Stomping Grounds

Our summer months have largely been spent playing at our favorite playgrounds.  Here are some of our frequented stomping grounds.  

Clarendon Street Playground-

We love CSP for many reasons.  It's incredibly close to our apartment, being just two short blocks away, which is great when we need a quick breather from being inside.  It's the only playground in the city with a sandbox.  Emma loves to get dirty!  Thanks to the generosity of the neighborhood (along with Myrtle Street Playground) it is filled with large push toys, riding toys, kitchen sets, etc.  Anything a parent would want for their child without actually having to keep it in their own home :) And we love meeting our neighbors!

Swinging with our friend Max.

Playing with Gracie.

"Meet you at the mall, Grace?"

Esplanade Playgrounds-

The Esplanade is littered with four large playgrounds (and our favorite splash pool) with two being geared to the younger kids.  They are great pit stops during long walks on the river.  Here Emma is taking a test drive with her parents... 

before being allowed to drive with her peers :) 

A playground requirement- swings!

Myrtle Street Playgound-

Situated at the very top of Beacon Hill (which gives her mom a great cardio workout) is MSP.  We have so many great memories of meeting and getting to know some of our best friends here.  

During the summer months the neighborhood funds special events every Thursday.  Emma got to jam out to her Baby Wiggles band.  

During a rainy Thursday, a pet the farm animals event was held in a local school.  The farmer was actually William's Aunt!  Emma was interested in the chicken but dared not touch! 

Gma and Papa visit!

Towards the end of June, we were fortunate to have a visit from Grandma and Papa!  You can tell they came during the Boston Bruin's playoffs because it is not every day George Washington is wearing a Bruins jersey! 

 Even the ducks were feeling festive! And in this moment Emma was feeling pretty proud of standing up with no hands!  For the past few weeks Emma kept her parents on their toes while she would take two or three steps here and there.  But this past week she really found her groove and is now an official walker! 

On a side note, we were very sad the cup did not return to Boston.  Emma's godparents, who are always looking out for Emma's best interest, sent her this in the mail :) 

Feeding the ducks in the Public Gardens.

And then Emma went on the carousal for the first time with her mom and Papa.  Fun was had by all!

Enjoying the view of the Public Gardens from the hotel room.

Patrick's first year covering restaurant stocks at work presented a wonderful opportunity to attend a conference in Nantucket.  We rented a car for the day and drove from one end of the island...

to the other...

Pretty little lighthouse!

One of Emma's favorite activities is playing in the sand! Nantucket has plenty of pretty beaches!

The conference held a big clambake on the beach.  Unfortunately it rained but the party went on inside a tent.

Emma tasted her first clam chowder and boy was it a hit!  She is developing quite the sophisticated palate and plain old cheerios is no longer cutting it! 

They even gave each of the kids a sand bucket filled with toys :) 

We stayed at the Cottages at the Boat Basin- our place was the one with the black shutters slightly behind me in this picture.  What a fun experience to stay on the water! 

Here we are on the back deck. 

 Our trip wore everyone out.  Two of us couldn't even stay awake during the ferry ride home. 

To top the week off, Patrick and I went to a wedding while Grandma and Papa babysat Emma.  The groom is Patrick's coworker, Ed, and the bride is the great-granddaughter of Franklin D. Roosevelt! It was beautiful to say the least!

July 4th Weekend in Vermont

With a four day weekend and our Fifth (!) wedding anniversary, we decided to take a last minute trip up to Stowe, Vermont.  It was a heat wave in Boston so it was a good chance to climb up into the mountain and enjoy the summer heat 45,000 feet (no fact checking on this blog, fyi). It was only about a 3.5 hour drive so fairly manageable for a quick 2 nights & 3 days from home.  Here's a picture of the pool scene at our resort (very kid and dog-friendly)

Here's the other side of the resort - you can see the ski runs for the winter.

They also have an 18 hole golf course, which we walked & enjoyed the amazing views...few mosquitos too for Patrick's enjoyment.

On Saturday, we toured Ben & Jerry's factory.  Emma loved it so much, she wanted to do a TON of cheesy tourist pics...

After that, we felt peer pressure to join the natives & be fit. So we drove up a mountain.  Then walked around on top of the mountain.  We were so high, the clouds limited our visibility (altitude at least 17 miles).

Computer is being a little fickle tonight, so fast-forward a bit to Saturday night...(...omitted pictures of scaling mountain, wrestling with black bear and teaching Emma to fly-fish...) where we ordered take-out pizza and pulled off to a state park along the way home and ate it by a creek.  Can you spot the bear behind us?  Heh - just kidding - hopefully not.

On Sunday, Emma walked ten (10!) steps.  We have a video of it, but unfortunately it's not uploading.  Available upon request as they say. Instead of that lifetime memorable shot, here are two photos from us at the supermarket on our way home to Boston.  Dad picked out his mode of transportation and Emma picked out hers.  Guess who got more compliments?

Fortunately there was a horn on fire engine so Emma could alert people when they were taking too long selecting cauliflower.

That was our trip to Vermont in a nutshell.  Guest blogging tonight Patrick.