While the Fellows are away, the Partners will play!

The Fellows left for their international trip on Friday, May 16. They are going to India and South Africa for 2 weeks. While they are away, the partners have made big plans to enjoy our last weeks together.

Our first outing was to Kimbal Farms to eat lunch, play mini golf, and eat yummy ice cream. We actually got rained out on Saturday morning, so had to go on Sunday after church. It was a great day!!

Happy Birthday, David!

We had David's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's on Sunday, May 11 (yes, Mother's Day). We had a very good turn out for his party! He had two friends from school: Narmada and Joshua, and several friends from MIT: Madeline, Ethan, Tom, Nora, and Owen. He had a terrific time! David chose to have chocolate cake at his party.

On Tuesday, David helped me bake cupcakes to take to school for his actual birthday. He selected chocolate with chocolate frosting and rainbow sprinkes, of course! He is a good little helper in the kitchen (even though he got a little wild with the sprinkles).

On the big day, we let David choose where he wanted to go for dinner. He punched a fist up in the air and shouted, "McDonald's!" So we had birthday dinner at McDonald's and then came home to open presents. He got a Wonderpets Flyboat, the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, a Ben 10 "watch", a Little Einstein's conductors baton, and the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything pirate ship.

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

Monday, May 5

Rachel turned 9 today! We celebrated by going to Rainforest Cafe for dinner. Rachel saved her family presents to open today, and she was thrilled with them all. She got a Webkinz snake, a Littlekinz mouse, a littlest pet vet set, Enchanted , an American Girl's activity book, & My Sims for the Wii. We finished off our meal with a vooooolcanooo.

Rachel's Birthday Party

Saturday, May 3

This year Rachel decided to have a bowling party. So, I got online and searched for bowling alleys in the area. I found a cool one in Needham, MA - the Needham Bowlaway. It's a small bowling alley - only 8 lanes - in Downtown Needham. They have Cosmic Bowling there - candlepin bowling with music, black lights, neon, and glow-in-the-dark balls. It was really a fun place for a party! (Candlepin bowling uses smaller balls with no holes. You get 3 balls per frame, and the pins aren't swept away between balls.) The only wrinkle in the party was that the sewers were backed up, and there were no bathrooms. Arrgh!

We had an excellent turnout! Rachel invited Esther, Kia, Madeline, Hannah, John, Chloe, and Kaylee from MIT and Lori, Arianna, Kristina, Philip, Cullen, Emily, Mia, and Pauline from school. We bowled for the first hour, and then had cookie cake, chips, and juice in the party "room". The treats Rachel selected for her treat bags were great in the black lights!! It was a very busy, but very good birthday party!

Nanny & Papaw visit - April 20-26

Sunday, April 20
Nanny & Papaw fly in. We come home for a bit and then take them on the tour of Mt. Auburn cemetary. It's a beautiful spring day, and the cemetary is beautiful with all the trees and flowers in bloom! We did a good bit of walking. Dinner at Bertucci's.

Monday, April 21
The kids are on spring break this week, so we're free to play. Tim has class. :-(

Tuesday, April 22
The kids and I take Nanny and Papaw to Cosi for lunch (at MIT) and have smores for dessert.
Nanny and Papaw take the trolley tour of Boston - the kids and I come home to rest and have a quiet afternoon.

Wednesday, April 23
We go to Walden and walk around the pond. It's hot!! Maybe even 80 degrees! We're going to be so hot this summer in Alabama!
We found Emmerson Hospital - where Bree was born - so Nanny could take a picture for Bree's baby book. Lunch at McDonald's in Acton.
We went to see the Old North Bridge.
Tim, Dad, and Jamie went in to Boston to see Blue Man.
Dianne, Rachel, David, and I went to Burlington Mall. Nanny and Rachel had time to shop for clothes for Rachel's birthday. David and I wandered around the mall, and David picked out a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for his birthday present from Nanny. Then we ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory - Rachel just loves Linda's fudge cake!

