Boston in Pictures

Lunch break. It is so strange (to me) to see a bunch of nicely dressed business people with their shoes off, lounging on the grass.

A statue dedicated to ether, of all things. You'd have to hear the whole story, but this thing is hilariously frightening.

Chillin' in the park with Daddy.

Make way for ducklings!

Violet's first carousel ride! She freaked out until it started, but then seemed to get the hang of things.

My pal Paul Revere at the Old North Church (of "one if by land, two if by sea" fame).

Old Ironsides - the USS Constitution.

Playing with Grandma while we toured the Constitution.

Happy girl! (Notable because she wasn't such a happy camper the majority of the day. Apparently three days of non-stop sightseeing was one day too many.)

Two If By Sea

So it's time for the annual Loughman family summer get-together, and this time instead of playing it safe and sticking to the familiar, we decided to branch out and visit the big city of Boston, home of Matt's big brother Greg.

My expectations for a vacation with a two-year-old are low, but so far I'd rate this trip a solid B-plus. There have been times Violet has understandably lost it, and other times where we've just decided to throw in the towel and call it a day, but on the whole she has been a trooper and we have really enjoyed exploring the city as a family.

The Redcoats Loughmans are coming!

After a rather uneventful flight (the only time Violet freaked out was when our DVD player ran out of juice - fortunately we had plenty of back-up videos on our phones), we hopped on the Boston train like pros and made our way to the rented condo. Considering I was braced for the worst (screaming child, dirty looks from passengers) when it came to the actual travel part of our itinerary, it was nice having it off the list, especially since Violet did such a great job. Then Sunday we packed our gear and set out for a Boston Harbor Islands tour. It was a hot, sunny day, which made being out on the breezy water just that much better.

Two if by sea...

The nice thing about having a local for a guide - I never would have put the Boston Harbor on the top of my sightseeing list, but it was so nice. A perfect, low-key way to start our vacation. We hung around, visited an old fort, watched a random vintage baseball game, dipped our toes in the frigid water, good times.

The family on Georges Island.

I want to go to there.

My happy family.

On the ferry, homeward bound. It takes a real man to carry around Minnie.

She finally conked out on the boat ride home.

After a long day at sea, we finally made it home. Because we hadn't walked nearly enough that day, we took a little pre-dinner jaunt to Jamaica Pond, just a few minutes from our place. In fact, this condo is in the perfect location - a quick walk to a park, restaurants, T stop, and an awesome playground with fountains and playmates. Oh, and it's in the same neighborhood as the Sam Adams Brewery, but we'll get to that later!

A pretty way to end the day.

On the Road

I'm so proud of this little Noodle. And this big Noodle, for that matter. Violet conquered planes, trains and automobiles today and we're all still smiling! More updates from our adventures on the way. For now we are just happy to be cooling our heels here in Boston.

Just Finished

I just finished reading this book again. The year I first read it, it became the best book I picked up that year (I keep a list - I'm nerdy like that).

It's one of my most recommended reads, if anyone ever asks.

And when my book club picked it for next month, I was thrilled to delve into it again.

Even though I've read it before and I know whodunit, it kept me hooked to the last page. I tried to slow down towards the end, to savor every word, but the suspense, the haunting melancholy of the characters, the brutal beauty of the story unfolding delicately, revealing itself with a shy, sad smile, kept the pages flying beneath my fingers.

Some people are bothered that this character-driven detective fiction leaves too many questions unanswered at the end. But life doesn't tie itself up in a neat bow for us either.

It's hard to finish a book like this, knowing the next one I pick up just won't quite measure up. Perhaps I'll reread this one next.

Happy Birthday America!

Keeping Busy

Last night was a really fun night. You know, the kind where the ladies are all relaxing and enjoying a bottle (or four) of wine while the guys are off playing Guitar Hero. And then a wild bunch of little boys dressed like ninjas attempt to stage a coup. You know, one of those nights.

Here are some other things we've been up to!

Violet with my sister Chitra.

Ladies who lunch - Violet and Madeline.

A trip to the neighborhood fountains.

Water balloon fun! The kids called their balloons their "babies" and cared for them by putting them in "daycare" ie: the splash pool. Then they had fun sliding into the pool and trying not to land on the babies. Such excellent parenting!

Playing the princess at Madeline's first birthday party.

Paint Chips Ahoy!

Remember when I made the paint chip coasters? Well, I was originally inspired by this idea for a paint chip calendar. Seeing as the first project turned out well, I decided to get crafty once more.

While the original idea just involves gluing a bunch of paint chips to paper for each month, I don't have the time, patience, or guts to take a year's worth of paint chips from my local home improvement store. So I decided to modify a bit and make a reusable version. Here's how it all went down.

Assemble the palette.

First I had to procure enough coordinating paint chips. This involved me skulking around Home Depot surreptitiously slipping paint chips in my pocket. I'm not sure if they would be mad at me taking 35 paint chips, but I decided not to care (or advertise the fact). I decided to go with a cool blue and purple palette that would hopefully look good with my kitchen.
 

Cut to size.

Next up, I had to trim the paint chips into squares and then arrange the chips into a pleasing pattern. I didn't want the same colors ever touching, and I kind of did a light-to-dark color thing, but other than that, this was all eye-balling to see what looked right.

Arrange the grid.

Finished design.

Once I had it in a pattern I liked, it was time to glue it down. I used a 14x18 frame and just flipped over the faux family picture insert it came with to give myself a white background. I drew a line around the edge of where the chips would go, just to give myself something to follow. If I was super crafty and a perfectionist, I guess I would have drawn the entire grid, but I decided to just eyeball the spacing, and it seemed to work out. ( I also left more room at the top so I could write in the name of the month, just so you know.)

Glue those babies down.

I started gluing from the bottom, and added each row above, again, just eye-balling the placement of each square. A glue stick worked fine, and since the whole thing is going under glass, I wasn't too worried about getting the corners down perfectly. Then the whole thing went into the frame. I used a vis-a-vis marker to fill in the dates (although once school starts I'll find a black or blue marker in my stash - it would look better than the green). And there you have it!

Calendar? Or modern art? You decide!

Bring it on, July!