Wednesday, June 27th

Happy Birthday, Jamie!

Today's post is postponed due to lack of COOL! The computer room is one of the rooms without AC, and it is LA Hot in there! But there are thunderstorms scheduled for tomorrow, and highs back down to the 70's by Friday. Yay!

Tuesday, June 26

Hot!! Hot!! Pant, pant, pant.
I know, the high today was only 93. But there is no air conditioning!! The church where we are going to VBS is not air conditioned! It wasn't too bad. After VBS we went to the pool, very nice. Cool water. And, Rachel passed her deep end swim test! Yea!!!
We went to get a movie and a pizza for supper. Tim ate with his study group tonight to strategize and socialize. There was no way I was going to cook in that kitchen. I used my pampered chef kitchen thermometer just now, and it says the kitchen is 91 degrees! The main hall is 83, and the upstaris hall is 90. We have the window units running in all 3 bedrooms and are keeping the doors shut so at least those rooms will be cool. I will be glad to get home to the land of air conditioning!! Tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter - highs in mid to upper 90s with a heat index of 100. But, fortunately, Jamie has planned to spend the afternoon at the mall tomorrow, and to have dinner at Rainforest Cafe tomorrow night. It is supposed to thunderstorm all day Thurs (highs only in the upper 80s) then highs are predicted to be in the 70s until early next week. Thank goodness!!

I had a God moment today. I was talking with the director of VBS before the kids came up for closing. She told me that there actually was a wait list for coming to VBS, but that since we made the effort to come to church on Sunday morning, she put us in. In a way, I feel a little bad that someone else didn't get in. But I am so relieved that we did!! I have enjoyed talking with folks from both congregations as I have been there helping. Plus, it has been really good for Jamie and Rachel to have a break from each other all week. I have also appreciated having a break from the kids!! I guess God knew I needed it.
Blessings to you all!!!!

Monday, June 25

We went to VBS today at Payson Park. It was fun. The theme this year is Avalanche Ranch. Rachel is actually in the class of rising 2nd graders, because the 3rd grade group was full. But she has already made a new friend. His name is Joseph, and he came to Bible school all decked out in full cowboy gear: hat, bandanna, boots, even spurs!

Jamie also made a friend today, her name is Emily. Maybe he'll connect with some of the boys in his group during the week. David is actually in the 3 year old class. I'm helping out with snack. It's a good way for me to get involved low key; to see the church, the kids, and the program before just leaving my children with strangers. I'm going to help again tomorrow, but Wednesday, I'm going to enjoy the first moments I've had alone since the end of May. I also have some things to do to get ready for Jamie's birthday on Wed. There is a big group of kids (about 70). There is also a lot of church involvement - 26 adult volunteers and a whole flock of teens! Apparently there are two churches that join together for VBS. I also understand that these two congregations are in the process of talks of merging the two permanantly.







We went to the sprinkler park this afternoon. It was a hot one here - in the 80s. The next two days it's supposed to be in the 90s. It's really hot, too, because we only have the 3 window units in the house. When I put David to bed tonight, the temp upstairs was 84! And now, at 10:00, it's 82 downstaris!







Anyway, we met Mina, and her 2 children, Cybele and her 2, and Sara and her 1 with one on the way (due July 5) at the sprinkler park around 4. Rachel and Kia had a great time together. Rachel says that she's not bothered at all that Kia doesn't speak much English. She said that today Kia communicated several times with hand gestures. I know that Rachel will give Kia lots of practice listening to English!! Jamie found a group splashing each other and joined in, so he had a good time too. I don't think that they ever exchanged names and other personal info. David wouldn't go into the water at all. I tried to take him to a place where the water had pooled, but the sprinklers weren't spraying above the feet. He still didn't like it. He spent time in the sandbox and on the playground equipment. Then we had the treat of an ice cream truck coming up to the park. David got a snowcone which he sucked on with glee until he dropped it. Then he was sulky the rest of the time we were there because mommy wouldn't let him eat it off the ground.







Tim came home for dinner tonight. So we got to enjoy a family meal together. He says he thinks he did ok on his Accounting exam.

Sunday, June 24

Today we went to Payson Park Congregational church to worship. I had seen a sign outside that said they were having VBS next week, so we thought we'd go check out the kid scene. The church was small but friendly. The kids are signed up to go to VBS. And there are boys in Jamie's age group. Maybe we'll make a buddy. Pray for one for him!

After church, we grabbed a quick lunch and the kids and I headed to the pool to give Tim quiet to study. He has an accounting exam tomorrow. Rachel made three new friends. And David enjoyed the water, even though it was fairly chilly! I met a family from Kentucky who had relocated to Belmont for work. They've been in the area for about a year. We talked a little about churches, and she said that they had a hard time finding the right spot too. She told me about the church they attend now. It's a non-denomintaional one in Lexington. She said that it has lots of kids and young couples. So, maybe we'll have to check that one out.

Tonight we had dinner at a Fellow's house, Michael and Maren. We all brought a dish, and our hosts grilled out. It was a beautiful evening to be outside. The kids all got along quite well. THere was a sandbox, and David spent most of his time there. Rachel made a new friend, Kia who is from Finland. All of the moms are going to meet tomorrow to take the kids to the sprinkler park. It should be fun.

Mina, Sara, and Cybele

Adriene and Louis

Saturday, June23

Today the kids and I ventured back out to Land's Sake farm for the Strawberry Picking Festival. It was a beautiful, cool day. Like a sunny fall day in Alabama. We took Tim in to school to meet with his study group, and then headed out. On the way, I got a phone call from the couple we met at Belmont Methodist that are from Australia. They have friends also in the Australian Air Force who have been stationed in Montgomery for 3 years. Those friends were passing through, and Russell called to see if we could come have a barbecue. Unfortunately we were already headed out to the farm. I did talk to both sets of husbands and wives. It was kind of neat, actually. The friends in Montgomery have kids Jamie & Rachel's ages. We're going to try to hook up when we come home in a year. They'd like to make a visit to the Space & Rocket Center.

We arrived at the Strawberry festival at about 12. We met Cybele and her children there, bought our baskets, and headed out to the field to pick strawberries! At first we were having a tough time finding good red, ripe strawberries. We got several that weren't red all over. The field had been a little picked over. Then we found a couple of rows that had much better berries. We had 2 baskets: one for the boys and one for Rachel. David had a great time picking berries. I would find a good berry and then call him over to pick it. Rachel did a great job filling up her basket with dainty red strawberries. After that, we got lunch and ate it at a picnic table while being serenaded by a bluegrass group (guitar, mandolin, fiddle, and banjo). Made me think of home and all the guys from Cotton Patch Gospel. A little later in the set, they played an Irish reel, and Rachel had to get up and dance. We're definitely going to have to find a place for her to take lessons up here! She can do a good little jig a-la Riverdance!! After lunch, we wandered around the farm for a bit, and then decided to head back home.

After dropping off our strawberries, we ran out to Blockbuster to return some movies and to Target. This trip was much more calm for David. He did get upset when we walked past the Thomas aisle and mommy wouldn't stop, but he calmed relatively quickly.

