Halloween

We miss you Sean, Dianna, Quinn, and Maggie. This is your holiday! We paused for a moment of silence at your house. (seriously)

Baking at our homeschool

We made cookies described in the American Girl magazine. (Those are homemade cut-out sugar cookies with Jolly Ranchers melted in the center to create a stained glass effect.) We've also made homemade soup, homemade smoothies, two kinds of bread, chocolate chip cookies, granola, and other things yummy treats. Part of it is not having the ability to cook for a while. Part of it is letting the kids make things that they are interested in. Scones, popovers, and muffins are on deck for later this week!

Homeschooling at home- the first "real" week

Homeschooling at home has gone suprisingly well this week. The kids have done regular work and creative projects. All the ideas that the kids have read about or we have had on our own, but with no time to do them, are starting to happen! This is what I imagined when I imagined homeschooling.






Eleanor experimented with different boat designs.


Calvin experimented with freezing, thawing, dying, and refreezing water.


The kids built a bridge of paper.


We went to the pumpkin patch.

And, YES, we're in our pajamas for much of the day!

Calvin's collection- The final installment

NYC- Cinnamon Tic Tacs



Philadelphia- Wintergreen Tic Tacs


DC- Hubba Bubba


Williamsburg- Frankenstein Gumball Machine


Cincinnati- Mango Sour Altoids

We're Home!

We're home. 4000 miles and 45 days of a very good trip.

We were welcomed home by our good friends here, which was much needed as we, save Eleanor, were not sure that we wanted to come home. Thanks to Lisa and Therese the sign, the mums, the pumpkins, and cards made our vacant house feel like a home. We also got our Rosie back, who seems smaller and cuter than we remember. Many thanks to all of the people here who helped us be away and welcomed us home.

Today we drove through West Virginia where the leaves are changing. It is so beautiful there that I wondered aloud why they can't do a better tourist business. I told Matt that it can't be more beautfiful in Vermont, the traditional leaf-viewing location. He responded, "And where are you going to have dinner after looking at leaves? Biscuit World?" True enough. West Virginia's poverty is a barrier to a booming tourist industry. (If you have known me a while, you know that I am fascinated with Biscuit World and that we have eaten their buscuits. Though, one trip was enough to satisfy me for the rest of my life. I'm serious.) (Dee, I revise my statement made in VA about the limited beauty of the Appalacians.) The pic includes a reflection of a banana, the phone, and my foot!






We went to Williamsburg before coming home. We met Matt's parents there, who made the full Williamsburg experience financially possible. I hope Matt blogs about it, because I didn't do the activities. The kids had a great time and learned a lot. Here's one picture of them there.

DC- the final day

Today was our last day in DC. We went to the Holocaust Museum. It is a really powerful museum. The main take-away for the kids was that the Holocaust was not that long ago—they believed it ancient history. I wondered why the Freedom Center can’t improve by taking some ideas from it.

We also went to the top of the Washington Monument. It was cool, mostly just because it was the Washington Monument. The main floor is beautifully tiled, which was surprising. Then, the observatory area was not decorated—you could see the stone from the inside. So fancy or plain, it was cool to us.

Now we’re in Colonial Williamsburg—the last stop on our journey.

DC- another day

Today we had INCREDIBLY bad luck getting the day started. We drove to four different Metro stations before finding one where we could park. Then the Metro track we rode on was having maintenance, so we had to wait. In all, it took us more than three hours to get to the city!

We went to the Air and Space Museum. I thought that it was boring when I went the first time and it still was to me. The kids thought so too. Calvin said that it should just be for adults and wondered why everyone suggests it. Some artifacts from the Smithsonian American History Museum are temporarily there during renovations and this turned out to be the highlight of the visit (at least for me). We saw popular artifacts—the Seinfeld "puffy shirt" Mr. Roger's sweater, Dorothy's ruby slippers--and historical artifacts like an actual suit of George Washington's and the stools that the Woolworth’s lunch counter Civil Rights Protestors sat on. Looking at the items, it was amazing to us to see how much the kids had learned about American history on this trip.

