Five and a Half

This week was pretty exciting for Peter.  He turned 5 and 1/2.  Around here, half birthdays are special days since 6 months is a very long time when you've only been alive 5 years or even just 14 years.  He got to pick a present, choose all his meals, and go somewhere fun.  He chose a Lego star wars ship for his present.  He chose to go to IHOP for breakfast, mac'n cheese for lunch, and lasagna for dinner, and he wanted to go see Beauty and the Beast on stage.  We had a great day.  Sadly a good friend of mine died so we also had to attend her funeral that day, but he was a real trooper during that long ordeal.  It was a great day overall.  As usual, I didn't think to take a single picture until he was getting into bed, so this is my Peter at 5.5 picture (with his new Lego set which he built by himself in about 2 minutes).

I love Peter so much.  He's cuddly and cute, incredibly smart, very stubborn, and still very shy.  However, it's funny because people have learned how rarely he speaks to others and so when he does mumble hello or goodbye or answers a question, people will get a giant smile on their face and look at me and mouth, "He answered!!" or "He said hello!!"  I can't decide whether to laugh or cry about it.  I guess the best course of action is to be happy that I have friends sweet enough to keep trying to engage him even when he gives them no reason to try so hard.

More cutie pics of Peter:

Us at Beauty and the Beast (the day after his 1/2 birthday).  He had a great time.  His only complaint was that Gaston didn't die at the end like he does in the movie.  The play was geared to kids so he simply stumbled off the stage.  A bit unsatisfying for Peter, I guess.  Definitely a boy raised around teenagers and their video games.

I never have enough time to work on my lessons for seminary, so Kelly tries to take Peter places when he can.  Peter had been asking to go to Panda Express again, so he got a little daddy date.

Peter loves to take pictures of sunsets and sunrises.  This was a picture of the sunrise this week as I was making breakfast.  I would never have noticed it if he hadn't called to me and asked for my phone to take the picture.  I'm so thankful for his help in noticing the beauty around me.

I'm still trying to get him to do chores consistently without a battle.  Still working on that.  However, this day he willingly did it and he looked so cute doing it too!

Solo and Ensemble

This week Bella and Christian competed in a band competition known as Solo and Ensemble.  Bella played the tenor saxophone and Christian played the alto saxophone.  Students can perform solos or get groups together and play before judges for a score.  Both kids got the top score of a 1 (out of 5).  They worked so hard practicing for this event.  I was proud of their effort.

Winter Happenings

There's not a lot going on in this post-holiday, cold weather time.  Just trying to stay upbeat as the temperatures plummet and the school year drags on.  

Benjamin has be assigned a new companion.  Elder Ayala.   His third companion from California.  They get along well and he seems to be a very kind, hard-working missionary.

They also had their mission Christmas party last month.  It included food and minute-to-win-it games.  Benjamin has always done very well at those.

 Kelly and I received free tickets to the symphony from friends who were unexpectedly unable to use them and know how much I love going.  That was a lot of fun.  We shared the 4 tickets with Ann and Tim Cartwright and had a wonderful evening of dinner and the concert.  It was the night of the last Detroit Lions game, so we ditched a bit early to catch the end of the game (when they lost we wished we hadn't) but it was a wonderful dinner and a fantastic performance.  I'm not a huge fan of Stravinsky and Shostakovich.  That's why I didn't include that performance in my season ticket selection.  However, when you're offering me the tickets for free, I'll go, of course.  Honestly, nothing compares to listening to classical music performed live and by such amazingly talented performers.  It made songs I've heard many times on my phone and not appreciated, come alive.  I was on the edge of my seat and loved it.  It filled my soul as the symphony always does.  Nothing compares.  I can't wait until next month. 

We were so high up in the back compared to our usual seats that we joked we could have watched the lion's game during the concert and no one would have noticed.  I said to Kelly, "I normally like to watch the musician's faces while they play."  He squinted down at the stage and said, "I am fairly sure they HAVE faces."  The beauty of orchestra hall, though, was that despite the location, the music quality wasn't diminished in the slightest.  It was still wonderful.