Tim got home from school sometime around 6, and we decided to try an adventure for dinner. We went to Bugaboo Creek Steak House. It's made to look like the inside of a lodge in the Canadian Rockies. There are talking trees, buffalo, and flaping taxidermied fish. It was cute, and the food was pretty good. After supper, we came back home to make strawberry smoothies. Rachel wanted to help, so she did several steps. But she wasn't crazy with the final restults. Jamie kind of liked it though. He wants to make banana smoothies next.

Quick Note from Tim...

Many have asked what's going on with me, so here's a typical 'day in my life'. It isn't nearly as exciting as the activity of Sonja and the kids.

We are in full swing academically. I am taking four graduate level business classes (Financial Accounting, Microeconomics, Marketing Management, and Probability and Statistics), and we are convened from 8am until 5pm. We will complete a semester's worth of work in about five weeks... I have my first mid term exam Monday! This insane pace is required to complete all the required coursework in one year. If you are interested, the course curriculum can be seen here.

Much of time is spent doing individual work, as I have to be prepared to contribute to our group case work. My study group is quite diverse - myself, Ramesh (India), Luis (Portugal), and Charlie (South Korea). We usually meet after classes to discuss our case summaries and prepare other assignments. The study groups are combined with others for larger project assignments, so one of the challenges has been prioritizing all of our waking moments to maximize the use of our time together. I've even been on a four-hour Skype teleconference with a meta group to complete an assignment... All in all, I'm doing ok (averaging about 5-6 hours sleep per night).

I get up around 0500, study until 0630, and at around 0700 I walk down the street to Cushing Square, where I catch the MBTA Bus 73 to ride to Harvard Square. There I board the T (the subway), which I ride to the Kendall/MIT stop. Total time in transit is never less than 30 min or more than 40, and is always standing room only. From the T station at MIT, it's about a five minute walk to the Sloan school (with a small detour into Au Bon Pain for a cuppa joe :-) We do get breaks between lectures, which are almost always occupied with small group discussion, problem solving, and coordination. The hardest part is the inevitable comparison with my undergraduate days, where I spent a good 2-3 hours out of class preparing for each hour in class. If I tried to apply that ratio here at Sloan, I'd be working 27 hour days, not accounting for sleep, hygiene, and family!

So at the end of the collective school day (which comes at a prescribed time, otherwise we'd work continually), I reverse the process - walk to the subway station, ride the T to Harvard Square, then catch the 73 bus for the return trip to Cushing Square. I get home, walk to the house, collect the mail, then hit the books...

It is becoming routine. Most of us are in 'barely hanging on' mode. I never had to do anything approaching a medical residency, but if this is a hint, I'm glad I didn't choose that career path - plus the fact that continual sleep deprivation really impairs analytical processing!

On a positive note, I took a break Wednesday evening and watched the Space Station and Shuttle fly over - WOW! The shuttle had separated from the ISS the day before, and were still within a few degrees of each other as they passed almost directly overhead (Rachel was the first to spot it!) We watched for a good four minutes, and it looked like a dog-chasing-cat race across the sky, with both about as bright as Venus.

So - it sounds tedious, but the course material is fascinating, and when I have time I'll write more. The faculty are all world-class, and the PhD students leading the recitations are excellent as well. The courses all dovetail, so there is clearly a common thread.

Finally - the other fellows are a fascinating lot. For example, one of my new friends owns a private equity firm in Switzerland, and he is a big proponent of "Web 2.0". From his idea, we have had about 1/2 the co-hort set up profiles on facebook.com. If you haven't checked it out yet, and you are so inclined, do so. Alfonso said, "It's the next Google." That may be a big exaggeration, but there is rationale behind the statement.

Cheers!

Friday, June 22

A cool, rainy day today. Our big outing today was a trip to the grocery store. We did have a visitor for lunch. One of the partners, Cybele, and her husband have just gotten to move into their house here in Belmont. They have been in a Residence Inn with their 2 small children since mid-May. Anyway, I invited Cybele over for some lunch. I was so excited to have a clean house that I could invite someone in to on the spur of the moment. I'm looking forward to coming home and trying to get my house more in order. The rest of the day was filled with scattered thundershowers, so we didn't try to go back to the pool. We just had a nice day here. Tim made it home for dinner for the first time this week, and that was a nice treat. Jamie has almost finished Harry Potter. He has been a little obsessive about getting his reading done. He doesn't want to have the raido on in the car because he's reading. I am proud of his accomplishment. He says that he has enjoyed the reading, but is ready to be free from it for awhile. He says I can have as much time as I need to finish #6, because he wants a bit of a break. Whew! Because I am behind!

Thursday, June 21

Today we completed our aborted tour of the Mt. Auburn cemetary. They have a nice audio car tour with music and narration. One of the first stops is the Ballou statue - he was a "founder" of the cemetary. It reminded us of our Ballews!

The entire cemetary is wooded and lush. There aren't many flowers in bloom right now, but there are supposed to be many flowering shrubs and plants all through the cemetary. And the graves are also quite interesting and beautiful. There are wrought iron fences around some family plots, some mausoleums, and some family groupings enclosed with marble. The cemetary has both old and new, as it is still an operating cemetary today.

The sphynx was one of our favorite things. It is actually a monument to the Union soldiers. It was commissioned by another one of the cemetary "founders", Mr. Biggelo. One interesting fact is that he never saw his design completed because he went blind before it was finished. He could only feel it and remember what he had planned it to be.


We got out and walked around a couple of times. There was one part of the cemetary that you couldn't see from the road. It is called Dedication Dell. It is over a rise and has a pretty little pond down at the bottom. The surrounding hillsides have more graves and greenery.

We also liked this one that had the family dog carved from marble. The urn above it is partially "draped" and looks like a real piece of cloth covering it!! Jamie and I were impressed.

The tower is at the top of Mount Auburn. It is the center of the cemetary. It was also designed by Mr. Biggelo and honors George Washington. It has 97 steps that wind around inside. When at the top, you are 187 feet above sea level. There is a spectacular view of Boston from the top! The "founders" wanted the visitors to the cemetary to experience a view of "the city of the living from the city of the dead." That one really stuck with Rachel. The big kids enjoyed being at the top and looking at all the views. David, however, didn't want to move from the top of the steps. He was not at all interested in looking out. So maybe he is afraid of heights. We finally got him off of the steps for a picture, but then he was ready to go back down.

David has a good grip on Mommy's shirt!

The kids were really ready to go by this point, so we finished up the tour without walking around any more. We grabbed a quick lunch at McDonald's and headed home to suit up for the pool. Belmont is home to the "Historic Underwood Pool". I haven't found out why it's historic yet. It's a fairly nice pool divided into two halves. The right half is all shallow 1' to 3'. The left half has a deep end and a diving board.

The kids have to pass a swim test to get to swim in the deep side. Jamie passed after grumbling about having to take the test. Rachel didn't make it. You have to swim a square around the deep half without stopping or touching the bottom. She was angry and upset that she didn't pass, but she can take the test again next week. She just needs to work on building up her endurance. And, we're taking swimming lessons when we come home, so she surely will be able to pass the test after that!

Tonight, our landlord was on Jeopardy! We missed most of it unfortunately!! Maybe we can catch a re-run at a later date.

We went for ice cream after supper. We were going to walk, and started out that way. But, David started running and fell down. We picked him up and brushed him off and he was fine to keep on going. But then he tripped over an uneven place in the sidewalk (they're all very uneven!) and went sprawling. He bumped his sweet little head on the nose and lip. We had to come back home and clean him up a little after that. So then we decided to drive.