After a very quick trip to the National Archives, we headed to a grad school friend’s for dinner. Despite a tough start, it was another fun day! I can’t believe how soon we’re coming home!

(No pics. Blogger has a pic bug right now.)

DC

Now we’re in DC. We are seeing the sites here and having a really great time. Yesterday we arrived in the city in the afternoon and saw the White House, Washington Monument (see how big Eleanor has gotten on the trip?!), the new WWII Memorial, and Lincoln Memorial. Today we went to the house where Lincoln died (Ford’s Theater is closed for renovations), the Supreme Court and toured the Capitol Building.

We had a great day of chance activities today. We wandered into the Supreme Court and ended up spending a lot of time there looking around and even having lunch!


And then when getting tickets to go in the Senate Gallery, we were offered a personal tour by one of Sherrod Brown’s interns. It was really great. Our family got a tour that lasted more than two hours and included seeing a Senate vote, a ride on the Senate subway, time in the House gallery, and all the other sites. I wouldn’t have thought that Calvin would engage with it, but he did, making the tour a unanimous success.


Tonight Matt’s Aunt Jane had four of her five sons and their families for dinner. It was fun to see them. They are all easy to talk to, the food was good, and it was fun for Matt to see the cousins with whom much mischief seems to have been made as kids.

Philly

We didn’t write much in Philadelphia. There are many reasons, not the least being we had poor internet access. Also, we’re winding down the trip and growing tired of posting. And we did a lot of hanging out, so not as much to write about.

In Philadelphia, we had a cool impromptu trip to see coins being made at the Philadelphia mint. (No cameras allowed, so no pics.) We saw the Liberty Bell, which I finally realize is only a symbol and was not ever used at any important moment. We went to Independence Hall and the kids really seemed to have listened on the tour because they have been able to recall various factoids about it since then. We also went to the Philadelphia Art Museum to see more Impressionists, Rodin sculpture, and armor. And finally, we went to the “Italian Market,” which included Italian foods as well as people and goods from other parts of the world and “fart bombs” too (we got 6 for $1.00). Now that I write it all down, I see that we did a lot while in Philly. The best part for us all was visiting Kim and her family, and Joan, David, Daniel, and Nicholas.

Our site seeing was not as enthusiastic as it had been elsewhere. I’m not sure why. Maybe less prepping of the kids. Maybe that we’d been there in the last couple years. Maybe because the focus was on the visiting and the site seeing seemed like a dull pastime during the days. Maybe because visiting people in their regular lives reminded the kids that they are missing their regular lives. Maybe because visiting people in their regular lives reminded Matt and me that regular adults lives are more work than this life on the road. For whatever reason, we all felt less enthusiastic about seeing sites in Philly than elsewhere. But it is was fun for other reasons.

Pictures of playing light sabers with Jasper, Kim’s son, and cousins Daniel and Nicholas.

NPR Geeks

We love NPR. Love it. Our days begin with Morning Edition and end with BBC World Service. It’s gotten both Jen and me through lots of crappy days at crappy jobs. In fact, if we pledged an appropriate amount for how much we listen, I’d have to get a job. Whoa, whoa, did I just write that? Let’s not get crazy here. Anyway, both of the kids are NPR fans, especially Eleanor. She LOVES it. She idolizes Lynne Rossetto Kasper from “The Splendid Table” and has been known to ask to go to bed early so as not to miss her favorite show that begins at 8:00pm. No, I’m not kidding.

Having said the above, it should come as no surprise that our list of sights to see on the trip included WHYY in Philadelphia. For NPR fans, WHYY is Mecca, or maybe Medina (and not the “funky cold” kind). Jen emailed a couple of weeks ago and got information about a tour and we went on Thursday.



