Feb. 18 - 22
The kids had the week off from school this week, but Tim didn't. So, we didn't do too much. Jamie and I went to see Spiderwick at the IMAX theater. It was pretty good. Jamie had read all 5 books, and had been looking forward to seeing the movie since we saw the first preview. Rachel had a marathon spend the night with her friend Esther (from Brazil/ friend from MIT). We went to a dinner on Saturday night and Rachel went home with Esther from there, but it was very late, so Esther's mom suggested that Rachel just go ahead and stay until Monday.
The weather has been crazy this week! On Monday, the high was 63 and it rained all day. After that, the temperature plummeted and the highs were in the 20s/low 30s. Then it snowed all day Friday - we ended up with somewhere around 6 inches of snow. We're not tired of it yet, but our landlord does all the shoveling.
Back to the week's activities. On Tuesday, my friend Susan and I took our 5 kids on an overnight trip. We started out at the Ecotarium in Worchester, MA.
The kids had the week off from school this week, but Tim didn't. So, we didn't do too much. Jamie and I went to see Spiderwick at the IMAX theater. It was pretty good. Jamie had read all 5 books, and had been looking forward to seeing the movie since we saw the first preview. Rachel had a marathon spend the night with her friend Esther (from Brazil/ friend from MIT). We went to a dinner on Saturday night and Rachel went home with Esther from there, but it was very late, so Esther's mom suggested that Rachel just go ahead and stay until Monday.
The weather has been crazy this week! On Monday, the high was 63 and it rained all day. After that, the temperature plummeted and the highs were in the 20s/low 30s. Then it snowed all day Friday - we ended up with somewhere around 6 inches of snow. We're not tired of it yet, but our landlord does all the shoveling.
Back to the week's activities. On Tuesday, my friend Susan and I took our 5 kids on an overnight trip. We started out at the Ecotarium in Worchester, MA.
It's kind of like a zoo, planetarium, and science discovery museum all rolled into one. It was really cold outside, so we didn't spend too much time visiting the animals. We did see eagles, owls, a polar bear, an otter, and a red fox on our quick trip around the grounds. Next, we went to a planetarium show that was cute. It was about 2 kids who build a rocket from a cardboard box and take a tour of the planets in our solar system.
David and Ethan enjoyed the preschool play area.
The older kids really enjoyed the dinosaur exhibits that filled the bottom floor.
On the second floor, there were lots of space activities. Rachel and Madeline made pocket solar systems, and we all watched an Ecotarium teacher "make" a comet. Of course, she said that the real thing would be 300x bigger than what she did.
Rachel and Jamie with a friendly Australopithecus.
Then we packed up and drove on to Springfield, MA to spend the night in a hotel with a pool! Yea!!! We went to grab what we thought would be a quick bite for dinner and ended up spending 2 hours in our restaurant of choice. We didn't even have to wait to be seated. Anyway, both moms were a little frazzled after that. We swam for about 45 minutes, and then called it a night. I had never spent the night in a hotel with the kids and not Tim. It really wasn't too bad. I might actually be game for trying again during our April break.
On Wednesday, we got up, ate our lovely breakfast at the hotel, and headed out to the Springfield Museums. A really neat gathering of a science museum, ancient artifacts museum, fine arts museum, and history museum. In the center of them all is the National Dr. Suess monument. (A quadrangle with bronze statues of the Lorax,
Cat in the Hat, Horton, Sam I Am, and several other Suess characters.) We had a good time exploring them all. 
On Wednesday, we got up, ate our lovely breakfast at the hotel, and headed out to the Springfield Museums. A really neat gathering of a science museum, ancient artifacts museum, fine arts museum, and history museum. In the center of them all is the National Dr. Suess monument. (A quadrangle with bronze statues of the Lorax,
Cat in the Hat, Horton, Sam I Am, and several other Suess characters.) We had a good time exploring them all. 
During all this, I had a sore throat and was worrying about whether or not it was strep. Turns out it was. Arrrrrrgh!!! But it's not nearly the severity of the case I had on New Years.
Thursday, we just hung around the house. Friday, Jamie went to class with Tim and me. We were discussing Julius Caesar for Choice Points (the MIT literature class for fellows and partners). The professor had invited children to come during the school vacation weeks. Since Jamie had read and performed Julius Caesar in Mr. B's class, we wanted him to attend. He actually participated in a "reader's theater" of one of the scenes. It was fun to be in class with him. I missed the first half of class going to MIT medical for a strep test. They don't do the quick test there, so I had to wait 24 hours before learning that I was actually positive for strep.
Friday afternoon, we just stayed inside and watched the snow. Rachel went to a birthday party here in town (Susan's daughter). I drove her to the party, but got stuck trying to get up the last hill. The dad (Frank) walked down and got Rachel. I didn't have any trouble backing up and going back down the hill. It was very interesting being one of the few cars on the snowy roads. Most of the other traffic were trucks with snow plows on the front. The family has a car with snow tires, so they brought Rachel home after the party.
Tim and I watched the police try to find the owner of a car left parked on the street next to our house that night. We got so much snow on Friday, that a snow emergency was declared - which means that cars couldn't be parked on the street so the plows could do their thing. Anyway, the police tried to find the owner with no success. Then the tow truck came and had to pull the car out of the snow it was buried under. Then, they couldn't get the car unlocked. Finally, the car disappeared.
