Boston Children's Museum

The Charles River with the Boston Tea Party reenactment boat in the background.

While we were in Boston for the wedding, we took advantage of the city and the couple of free days we had and headed downtown. On Wednesday, we took the kids and the T down to the Boston Children's Museum and spent a couple of house climbing and building and crafting.
 

Phoenix's favorite area was the Strength and Energy set-up that allowed kids to test their strength in different ways. This contraption launched a tennis ball three stories high.

It took all he had.

The horizontal climbing wall was part of the same strength area. Stayc followed him around the first time he tried everything. Then we switched an hour later, and I followed him around again.

Sadly, we realized that Lutece was just a bit too old to really enjoy the Children's Museum. She wanted to do some crazy arts and crafts, and while they had a crafts room, it was very limited and highly structured. Only one "craft" was happening . . . here was your one piece of paper, and some stamps to use. No freedom to create. Definitely NOT Lutece's style. She didn't even stop, but instead found some other creative outlets.

She did, however, come across another make-shift craft later on in the day: make your own personal banner. She stopped for that one.

The museum was definitely more Phoenix's speed. I'd say it was perfect for a 4-6 year old. In the little Brazil area (are there lots of Brazilians in Boston?) he had me sit at a cafe table while he served me lunch. He squeezed a bit of lime onto a banana for dessert. Mmmm.

We stayed at the Museum for 2-3 hours and left just as a huge storm began to overtake Boston. The sky was dark and ominous at three in the afternoon and it was impressive to see. We arrived back at our house in JP just as the raindrops started falling. It was a doosie of a storm, but thankfully, it cooling things down for the rest of the week. Next up: The Freedom Trail

Summer in Jamaica Plain

We were in Boston last week for Scott's and Irena's wedding. WAHOO! It was wonderful and lovely and super low-key and a whole lot of fun. There's a great bed and breakfast in Jamaica Plain called the Taylor House  that we've stayed at before. They also have a four bedroom house that they rent out for a very reasonable price. We rented the entire house for the week and had a great time hanging out with my whole family in the evenings, not to mention Irena's family and everyone's friends. It was also less than a block away from Jamaica Pond, so we did daily walks at the pond.

The kids enjoyed feeding the geese and the ducks with stale Cheerios from the house. I loved seeing the swans, but we never tried to feed them. I imagine them being too graceful and "haughty" (Lutece's word) to fight over our scraps.

On our first evening in Boston, while we were exploring the pond for the first time, we came across a Read Boston event being held at a little pavilion overlooking the pond. This great storyteller entertained the kids with stories for about 1/2 hour, and at the end of it, the kids got to select a free book from a variety of age-levels. What's not to like?!

Another thing the kids loved about JP (apart from Scott's and Irena's plastic animal-filled apartment [no pictures] and JP Licks [super good ice cream]) was this little sprinkler park close to the Green Street T station. On the day we did the Freedom Trail downtown (pictures to come), we were smart enough to pack swimsuits for when we arrived back in JP.

Mmmmmm, super refreshing!

I will post a few pictures of the wedding later, but for now I refer you to my sister Courtney's post on the trip and the wedding. She's much better than I am at taking photos (especially of people other than my kids, which is about all I can manage).

Poor Neglected Children

It's good for me to look at these photos and remember that I didn't spend the ENTIRE summer neglecting my children. With only two weeks left until we high-tail it out of here, I feel like I am in high gear trying to get everything done. I was feeling guilty about my mothering over the last couple of days, or rather, LACK of mothering (i.e., letting the kids entertain themselves ALL DAY LONG, with one random trip to the library  . . . oh, wait . . . I took them to the pool on Monday . . . but the days are long), but then I saw these pictures and remembered that we did, in fact, do some fun things this summer.

I took them on a random hike at Raven Run the week before we left for Boston. I decided they needed to get outside one day and 30 minutes later, we were on the trail.

We went to the Kentucky River overlook with only a few snacks that I'd thrown together and our new water bottles (purchased for our upcoming travels). No whining. No complaining. A good sign of things to come.

Bad picture of the kids, but good picture of the scenery :). The photos from the last couple of posts are from our new Panasonic Lumix camera. I've loved Cannons, and maybe I should have stuck with them, but we needed a small, cheap camera for our travels, and the Lumix seemed to fit the bill (I researched cameras for longer than I care to think about). I'm not thrilled by the photos (the color could be richer, and I always want things to be sharper, but I don't think that will happen with any camera at this price point). Anyway, you can be the judge. Do you notice any difference?

We enjoyed snacks at the overlook, stayed long enough to take in the scenery, then headed out.

Hiking always takes the edge off. These kids aren't TOO neglected.

Playdoh Day

 

It has been a busy summer. So busy, in fact, that I feel like Lutece and Phoenix have been a bit neglected as I scramble to buy everything we need for the next year, fill out Visa paperwork, deeeeeep clean the house, pack, and everything else that goes along with leaving your home for a year to move to China. Eep.

My original intention to do a weekly art project has only been realized because Lutece hounds me until I succumb, leave my paperwork/packing/cleaning, and get something out for them. More often, they just get something out for themselves (like all those little animal cards they drew and then gave to Scott).

 

You know it's pretty bad when you consider Playdoh an "art project."

But hey, who doesn't like Playdoh . . . especially when it's done outside.

And, oh my gosh, they actually cleaned it up afterward (mostly) by themselves. What good, creative kids they are!

The Lexington Cemetery

While Grandma Terry was here, we took her to see the Lexington Cemetary, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was a HOT day, but we took snacks for ourselves and for the geese.

