The Heaps go to Boston and Recreate a Book

On our last day in Boston we decided to explore downtown Boston. Fiona has a book, Hello Boston, and we used that as a guide to determine where we would go. I had a thought that we could go to the places in the book and take a photo of Fiona with the book in the same spot. I just figured it would be a way to see all the touristy spots and that Fiona might be excited to see the spots from the book. I did not anticipate how excited she would be and how much fun she would have.

We spent the entire day running around all of the city and I took photos of her with the book. When we got home I had the photos printed, and then typed out the book with the words from the book matching up with Fiona holding that page open. Then I created a little book for her to take to school so she could show her classmates about her trip to Boston. She excitedly ran into class “I made a book!!!”. And she still likes to flip through it and “read” it.

We started the day riding the T, just like the ducks in the book. But this time we were smart and brought a carrier for Lincoln. And by “we”, I mean my fabulous friends still had a backpack carrier in their basement even though their boys are 12 and 10. Patrick carried Lincoln all around Boston, and Lincoln loved it! He would get out and run around, then come back point to the carrier and tell us “backpack up”. At the end of the day he even napped happily snuggled up in the backpack. We came home and promptly bought one.

After riding the T and seeing the capitol building we wandered around Boston Commons and Fiona made friends with the sculptures.

I love how she is showing the duck sculpture where he is in the book.

Lincoln thought that a Lincoln sized duck was pretty cool.

He then tried to ride the smaller ones.

Play Me I’m Yours (http://streetpianos.com/boston2013/) was going on in Boston while we were there. We found 3 different pianos. At the first one she sat down to play and showed us what she had learned in her recent piano class. She instantly had a crowd around her. She is such a little performer.

We had lunch at Quincy Market and then walked over got pastry not too far from Paul Revere’s statue. I think Patrick was just ensuring that we walked off all the calories from the lobster tail (my favorite pastry) before we ate it. We stopped in the courtyard where Paul Revere’s (or just Paul as Fiona refers to him. “Let’s go check out Paul’s house”) statue is and ate our pastries. Then the kids discovered leaves.

And it was game on. They chased each other throwing leaves at one another.

Lincoln loved throwing the leaves at Fiona, but Fiona would just threaten to throw them at Lincoln and not hit him. They wore themselves out chasing the leaves. Fall in New England is very different then fall in Texas. We all had a lot of fun eating pumpkin donuts, apple picking, eating soup, and throwing leaves.

Until next time New England!

The Heaps go to Boston – Eat raspberries and visit 2 other states

I apologize for the 2 week break in posting these photos. The Heaps have had the stomach flu, a broken wrist and of course work and Halloween costumes to make.

After picking apples we headed down the hill in search of raspberries.

I think the kids may have liked raspberries more, just judging on the volume of fruit that was consumed.

Lincoln learned quickly how to find them and pick them.

I love that I have a very similar photo of Fiona doing this same thing (exact same pose) when I took her blackberry picking when she was little. My kids love berries.

Fiona loved picking them as well. There was many exciting shouts as the kids ran up and down the rows finding the ripe berries.

After Lincoln filled his basket (okay I filled his basket, he was too busy eating them) he plopped down and started eating. Im amazed he had any room left for lunch after all of the fruit they ate.

Mmm… fresh raspberries! I often think we should plant berries. But I know I would never see a single berry. My kids would eat them all.

Fiona was proud of her raspberry stash.

I once again handed over my camera and had my friend snap a couple photos. Was there a single one where the kids were actually looking at the camera? No, there were far more exciting things to look at. Im just happy that they didn’t have mouths full of apple.

After our fruit picking we headed to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It was a very picturesque, typical New England town. Mark said that it was a little weird how everything looked like the town in England where he grew up.

 My little boy looked so grown up on the trip, he is leaving toddler behind and becoming a kid. Sigh. He talked so much while we were there and has continued to be a little chatterbox since we got home. And he still thinks the trick of hiding his hand is hilarious.

Only one more post from Boston!

The Heaps go to Boston and go apple picking

What is a quintessential fall thing to do on the east coast? Go apple picking. So of course we had to go while we were there.

The kids slept late on Sunday worn out from all the fun on Saturday. As Lincoln slept we realized that perhaps it was more then him just being tired that was causing him to sleep late; he was running a fever of 101. So while Patrick was out getting James from his sleepover he picked up some childrens ibprofin and we dosed Lincoln up when he finally woke up. Then we headed to the apple orchards.

By the time we got there Lincoln was feeling much better and even agreed to walk… for a bit. All of the kids were eager to get started picking the apples, and more importantly, eating the apples! We headed to the top of the hill and Fiona and the older boys ran ahead to get started. Fiona quickly perfected her apple picking technique. “Mama, there are three ways to pick an apple. 1) You pull 2) You twist 3) (holding fingers up for emphasis) You pull and twist.”