It was great. Great great great. We were the only four on the tour, and were lead around by Ellen, a computer support person. I thought that was a bit odd, and guessed she had drawn the short straw or owed someone in the PR department a favor. While that may be true, having a tech person lead us around turned out to be a good thing, because she either (1) didn’t know to limit the access of the tour-goers, or (2) didn’t care. Who knows, maybe it’s just a laid-back place.

We couldn’t get into the first studio because they were on the air and had the curtains drawn. So Ellen said, “Let’s go in this one.” We walked in and there was a woman doing some editing, and we heard Terry Gross’ voice. “This is the Fresh Air studio, and Audrey, one of the producers of the show, is doing some editing for tomorrow’s show,” said Ellen. Here’s where it gets a little geeky. I leaned over to Jen and excitedly whispered, “Jen, that’s Audrey Bentham, one of the producers.” Her eyes lit up and we laughed. What dorks we are. We learned about the show – it’s done a day in advance of airing, and rarely is there a guest in studio.

We left that studio, and turned the corner. I could only get out “Oh my gosh, there she is –“ to Jen before Ellen walked into the office on the right and said, “And here’s Terry Gross. Terry, this a family from Cincinnati I’m giving a tour to.”

And there she was. Terry Gross. The Pixie Queen of NPR. “Hi,” she said as she got out of her seat to welcome us. Terry Gross had stopped what she was doing and was getting up to talk to us. Jen, struck so hard by the power of Terry, took a step back. I managed to get the typical “We really love your show” out of my mouth. Of course she was gracious. We made a little more small talk before thanking her and walking on. Later, Jen said, “I was watching this woman talk and Terry Gross’ voice was coming out.” That really sums up the odd feeling. It’s one thing to see her on TV or at appearance, but here she was in her office (which is not big and lacks windows), two feet from us.

Before you ask, no, we didn’t get a picture. It seemed too weird. We weren’t at a book reading or appearance. We were in her office. I thought about it in the moment, as did Jen, but it seemed weird and somehow rude. I don’t know.

Anyway, we then met Danny Miller, the Executive Producer of the show. Jen and I had fun pointing out the names from the show on their cubicle walls as we passed. I will say it takes a little away from the coolness of whole thing to realize the people getting named credit at the end of the show are plain old cubicle-dwellers. Not that I love Ann Marie Baldonado and Monique Nazareth and any less. By the way, if you know any of the names I’ve dropped here, I urge you to come out and proudly proclaim your love of Fresh Air. Don’t be afraid.

The rest of the tour was really interesting, and the kids now both say, “I’ll never listen to the radio the same way again.” As for Jen and me, we are now obsessed with using this “we’re just a home-schooling family from Cincinnati” schtick to get into lots of places you don’t usually get into. Our next stop is DC – anyone want odds on my next entry including a picture of Dick Cheney’s man-sized safe?

A final NYC entry

We arrived in Philadelphia on Tuesday night. Before moving on to Philly in the blog, however, we need to “finish” NYC. On the last day, we went with Marc to the Met, the Guggenheim (thanks to Marc), and a playground in Central Park. After saying goodbye to Marc, who had to go to work, we went to Harlem and had lunch. Freezing, because the temperature had dropped all day, we did a little shopping (“The shoes!” Matt says.) and headed back to our car (with a new pair of shoes for Matt).


At the Met—with a nod to Maggie’s Rodin pose on Matt Mullaney’s blog. C liked this statue because it’s how we was feeling.

The Guggenheim—that’s E high above


The E train

The C train

I make this final entry about NYC really to say how much the kids enjoyed NYC. The last day was not the best day. In fact, it was one of harder emotional days of the trip—the weather turned cold after we’d left our coats behind; Calvin didn’t want to go to an art museum, and really didn’t want to go to two; Calvin and I, at least, were really down about leaving—but we still managed fun. Calvin was able to rally and enjoy the “arms and amor” in the Met and the architecture of the Guggenheim. Eleanor, who enjoys art museums generally anyway, was excited to eat yummy food for lunch. And, unlike her brother, found a way to enjoy a sandy playground without taking off her shoes (it’s an obstacle course—don’t touch the sand!). “How can other children SURVIVE this?” asked Calvin. He also cried, “I’m crying because we’re leaving New York and you won’t even let me take my shoes off!” I think it was more the former than the latter.