Speaking of driving. . . I paralled parked twice today! And I made it in both times. An accomplishment I am quite proud of, since I can't remember the last time I did it!!

Wednesday, June 20

I am so glad to have my vehicle back!! I just don't do well when I feel stuck. I'm an on-the-go girl!! And I guess I'm creating on-the-go kids. Today we tried for an outing with the Partners/Spouses of MIT group. They were supposed to be going strawberry picking and picnicing. We drove out the the farm, under a steady rain. When we got there, they had sold out of strawberries on hand, and they don't allow you pickers in the rain. So, we were just out of luck. They are having a strawberry festival on Saturday. Maybe the kids and I will venture back out there for it.

Instead of picnicing on the farm, we came home and had our picnic on the living room floor. We decided then that we should go see a movie. First we went over to the town hall to get our pool passes for the summer. (A good deal - only $140 for all 5 of us now thru Sept. 2!) I think we're going to give the pool a try tomorrow. Then we headed over to Burlington to the movie. We went to see Surf's Up. I wasn't expecting much, so I was pleasantly surprised that it was a pretty cute movie. I really liked the messages about sports, competition, and friendship. David was great during the whole thing, of course he ate lots of popcorn. We came home and had dinner. Tim had a late night tonight, so didn't get home until almost 8. We put David to bed and at 9:19, we headed outside to look for the space station and shuttle. It traveled more directly overhead this time, and we were less overcast. Rachel was the one who spotted it! She was so excited and she yelled out when she saw it. It was pretty cool! The two bright lights were traveling together in a straight line. We spotted it easily, even though we have a lot of airplane traffic overhead. We had lots of false alarms with blinking lights before Rachel found the real thing.

Tuesday, June 19

Hooray!!! We have our van back!! We have a new radiatior. Actually, we now have an entirely new cooling system. Hopefully it will be worth at least a year's worth of drivability.

We didn't get the van back until late in the day, so it was a stay-at-home day today. We did laundry and cleaned house. We walked to the square for lunch since we're out of bread for sandwiches. David was an absolute monster child at lunch. He wasn't happy with anything. He cried to get katsup on his plate. Then he cried because there was katsup on his plate. Then he cried because Jamie and Rachel each had one of his french fries (it was a plateful). I could go on and on. I actually took him out of the resturant twice to calm him down. The second trip outside worked, though, and he ate every bit of his lunch! When we got home, I tried to put him down for a nap, to no avail. We read a book and lay in bed for almost an hour, his little eyes rolling the whole time. But he just would not give it up. Later in the afternoon we rode our bikes to the playground at Chenery. David braved the slides for the first time and loved them. When we were coming in the door, we got the call from Mickey that our van was ready. We got the van and drove on in to MIT to pick Tim up and have some dinner.

Tim gave us a quick tour of the MIT campus. We got to see the classrooms and study rooms that fill so much of his time these days. Then we went to the most interesting building. I call it the Dr. Seuss building, because it looks like something he would draw. It is one huge, crazy piece of architecture. The kids started calling it Star Command so David would be excited about going to see it. Then we walked over the the student center to the little Taquirita there. I have been amazed that there are no Mexican resturants anywhere around us. Jamie has planned on several trips to Las Vias and China Wok when we come home next month. Then we walked back to where our car was parked walking down the endless corridor and then in the underground tunnels that connect most of the MIT campus. Pretty cool, actually. We ended the evening back home looking up to the heavens trying to see the fly-over of the space station and space shuttle, but it was no go. It was too cloudy and there are actually too many trees all around our house to be able to see. Maybe we'll do better tomorrow night.

Monday, June 18

Well, today the kids and I took our first trip on our own out to Boston. We had discount tickets for the New England Aquarium from the library. We decided to go today because it's the last day of school for our area and we thought it might be less crowded than a regular day. We took one bus and three trains to the aquarium without any mistakes. Jamie and Rachel are very helpful with David when we are traveling! It makes our outings go so much better!! We also took the added measure of stopping off at the service station and getting the stroller from the van, which made a huge difference!!

Right now the aquarium has a large penguin exhibit. It was really good. The kids got "passports" to stamp at different stations along the way. The penguins were in an open style area that you could look down into. These penguins were not from cold habitats, so the whole thing was normal room temp. I didn't know that there were penguins that didn't live in the ice and snow. One group of penguins was from Africa and another from Australia. I can't remember the third. David enjoyed looking at them. Also on that floor was a large "Save the Seaturtles" exhibit which Rachel loved!!

They also had a great jellyfish exhibit. All three of the kids really enjoyed that! There were lots of interactive parts to it. I learned that the jellyfish population is actually growing out of control because of the ways that people are messing up the oceans (overfishing, overfertilization, etc).

My favorite part of the museum was one little turtle in a tank. He was so funny! He would swim up to the surface for a breath, and then turn and swim down to the bottom. Then up to the top and down again. He did this over and over. David thought it was really funny. We followed along saying, "up,up,up.up,up" and "down,down, down,down". Another funny moment was when we came up to one large tank that contained some huge fish. David ducked and covered in his stroller, and didn't want to look at them.

Jamie also really liked the sea dragons. I didn't take a picture, though. We didn't get to look at them for long because David was still recovering from the "big fish" encounter.

Both boys tried their hands at petting starfish in the touch lab. Rachel mostly just watched this.

We walked up to the top of the tank and got a good look at Myrtle the sea turtle. She is around 70 years old and 600 lbs. We watched her swim round and round from the top and then in the windows as we wound our way down and around the tank.

We also saw an IMAX movie today. Sharks 3D. It wasn't as "in your face" as I thought it would be. I kept waiting for a shark to swim at us, teeth bared, but it didn't happen. Plus, the show was narrated by a sea turtle - which Rachel loved. The show was also about more than just sharks, they included lots about the prey too (sardines schooling, sea lions, dolphins, etc). I also learned that many well known species of sharks are now on the endangered list- like hammerheads and whale sharks. David fell asleep during the movie, so he got a good little rest and was ready to take off on the journey home. We came home during rush hour, so the trains and the bus were very crowded, but it wasn't too bad. People here have been very nice to offer help with the stroller on and off the trains and to give up seats so the kids can sit down. I really haven't seen too much rudeness from any of these "Yankees."

>>> Geek Alert <<<

This might be over the top, but I thought it was fascinating:

Tomorrow evening (Tuesday) - if the weather is clear, you will be in for a treat in North Alabama - the International Space Station and Shuttle will be undocked, but flying close enough together for a neat sighting. It will be low on the horizon, but you are right on the cuttoff for best visibility. If you want to read more, check out the article at space.com.