Being the fabulous big sister that she is Fiona eagerly showed Lincoln how to pick apples.

Lincoln thought apple picking was awesome; snacks are just hanging on trees waiting for him to come along and eat them.

We warned Fiona not to pick too many right away. It was a big orchard with a lot of varieties of apples, and it would be a long way to haul a heavy bag. But she eagerly filled it (and insisted that we bring it home with us. She has been giving out apples to people since we got home. Trip to the dentist? She needed to take them an apple. Her friends and teachers needed apples as well).

Lincoln was not so interested in filling his bag.

He was mostly interested in eating the apples.

Lincoln may be tall for his age but compared to everyone else there he was little. So I handed off my camera and hoisted him up so that he could pick some of the higher fruit. And by pick, I mean eat.

Look at that grin! Fiona loved it. She ran from tree to tree scouting all the different types of apples.

This was the gorgeous view from the top of the hill. And it is also the point where Lincoln, Heather and I got ditched. Lincoln was starting to slow down and insisted on being up, so we walked along the ridge while everyone else went exploring. They came back with a ton of variety of apples; all of them were delicious.

It wasn’t all bad being ditched. Along the top of the hill there was a wide open space an picnic tables set up (all which were full, it was prime apple picking season after all). Lincoln and I snuggled up while we waited (and I once again handed over my camera so Heather could snap a photo of the snuggling).

Once we all met up again on the other side of the orchard we headed down the hill to pick raspberries. Which will be another post, because ummm… I take a lot of photos.

The Heaps go to Boston, and eat Donuts and go to the Cape

Saturday morning Heather’s boys both had soccer games. So my kids got to watch actual games, instead of just kicking a ball around. Since donuts (especially Dunkin Donuts) are huge on the east coast we picked some up before the game. Fiona chose chocolate, and I got some pumpkin (widely known fact; I heart all things pumpkin) ones for Lincoln and I.

Delicious, delicious pumpkin donuts. Lincoln ate most of his, and then when we weren’t looking sneaked two more munchies (donut holes) and ate those too.

The kids had fun watching the games, and as far as I know both boys won. Since they played at the same time we watched half of Eric’s game and then went and watched the last half of James’s game (luckily they are at the same place). However a trip to the bathroom with Fiona meant I missed almost all of James’s game, so I could be wrong whether he won or not.

After the games we rushed James off to a sleep over and then headed to the coast so that the kids could see the Atlantic and “dip their toes in”… we all know what happens when Fiona says that…

We stopped in a little town called Woods Hole and got lunch; mmmm lobster tacos! What we didn’t realize was Lincoln was coming down with something, which meant he was unbelievable clingy. Mostly to me. He would sob “mommy up, mommy up!” I could only do so much carrying so Heather’s fabulous husband, Patrick, offered to take him (I should also say that Mark tried to take him, but none of us would let him. Mark had his gallbladder removed and several hernias repaired a few weeks prior and still wasn’t suppose to lift much). Lincoln finally agreed that Patrick was an acceptable ride and settled in on Patrick’s shoulders.

We wandered around Woods Hole for awhile and ended at the aquarium, we got there just in time for the seal feeding. Which the kids LOVED. The seals swam around, did tricks like jumping through hoops and knocking balls of sticks.

Then we headed to the beach. Which was surprisingly warm.

The kids climbed on rocks, splashed in the water, and collected shells. Eric tried to show Fiona a crab and put it in her shell cup and to put it simply she was not impressed. She quickly dumped the whole thing out and started to cry. Poor Eric had no idea what he did wrong.

I handed over my camera to Heather so that she could snap a family photo of us. Proof that all of us were there, at the same time!

Then Fiona was off and running down the beach pretending to be Ladybug girl in the waves.

Darwin got to come to the beach too. He wasn’t so sure about the waves though!

As you can see Lincoln has come a long way from being the crying baby on the beaches in Hawaii. Now he thinks they are pretty cool. And as you will note, he is soaked. He decided to sit down in the water.

Fiona, as usual, loved the water. At one point she stops splashing and pulls off her (soaking wet) skirt and hands it to a baffled Heather and told her that she “didn’t want to get it wet”, a little late for that kiddo.

Fiona had so much fun playing at the beach, we really do need a beach family vacation soon. Somewhere warm preferably.

Not that the non tropical weather slowed Fiona down at all.

Lincoln mostly wandered around on his own scooping up water and pouring it on himself, because I guess that is what boys do? Really, I have no idea why.

Fiona on the other hand was pretending to surf with Eric, and being her usual goofball self.

After a full day at the beach and soccer field most of the kids fell asleep on the way home. They did however wake up when we stopped at a local dairy for ice cream. Apple pie frozen yogurt; I love fall!

The Heaps go to Boston and play soccer

After both kids slept on the drive home they were ready to play when we got back to our friends house. The boys we home as well and it had warmed up to be a gorgeous fall day (especially by Boston standards).

