Weekend Plans

Off to see the U.S.S. Salem & the U.S. Naval Ship Building Museum in Quincy, then maybe if the weather is nice a trip to Nantasket Beach.

http://www.uss-salem.org/museum/visitor_information.htm

The weekend

It's HOT IN HERE. No A/C= misery...misery!

We went to Nantasket Beach again Saturday, but we went to a different part of it, much more sand. We had a great time! Neil found lots of critters near the shore- hermit crabs (teeny tiny ones), snails, prawns & clams!

Eve snacking on crackers after a long day running in the water.

Typical sleeping arrangement. This is how we wake up in the morning :-)

Halloween

Yes, there is Halloween talk going on here already. We are especially excited for this year, because we can spend it in Salem, which from what I hear is pretty incredible at that time of year. The following are the costumes Knox has suggested dressing up as so far, in preparation for Halloween:

Iron Man

Sam Flynn from Tron

And his latest, Mr. Spock

Mr. Spock is actually part of an entire themed family costume, Knox has suggested costumes for the rest of us:

Me: 'The energizer'

"Daddy can be the ship!"

And Eve:

Housing

Here are photos of Neil's work kitchen:

Now compare this to my dank, dark, sublet kitchen (these were taken with flash, in the middle of the day):

A few more photos from our current place. Actually, looking at these I can see why so many people are coming to look at it. We have rental agents here basically all day long with people, I'm guessing because it photographs well, but then they get here and are all, "ummm....why am I looking at this place?".

This is Knox's room, there is a door from the kitchen to his room.

Next is a door from Knox's room, to our room.

Then from our room, to the living room, and then onto the kitchen. It's a racetrack for children to run away from you whilst you try and change their diaper. FUN.

Come on August!!!

Father's Day

Happy Father's day! Today we went to see a condo in Quincy (that we love) and after running some errands  we thought- what the heck, let's go to Cape Cod. So we did. We drove to Sandwich, and went to Sandy Neck Beach. It was white, sandy & beautiful with big sand dunes. We arrived around 4ish, so the tide once again was coming in, it was much different than Nantasket. This beach was very long and had a wide shoreline, when the tide is all the way in you could probably walk out quite a ways, and find lots of sandbars.

The kids once again had a great time playing in the sand, water and rocks. The tide kept creeping up on us, we'd move back 6 feet and it would be back at our toes within 5 minutes. It especially baffled Eve, who looked quite shocked every time the water was once again at her feet.

Photos of the day!

Nantasket Beach!

We had a really great day today. We drove to Weymouth to have a look at a house (it wasn't for us), but while we were in that neck of the woods we decided to go to Hull, and check out Nantasket Beach. Hull is a small(ish) town that was founded in 1644. It had great seaside charm, and the beach was incredible. It was the first time the kids have seen the ocean, and they had a blast. The tide was coming in, so there wasn't as much beach left to play on, but it was still fantastic. We chatted with a 65 year old surfer, who told us when the tide is out you gain about 20 yards of sandy beach!

Eve basically sat in one place the entire time and filled her bucket with sand. Every time a big wave came and water covered her legs, she got a look of utter shock on her face. Knox loved kicking the big waves as they rolled in, digging in the sand with  his shovel, and generally running a muck. Neil and I had so much fun watching the kids, and getting wet ourselves. We didn't bring our bathing suits, but that didn't stop Neil from going for a nice dip in the ocean, and taking Knox out to crash some big waves. One thing I found especially amusing was Eve licking the salt off her face.

We had a tasty dinner at the Summer Shack for fathers day, Neil had his favourite fresh clam chowdah, I had cod cakes, Eve ate peas & french fries while Knox enjoyed good ol' fried chicken.

Here are some photos from our day. We plan on going back tomorrow when the tide is out (around 1:30), if the weather agrees. Otherwise I think we are going to head to the Charlestown Navy Yard, so Knox can have a look at the USS Constitution, a retired warship.

Lego store

Good morning

Hmmm...

Coming here as a Canadian, I think I came with certain preconceived notions about Americans, thanks to the media I've been exposed to I suppose... I'm not entirely sure. Regardless, here are some of my initial assumptions based on what I've "heard", and then actual experiences.

-American's aren't as friendly as Canadians, and it will take time to get used to them. I actually had an American friend on Facebook tell me that Bostonians are somewhat surly, and it takes time to get used to their disposition.

Truth: I have found everyone here to be incredibly friendly & helpful, almost to the point where I thought, "wow, men from around here are very flirty", but then I went to the post office and chatted with two ladies there, and they were the same, so I'm chalking it up to people in general. People here have been wonderful, kind and patient (possibly with the exception of the drivers, but I'm sure we are pretty irritating to drive around, since we aren't used to the weird road set-up). I think sometimes being forward and blunt could be confused with a surly disposition, but so far for both of us, people have been very kind!

-Most of the food here isn't great for you/isn't regulated properly/the reviewing boards and inspection agencies are corrupt.

Truth: Ok, so most of that IS true, BUT there is an entire side opposing that kind of behaviour. Whole Foods is a great example. We've been shopping there pretty much exclusively, and we both just feel better physically. Nearly everything  is organic or GMO free, they also don't carry anything with preservatives. When you go to the meat counter, they have an animal welfare rating system from 1-5 , telling you about the way your meat was handled & raised. You can read more about this here. It's pretty incredible and as far as I know there isn't anything like it in Canada. As easy as it is to eat horrible food here, like the Dunkin' Donuts
donut breakfast sandwich (barf), it's just as easy to eat healthy whole foods.


-There is a lot of crime/I will be mugged on the spot/carry your bag across your body not over your shoulder.

Truth: Well, there is more crime here for a number of reasons, and I have to say every time we've left the house in the car we always see police cars and sirens rushing off somewhere. Not to mention the people we are subletting from have a friend of theirs coming to pick up the mail, and he thought saw our windows left open when we were out, and wrote us an email saying "You can't leave your windows open, there WILL be a break-in". Capital 'WILL'. Our windows weren't open, but this freaked me out, which is why I'm so happy our potential new apartment has video/audio front entrance surveillance from inside your apartment, and is on the 4th floor.

I think that's all for now, I now have to go to the post office and Rite-Aid to get Knox some crayons for him to draw with, and for Eve to inevitably eat.

Beach

The weekend finally came! Hooray! We went out both days apartment hunting, and to the beach! Here are a few photos of the weekend.

 A little piece of home, my beautiful quilt from Grandma Janet

 Neil and Evie

 Eve and I

 Eve lovin' up the sand. She had a flat round rock and was basically scooping up the sand like chip-dip.

Avalon Beach, it was nice, but not a repeat. There are many more to investigate!