Hartselle:
Date Mag Starts Max. Ends
18 Jun 2.1 22:46:52 10 NW 22:47:48 18 NW 22:47:48 18 NW
19 Jun 1.5 21:33:14 10 N 21:35:10 16 NNE 21:36:08 14 ENE
20 Jun -0.2 21:53:06 10 NW 21:55:43 47 NNE 21:55:43 47 NNE

Belmont:
Date Mag Starts Max. Ends
18 Jun -0.9 22:13:08 10 WNW 22:15:52 74 WSW 22:16:34 52 SE
19 Jun 0.4 20:58:54 10 NW 21:01:35 35 NNE 21:04:15 10 E
19 Jun 0.8 22:34:02 10 W 22:36:08 24 SW 22:36:08 24 SW
20 Jun -0.9 21:19:20 10 WNW 21:22:12 88 SW 21:24:30 15 SE

Now what's *really* cool is that for most of these, we see them in different passes at Belmont than you do in Hartselle (each pass is about 90 min apart, and the geometry has to balance perfectly to be in dark on the ground but have the ISS/STS illuminated above you by the sun - also, remember we are 1 hour ahead of you here). However, look at 19 June - the 21:33 pass for Hartselle is the same pass as the 22:34 pass for Belmont - it just becomes visible here about 45 seconds after it becomes visible in Hartselle, and for about two minutes it can be seen both from Belmont and Hartselle - HOW COOL IS THAT?

I got my data from heavens-above.com (my favorite for ISS/STS/Iridium Flare passes, etc), but the official NASA site may be a tad more user friendly.

Enjoy!

tim

(P.S. - can you tell I needed a break from school?)

Sunday, June 17

Happy Father's Day!!!

We've had a good day, and I'm feeling in much better spirits for having spent the day not cooped up at home with the kids all by myself! We played hookey from church this morning to spend time with Tim. We had a yummy breakfast from the bakery and opened presents. Daddy got coffee mugs from David, a very nice leather bound copy of works by Thoreau from Rachel, a Boston Red Sox t-shirt from Jamie, and a slingshot yard game from all of us. He said that we had covered all of the bases for Father's Day gifts. . . a necessity (coffee cups), his love (book), fitting in to our new locale (t-shirt), and something to do outside with the whole family (game).

Then we set off for our Father's Day adventure. We let Tim set our path since it is Father's Day.

We caught the bus to Harvard Square and then went on to Boston (Haymarket Street) by train. We walked through Quincy Market and looked around a little. And then on toward our destination. On the way, we stopped to look at the Holocaust memorial. It was really moving. It is in a smallish greenspace between 4 lanes of downtown Boston traffic. It consists of a sidewalk that moves through several tall glass towers. There is one tower for each of the concentration camps from WWII. Etched on the glass of each tower are the numbers of each person who died in that camp. There are also facts about the war and the holocaust carved in the sidewalk. Inside each tower, the floor is a grate from which steam rises (bringing to mind the gas chambers). Rachel asked a lot of questions. I guess we had never talked about it before. She was amazed that someone could do so many horrible things. At the end of the path there was a stone marker with a quote from Dwight D. Eisenhower about his experience seeing the camps and that he wanted to see them with his own eyes so that if in the future someone tried to minimize or deny the atrocities committed, he would know the truth. Jamie and I had a good discussion about that. He was amazed that there are people who want to deny that the Holocaust never really happened.

For lunch, we stopped in at a little pub called The Purple Shamrock. It was a great little place with "authentic" Irish foods. We all enjoyed our lunch. David especially liked the french fries and katsup. He had discovered that katsup is the best thing around. He even eats it by itself!!!

After our lunch break, we set off on the last half of the freedom trail. It took us down to Boston Harbor, where we caught the ferry over to see the USS Constitution (old ironsides). We unfortunately missed the last guided tour of the day, so we only got to walk around on the upper deck. The kids enjoyed wandering around looking at the rigging, cannon, and captain's wheel. We'll definitely have to go back so we can get to see below deck!

From there we walked to the visitor's center. We watched a movie about the Battle at Bunker Hill. It was a multimedia presentation that combined a movie with figures that reminded Jamie and me of the Cyclorama in Atlanta. David said that the "fire" was scary (when they called for the troops to fire during the battle, lights and gunshot sounds would go off).

We walked up to the Bunker Hill monument. On the way, we saw an ice cream truck. So, of course, we had to stop. The kids got goodies and Tim & I had some much needed cold bottles of water. We sat on the steps to eat and visited a little with the man who owned the truck. He had grown up in that neighborhood, and now works there in the warm months. During the winter, he lives in FL. Of course, it was our accent that was the conversation starter. It was kind of neat to be at Bunker Hill on the actual anniversary of the battle. Unfortunately, the museum was closed as was the stairway up to the top.

From there, we began our long journey back home. We walked about 10 min to the T station (near Bunker Hill Community College - where parts of Good Will Hunting were filmed). Then we got on the orange line, changed to the green line, and then to the red line. The red line was undergoing repairs going over the Charles River today, so we took the red line to Park station, got off and on a bus to Kendall station (the MIT stop), then back on the red line train to Harvard Square. David fell fast asleep in the bus from Park to Kendall. The poor baby was tuckered out from all the walking he did today. He really did pretty well, but Tim and I carried him a lot (the stroller is in the back of the van . . . in the shop). He absolutely does NOT like to be on Tim's sholulders. He's the first child we've had that cries when he gets up there. He'd rather walk than go on DaDa's shoulders! When we force the issue because he's too slow, and mommy is worn out from hauling him around, he hangs on to Tim's hair or ears for dear life. Bless his little heart!! Anyway, we made it home after about 1 1/2 hours of transit. Whew! We probably would have done it that way even if we had the van, though, because there is no place to park in Boston!!

Saturday, June 16

Another day spent mostly at home since we're without a vehicle. AGAIN!!! Tim took the van in and learned that we have a cracked radiator. So, we'll be without wheels until at least Monday. Tim went in to MIT to meet with his study group this morning. The kids and I spent our time playing and making Father's Day cards. Jamie drew a great Buzz Lightyear for David's card to Tim, then David colored it in. I think that David is going to have a very hard time turning ownership of the card over to Tim. But he did want to give it to "DaDa" as soon as Tim got home. Things make so little sense when you're only 3!!

We had a nice picnic lunch in the back yard today. We're out of milk, so we had sweet tea for lunch. The kids all enjoyed the treat, as I don't make sweet tea very often. After lunch, we played outside for awhile. Tim had a conference call with some classmates to do some school work for the afternoon (it ended up lasting 3.5 hours). So, the kids and I entertained ourselves with reading, walking to the store for wrapping paper, wrapping Tim's Father's Day presents, and watching a movie. David wasn't much interested in the movie, so we went upstairs to play with his trains and the viewmaster discs of Larry Boy.

Once Tim was done with his conference call, it was dinnertime. We all wanted to get out of the house for a bit, so we walked about a mile down the road to a little pizzaria. Jamie tried chicken parmesan for the first time. He thought it was ok, but I could tell that it really wasn't what he was expecting. Tim and I both had calezones, but we should have just split one. We did take the leftovers home for a later meal. After that, we walked back toward home and stopped in at the ice cream parlor. It was really nice out, so we ate our ice cream at one of the outside tables. When we got home, it was time to put everyone to bed. Then I set off to reading my 2 chapters in Harry Potter for the day. I'm glad that I'm rereading the book, because I had forgotten so many things! I'll definitely be ready for the new one next month. I ended up staying up until almost midnight reading, even though I had been exhausted most of the day. I just got a second wind and got involved in reading. Maybe I'll get a good night's sleep tomorrow night.