 

The geese were more aggressive than the kids though, and we jumped back in the car after being nearly attacked by a rabid flock of geese hell-bent on eating our bread.

 

We quickly moved on from the pond to the actual cemetery, which was much more interesting anyway.

 

We walked around looking at soldiers' graves, children's graves, and family plots.

 

  

Everything from huge monuments . . .

 

. . . to teeny tiny stones. It's fun to imagine the lives of people born in the 1700s and 1800s.

A quiet moment to ponder . . .

or perhaps just heat exhaustion.

Welcome to July!

July has been a blur of activities, friends, family, packing and cleaning. All you have to do is look at the trash can messages to see what we've been doing this month.

Well, maybe not completely . . . SOMEONE has been getting creative with the messages (Phoenix).

Happy 4th of July and all that jazz! More of July to come.

Arboretum Exploration

A few weeks ago (in June!) when Grandma Terry was visiting, we took a walk around the Arboretum in search of interesting ideas and facts that I could use for an Arboretum scavenger hunt. I was preparing just such an activity for the young women at Church, and the kids and Grandma helped me come up with all the clues.

The three of them were indispensable in my scavenger hunt creation, although Phoenix just goofed off most of the time. It's like he's a six-year-old or something!
 

The kids also brought along their trusty spy/nature gear (see Lutece's mirror tool above . . . I think it came from a Chick-fil-a kid's meal).

Phoenix had his bug-catching tweezers and magnifying lens on hand. After all, spying and bug catching are really similar.

When the scavenger hunt was completed, my mom and I sat in the shade and talked while the kids played pirates on the trees. The 90-degree weather was just bearable. The kids hardly noticed.

* I am really behind in my blogging. I have two weeks to catch up . . . and there are new pictures from Boston! Oh my! I'll try to be diligent in getting everything up before the real adventure begins.

Chinese Camp or Working on Parenting Skills

For the second year in a row, the kids attended Chinese camp. It is put on by Fayette County Schools in conjunction with UK (which is where Stayc comes in), and it runs for two weeks from 9-12 every day. It was SO MUCH FUN!! Ummm, I think the kids enjoyed it too :).

On the last day of camp, all of the classes put on a joint presentation with chanting, dancing, singing, and even some kung fu (Lu's class). Lutece got to wear her qipao dress that Stayc brought back from China last November. So pretty!

Phoenix's class did some awesome chanting/singing (pictured here), as well as a pole dance.

He impressed me with his Chinese skills.

Lutece's class did a dance and a kung fu presentation/dance. Sadly, when she noticed that Stayc was filming it, she spent the entire time trying to dance and sing with her eyes closed. Let me repeat that. Lutece so dislikes having her picture taken that SHE CLOSED HER EYES FOR THE ENTIRE PRESENTATION to thwart Stayc's attempt to film her. Not only was she out of sync with the rest of the kids (since she doesn't have much rhythm and she couldn't see the other kids), but she looked incredibly foolish with her eyes closed tight for five minutes.

Can you tell I was a bit annoyed with her behavior? This is not the first time we've had problems with taking pictures of Lutece. We've had numerous discussions with her about it, but mostly, I've just tried to ignore it and snatch pictures when I can. In fact, this was just the final straw. When the presentation was over, I calmly (calmly, because there were lots of people around) told her that if she was going to withhold pictures from us, then we would start withholding things from her too . . . like that cupcake waiting at home. Fair is fair, right? Yep, not my finest moment. Anyhow, it got me this picture here, and she has begun to allow a few more pictures here and there. Seriously, we cannot go for a year in China with Lutece closing her eyes for every picture.

Eight has not been an easy year for Lutece. Here's to hoping that nine will be better!!

I'm sorry, was this post supposed to be about Chinese camp?

Kids' Book Club

Yep, the trash can messages are back. I awoke one morning to find that Phoenix had been busy.

A couple of summers ago, we started a kids' book club with a couple of families from Church. The kids had a great time with it but we didn't do it last summer (I don't remember why . . . too busy?). Anyway we decided to start it up this summer with a couple of those same families. Our good friends, the Bylunds, were in charge of the first meeting based on the book Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, by Paul Fleischman. We enjoyed it (the book and the club meeting) immensely.

We started out by doing some poetry readings. We paired up in all sorts of ways to read the poetry. Sister with brother, friend with friend (see above), mom with child, and even mom with mom. Poetry can be fun! Crazy!!

Erin had prepared a great art project for the kids based on symmetry and insects (the poetry was all about insects). The kids had a blast.

Phoenix particularly enjoyed the dot paints. His enjoyment bordered on abuse. Sorry Bylunds, if Phoenix used up all your paints. Sigh.

Can't you tell how much Lutece loves getting her picture taken?

The kids finished off the club meeting with creating their own insect cupcakes. Yum! No pictures of that, since I was busy making one for me and one for Stayc too.

The next week, WE hosted kids' book club . . . although since I was entirely engaged with doing it, there are no pictures . . . except for one (wait for it). The book we (re: the KIDS) chose was Drooling and Dangerous (Riot Brothers series), by Mary D'Amato. These are books about two brothers' crazy antics. Our book club was a bit crazy and game-filled, with lots of screaming and squealing. That night, at 9:30 p.m. (a good hour after bedtime!!) I heard the pitter-patter of a child's feet upstairs. I went into first one child's, then the next's room, to see who was still awake. It turned out to be Lutece (who was faking being asleep). I found a black marker under her pillow. This is what she had done to Phoenix while he was asleep:

Funny now, but not so funny that night. I guess books can be a bad influence too. It depends on the book, I suppose, and the children!