Thursday, May 31, 2012

Bye Bye Baby Hair

It took a while for Ben to convince me that it was time to say good-bye to this:

I love that wispy baby hair - but it was starting to get all matted and "mulletty."

Before

After

See that sweet little pile of hair?  

If you can't tell, he's saying "cheese," which he now says every time he sees a) cheese or b) a camera.  

I love this picture because he still looks like a baby, even with his new haircut.  I am in love with those sweet little shoulders.


Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Ben is 30!



"shoes"

Ben, my Love - welcome to the best decade of our lives!

Shug and Paul Come to Boston

"So, what did you do with Shug and Paul when they came all the way to Boston from Anchorage, Alaska?"

Let me answer that question for you:

1. We went to a Red Sox Game (our first in 8 years -- tickets are a lot cheaper this year than they were in 2004!).

We love these guys.

Sammy got to come along -- and he loved it!  He clapped every time the crowd cheered.

2. Ben took them on his exclusive Harvard tour.

We stopped and paid Winnie the Pooh a visit (this little spot is in a hidden spot on campus).

And Paul checked out the law school to see if they might be interested in him.

Yipee!  He got in! 
(actually, that was a joke - but we wish they would move to Boston)

3. I forced them to take in some Revolutionary War history by visiting Concord.  Ellis found a lot of "blow flowers" to blow.

4. We ate a lot of good food - including this wonderful trip to Kimball Farm for ice cream.

5. I tried to ingrain some beautiful Boston sights into their minds -- like this view from the Esplanade

and these ones from Public Garden



(they waited patiently while I took the boys on a Swan Boat)

and this one of Beacon Hill.

6. We visited the Boston temple.

Can I just say how much my boys LOVE Shug and Paul.  They played with Henry and Ellis a LOT because they are still youthful and fun . . .

and still very "newlyweddish"

What do you think of Ellis' latest hairdo?


7. We took them to Mt. Auburn Cemetery for a Sunday stroll.


Ellis did not disappoint Paul, who was eager to see some pretend Conference in action.  Put an Ellis-sized podium in front of him, and he can't resist!  

And who can resist a good microphone?

Henry did some modeling for Shug


And Sam was a good sport in the stroller.  I will mention that he was TERRIFIED of Shug and Paul for the entire week.  He is right in the middle of that awful stranger-fear stage.  He never got used to them!  Just screamed every time they walked into the room if I wasn't there.  I'm sure he will like them someday!

8. Did I mention that we ate a lot of good food?  Shug and Paul are foodies, so I felt obligated to introduce them to every delicious food I could think of.  They really enjoyed our visit to Russo's - the best garden/produce store ever.  They were blown away by the variety and low prices in contrast to their Alaskan grocery stores.  Yet another reason they should probably consider joining us in the Continental U.S. someday soon.

  Prosciutto/mushroom/arugula quésadillas anyone? There was just SO much good food to eat - too much to cram into a week.  I gained 2 pounds.

For some reason, they thought my onion-proof goggles were amusing.  Have you tried these things ($2.50 from Home Depot)?  They work wonders for onion-sensitive eyes!

9. I took them to Walden Pond to meet Henry David Thoreau.

We loved dipping our toes in the water!

10. We played a lot of games.  Ellis was completely entertained by Shug and Paul.  Several times a day, he would say, "Hmmm. I wonder if somebody wants to play a game with me."  And then Shug or Paul or both would play with him!  It was a nice break for me, since I get to play Uno, Guess Who, and Zingo pretty much every day!

Ellis was also happy to have someone show some fresh interest in his presidents.  

And of course, we played games until way too late every single night.  Mostly we played Catan - Cities and Knights, but we mixed it up a bit.  I fell asleep mid-game a few times and added some crazy stuff to the conversation, I'm sure.  

It was SO much fun having Shug and Paul as our roommates for the week!  We really love them and respect and admire them so much.  They helped us figure out our lives and what is important; they made us laugh and laugh.  The last night, we stayed up talking until 3:00 in the morning just wanting the conversation to never end.  We can't wait for our next adventure with the Riggs.

Beach House on Buzzard's Bay

Once upon a time (like, two weeks ago), we drove and drove until we got to a road that looked like this:


and turned the corner to a house that looked liked this:


It was a house whose dining room has views like this:


and whose backyard includes playing like this:


and this:


and this:


and this:


And the best part: we got to stay there with friends like this:


And hence began our visit with Shug and Paul!  If you don't know this already, Shug is one of my best friends in the world - starting with our days as freshman roommates almost 12 years ago.  She is one of the best people I know.  And she happens to have a friend in Alaska whose grandparents own this beach cottage and allow friends of their grandchildren to use it.  And share it with their friends and their friends' kids.  It was a dreamy little place to be!