Friday, June 15

Wow!! June is half over! I can hardly believe it. I'm just glad that all the days haven't been like today. This was a disappointing day. Rachel was in the dumps from lunchtime on. She says that this was the worst day ever for various and sundary reasons. David was extremely clingy today too. We spent time in time out for hitting and lost toys for throwing them. Tim had a rough day too, on the heels of very little sleep last night.

The worst part of the day for me was our outing for the day. I had decided to take the kids to the Mt. Auburn cemetary. It is the oldest garden cemetary in the US. It is lush and green, full of plants and trees and lots of sculptures in, around, and a part of the tombstones. There is also a large tower in the cemetary that you can go up in and see Boston. We got the auto tour - a CD tour with lots of nice music, stories and interesting facts about the cemetary. We got about 15 minutes into the hour long tour when the van started smoking and smelling like antifreeze. I pulled over, got out and looked under the hood. Sure enough, the antifreeze compartment was almost empty - even though my temperature gauge never moved from the mid line. ARRRRRRGH!!!!!! I left the cemetary in an extremely foul mood. It did help, though, that the kids were also disappointed that we had to stop our tour and that the nice lady in the office gave us our money back since we didn't get to do the whole thing. I took the cursed vehicle home and tried to call Tim to see if we should take it back to Mickey or try someone else. Tim was, of course, in class, so I didn't get through. When he got home from class at around 6 (earlier than I had expected), I gave him the bad news. He called Mickey who is going to take a look at it tomorrow morning. Tim will take it in on his way to his study group meeting in the morning. So, again, we are without a car.

David and Rachel remained grumpy until after supper. David wanted me to play instead of cooking, and Rach just wanted this terrible day to be over. Now, I'm just plain pooped. Maybe next week will be better.

Thursday, June 13

Our adventure today took us to two malls. The kids and I needed to do our Father's Day shopping, but I was hoping for something a little more fun than just a mall. So, I got online and searched on mall + playplaces. The site for the Atrium Mall came up. The site said that it had a playspace for kids to enjoy. It wasn't too far away, either. I was quite tickled with the find, so off we went. When we got there, I got a call from Julie while we were still in the parking garage. She was calling with the news that the Baker twins had arrived. Congratulations, Margaret & Lee!! The babies are doing well - boy and girl - both over 5 lbs.

So, we went in and rode the elevator up to the 4th floor of the mall. (It was a great glass elevator with which the kids were greatly impressed!) Unfortunately that was the best thing about this mall - in their opinion. The kids space was great if you were a preschooler - so David had a great time! It was a carpeted, enclosed space with several pieces of "little tikes" type play structures. There were places to climb, slide, and tunnel. Davd played for about 20 minutes, then a stinky diaper drew him out. We actually left without a tantrum. We changed the diaper and set out to look for the food court, but there wasn't one. There was a Cheesecake Factory, a Vietnemese place, and a Bertrucci's (Italian-family style). The kids weren't excited about any of them, and I really wasn't either with the three of them and only one of me. So we went into the Borders books and shopped a little and then loaded up and headed back to the mall at Burlington.

At the Burlington Mall, we went straight for the food court - we were all famished!! Then we got all of our shopping done with only a little backtracking. I remembered to bring the stroller this time, so things went much better with David! It was another cool day (high only in the mid 50s), so we came home and had a soup and cornbread night for dinner - which Tim actually made it home for!
Things are really beginning to gear up for him! He has a lot to do from here on out. He says that he'll be studying most of this weekend. His study group is meeting on Saturday to get their group assignments done. I think that it will be a good thing that we'll be in Alabama for the last week of classes for this term and for finals. Maybe the poor guy will be able to study in peace.

After supper, we took a trip an ice cream & sandwich place we found that's fairly close to home. They had mint chocolate chip, so Jamie was pleased. And they had sprinkles, so Rachel and David were pleased. I was pleased with my cookie dough ice cream cone until David decided to take it over. I didn't really need it anyway. He did at least let me have the chunks of cookie dough and the last half of the cone. We took David's ice cream (what was left after eating all of the sprinkles) to Tim, who stayed home to study. This place is a good find because it will be an easy one to get to on bicycle on warmer days!

Pictures from last Thursday's outing

This is the outside of the Discovery Museum (the one geared toward toddlers). It's a Victorian house that has been converted. Too bad I had my thumb in the way!!!

Here are some pictures from our day at the Discovery Museums last Thursday. I can hardly believe that a week has passed - it went by quickly - especially since we were homebound most of the week!

This is Jamie on the dinosaur in the front yard of the Discovery Museum.

(Top above) Rachel & Captain David in the "boat room," & (bottom above) the bubble station outside the museum.

(L) David and Jamie playing on the slide in the "rainbow room".

(R) All the the kids enjoyed the sandbox!!

(L) Rachel playing the part of "ticket master" and David playing the part of paying customer.(R) The "train room."

I forgot to turn the flash on when we were inside the Science Museum, so all of my pictures from in there turned out pretty dark. This one is not too bad. It's of the swinging marble thing that I wrote about in the blog from that day.

Wednesday, June 13

Another day spent mostly at home today. We did venture out to walk down the hill to the CVS that's not too far off. I took in my pictures from last Thursday's adventure to the Discovery Museums. Then we rewarded ourselves with a stop by the bakery on the way home. I wanted to try a cupcake to test the waters for birthday cakes. It was pretty good.

It was a really cool day - high of maybe 60 - so Rachel and I decided to do some baking after lunch. She chose the chocolate chip muffin recipe from a kids cookbook she got for her birthday (thanks, Nanny!), and we got cookin'. They turned out great, and the heat from the kitchen helped warm up the house.

I called to check on our car around 5:00, and found that it was all done but the paperwork. Mickey called me back a bit later with the bad news, then the kids and I took off for the bus stop to retrieve it. We were all glad to have the van back in working order so we could go get a movie for our family movie night. This week the selection was Flushed Away, that wonderful bit of cinematic history that served as David's first movie to see in a big theater. We all really like the singing slugs that provide the soundtrack and comic relief all during the film. For supper, we picked up Chinese take out from Young's. The kids liked it much better than the first one we tried. We sat in the floor, watched our movie and had a Chinese picnic (a very messy food selection for movie night). A delicious dessert of chocolate chip muffins followed. All in all, a very good day.

Tuesday, June 12

The kids and I ventured out to the grocery store today. I had to go or have nothing to cook for dinner tonight. Plus, David was out of Cocco Puffs - which he let me know was a huge travesty!! He has learned how to eat cereal with milk on it, and now wants it every morning. (A boy after my own taste buds!) We haven't had Cocco Puffs the last two mornings. We arrived back home at lunch time and needless to say, David had Cocco Puffs for lunch. But at least he wanted to go to the store. The store where we shopped today had great buggies for little ones. The front of the buggy (opposite from the end you push) was built into a little car with windows, seatbelt, and steering wheel. Rachel wanted to cram herself into the seat next to David, but Mommy vetoed it.

After a quick lunch, we had to take the van back to the service station to have the thermostat put in. We got there without getting too hot and dropped the key off with Mickey who said that he loves to hear the kids talk - loves the accent. We walked down to the grocery store/bus stop and only had to wait a couple of minutes till our bus came. We all piled on and rode to Cushing Square and walked from there. David did not want to get off the bus - he enjoyed the ride thoroughly.

