Look mom, I'm famous!

My Infamously Photogenic Children...

Memorial Day - Surf's Up

We tried to go to the Sandy Point State Reservation, but the parking is extremely limited and they were all out of spaces. I talked to the DCR guy and he said on holidays and weekends the lot fills up by 8am. So we went up the road a bit to a beach in the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. It was well worth the drive out to Plum Island; lots of cool birds and shoreline scenery, and maybe next time we'll set the alarm clock and get a parking spot on the reservation.
Calvin enjoyed the ride, but not the wind. He spent a lot of the beach time in the tent raiding the snack bag (he's worse than a gull).
Our friends' sweet little girl who totally loved the drive up to the beach. (okay, she threw up all over when we got there, but then was pleasant as can be)
Peter's SBP (Standard Beach Position)
Bryn adapted quickly to the wind and ran through the water splashing anyone who dared to sit nearby with her wake.
And when we got home the rhododendron was in full bloom to greet us (is it wrong to be in love with a plant?).

The Wrath of Cal

Not just brown and gray anymore

We don't have grass, and after a very barren winter of starring at dirt and rocks whenever the snow melted, you can imagine how pleased I am to see woodland foliage (especially with minimal effort on my part).

All these photos were taken on our property the past couple of days. Yes, I know some of them are "weeds," and that the basil in the middle is straight from store, but right now we'll take all the green we can get.

I'm particularly fond of my untamed rhododendron; I've never seen one with this wine-colored flower. The other plants in the collage are Lily of the Valley, Hostas, Violets (which Bryn has taken to eating), and an unidentified yellow buttercup-looking flower (5 more points up for grabs).

My new favorite ad

This ad was featured (and won a gold award) at the Clio Awards festival—the ad world's version of the Oscars, and is my new personal favorite.

An evening well-spent

It never hurts to advertise. Thanks to this post, John and Carrie kindly volunteered to watch our children while we spent an evening in Harvard Square celebrating our anniversary.

We were going to go to Small Plates for dinner (which would have used all of our valuable kid-free time but did look very tasty), but decided to patronize the local used bookstore and bead shop instead.
We grabbed some pizza at the Garage's Crazy Dough's.

He didn't even look this happy in our wedding pictures.
I found the math section! Don't these look like books you can just dive right into?
The spoils of the evening
It's beads like these that keep me going back to Beadworks. The materials to make this bracelet cost less than my roundtrip T fare.

A morning well spent

The kids and I took advantage of the weather and hit the park near our house for the whole morning. I almost feel guilty on days like these; the kids played on the playground and I played on the basketball court adjacent to the playground. We always have the place to ourselves and I've come to think of it as our second backyard that I don't have to take care of.

Today I utilized the kids' sidewalk chalk (thanks again, Rolana!) and my trusty tape measure to draw some regulation lines on the court. Just in case you're wondering what they are, enjoy this diagram.
We also saw this cool weed growing in the grass. 5 points go to the first person to identify it correctly.

Has it really been that long?

Yep, 8 years to the day of wedded bliss. And to celebrate, here are 8 pictures from the 8 Mays (+/- a couple of months) of our lives together.

2000 With my favorite cat, Batman

2001 At my parents' house in Millville

2002 Graduation for both of us with our undergraduate degrees

2002 (still-this time it's actually May) European gallivanting

2003 My graduation from BU

2004 Goodbye party for some good friends (you know who you are!)

2005 Outer Banks, NC (Peter's family reunion)


2006 Willow Park in Logan

2007 Tony Grove

2008
It has now come to my attention that we have no photos containing both Peter and me from this month, so I commissioned Bryn to draw our family portrait. She took some creative license and drew each person on top of what they like to think about (apparently I like to think about basketball, Peter about books, Bryn about Humpty Dumpty, and Calvin about chocolate chip Humpty Dumpty cookies).

Okay Pete, if you're reading this, now's the time to hit the flower stand.

Mother's Day Movie

Chain Gang

Bryn keeps asking me to make sure that I wake her up on the day that we get on the airplane to go see Grandpas and Grandmas, and packs her suitcase several times a day, just to be ready. I think she's afraid we'll all quietly pack up and leave without her, so we made a chain to count the days until we go.

Fife and Drum Muster

Saturday morning was drizzly and cold, but muster they did and muster we did. It was a great event!

He's ready for his close-up, Mr. DeMille

Welcome home!

Peter's parents have been serving as humanitarian missionaries for the last 2 years in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and returned home yesterday. Among their duties were to organize wheelchair donations, help local Bishops with their storehouses, and to be involved with the little details that keep an office and their humanitarian efforts running smoothly and efficiently.


Welcome home Elder and Sister Jones! Our kids can't wait to smother you in hugs and kisses next month, and we're excited to hear a first-hand account of your adventures.

Grocery List

Bryn noticed we were a little low on supplies while she was taking inventory of the fridge, so she took it upon herself to make me a grocery list:

BIGGGG CARITS AND
HUNEI AND
CEROLE AND
KADIE EGGS AND
THREG HCESE AND
MELKCE AND
STIC POPSACOS




(Translation:
Big carrots
Honey
Cereal
Candy Eggs
String Cheese
Stick Popsicles)

It looks good to me, so we're off to the grocery store.