Toward the end of the day as we were walking down the sidewalk, Calvin said with a smile on his face, “Goodbye, New York. I’ll move back here when I’m a grown-up, if I can afford it.” With more immediate hopes of getting back to NYC, Eleanor asked if we could stay at our New Jersey Hampton again sometime in the future.

The Total NYC Experience

Sunday was the perfect day. No, I’m not talking about the weather, although it was a beautiful 82 degrees and sunny. I’m not talking about the sights, either – in New York, those go without saying. I’m talking about the people. The local color. The individuals. Those who march to beat of a different drummer. Okay, the nutjobs, hotheads, and just plain funny people you find in the big city. Even my brother who has lived here for nearly five years now had to admit that in terms of wacky NYC encounters, we were having a banner day. Consider the following:

1. While walking through Central Park in the middle of the day we witnessed a man with his trousers down taking a dump right on the road. I mean right on the road. Jen pointed out later that he was kind enough to pull over to the side a bit. As we passed my brother looked at me and gave me that look that only siblings can understand. That look in this case said, “That..was..AWESOME!”

NYC crazymeter: 5 out of 5

2. Later in the day, we decided to take the Staten Island Ferry over and back to see Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. The subway route to take us to Battery Park was closed at Chambers Street, but they had free shuttle buses to get people the rest of the way. The bus came and the crowd pushed a little to get on. Right in front of us an African-American woman with a stroller and a baby began shouting at an Eastern European (maybe Russian?) man about pushing her on the bus. He, too, had a stroller, but just a stroller and not, as she pointed out, “any m-----f------ babies in it.” This is where it gets hard to convey. The woman kept yelling and swearing as she got on the bus. The man, now directly in front of me, starts swearing back at her, but because of his accent, the intonation was all wrong. He said (and you have to say this out loud as you read it, to get the full effect), “Who the FUCK are you? Why do you TALK to me this way? YOU bitch! YOU bitch!” You really have to run the “are you” together fast to get it right. The first part should have the “are you” emphasized, the second part sounds a bit like something Borat would say, and the last part is just plain funny. Anyway, the driver ends up telling them to stop it or he’s calling the police. The woman then urged him to “go on and call the m-----f------- police, but I ain’t stopping.” She did stop eventually, but it was funny – the bus was packed with people standing, but no one sat on either side of the man. “Aw, it’s not really fun until someone gets kicked off the bus,” said my brother.

NYC crazymeter: 3 out of 5

3. On the subway we saw an old woman with one giant helmet of matted hair. It was one of the creepiest, grossest things I’ve ever seen. I and practically everyone else on the train stole five-second looks at it. Any longer and the old crazy woman who clearly had not washed her hair in YEARS might get offended, right? My brother said it looked like one giant dreadlock. I thought it looked like an ancient coonskin cap that had fallen in wet concrete. You could see bits of dried grass in it. There were little tufts of what looked like normal hair sticking out here and there. The odd thing was (okay the whole thing was odd) that she’d made up her face and was wearing a slightly worn but totally normal raincoat. She was an otherwise normal old woman. I couldn’t help but picture her putting her make-up on in the mirror, and wondered what she thought (and thinks) when she looks up at her hair. Maybe she only has a tiny mirror, and that’s how the whole thing got started.

Obviously a photo for this entry would be great, but even I am not that big of a jerk.