Later that afternoon, we had our first play date. Kirsten, a lady we met a church, brought her girls, Faye and Callie, over to play. Rachel falls right between the two in age. The girls all got along very well. Faye and Callie get along great - much better than my oldest two. They had fun playing while Kirsten and I had a nice visit. Kirsten is actually a native Bostonian. She tells me that there aren't too many of them around. Most of the folks here are temporary transplants like us. She said that it has made for an interesting life with a wide assortment of friends from all over the place. She is a really neat person. I know that I'll enjoy getting to know her better.

Monday, June 11

Wow! I'm finally catching up all the way to present day! Yea!!!!

Today was an at home day. I also began restrictions on the tv today. I wasn't the most popular mom with Rachel today. We spent the morning playing, cleaning house, and doing laundry. For lunch, we decided to have a picnic outside at the table in the back yard. It was still in the shade and the temperature was in the 70s. Quite lovely!! After lunch, the kids wanted to go for a walk, so we walked down the road to the Belmont Water Resevoir. It is on a hill, so you can't see it from street level. I was quite surprised to find not water, but a green field at the top. I guess the water is all underground. The whole area is fenced off and people aren't allowed to go in. There are a couple of small, round brick buildings there too. Jamie decided he wanted to run around the whole thing, so he took off in one direction, and David, Rachel and I in the other. It took him about 6 minutes to run all the way around and then come back to us, so it's probably between 1/4 and 1/2 a mile around. Then it was back home to cool off.

After watching Arthur and having reading time, we decided to venture back out, but on bicycle this time. We all rode down to Jamie's school (Chenery) to the playground there. David enjoyed running and playing on the equipment and swinging. His first time to swing since leaving home. :-( There were some kids there who were Jamie's age and a teacher or aide of some sort. It was probably an after school care program. Anyway, Jamie tried to talk to a couple of boys and a group of girls came up to him. It didn't seem to go too well, though. I tried to give him some pointers on how to start up a conversation, but I know it must be hard. The girls were all very silly and giggly. Jamie did talk to them long enough to find out that they are his "peers" - as he put it (5th graders now).

Tim actually had an early day again today, so he was home by 6:00oish. He even stopped off at the grocery store on the way and picked up some bread and a gallon of milk. The grocery store is on the bus route home, so he was able to stop off and get back on to come home without paying twice. I haven't tried the buses by myself yet. But, if this car situation continues too much longer, I will!! After supper, we all went outside to play a little frisbee in the cool of the evening. It's 68 here right now, and the low tonight is supposed to be 62. Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy, and the high will only be 68. That's one thing I don't miss about Alabama - the hot!

Sunday, June 10

Today we had a relatively quiet day. We went back to church at Belmont Methodist since we're still having car troubles. David got noisy early, so we slipped out to the nursery - which was unmanned. So, I just stayed there with him. There is a speaker system though that allowed me to listen to the service while he and I played with the Thomas set. A little later in the service, a dad came in with his 20 month old son. I told him that I was just a visitor, but would stay with both kids if he liked. He decided to stay too. I had noticed his accent immediately, and asked about where he was from. It turns out that he's from Australia. He and his family have been stationed at the air force base nearby for the next 3 years. His name is Russel and his wife's name is Wendy. We visited with them during the coffee time after the service. Wendy has a daughter named Porche (sp?) who is in first grade this year. I exchanged info with her, so we may get the girls together to play sometime. Still no boys Jamie's age. But, we'll keep on trying.

After church, we went out for breakfast again. Tim likes it as a tradition. David ate lots of eggs. The last bit were even heavily salted and peppered by him, but they still were consumed! Next, we went out for a bike ride. We decided to try to navigate to a nearby ice cream parlor (Rancatore's) by bike - as Rachel's first big outing. She did fairly well. We took back roads all the way there, and made it ok. This is a yummy place for ice cream. They even have lots of frozen yogurt flavors - I had almond chip (had lots of almonds and chunks of chocolate). Jamie was disappointed, though, because they didn't have mint chocolate chip, so he just had a root beer. We made it back home (mostly uphill), and decided to rest awhile.



Then we suited up and went out to the Belmont sprinkler park. The water was really cold!! Jamie & Rachel had a good time, but David was not at all interested in the cold water. He ended up on the playground.







When we got home, Jan & Don were outside, so we visited with them a bit. They're headed to China for a trip with the native speaker who teaches at Don's school. Don also asked us if we could do him a favor. It seems that he's going to be on Jepoardy on June 21 (I think) and wanted us to record it for him. He says that it was taped almost a year ago, and he's not allowed to say how many shows he'll be on. It will be fun to watch! It made me think of Julie and her attempts to be on Millionaire.

For supper, we walked down to Brother's Pizza. Then back home to settle in for the night. Jamie is madly reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. He announced today that if he reads just 2 chapters each day, he'll finish in 2 weeks. That means I only have 2 weeks to reread Half Blood Prince. Jamie spent a lot of time reading on the sunporch off of our bedroom today. I am so tickled to see him enjoying reading so much!! We had to force him to read the bare minimum for so long. But hopefully this will be the beginning of a new trend for him.

This is a wide shot Tim took of the sprinkler park. There is a good little playground there too. You can see it in the background.

Saturday, June 9

Jamie with new friends John(11), Hannah(7), and Shunta(7)

Today was the day of the big MIT Sloan picnic. We drove out to Concord,MA to Camp Thoreau - about 17 miles from home. We crawled there in the car since we're having overheating problems. We drove as far as we could with the car heating up, and then pulled over to wait about 5 minutes for the car to cool a little so we could go a little further. It took about 45 minutes to go those 17 miles. We were lucky that the weather was cool and overcast/rainy. At the picnic, Jamie and Rachel made some friends. Jamie met a boy named John (an Americanized name) who is from South Korea. They played basketball in the rain then soccer then giant frisbee. I think that Jamie & John will be good friends because Tim and John's dad are in the same study group. Rachel played with a couple of little girls - Yuna and Lina from Japan. Some of the guys also put together an impromptu soccer game. David enjoyed splashing in the puddles, playing with a basketball, and then disrupting the frisbee game between Jamie, John and his little sister Hannah. We made it home fine - stopping a couple of times to let the car cool. The final time, we stopped at a little park and let the kids get out and play for a few minutes. Then we spent a quiet night at home.

David playing frisbee with the big kids. John was very sweet to let David have his turn. David even
began to hug on John by the end of the game!

Rachel playing a little badmitton with Lina. John's mom (June-Haw Sook) looks on.

Rainy basketball with John.

