Andover Adventures!

While we were in Boston, we got to spend an afternoon/evening with our friends Peter and Claire, and their daughter, Ellen.

Just to share a fun little history... Ryan and Cameron met Peter and Claire when they were busking at Fanieul Hall in Boston. (I may not have the order of details right, but Ryan is in the other room, and I'm too lazy to get up and ask him... so I'll just share my version of the story.) Later during the busking season, Peter came back and saw them playing again and asked Ryan and Cameron to come back to his place for drinks. Ryan, being the cautious man he is, instead suggested they go to a public place (you never know who is a creep and who is just plain nice!) so they went to a pub and became fast friends...Ryan and Cameron played at their wedding...and we try to get together whenever we are in the area to see them...

Claire is from France and teaches French at Phillips Andover Academy (a boarding school just outside of Boston). It's a sweet deal. They live on campus for FREE in a massive "apartment", as do all of the other faculty members. They can eat all of their meals for free in the cafeteria (along with their co-workers and their families). Basically, they are paid to live on a commune of sorts...how great is that??!!

Peter is from Germany and works at MIT and can take the commuter rail in and then bikes from North Station. He is a crystalographer. I wish I knew what that meant. I am pretty sure hit means he takes photos of crystals...although, probably much more complex than I am making it sound like.

And Ellen, is three and totally tri-lingual. It's ultra impressive to see her float between the three languages all within one conversation.

Claire, Ellen, Ryan, Ezra, and Peter:


Ezra making friends with the ducks...


The geese on the other hand were not too interested in his company...


Peter was the dragonfly whisperer...


All of us post-dinner...

home sweet home...

We made it home safe and sound after 15 hours of travel today.

3.5 hour drive from Rockport, ME to Boston Logan Airport

2 hour wait at the airport

6 hour flight from BOS to PHX

1 hour to get bags, retrieve car from parking, etc.

2 hour drive from PHX to Tucson...

and the final half hour goes under miscellaneous (a.k.a. stopping at Culver's for our first butter burger experience :)

Oh, and did I mention that we were just traveling within the United States?

I think this means we are ready for some international family travel. Feel free to let me know if you'd like to fund such an adventure. :)

I have lots of fun photos from our time in Boston/Cambridge/Andover and Rockport yet to share...but it might take a few days as we settle back into home life here.

Second City

Ryan and Cameron made a music video for their song Second City. Cameron, being the artist that he is, did all of the drawing. And Ryan, being the computer guru that he is, did all of the editing.

Enjoy!

Friends...

I haven't done the best job taking photos of all my adventures with friends over the past week. I think it's because when Ryan is touring, I feel the need to be hyperfocused on Ezra (don't want him to fall into the pit of the train tracks, you know), so therefore, no photos get taken.

Yesterday however we met up with a friend and her kids at a park, and there were no train tracks in sight, so I was able to snap a few shots! :)

Teresa and I met in grad school. She was actually the very very first person I met at orientation. We studied different things and only ever had one class together, but we remained good friends.

Her daughter, Ava, is almost 5 and was soo into Ezra. In fact she was going around the park saying, "Brother Ezra this way".


And her son, James is 9 weeks old. I got to here all about her home-birth. So peaceful.


Oh, and I want to give a shout out to the Ceremsak/Lindsay family that we are staying with. They have been sooo helpful with Ezra! It took him a few days to warm up to them, but now they are all quite good friends. Ezra has been showing off a lot of his new dance skills. My favorite is when he bends his knees really low and stays there while swaying back and forth. :)

Here are Ezra and Lisa watching a music video. I love how pudgy his cheeks look in this photo.

Hurricane Irene

For the last several days the talk has been all about Hurricane Irene in this part of the country. We weren't really sure what to expect. The family we are staying with filled up water bottles, had flashlights ready, as well as an extra stash of food that didn't require cooking (i.e. oreos and trail mix).

Church was canceled. Ryanhood merged their two Club Passim shows together and canceled a show in New Hampshire that was to be a send off for the Mama Bus.