NYC crazymeter: 3 out of 5

4. At the end of the day we were at Port Authority to catch our bus back to the hotel. Calvin needed to go to the restroom. As you can imagine, the restrooms at Port Authority are just dandy. Perhaps you’ve experienced them yourself. In fact, I could stop this entry right here, and just let your imaginations run wild. But I won’t because it’s what we witnessed in there that’s contributed to the true NYC experience. While we were waiting for a urinal to open up the Port Authority custodian came in said to me, “Now for the part of my weekend night job I hate the most.” Oh boy. He proceeded to use his mop handle to bang on the stall doors and shout “Wake up! Everybody wake up! It’s Saturday night! There’s lots of pussy out there, time to go get some!” Oh. My. God. Every part of that is funny. There then came some voices from in the stalls, all pretty much unintelligible, except for “blah blah blah, showtime.” “Showtime? Is that you in there?” said the custodian. “Time to get up and get on with your night, Showtime. Go on and get some pussy.” The custodian then looked over at me and then at Calvin and said, “Oh. Sorry, man.” What’s funnier: That the men sleeping in the stalls were actually going out in search of, um, females, or that one of them was named “Showtime?”

NYC crazymeter: 4 out of 5.


I hope I’ve conveyed these great NYC experiences adequately. Otherwise, this whole entry will be renamed “Had to Be There.” Oh yeah, we sat by a creepy-looking woman dressed like a clown on the train who kept trying to talk to Eleanor and Calvin. They weren’t having any of it, and we didn’t blame them.

Brooklyn

We went to Brooklyn this morning and met my brother for breakfast. We hung out in Greenpoint and went to a cool Polish candy store -- Calvin is always in search of new and exotic candy. We then went to a new park in Williamsburg right on the banks of the East River. A man there came up to the kids and said, "Look, you can dig for crabs right here on the shore." My brother replied, "Yeah, and the best part about them is they're pre-oiled for cooking!"


This picture sums it up well. Yep, thats a car bumper that washed ashore.

Did we mention that a bird pooped...

Did we mention that a bird pooped on Eleanor? She was walking down the sidewalk and it got her right on the forehead and ran down her nose, right between the eyes. She screamed. I thought she'd been stung by a bee. Matt thought that the miniscule amount of bird poop on her arm was the problem. Then we both noticed that she had bird poop smack in the middle of her face.

I laugh out loud just writing this.

Eleanor says, "I thought someone put a wet papertowel on my face, I was so shocked."

Today in NYC

I'm too tired to write much. Today we went up the Empire State Building. It was the most expensive thing we've done so far. It was fun and we're glad we did it.














We ended up in Times Square again. There is a lot that Calvin wants to see and do there, but either it gets too late or Matt and/or I reach sensory overload and insist that we leave. I took this brief video inside the M&M's store before Matt and I both experienced a breakdown. Poor Calvin *loves* Times Square. I think he's hurt by our not sharing that with him.

Matt, Marc, and the kids also went to the TV and Radio Museum. I went to Astoria in Queens and walked aimlessly for an hour or so.

Another good and exhausting day in NYC. At least we had the kids home by 8:30 tonight!

New York City

We went to the Disney Place. We are going to Toys R Us. We went to Lindt. (I pronounce it L'Tet!) This is a picture of me at L'Tet. After that I got Mister Softie.

We went to the Hersheys Store yesterday. It was really loud. Today we are going to M&M's World.












We are going to the Television and Radio Museum today. I think it will be fun.

People say I am like Uncle Marc.

NYC!

I took this brief video when we got off the bus that took us into Manhattan. I was attempting to capture how excited they were. They were much more animated before I got the camera out, but the video does show their joy.

Twelve hours in the city is too much?

We got a late start today, leaving our hotel at 10am. We had another fun day and arrived back here at nearly 10pm. Needless to say, some breaking down was in order. It looked like we'd make it, but then there was a crisis, which I will omit for the sake of privacy.

Today we saw more sights, starting with the Union Square "green market" with many vegetables we'd never seen before, including many colors of carrots. We saw the Flatiron Building, NYC Public Library, and Grand Central Station. Then after lunch, we split up. Matt and Eleanor went to Central Park. Calvin and I went to a branch of the public library where he could browse the kids' books. (He loves libraries and book stores.) We then met up with Matt and Eleanor at the Central Park playground. We also met Marc there and all went down to ride the Staten Island Ferry and see the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn, and Manhattan skylines. THEN, we headed to Times Square. We had planned to do a few stores, but only went to the Hershey's Store. Calvin loved it; Eleanor couldn't take the noise. It was a long day with no dinner (though we weren't hungry).