Peter was invited to a friend's birthday party at a new play place in the area.  We'd never been there and I was a bit nervous he'd refuse to play and sit by me the entire time.  This place was too cool not to play.  Roller slides with little carts to ride, giants superfast slides, tons of climbing spaces, and even a soccer area up in the climbing structure.  He played for hours without issue.  It was a great way to get out on a day so cold that they canceled school for two days due to low temps.

It was my friend's birthday and so I called her and chatted for a while in my room.  Peter hated being shut out and not being able to play with me, so when the conversation ran a little long (in his opinion), I received these notes under my door.  So cute.  I ended up letting him come in and just sit next to me as I talked.  He was satisfied with that and quickly grew bored and went off to play again.

The kids have been very busy with school and extra-curriculars.  In addition, they attended the temple with other youth from the church.  They all went to Dairy Queen afterwards and had a great time.

Christian decided to take advantage of the low temps and build an ice rink in the backyard.  He took painter's tarp and some extra 2x4s from the garage and made a box which he filled with water.  The next day he had an ice rink that he and Peter had a great time playing on.  It wasn't everything he'd imagined due to some unforeseen unevenness in our lawn but it was a lot of fun. Peter even more than Christian.  Here Christian is spinning Peter on the ice.    Even after Christian and I went to play football, Peter stayed and played on the ice for a long time. I loved hearing his little giggles and squeals of glee as he slid around. And yes, my finger is finally healed enough that I can play football again.  The surgeon says I have to wear the splint during "risky activities" but otherwise I'm good to go.  It still hurts some but it's so nice to not have a splint on all the time.  

Boston

Every year we take a trip between Christmas and the start of school.  Cancun, Chicago, Indianapolis, etc.  We've been all over.  Anywhere that isn't home with endless hours of screen time and sibling bickering.  This year we decided to visit Boston.  It was fabulous.

I found a great AirBnb walking distance from Boston Common that was really nice and yet very inexpensive.

The first day we took a walking tour with Ira, a native of Boston, who showed us all around and taught us about the history, architecture, and culture of Boston.  It was so interesting and a great introduction to the city.  It gave us a great overview and ideas of what we wanted to do the rest of the week.

The tour started at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

We walked to the site of the Boston Massacre. 

The church where Paul Revere hung his two lanterns to warn of the British troops' advancement.

Bunker Hill - an early battle site of the Revolutionary War. 

And on and on and on.  We saw Beacon Hill - the ritzy Boston neighborhood, Public Gardens and Boston Commons, Faneuil Hall (now home of stores and restaurants and street performers), the graves of Paul Revere and Samuel Adams, the Massachusetts State House, the Boston Public Library, and many more sites.  It was a lot of fun and seemed to end way too quickly although it lasted 3 hours.

Other fun stops during the week included:

A late evening stop for hot chocolate at a café where they serve dark chocolate hot chocolate.  Delicious!

A walk up to the North End for Italian treats.  We found some adorable outdoor swings on the walk.

Eating Boston Cream Pie while looking over the Boston Harbor (site of the Boston Tea Party)

There were a ton of seagulls at the harbor and every time I wanted to take a picture, Peter would run and scare some so they'd fly through my picture.  Kind of a fun action shot.

We also visited the Boston Public Library and saw the beautiful art work and thoughtful details in the McKim building (the original section of the library).  It's amazing how much thought and effort and money went into building a library back then!  Giant murals, ornate statues, chandeliers, massive staircases, and marble throughout! Dating back to 1895. It was connected within to the new section of the library and it was so interesting to walk from one to the other and see how our styles have changed.

The children's department was in the new section.  Peter immediately made himself at home and started playing with the dress-ups.  They also had a puppet show going on which was a fun surprise.

One day we took the subway over to Cambridge to visit Harvard.  I loved walking the paths of the place I had long thought I'd attend.  It was fun to learn about traditions at the school, see things I'd only seen in pictures, and hear interesting stories like, did you know George Washington stayed in the dorms there with his troops during the Revolutionary war?

