Sunshine and Science

An adventure in the city for this crew starts on the train with excitement over subway station benches and make believe fire poles.

This day happened to be in the sixties in February and Uncle James and Aunt Rachael came to Boston.

We stopped at the playground,

before walking to the Museum of Science.

I love how the exhibits engage all ages,

and how interactive they are.

We are members now, and can bring guests with us the next time you are in town!

Wintering

 Living my entire life in the Northeast, and more than half of it in New England I have always known snow.

I still love to look at it and play in it.

 

Somehow we had made it eight years of parenting without acquiring a sled, and were grateful for both the invitation to join neighbor friends sledding and for their generous offer to share their sledding supplies.

 

Wintering in colder climates is made more enjoyable with having the proper equipment but also a shift in attitude.

 

Instead of begrudging the ten minutes it takes to help children gear up, I try to savor the sights of a two year old attempting to stuff her tutu into snowpants or the rosy hue of an eight year old’s cheeks when she comes back inside. 

The six year old who comes in just long enough to have me wipe the snow out from behind his glasses while he declares that it is, “super fun!”. 

Or the way the two year old boy barrels bravely into the snow and returns moments later looking offended and proclaiming how cold it is.

 

When the holidays are over there are popovers made at 6am on a random Saturday with the only other person in the house who is awake, and dessert crepes for lunch to keep spirits festive.

The four of them decide to have “sleepovers” in the living room midmorning when they are tired from playing in the snow (and from making popovers at 6am).

 

And when they ask to play on the ice after school, I try to say yes in opposition of my desire to rush back inside from the temperatures in the teens, because I don’t want them to dread this season or view it as something to simply survive until Spring comes.

Christmas 2021

The experience of shopping and accumulating items in our home aren't my favorite things. 

However, this before face with the audio of "open it, open it!" for the gift she had picked out for her brother,

And the after face once he received it, inspire me to enjoy gifts through the eyes of those I love.

And they were loved on and gifted by many. 

There was also the gift of being able to gather. 

In New Hampshire for cookie decorating,

and sledding,

cousin bonding, 

playing with Great Grandma's pewter figurines,

and teaching Grandpa how to latch hook.

 

Thanksgiving 2021

Some Christmas gifts came before Thanksgiving this year, as we started the celebrations of both holidays while in Pennsylvania.

Sophia loves selecting gifts and giving them.

Her Great Aunt Jan gave the gift of a piano lesson.

Bop-bop spent some time on the piano as well, but mostly with the model train table which was very popular.

Aunt Rachael and Uncle James brought the big kids over to the playground before the Thanksgiving meal.

Nada joined us for dinner and wrote what she was most thankful for along with the other guests (Jason wrote: "Sophia").

Nana and Bop-bop hosted the six of us, as well as Uncle Ray and Aunt Jan, Cousin Emilie, Nada, Rachael and James.

The day after Thanksgiving we rode the train into Philadelphia.

The Franklin Institute was having a special exhibit on Christmas Trees and Trains.

I was particularly thankful for the time we got to spend with Emilie since she lives in Louisiana.

About a month earlier we had gone to the Plymouth Plantation.

This trip was inspired by Sophia's realization that there was a nearby physical representation of what she was learning in school.

I loved how hands on the experience was, with plenty of opportunities to climb and run.

The chickens were the highlight for the younger three.

And while Sophia was the only one who listened to a lecture on the first thanksgiving, the rest of us were still able to immerse ourselves in the time and place.