Mark tried to teach Lincoln how to kick the soccer ball. Lincoln took instruction well, and loved playing with the big boys.

Did I mention that my friends just got a new puppy a few days before we got there?  A super cute weimarunner puppy (who got more attention then a newborn baby when we took him out in public. Seriously so many people came up to him).

He looks so much older then his 2 years. He watched the boys play and Heather’s sons were so sweet to try to include him when they could.

Look at that concentration as he mimics his daddy and kicks the ball.

The puppy (Darwin) was only 9 weeks old and doesn’t have all of his shots yet. so he can’t go out and play too much. But he happily watched the soccer shenanigans from inside.

I think we might need to sign a certain little boy up for soccer. He got comfortable enough that he would try chasing the ball down on his own. and kicking it. It didn’t go far, but that didn’t matter to him in the slightest.

Its warm in Texas, which means its probably been about 8 months or so since Lincoln wore a long sleeve shirt. He thought it was hilarious that he could “lose” his hand and then pull it out and surprise you. It was a form of endless entertainment for him. This is the look he would have on his face as his hand reappeared, like; “tada! its still here!”

 

Fiona got bored of soccer pretty quickly and went to hang out with Heather’s younger son and their neighbor (see the other little girl? She is in first grade and Fiona still towered over her. Sometimes I forget how tall she is). Eric knows how to make all of the bracelets that he is wearing, and that made him super cool in her mind “mama, he can MAKE bracelets!”. Fiona followed Eric around the entire time we were there, its really good that Eric is a super sweet kid and didn’t mind a 4 year old shadow.

Next up; the Heaps head to the Cape

The Heaps head to Boston

Every once in a awhile you meet some one and become friends. That friend is there for you throughout the years; weddings, births, deaths, moves across country. You don’t talk everyday, but you know that when you need them; say at 8pm when you find a tick on your daughter and need to know how to remove it, or when you are trying to figure out how to get your large couch out of your impossibly tiny apartment, they will be there. For me that time was kindergarten and that friend was Heather. 30 years later we are still in touch and try to visit each other at least once a year. It was our turn for a visit, and we had slacked off a little. So a couple weeks ago we packed up and headed to the east coast to spend a long weekend with our friends.

We arrived on thursday night and got to spend some time with their family before all of our kids passed out. Since the following day was a school day, Heather’s boy headed off to school and we headed off Sturbridge Village; an 1830’s New England living history museum.

The kids loved it, they got to play outside; in leaves (!), see people dressed up, and ride in a buggy pulled by horses (or Yee haws to Lincoln).

Leaves!!! Lincoln got to wear one of the long sleeve shirts that another friend sent us. They won’t get much use for another couple months here in Texas but they got a lot of use on our trip.

Fiona loved all the leaves and was stuffing all of our pockets with them.

Sturbridge Village was beautiful. They did an amazing job of bringing in buildings from around the east coast to set up the village. There was a working saw mill (which produced the wood planks to make the benches around the village), an apple press, a blacksmith, etc.

And this is what happens when you let a 4 year old dress herself. That kid has layering down to a science! And those shoes are ones that took us 4 stores to find, and Im pretty sure her daddy is never taking her shoe shopping again.

This is Heather. Im not sure what the two of them are discussing, but Lincoln looks very concerned.

Sigh… my baby looks so grown up. Like a little boy.

He was getting frustrated while we ate lunch so Lincoln and I took a walk and found some cows (moos!). He was so excited to see a pen full of cows.

Him and I hung out while everyone else finished eating. We enjoyed the fall colors, look trees with green, yellow, orange and red!

Fiona ate all of her lunch and then we let her pick out a treat at the general store. She picked out a striped lollipop (which she managed to eat a third of before she threw it away).

Seriously, how pretty is New England in the fall?

We tried to get the kids to sit together for a photo… yeah that didn’t go so well. I think Fiona is practicing her Blue Steel look.

Then Lincoln fell off the wall to play in the dirt, and Fiona thought it was hilarious. Sigh, just one photo of the two of them looking normal that is all I asked for. Although this is a much more accurate representation of the day.

By this point in the day Lincoln was exhausted. We couldn’t get him to stay quiet or focus on anything. Every time we walked into a building (general store, blacksmith, etc) he would get antsy and disruptive. So Mark and Fiona wandered ahead to check out an old house and Lincoln played in the dirt.

Eventually I sat down with Lincoln and Heather for a few minutes and Lincoln passed out. Then in our brilliant planning we had not brought a carrier or stroller, so I carried Lincoln around while we slept for an hour (he slept longer, but by then we were in the car). At least we got to look at the apple press and glass exhibit in peace. Although my arms hurt for the next two days.

That was the last photo I took at Sturbridge since my arms were otherwise occupied, but it was far from the last photo of the day. We crammed a whole lot into our 4 1/2 days. The rest will follow soon.