Progress!

Brandon has done an amazing job with our backyard! He added the final touch last week-- a swing set! Tanzen and Makett LOVE swinging on it, and I'm amazed we were able to fit it in our tiny yard. More pictures and backyard news to come later...

According to the 162 reviews on Walmart.com, the down fall of this swing set was that it required 2 people to spend several hours assembling it. Brandon was prepared to spend his morning putting it together, but the talented guy managed to do it by himself in an hour. My man!
There appeared to be some plotting going on...
Tanzen is on the move! How times have changed...sometimes I get sad thinking they're growing up too fast...other times I get excited thinking about how fun it will be to talk with them and teach them things. I am totally amazed by how fast it's gone, although it seems like forever ago that I had my other life as a teacher with a pay check!

Biker Babes...

Our attempt to be law abiding citizens...

Helmet tolerance wearing thin after 60 seconds of use.

(Brandon's brother Brett came up to play for the weekend).

You surely saw this coming-- helmet protests escalate to screams...

They won.

Independence Day!

What better place to celebrate our nation's independence than the place where it happened?

Brandon and the boys in front of Independence Hall. I loved thinking about what was happening on that very spot 233 years ago.

Waiting for the parade to start...

We were sitting on the stoop of this house waiting for the parade to start. It wasn't till after the parade started that I realized we were at the house Thomas Jefferson was living in when he wrote the Declaration of Independence.

Ben Franklin led the parade, I loved all the revolutionary costumes!

Yes, ladies and gentleman-- that would be a McDonald's bag behind Brandon...and shockingly enough, he devoured two Egg McMuffins. Life on the edge, Brandon.

Perfect weather!

Grass Jelly?

We were meandering through China town, it was hot and we were thirsty. Brandon instructed me to go into a Chinese market and find a "weird drink." I scanned many interesting labels from various fruits and teas until I saw Grass Jelly. The ingredients were just grass jelly, water, sugar and honey so I figured my honey would enjoy it. I proudly gave him his weird drink, certain he would be overjoyed. Apparently, he wanted a weird drink that was still delectable, and Grass Jelly didn't quite fit the bill. According to Brandon, "It was doable till I started getting the brown chunky things..." He drank it all, what a man! I rewarded him with my mango drink.

A piece of grass jelly (and to think I've lived all this time without knowing grass jelly existed!)

Makett and Tanzen take a fieldtrip!

Brandon was on call over the weekend and got called into work, so we were lucky enough to go with him and got a private tour of the Radiation Oncology department.

In awe of the linear accelerator machine...notice the green laser's all over the room and on Makett?

We loved seeing where Brandon spends his days!

Seeking: captions

These pictures deserve some clever captions...however, I got nothin'!

Ideas?

Tub Buddies

Now entering a new dimension...

Tanzen is crawling!!! It certainly opens up a whole new world...I'm sure Makett will be joining him soon...Khylo is in trouble! I love Tanny's face when he starts laughing as he nears his target.

Tanzen and Makett in the Berkshires!

Brandon had a week off so we headed to the Berkshires in western Massachusetts. It felt strangely grown up to be taking our kids on a trip...we had a blast! It was incredibly picturesque-- quaint little towns with white picket fences and lush rolling hills with perfectly manicured gardens and farms. We discovered vacationing with babies is fun...not restful or relaxing, but enjoyable none the less!

Getting ready to go swimming...check out the manly physiques!

Makett and Tanzen LOVED the pool--we wished we'd gotten two floaty things. I didn't think that they'd like it, but they were content to recline in it all day!

Ready for a post swim nap...

We hiked to the summit of Mount Graylock--the highest peak in Massachusetts...a whopping 3, 491 feet above sea level!

There was a lighthouse at the top of the peak (no, no ocean in sight! I think it's the only lighthouse surrounded by land?) You can't fully appreciate it from the picture, but the stairs going up were very steep and narrow...which didn't help my extreme fear of heights! I had Tanzen on my back and was terrified that I would fall or he would somehow slip out of the backpack. We made it though, and while the view was beautiful, I'm not sure it was worth it. You could see 5 states from the top...try doing that in the west!

We were excited to go to the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art...spent 45 minutes driving there only to find it's closed on Tuesdays! We settled for the Williams College Museum of Art, which was great and had the added bonus of being free.

We drove into Vermont and drove on some cool one way covered bridges...didn't make it to the Covered Bridge Museum though.

Brandon gave me a copy of Walden on our 2nd date...it's his favorite book and he aspires to be like Thoreau in many ways. Going to Walden pond was a great treat for him! This is the inside the replica of his cabin...

We dashed through the Freedom Trail in Boston...The boys were a bit tuckered out towards the end!

We toured a Shaker Village in Hancock...interesting, to say the least! It was beautiful. The round building behind Brandon is an enormous barn.

Tanzen was fascinated by the pigs...

The cows intrigued Makett...

Brandon got some great ideas for his garden...


















The sights were beautiful, the history was interesting...but the best part was being together...it was the most time Tanzen and Makett have spent with Brandon their whole lives, and it was awesome!