Friday, June 8

Today was adventure of another kind day. It all started out innoncently enough. . . Tim had the morning off, so we went to run a couple of errands that needed to be done together. First up, the bank, so we could have access to ATM and local checking. After leaving there, we were headed to MIT, but we only got a mile or so down the road when the car started to smell funny and I noticed that the heat reading was pegged. Yikes!!!
We pulled over and called AAA. Tim had to leave me and the kids there and go on to get to a meeting before his first class of the day. I assured him that we'd be fine. We all sat in the car and waited for the tow truck to come get us. While waiting, we played Rachel's favorite car game "guess the animal" - kind of like 20 questions - several rounds. Finally a nice fellow named Shawn showed up and said that he could tow the van but couldn't transport so many passengers (especially with car seat requirements). So he told me that he'd call us a cab. I asked if we were close enough to just walk. It turned out that we were less than 1 mi. from the service station. After securing directions, the kids and I set off while Shawn set about preparing to tow. It was a nice walk through a very nice Cambridge neighborhood- big houses with lovely gardens. We were also mostly in the shade. We got to the service station and were helped by Mickey (whose real name is Michael), who was a really nice guy. He suggested that we go to the grocery store just down the road to get a drink and wait while he took a look to see what was up with our poor van. {And we thought that we brought the GOOD car to MA!} We walked around a curve and the grocery store was the one that I had been to a couple of times (yea). We went in and got drinks and lunch from the deli counter and then went to sit on a bench outside the store for a little picnic. Jamie didn't like the wrap that he got, so I told him to try my chicken salad wrap. He did reluctantly, but his face quickly lit up and he said,"this is good." So I gave him half of my wrap, and we now know that Jamie likes chicken salad. After lunch, we walked back down to the service station and Mickey gave us the news that he wasn't absolutely sure what was causing it, but that the van was definitely running way hotter than it should be. He thinks that it's probably a bad thermostat. I told Mickey that I'd have to talk to my hubby and see what we wanted to do. He was fine with that and sent me on my way. Well, I thought I knew where I was going, but somehow I ended up turned around and in heavy traffic. With a car that was already beginning to overheat again. We had a very tense ride home, but we made it with the help of directions from the Tom Tom.
Then the kids and I just relaxed and watched a little PBS. I fell asleep on the couch with David in my lap - I guess the stress of the day wiped me out. Tim was through early at school, so we ate an early supper. Then we all went out to ride bikes. Rachel is getting pretty good on her two wheeler! Jamie and I rode up to his school. Not a bad ride at all! David and I went to the playground for a few minutes, while Jamie continued to ride around in the parking lot.
Tim went out to a gathering of the fellows at Diego's apartment (Diego is a real cutie from Argentina - I sat by him at the JFK Library dinner during orientation). The kids and I just chilled at home, glad to have this day behind us.

Thursday, June 7

Today was adventure day. The kids and I decided to strike out and spend the day doing something that they would really enjoy. One benefit of having a library card in MA is that you can get passes for discounts at lots of great things to do. We decided to give the Discovery Museums in Acton, MA a try. It's actually 2 separate hands on museums.
The first is in a rennovated victorian home. The whole house has been converted into a hands on museum geared toward preschoolers. We started out on the 2nd floor where there was a rainbow room, a safari room, a tree fort room, a sights and sounds room, and a play cafe. Rachel took right to the cafe and started organizing all of the players into her staff of customers, cooks, and servers. Fourtunately, all were willing participants. Jamie and David started in the rainbow room where there were huge color puzzles on one wall, a rainbow slide with steps that lit up in different colors as you climbed them, and wheels you could spin to see how colors blend to form secondary colors. Then we went on to the safari room where David climbed in the treehouse, used binoculars to spot wild (stuffed) animals and slid down a log slide. Those were really the favorite activities on that floor.
The third floor was all a ship. There were jacket-type costumes that the kids could put on. David liked the captain's jacket and the penguin suit. There were all kinds of instrument panels for flipping switches and mashing buttons. The kids also enjoyed the submarine room - a small space made like the inside of a sub.
The first floor was probably my favorite. At the foot of the stairs was a wall covered in chalkboard paint that the kids could draw on. Jamie, of course, graced the wall with a picture. David and Rachel went straight for the water room, where there was a water play table set up (like at Sci Quest). The next room was an entire room of balls and courses for them to run through. On one course, the ball travels all the way around the room twice ringing bells, knocking down "dominoes", playing chimes, and going through several tubes and funnels. The final room was the Train room. There was a ticketing station with play money and tickets, which Rachel took over. There was a large train the kids could get in and ring the bell and whistle and pretend to drive. There were also several tables and Brio sets for the kids to play and create with. As if that wasn't enough, outside there was a mega sandbox and bubbles galore. We dragged David away after a morning of play to go grab some lunch.
After lunch at McDonald's, we headed back to the Science Museum. This one was geared for older children. The kids loved playing with all of the magnet activities that greeted us as we entered. When we finished there, we went up to the second floor to the optics room. In it were color wheels, kaliedescopes (sp??), prisims, polarized glass, and a room where you could leave your shadow on the wall. David really enjoyed this room. We had to visit and revisit it. Also on the second floor was a huge sound exhibit. There were big balls you could squeeze and play different pipes from a pipe organ. There was a display showing how a cucco clock works. There was a "harp" which operated by breaking beams of light to make different sounds. There was also a microphone you could speak into and see the sound waves your voice makes. David's was "to infinity and beyond." Jamie and Rachel played int the fog table for a bit and with a game of hairdryer basketball. You had hair dryers and you tried to get a pingpong ball through the hoop using the air. There was also a cool, huge swinging balls thing - the little desktop game where you pull back a ball and it hits a group of balls and knocks the end one out on the other side. The third floor had an observation window where you could climb up a ladder and peek out a skylight "bubble". There was also a skeleton in the attic - which Jamie enjoyed. We went back down to the first floor and made a picture to take home. It was made on a suspended table which you gave a push and a stationary marker made a design which looked a little like the old Spirograph line designs.
We finished the day with one more trip down to David's museum to play in the boat and train rooms one last time. It was a super day. The kids were on their best behavior - in hopes of getting to walk to the store to buy webkinz that evening (with their own money).
Tim is working with Rachel on riding a bike without training wheels. This is a much better location for working on that than on our road back home! She's really starting to get the hang of it. I think that in a week or so, she'll be ready to head out on the road with Jamie and me. That will be nice, because there are even more places we can go by bike that are a little far for walking. I am hoping to come home in a little better shape than when I left. Between walking and riding bikes daily and climbing the stairs to come in and out and go to the kids rooms, I'm getting much more exercise that I ususlly do. Plus, it's really pleasant here in the evenings - even on the warm days, it cools off really nicely at night.

Wednesday, June 6

Today we hung around the house for the morning. Just taking our time with baths and shampoos for everyone and having a generally lazy morning. We ate lunch and then decided to venture out to find the nearest Target and Blockbuster. I needed to exchange the viewmaster that David got for his birthday (the optics were weird), and I had gotten it a Target in Huntsville. So I got online and searched for a Target near me. It turns out that there is one less than 30 min from here. We piled in the car, punched up the address on the Tom Tom and struck out. We found it fairly easily. The exchange went off fine, except that we passed the Thomas aisle while looking for a replacement view master. Suddenly David didn't want a viewmaster, he wanted a Thomas and begain to lament at the cruelty of his wretched mother at the top of his lungs. Wretched mother that I am, I just continued with my shopping - there were several things that we needed to pick up. He would not be appeased by getting to select the color of plastic bowls for the family. He would not be appeased by a snack of goldfish - he wanted cookies. We finally got checked out, and I asked David if he wanted to go home and take a nap. He said he did. So, we drove back home and went through our whole nap time routine. I wasn't really surprised when he came thumping down the stairs a short time after being tucked in bed. The kids and I have decided that Wednesday night will be family movie night. So, since David wasn't napping, we piled back in the car to find Blockbuster. No problem getting there. The kids had a little trouble agreeing on a movie, so David had time to get antsy and begin to run up and down the aisles. At that, I swooped him up into my arms and he began to scream to be let down. We managed to get out of Blockbuster with all of the children still breathing and made it back home. Dave calmed down on the way, thankfully. Once at home, we decided to order pizza for supper from the place just down the road because Tim had an overnight team-building trip for school. So, I got online and ordered our food. Then we walked down to the square to get our pizza, fries, and baklava. We had a lovely picnic on the living room floor with our pizza and movie. The kids tried the baklava and didn't like it. So, as a reward for a long, difficult day, I got to have 2 pieces. I thought it was yummy! I actually closed a few windows before bed, because the lows were dipping into the 40s. I have really been surprised, but we haven't actually had to use the air conditioning units very much. I wonder if my temperature comfort zone will change after this year. We'll see.
I think that's it for today. I know that these blogs are probably a lot longer than anyone is interested in reading, but I know that there is no way I'll keep up with a blog and a journal. So, this has to serve as both, because I do want a record of our year for myself. Thanks to those of you who labor through all of my crazy, stream-of-consciousness postings. I really miss everyone back home and love yous guys lots and lots!
God bless!!!