Thursday, April 24
Dad goes into Boston on his own and visits the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum.
Dad, Jamie, and I go to a Red Sox game. We got tickets from a Sloan Fellow who was selling his. Boston played the LA Angels and lost. :-(
Dianne stays home with David and Rachel and cooks dinner for company. Silvia, Flavio, Esther and Anna from Brasil come for dinner, and Esther spends the night.

Friday, April 25
Dad comes to MIT for Choice Points. We read A Doll's House this week. I am drafted to read "Nora" in the role play portion of the class.
After class, we come home and head out to Kimball Farms. Nanny told us about this place when we told her we were going to Boston for the year. She used to go for ice cream when she lived at Ft. Devens (pregnant with Bree). Now it has mini golf, bumper boats, picnic facilities, and a country store. We played a round of mini golf. David enjoyed helping everyone reduce their strokes on at least one hole by picking up the ball and dropping it in the hole. Tim, Rachel, and Jamie did the bumper boats and had a blast. The ice cream was delicious! Nanny polished off a huge cup of chocolate!!

Saturday, April 26
We went to play at Skyline park. It was much cooler and windy! Jamie and David had a blast going down the hill slide. Rachel tried her hand at kite-flying.
Lunch at Brother's Pizza. Dad ordered a cheese pizza with extra cheese, and BOY was it CHEESY!!! Then it was time to take Nanny and Papaw to the airport. They had an eventful ride home, but made it safely.

Patti, Kevin, and Sarah visit

Thursday, April 17
Tim's cousins from Chicago fly in.

Friday, April 18
Dinner at Legal Sea Foods near MIT and a walking tour of the MIT campus.
Rachel and Sarah hit it off fabulously and pick on Jamie mercilessly.

Saturday, April 19
Visited the Museum of Natural History at Harvard.
Dinner at the McKelvys' house.

Morris' visit to Bahston

Friday, April 11 - Wed, April 16

The Morris family arrived in Boston on Friday afternoon. Rachel, David, and I were the welcoming party/taxi service. The most fun thing to see was Rachel and Beth running for each other across the baggage claim area. The Morrises and the McKelvy children spent the night at home (with a quick trip to Brother's for pizza), while Tim and I had dinner at the JFK Library.

Saturday, April 12
Trip into Boston - walking some of the Freedom Trail
Visiting Fanueil Hall and Quincy Market

Our favorite street musician was playing in Boston Common. He plays hammered dulcimer and guitar. He got the kids involved in playing strange and unusual instruments on Tom Paxton's "Marvelous Toy".

"It went zip when it moved, bop when it stopped, whirrr when it stood still. I never knew just what it was. . . and I guess I never will."

Sunday, April 13

We went to the Children's Museum and Planetarium.

We saw a 3-D movie about three flies who go to the moon on one of the Apollo missions. We also saw a program on lightning. It was a hair-raising experience for Jamie!!

We ended our day with the family laser show in the planetarium.

Monday, April 14
Tim and John attend class at MIT. Tim introduces John as "Sonja's wife's husband" or something like that - brain fried!!
I let the kids play hooky from school. Karen and I take the kids for lunch at Bertucci's in Harvard Square and visit the Curious George Store.
Duck Boat Tour - David sleeps through the whole thing. The rest of the kids get turns driving the Duck Boat in Boston Harbor.
Dessert at the Cheesecake Factory
Karen & John have a night out in Boston.

Tuesday, April 15
The oldest kids return to school. David and I take the Morrises to the Old North Bridge and the Minute Man Visitor's center.
Dinner party with several Sloan Fellows and families - total chaos but a nice time and good BBQ from Blue Ribbon in Arlington. Attending were Mikko, Minna, Kia, and Tatu from Finland; Adrien, Chloe, and Basil from France; and Susan, Madeline, and Ethan from US.

Wednesday, April 16
Rachel's school has "Walk to School Day" - so Tim, John, and Beth all walk to school with Rachel.
A teary goodbye is cheered by a visit to Ohlin's Bakery for doughnuts.
The Morris family departs for Alabama. Sniff!!
I went for coffee with several of the partners at Talk of the Town diner in Watertown.