen got a monkey in a Red Sox shirt. Then since it was Mother's Day, after the game they let families walk around the field. It was AWESOME!!!

The sign from the field.

Big dude and the crew

Red Sox dugout

Me and the kids in front of the score board.

They changed it to say "Happy Mother's Day".

Jake touching the "Green Monster".

The view as we were leaving the field.

You can make out the HUGE line of families still walking around the field.

As we were leaving, ushers gave me and the kids flowers.

Finally it was dinner time. So we got on the T and went to the Prudential building to eat at The Cheesecake Factory. As we were walking there, Jake spotted the "perfect" gift to get me. For those of you who know me, you will agree.

Now, my wardrobe is complete!

Training-week 6

My training run had to be moved from Sunday to today, since we were in Providence on Sunday. But it was AWESOME! I ran 11 miles along the Charles River. I took my new water bottle (I got at the expo on Saturday) on it's maiden run. Since the temp is going up, I need to keep hydrated. I also packed 24 mini gummy bears for fuel. I LOVE these! I'm glad it worked out, now I need to remember to take them on all my runs. :) I had another first, at mike 2.5 I swallowed a bug! That's equal to a protein bar, right? The run was fabulous and I did it in less time than I figured I would. The farthest I've ran is 15 miles... I'll be approaching that number very soon! I secretly can't wait!!!

"Under the Radar" Marathon

NOT ME! My amazing husband, Jake, ran a marathon today. The Cox, Rhode Race Marathon to be exact. It was in Providence, RI, which lucky for us is less than 2 hours from where we live. He was looking for one to run to have something to work towards during the "crazy" winter months. I'm so proud of him. In the last year, he gave up drinking soft drinks (we used to buy cases of Diet Coke like it was going out of style), he started "heart-rate training" for some of his runs, cut WAY BACK on drinking coffee (which was starting to get a little crazy) and baking some "healthy" cookies as treats. I know he doesn't think he has been able to get quality training runs in, with us living in Cambridge. But all these life-style changes are starting to have some positive changes to the way he runs. In fact, he ran today's marathon at 3:49:14! Even his recovery time was impressive. He ate 4 salt packs and drank several bottles of water to help with muscle cramps. He looks great, minus the awesome farmer's burn! I guess we need to buy some sun block now. :) Unfortunately, I didn't get a "good" picture of him this weekend. But I did get some good ones of the kids.

Owen relaxing in the hotel lobby.

Allie post bath, trying on the robe.

Owen waiting for daddy at Providence Place.

Allie waiting for daddy at Providence Place.

The kids had fun (minus the fact that I got them all worked up for a swimming pool only to find out the hotel didn't have one!), the weather was PERFECT and we got to spend it together! This "under the radar" trip was a successful mission. I wonder where we will go next?

Project-Lose Tooth

When you see the above picture... you might think, "Ah, how cute!?" But there is quite the story behind that nice GAP!

This tooth has been "lose" for over a month now. The funny thing about it, it just slowly kept pushing the other teeth apart. Almost like it was making room for the "big" tooth that would take it's place. Then at teeth brushing time on Thursday night, we noticed a space at the top of this tooth. I told Owen that it was just barely hanging on. That's all it took... sort-of.

First, you should know... he can't STAND blood! He wiggled his tooth a little and it bled, just a little, but it came off on his fingers.

Next comes the crying. I say "crying", but what I really mean is this gut-retching, drowning-cat howling (and some tears). This went on for about 10 minutes in the bathroom, while I kept giving him some tissue to "stop" the bleeding. I tried to tell him that if he just quickly pulled it out it would not only stop hurting, but stop bleeding too!

Finally, he takes one of the MANY wads of tissue and bites down on it. This motion causes the tooth to shift and "pop" right out! THANK GOD!

At last, you see the happy boy in the above photo. Does anyone happen to know, how many more of these I'll have to go through?

Express Yourself

We are back on-line! We don't have Wi-Fi, but our connection is good. Now I get to catch you all up. On Thursday, we went to an Art Show. This isn't too strange, there are tons of galleries in Boston/Cambridge. This one, was put on by Owen's school. They rented out a gallery and the art teacher from his school selected about half of the student population to be represented.

The program

Owen was one of the "lucky" ones to be displayed. The funny thing is all week he was telling me about some sculpture he did, that he didn't like, would be on shown. Needless to say, we were all surprised to see a self-portrait painted by him.

Masterpiece

Of course, being a school function, we are starting to run into friends. It's going to be sad when we move back. We secretly hope that some of our close friends decide to take a brief trip to Wichita/Kansas.

A.J. and Owen (notice how they are both tilting their heads?)