Basic reactions to our time in NYC- The kids were thrilled to arrive here- Calvin almost cried when we saw the Manhattan skyline. The kids don't care about buildings too much, unless they were in a movie. They both loved seeing the Statue of Liberty in person. Calvin loves the Times Square vibe- the energy, the lights, and the stores. Eleanor enjoyed MOMA more than we expected, mainly because there was a lot of art there that she recognized and knew things about. They both have a lot of energy for the time here. While we're going, it usually feels like we could go and go. One of them is usually excited enough to give the group energy.

We're in NYC!

We need to get going on our next big day. So, I post a some pics of our first day in NYC. American Girl Place, Toys R Us, Disney Store (no pic), Central Park, MOMA, and cupcakes. A great day! Calvin said maybe the best day ever. We really need to write more about it later.

Jen's Collection- Boston

In North End someone who laughs at their accent. Though we bought water here and the guy working there didn't have any sense of humor. He was RUDE.


The sweets place that Matt described in an earlier blog entry.

Calvin's Collection-MA and CT

Lexington, MA- Super Sweet Spray candy


Boston- Eclipse gum (the big canister)


Milford, CT- Lime mint Tic Tacs

Random Thoughts in Boston

The Boston leg has been great. We finished off our last half-day with a trip for me and the kids to the USS Constitution. Surprisingly, the kids wanted to wait in line for a guided tour and it was worth it.


I guess overall I am having a good time sharing places I have good memories of from when I was a kid with my own kids. My siblings and I joke that if there was a brown sign on the highway (noting places of historical significance), our Dad stopped and we all went to check it out. I don’t know how many battlefields we walked, but the time combined should qualify us all for military benefits.

After Jen picked us up we went to a place called Trani, which despite it off-putting name (not that there’s anything wrong with that) serves perhaps the greatest desert ever made. Well, the Whoopie Pies of Maine are up there, too, but these are unbelievable. We had Trani “Bust-Outs” -- okay, are you finished giggling yet? – which are cupcakes injected with vanilla or chocolate soft-serve, and then covered with magic shell chocolate. Oh, yeah. It’s that good. It’s like Minnesota State Fair good. Anyway, we got them to go and quickly realized they couldn’t be eaten in our car, so we ate them on the sidewalk. Literally, on the sidewalk. Desperate times, people, desperate times, indeed.



More thoughts on Boston. First, this funny clip:


That sums up what we learned in Lexington and Concord. It’s weird, when learning how the Revolutionary War started, we’re supposed to think it was scrappy and ingenious how the Provincials used “unconventional” warfare to pick off the British Regulars. We showed those arrogant imperial bastards, didn’t we? Who were they to come all the way over here and think their superior skills and weapons would just roll over us? Do you see where I’m going? Replace “provincials” with “insurgents” and “unconventional” with “guerilla” and it begins to look a little like the debacle our current President got us into. Okay, I know that's a bit simplisitc, but I just can't understand how you can go to these historical sights we've been to -- Lexington and Concord, Saratoga, Boston -- and not see *some* parallels. By the way, if anyone reading this is thinking, “But Saddam had nuclear weapons, and we had to stop that madman,” I hereby revoke my respect for you.

On a completely different subject, how do you know you’re traveling too far into South Boston on the T? Answer: When the three guys next to you, one of whom doesn’t know the other two, begin to compare how much time they’ve each served. Apparently doing six months in prison is not enough to prevent you from being teased. I was all ready to bust out a, “Oh yeah, well I just spent two weeks I Maine with no internet access and no cable.”

