Boston - The City

It has been a long time since I have been in a big city and although  I don't think I would ever want to live there full time, I loved being there for a vacation. This was my view for several days last week when I had the chance to spend time in Boston with Sean and my parents.  We went for the marathon, but also experienced some of the best the city had to offer.

What better way to start the adventure than with a family selfie.

It is tradition for the Red Sox to play on the weekend of the marathon.  Saturday night we waded through the crowds and headed to the game.  When we have gone to Boston in the past, we have never thought ahead to get tickets for a game so this was  a big first.  Fenway Park is the oldest ballpark in major league baseball, and really has such a great feel.  The fans were fantastic and several locals stopped to wish Sean luck.  We even got a first timer pin when I mentioned to an usher that we were newbies at Fenway.  The Yankees ended up losing, but the entire experience was a win.

My mom and I had talked about going to the Boston Museum of Art on Sunday but had not ever made a definite plan.  I ended up sleeping in, we went and got lunch and finally decided to go to the museum with a very short window of time for our visit.  I hadn't done any reading ahead of time and really wasn't sure what we were even going to see.  That was a mistake.  The museum is pretty incredible and we were definitely regretting all the time we wasted that morning.  With a map and a lot of questions of the docents, we saw a lot of different galleries and works in a very short time.

The Hokusai exhibit had just opened a few days earlier.

He was so prolific, we could have spent all day just in this hall.

A lot of his work was done with prints made from wooden carvings,

The entire process was fascinating.  

The exhibit of American Folk Art has super interesting pieces,

Can you see the pig's fangs?

Of all of the art, this was my favorite,

Picasso

We have heard so much about the Boston Duck Tours and decided it was a great way to see the city while keeping everyone's legs fresh.  It was really fun.  In a fairly short period of time we saw a lot of sites and really got a better perspective for how the city is laid out. 

When he asked if anyone wanted to drive the boat,

Of course my mom was the first to volunteer.

The North End is famous for its food and we were not disappointed.  We stuck with the classics, Italian for dinner and cannoli from Modern Pastry.

Luke's Big Day

My mom has always made a big deal about our birthdays.....when we were kids she would always break out the "Happy Smurfday" banner, and you got to choose all of your favorites for the day. Luke's birthday was so much fun this year because he was old enough to get excited and understand that it was a special day.  We had celebrated Gavin's birthday a few days earlier so Luke was anxious to have his turn with the festivities.

I usually leave early for the gym, but on the morning of Luke's birthday, I stayed at home and was there when he woke up.  As soon as he woke up he said "it's my birthday" and wanted to go open his presents.  He had been telling me that he wanted a Spiderman hat and immediately went to look to see if it was one of the gifts.  We had waffles and chocolate milk and it was really just a magical morning.  

Luke wanted a "Baymax" birthday and was very excited about his balloons and new Baymax toy.

 

He was so excited about his new Spiderman hat.  He said that Ruby could now wear his old hat because it was too small. 

Because his birthday fell on a weekday, we decided that the easiest way to celebrate would be to have a party that someone else planned and prepared.  We went to Nickel City and everyone really had the best time.  It was so fun to watch all of he kids interact and experience the games.  We were thrilled to have so much support and Luke loved being the center of attention.

Luke was so excited that Brycen was able to come.

My mom loves this game, as soon as she got her nickels she went straight there.

The shooting games were by far the most popular with the boys.

 

I'm not sure who was more excited about the air hockey, grandpa or the kids.

Everybody, jump, jump

Way too serious for a party.

Dinner and games were fun, but the kids were all the most excited for the birthday cake.  The cakes for all of Luke's birthdays have been made by the same woman and once again, she did an amazing job.  Of course the best part of the night.....blowing out the candles.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE MAN!

Luke - Three

I am working on a full post to summarize all the magic of this little man, but for today, I have to share the amazing pictures that Jami took to memorialize his three year old mark.  We have been so lucky to have such great pictures of him to document all of the milestones.  As always, this shoot was quite the adventure - I think we were all just relieved that no one ended up in the lake.  Ruby looked so cute that we brought her along to document her at eighteen months.  Quite the bonus to see how cute the two of them are together.  These shots completely capture the personalities of my babies and may be my favorite pictures ever.