Tuesday, June 5
Today we spent the day running around town (Belmont). We started at the town clerk's office to check on getting a proof of residence letter for the schools. They sent us to the Light Board to get a current bill showing the service was in our name at our address. (Showing the lease agreement wasn't enough.) Oh, and it really is a Light bill up here because there is no air conditioning, and the heat, water heater, and stove are all gas & home heating oil. (The heating oil will cost $180 a month. They do an average and spread it out over the whole year so you don't have astronomical heating oil bills in the winter.) Then we went back to the town clerk's office. From there, we went to the library to get our library cards. The Belmont library is a little over twice the size of Hartselle's. The children's library is downstairs. The kids filled out their own information cards and took care of getting their own library cards. David and I played in the toddler area. There was a large, wooden alphabet puzzle and a play kitchen there. There was also a special small bookshelf that was filled with board books for little ones. David was able to go over and choose a book for me to read to him. I think that he'll enjoy going to the library. Rachel checked out a book about outer space. Jamie didn't get a book, since he's in the middle of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and is trying to finish it and the next book before his turn to read our copy of #7. The city pool is right next door to the library, but it isn't open yet. It seems to be a fairly large pool, and someone told me that it's the oldest public pool still in operation in the U.S. I'll have to check that one out. The pool is scheduled to open when school gets out later this month (the 18th I think).
Then it was back to home to try to get David down for a nap. Which he ditched, again. I think that our napping days are over. Sigh. . . . We did have some good reading time together, though. Right now his favorite book is "Hi, Pizza Man" - which was one of Rachel's favorites when she was little. She even commented on the fact when she heard me reading it to David recently.
After the failed nap attempt, we all went outside to play for awhile. David & I ran around playing Buzz Lightyear, while Rachel rollerskated and Jamie played with a tennis ball "dart" game. We came inside in time to watch Arthur. Then I cooked my first full meal in our little kitchen. We had chicken & rice, corn on the cob (from a really fabulous farmer's market nearby), and broccoli. My little kitchen was about 100 degrees by the time supper was ready. So, I'm going to be doing simple suppers or take out once it gets really hot. What a great excuse not to cook (it's too hot). We'll have to see how it all works out. Tim made it home by 6:15. Yea!! and we all sat down to a family meal. After supper, Jamie & I ventured out to the movie theater to see Pirates 3. I liked it, but it did get a little long. Did anyone stay for the extra scene after the credits? Only Jamie, me, and one other couple stayed behind at our showing. Ok. That's it for this day.

Now on to the beginning of classes for Tim, and the beginning of super mom time for me. Monday morning, Tim got up and headed out for class. Dave came downstairs and got in bed with me for our morning cuddle. It's about the only time of day that he is cuddly, so I make the most of it! The kids and I ventured out to the mall because it had been raining since Sunday evening and was predicted to rain all day. It was really chilly out. The temps were in the 50's I think. We all had on long pants, but I actually went back in and put on longer sleeves before leaving the house for good! It was obvious that the locals are used to cool weather even in to June, because most people in the mall had on jackets and warmer clothing than the kids & I had on.
The Tom Tom helped us to navigate to the mall. That thing is really amazing!! I am going all over the place already thanks to its help. Our first stop in the mall was Build a Bear Workshop. The kids wanted to check it out. Rachel made a turtle friend for herself, complete with a shell that's also a backpack and a voice box that says several phrases. David decided to hold out for a Thomas train. While we were in Build a Bear, we saw a couple of the partners from Sloan. They were both from overseas and have been in Mass for a couple of weeks now. We exchanged phone numbers and then headed out to find a toy store for David. The mall has a KB toys, so we felt right at home there. David got a James train. Then we went to lunch in the food court. Jamie had Chinese - Chicken and Mushrooms, almost as good as China Wok's. Rachel went for pizza, and David and I opted for Chik Fila. Afterward we stopped in at the Disney store - they were having a big sale, and David got a Toy Story play set with Woody, Buzz, Zurg, a Little Green Man, Jesse, Bullseye, and Bo Peep. He was quite beside himself!! Then it was time to head home. But, when we got through the downpour and to the car, the Tom Tom wouldn't do anything. I was just a little panicked. I felt ok moving around close to home, but I was very unsure of our path to the mall (a 30 minute drive) with several turns. I called Tim in a panic, and he told me how to reset the Tom Tom. Nothing. So we set out to try to find our way back home on our own. Jamie helped me navigate a little. But we made it without a single wrong turn! I was almost giddy when we got to a place from which I knew for certain how to get home!!
After coming home, we were all very excited to see that Arthur comes on every day at 4:00. The kids and I have all missed Arthur since the PBS satellite feed at home switched to PBS sprout programming all day. So we all piled in front of the TV to watch for a bit. Then it was time to think about supper. Since it was so cool out, we had soup and cornbread. (And yes, I did bring my iron skillet from home so I could make it correctly!) Tim didn't make it home for supper due to a class session that started at 7. I told the kids that we'd probably eat without him at least a few times a week. :-(
After supper, it had quit raining, so we went outside for a bit of fresh air and ran into Jan & Don - our landlords. They hadn't met the youngest two yet, so we visited for awhile. Then they came in to see the treefrog and how Rachel has fixed up her room. They are both very nice folks!! David was sweet at first, but then wanted mommy's attention to be on him rather than our company, so he had to have a time out. Oh well, it's real life! While visiting, Don showed Rachel that we can buzz people in the front door from upstairs - which she thought was totally awesome and had to try out. When I was going down to reengage the deadbolt, David tried to hurry down the stairs after me to get back outside and took a big tumble. It was so scary to see him bouncing and rolling. He rolled parallel to the stairs, rather than head over tail, so he didn't do too much damage before I could get to him. But he did get a big goose egg on the forehead, a bruise on the arm, and he also bit his lip. Two accidents in two days for this poor baby. I hope that this isn't the beginning of a trend!! I swept him up in my arms and sat with him for awhile. It took quite awhile for him to calm down. I know that it must have been really scary for him!! Then I tried to ask him some questions to check on his short term memory and check for possible concussion. He did fine, but it was hard to think of something that he would remember and be able to answer. Tim arrived home during this time, so he loved on David some too. Then it was time for bed for the kids and blogging for me.