Also, this: We were getting ready to walk the Black Heritage Trail on Boston and Jen told the kids that it involved a bit of walking, but not as much as we did on the Freedom Trail. She then added, “We spent the whole morning at a place you two chose (the Boston Children’s Museum), so we don’t want to hear any complaining.” “Can we air complain?” replied Calvin. “What do you mean?” I said. “You know, like air guitar, but complaining instead,” he said. There it is, ladies and gentlemen, a knew form of talking back: the “air complain.”

Calvin’s had lots of ideas on this trip. At least three times a day he says, “You know what’d be cool…?” I told him he should write them down and become an inventor. The best one lately was the pants with built-in underwear. “You have to change your pants everyday, and you have to change your underwear everyday, so why not put them together? It would make peeing a lot easier, too,” he says. He still pulls his pants all the way down at the urinals. I’ve tried to explain that he doesn’t need to, but he says it’s more comfortable. Yeah, it probably is.

Day Two of the “cities” portion of our trip

I am sitting in the Hampton pool area while the kids swim. (Where they get the energy I do not know.) Matt and I are both relieved and happy about how well we’re all doing in the city. (We expected to do well in the country.) Today we left the hotel at 9:30am and got back at 6:15pm. We started the day at the Boston Children’s Museum and stayed for three hours. We ate our bag lunches (mainly food taken from the Hampton Inn breakfast) there. We then went to the Afro American Heritage Museum. After some walking to find a subway stop, we went to Jamaica Plain (a neighborhood). There we stopped at a playground, had very good veggie food at the Purple Cactus, and yummy ice cream at JP Licks (even tried Pad Thai ice cream and Coconut Curry ice cream). The point of reciting our day’s activities is to say that we did all of this without losing our cools and getting too tired. Watching the kids swim, I think that they are less tired than Matt and me.

Yesterday walking the Freedom Trail was a bit more of a challenge because Calvin really didn’t want to do it. He hung in through an hour or more, but then he and I broke off and had a good time exploring stores and bakeries in Chinatown. Matt wasn’t initially considering the Children’s Museum, but changed his mind last night. And Calvin didn’t want to go to the Afro American Heritage Museum, but he did fine. So, again I guess the message is that we all have needed to adapt and we basically have.

Tomorrow we go to the JFK Presidential Library, which I’ve privately told Matt seems totally boring to me. But I thought that Lexington and Concord would be a drag and they were pretty interesting. I really want to go back to Jamaica Plain after that and eat more. (The food there is totally yummy, unique, veggie food.) Eleanor wants to go to Chinatown and get more “coconut mooshies.” (I’m not sure that is what they are really called, but that’s what they are called at the place on McMillan in Cincinnati.) They are much better (fresher and with more sugar?) here in Boston!

Another surprise is that Matt and I are not spending that much time away from the family. I have spent more than Matt and it hasn’t been much at all (none since Islesboro). I’m wishing for some time now, but not desperately. The kids’ behavior helps. I told them 15 minutes ago that I “need some privacy” for a while. So they have mercifully stopped talking *to me* for a bit. Calvin *never* stops talking. I walked through Chinatown being asked hypotheticals and trivia questions about Star Wars. I think this bothers me more in my real life where I have my own worries and thoughts.

That’s all for now. I need to be done with my privacy.

Catching up....

We're in Boston now. Since yesterday morning, we've been to Concord, Lexington, Harvard Square, the MIT museum (all yesterday), the Freedom Trail, Chinatown (C&me), and the pool. Whew! C is tired of historic sites, because he says there's nothing really to see. E was really into the Freedom Trail and wanted to do all the tours. She and Matt finished it while C and I went to Borders, two toy stores, Dunkin Donuts, and Chinatown. Oh! And we rode the "T" (subway). Eleanor was quite excited, having never ridden a subway before. (C rode the DC subway when we went to the war protest.) We're going to the Children's Museum tomorrow and the kids are thrilled.


PICS: 1) Kids in Lexington. 2) Old North Bridge- first colonists killing British soldiers.