Saturday, the kids and I went to the mall to shop for Tim for his birthday and eat lunch at the food court (one of Jamie's favorite things to do). Saturday afternoon, Tim, Rachel, David, and I went sledding at the reservoir.
(Jamie didn't want to go- tired of the snow already.) Saturday night we went to a friend's house for dinner and ate authentic Indian food. It was quite good. Our hostess (Anusha) requested I make a Coca Cola cake for dessert (she had it at another dinner we both attended). I was glad to comply. No one at the party had ever heard of it before. I left the rest of the cake with Anusha, who is expecting and due in May. She was excited.
On Sunday, we slept in (we were at Anusha and Mahesh's until 11). Then I made a big breakfast for brunch as an early birthday treat for Tim. Sunday afternoon, we decided to go ice skating at the Frog Pond at Boston Common. Everyone skated - including David. We got our skates on and started struggling to move on the ice when the announcement was made to clear the ice for the Zamboni. We got off and watched the Zamboni do it's thing (David enjoyed this)! Then he didn't want to get back out to skate. I told him that if he'd go one time around the rink with me that we'd get some hot chocolate. It was a real struggle, but we finally made it all the way around. I don't skate very well while trying to straddle a slipping, sliding, three-year old. We stopped and started a lot!! After we made it around, Tim came and sat with David and let me take a spin around the pond on my own. That made me feel much better. I'm not a good skater, but I can do ok on my own. Jamie went around with me and did well too. Then I got off to make good on the promise of hot chocolate. Tim and Rachel skated a little longer. The common was covered in snow, but there were lots of people out in it. The sun was setting when we left the frog pond, and was casting a golden light on the buildings around the common. It was so pretty!! A very nice end to an almost perfect outing.
Thursday, we just hung around the house. Friday, Jamie went to class with Tim and me. We were discussing Julius Caesar for Choice Points (the MIT literature class for fellows and partners). The professor had invited children to come during the school vacation weeks. Since Jamie had read and performed Julius Caesar in Mr. B's class, we wanted him to attend. He actually participated in a "reader's theater" of one of the scenes. It was fun to be in class with him. I missed the first half of class going to MIT medical for a strep test. They don't do the quick test there, so I had to wait 24 hours before learning that I was actually positive for strep.
Friday afternoon, we just stayed inside and watched the snow. Rachel went to a birthday party here in town (Susan's daughter). I drove her to the party, but got stuck trying to get up the last hill. The dad (Frank) walked down and got Rachel. I didn't have any trouble backing up and going back down the hill. It was very interesting being one of the few cars on the snowy roads. Most of the other traffic were trucks with snow plows on the front. The family has a car with snow tires, so they brought Rachel home after the party.
Tim and I watched the police try to find the owner of a car left parked on the street next to our house that night. We got so much snow on Friday, that a snow emergency was declared - which means that cars couldn't be parked on the street so the plows could do their thing. Anyway, the police tried to find the owner with no success. Then the tow truck came and had to pull the car out of the snow it was buried under. Then, they couldn't get the car unlocked. Finally, the car disappeared.
Saturday, the kids and I went to the mall to shop for Tim for his birthday and eat lunch at the food court (one of Jamie's favorite things to do). Saturday afternoon, Tim, Rachel, David, and I went sledding at the reservoir.
(Jamie didn't want to go- tired of the snow already.) Saturday night we went to a friend's house for dinner and ate authentic Indian food. It was quite good. Our hostess (Anusha) requested I make a Coca Cola cake for dessert (she had it at another dinner we both attended). I was glad to comply. No one at the party had ever heard of it before. I left the rest of the cake with Anusha, who is expecting and due in May. She was excited.On Sunday, we slept in (we were at Anusha and Mahesh's until 11). Then I made a big breakfast for brunch as an early birthday treat for Tim. Sunday afternoon, we decided to go ice skating at the Frog Pond at Boston Common. Everyone skated - including David. We got our skates on and started struggling to move on the ice when the announcement was made to clear the ice for the Zamboni. We got off and watched the Zamboni do it's thing (David enjoyed this)! Then he didn't want to get back out to skate. I told him that if he'd go one time around the rink with me that we'd get some hot chocolate. It was a real struggle, but we finally made it all the way around. I don't skate very well while trying to straddle a slipping, sliding, three-year old. We stopped and started a lot!! After we made it around, Tim came and sat with David and let me take a spin around the pond on my own. That made me feel much better. I'm not a good skater, but I can do ok on my own. Jamie went around with me and did well too. Then I got off to make good on the promise of hot chocolate. Tim and Rachel skated a little longer. The common was covered in snow, but there were lots of people out in it. The sun was setting when we left the frog pond, and was casting a golden light on the buildings around the common. It was so pretty!! A very nice end to an almost perfect outing.
2 comments:
Happy Birthday to Tim! The Big 40!!!! Welcome to the club - hope you have a happy one!
Later,
The Davis'
Wow I didn't realize that! hmmm... now your more like mum and dad than before.
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