The Johnson gate.  The oldest gate at Harvard dating to 1889.  Supposedly you're only supposed to go through it twice - on your first day and on your last.

Statue of John Harvard - people rub his foot for good luck - notice how one is gold from all the rubbing?  The kids refused to touch it because our guide, Ira, told us that people urinate on his foot as a prank on those who rub his foot.  True?  Who knows.  Not worth the risk, they figured.

We had to cross Harvard bridge and see the Smoot measurements.  The story goes that some MIT students in 1958 used a pledge to one of their frats named Oliver R. Smoot, Jr. to measure the length of the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge.  They kept picking him up and laying him down and marked off his length all along the bridge and the measurement became official and stands to this day, memorialized with a plaque on the bridge and marks painted on the ground.  I get such a kick out of that story.  Who would ever think that some freshman midnight silliness would become so enduring.  Reminded me of many fun freshman late-night antics in the dorms.  

We also crossed a different bridge (so many bridges in Boston!!) to get to the sports complex and Harvard Business school.  That was also fun to see after hearing so much about the Harvard Business school from Kelly.  The kids had fun playing model in various places around the city.  I'm a pretty lousy photographer but they did a good job of photographing each other.  I just love that my kids like having their picture taken.  So much better than having to coax them to do it all the time!

Sometimes the photo sessions got pretty silly - 

We visited Fenway park - home of the Boston Red Sox.  A tour would have cost us $100 so we just admired it from the outside.  We aren't big enough baseball fans for that.

Boston Public Garden was wonderful.  Would have been even better in Summer but the sunshine was wonderful.  Overall the weather was fantastic - 50s and sunny.  Just one day - the one this picture was taken - the wind kicked up and made things feel a bit chillier.

Nothing like enjoying a hot chocolate from Dunkin in the birthplace of Dunkin Donuts.  We had three Dunkin Donuts within walking distance of our apartment.

Two famous streets in Boston are Newbury Ave, the famous shopping district, and Commonwealth Ave, the famous parkway divided in the center by a wide grassy mall. This greenway, called Commonwealth Avenue Mall, was full of statues and beautiful park areas.  At Christmas time they also light all the trees.  It was a lot of fun to walk it at night.

On Newbury street we had a great day shopping.  The kids all bought something.  Bella and Peter got shoes and Christian got a jacket.  Peter's shoes made him deliriously happy until it came time to learn how to tie them.  Then things turned sour.  Learning to tie shoes is tricky and Peter has a hard time pushing through mistakes.  He's getting there, though.  We've been practicing tying them every day and although every day he screams and kicks and cries during the effort, he always pushes on until he get gets it.  Can't ask for more than that. 

Can't go to Boston without checking out the Cheers bar!  I was the only one who cared, but the kids humored me.  Inside they have the set with cardboard cutouts of the most famous characters so you can sit at the bar and take pictures with them.  No drinks are served there.  The actual bar is in a different part of the building.  

We saw the USS Constitution, also known as Old Ironsides.  It's the world's oldest commissioned naval warship still afloat, originally launched in 1797.  It looked so amazing.  Everything was closed, I assume for the winter, but it was fun to see it from the dock.

We also visited Paul Revere's house.

We ate clam chowder, or clam chowda, as the Bostonians say it.  I was a big fan, the kids not so much.

And found a fantastic sushi restaurant just a 2 minute walk from our house that we ate at more than once.  The food was so good that I never thought to take a picture until it was all eaten! 

New Year's Eve was spent in Boston Common where they had a fantastic fireworks display and then in Government Center where they had live bands all night.  The mariachi band was my favorite.  We didn't make it to midnight but we had a great time.  I've never done an outdoor city-run New Year's eve and I really loved all the energy and excitement.

Overall it was an amazing trip.  I'm so glad we went.  I've wanted to see Boston for a long time and it didn't disappoint.  It was so easy to get around with public transportation and every one we met was very friendly.  My only regret was that we didn't have another week to spend there.