Boston, Part 2

Sunday in Boston started for us at the Cambridge 1st Ward.  Usually when we leave church after attending at a different location we leave saying "the church is the same wherever you go."  Parker and I were laughing because that wasn't quite the case here.  They even had a fireside that night (I stayed with the kids, but Tim, Aubrey, and Parker went) where they discussed "hot topics" and other controversial issues in an attempt to keep them at bay from taking over the actual church time.

Anyway, after church, we went to this little bakery for brunch as we had heard great things about their sticky buns.  They didn't disappoint.

We then made our way out to Concord for the afternoon.  Again, Parker and I might be a tad bit creepy, but our favorite part of the day was visiting the Sleepy Hollow Cemetary.  It was sooo cool!  Sleepy Hollow is where Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and Louisa May Alcott (author of "Little Women") are buried.  Beyond that the trees were absolutely incredible and there is just something amazing about really, really old grave markers and the designs and wording inscribed on them.  I was also amazed to see that there was an area of the cemetary that was reserved for people who had passed away in the not so distant past.  I couldn't even image how expensive it would be to be buried there!  Ralph Waldo Emersons family plot was in a cool location as it overlooked the river and was surrounded by the amazing trees.

Not too far from there is Walden Pond so we decided to visit that.  There is a short little walk around the pond that leads to the site of where Henry David Throeau's home was when he lived there for a couple summers.  I'm not totally sure what we thought we would see- maybe like an old This is The Place type home... but really there were just markers literally saying this is where his home was located.  Haha.  It was still a nice Sunday activity though, the weather was perfect and the company was divine.

When we returned to Tim and Aubrey's apartment, and they had returned from their own ward, Aubrey was an absolute sweetheart and made us Sunday dinner.  More than that, she has mad cake skills, and volunteered to make Parker a birthday cake with his favorite candy bars- it was incredible.  It looked gorgeous and tasted delicious.  She is so talented!

Also noteworthy, while we were in Boston, Ruby decided she wanted to learn to crawl up the stairs by herself.  And crawl she did!  She got so fast that it wasn't uncommon for me to turn around and thirty seconds later she was more than half way to the top!  It was better than any toy we could have given here.  She didn't try to go down by herself, thank goodness, but she made us nervous enough that she would attempt it that Parker or I were almost always two steps behind her.  Just in case.

 As previously mentioned, I stayed with the kids Sunday night so Aubrey, Tim, and Parker could attend the fireside.  I think Aubrey didn't want me to have to worry about putting her kids to bed, so she told them they could get in their jammies and watch a movie.  We decided Ruby could join them and just had a movie night.

The next day- our final day in Boston- was Parker's birthday!!  Yay!!!  Aubrey was so sweet to hang this cute sign up for him.

We made german pancakes for his birthday breakfast, and then Parker was off to class with Tim for the morning.  He thought it would be sort of fun to sit through some of the HBS classes and, as he suspected, he really loved it.  Tim introduced Parker at the beginning of class by saying "This is my cousin (sort of), my former business partner, and one of my best friends.  Plus, it's his birthday today" to which the class of Harvard students began applauding.  It also was the birthday of a girl in the class and she had brought party hats for her and her friends to wear in honor of her special day so they kindly passed one down for Parker to wear as well.

Once he returned from class, we took off to see a couple last sights while in Boston.  First, the Boston Library.  While walking there we couldn't help but snap a few pictures of the cool surrounding buildings as well.

Such a good daddy carrying Ruby up the stairs

Last, but not least we went to Fort Independence on Castle Island and it was very cool.  This was an acutal fort used in the Revolutionary War and many wars since.  It was amazing to think about what it must have been like watching a ship from Europe approach.

We also couldn't pass the opportunity to grab ice cream on Parker's actual birthday or to let Ruby put her feet in the ocean.

We are still amazed how much she has traveled in her first year of life.  Ten states and she has now "swam" in both oceans.  She actually was loving this and was quite unhappy with Parker when he wouldn't let her sit down and play.  She threw a pretty good fit.

We had a wonderful weekend in Massachusetts and are so glad we were able to go!  Thank goodness for Jet Blue deals!