Sunday morning, the day the hurricane was to hit, I insisted on taking Ezra outside right now, in the rain, because this might be the last chance we have to play outside for a while. Well, it turns out that the time we spent playing in the rain was pretty much the worst of the rain we received. Oops...how was I to know? And although the wind took down some big tree limbs, for the most part damage was minimal in our area.

I am really glad we played in the rain though...lots of big smiles from our little guy...which made for lots of big mama and dada smiles.












Since the show and church were canceled we had the afternoon free. We hopped over to spend time with our friends Trish (author of He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not and A Maze of Grace) and Steve who live really close to where we are staying (didn't want to venture too far should the hurricane really come). It was so nice to be cozy inside with friends while the wind was roaring outside. I love getting together with friends just because I really want to see them...and not really sure exactly what we'll talk about...and then leaving 3+ hours later, still not having exhausted all the conversation welling up in us. Thanks guys!!

And backing up a little...
On Saturday my first Boston roommate, Melissa McGreevy, and our friend Paul Ma flew in to town for the Ryanhood show. We spent the afternoon together having an indoor picnic since our outdoor plans to hang out along the Charles River got rained out. It was actually 9 years ago this past weekend that we first moved into together on Commonwealth Ave. Oh memories. :)

Club Passim...

Should anyone reading this plan on attending the Ryanhood show at Club Passim tomorrow night, the two shows have merged due to Hurricane Irene and the start time will be at 7:30pm.

City Year!

...boom shakalaka boom shakalaka boom!

Tonight I got together with some great friends from City Year! It's crazy to think we met 9 years ago. Wow, we really are getting very very old.

It was such a nice evening. I was able to time nap time just right so that Ezra woke up 20 minutes before we left to go over to their house and was able to stay up until we returned "home" at 9:30pm (though, the ride home may have involved hitting some high notes on the scream-o-meter :).

I love these girls (and their guys too!).

Thanks for a super yummy dinner and a fun evening together!!

Ezra, me, Katie, Adam (also CY alum), Kristin, and Scott


Not Pictured: Annabelle and Ginger, Kristin and Scott's two beagles that entertained Ezra and cleaned up his eating area like it was their job. Thanks beagle gals...you made this night easy for me. :)

The greatest...

...play area ever!!!

This evening Ezra and I walked to the Cambridge Commons and discovered a gem of a play area. I want to find out who designed it so that I can see if she/he has any other play spaces we can visit!

Sadly the battery to my camera died just after we got there, so I was only able to take a few pictures. None of which include Ezra. :(

I did go on their website though and downloaded some more photos so I can give you a better idea of what it was like... And hopefully I'll get photos of Ezra in action there later this week.

Here is a clip from the website behind the design of the play area...

The playground design is a landscape of hills, valleys, sand, wooden branches and stumps, living plant material, and loose wooden blocks to build with. It is a place where kids can invent their own forms of play. Many features are made from naturally decay-resistant wood. Slides are embedded into hills. Turning a crank sends water cascading down a series of tables into the sand area. There is a swing set for toddlers, a multidirectional dish-shaped swing that can be used by several children at once, a see-saw with multiple seats at each end for groups of children (or adults), and a “merry-go-round” that is at ground level to provide wheelchair access.














So glad to have discovered this early on in our stay here!

Boston Museum of Science!

We have arrived in the east...YAY!!!!! Can I just say how much easier flying is when you have not only one (Ryan), but TWO (Cameron!) people to help entertain a certain lovable 16 month old?? Yes, this was probably the easiest flying experience I've had with Ezra. In fact, I even was able to knit a couple of rows. Can you believe this is his 8th round trip flight? That works out to one every 2 months of his life. We are taking full advantage of the fact that he flies free until he turns 2. :)

We are staying with our friends Lisa and Stace in Porter Square (Cambridge). It kind of feels like home here, knowing which way to walk to get everything we need, what direction to go on the T, what cannoli shop is the best in town... :)

Yesterday Ryan, Ezra, and I went to the Boston Museum of Science (for FREE with our Tucson Zoo membership...woot woot!). They had a great toddler room that Ezra loved.

Anything that entails a ball is worth spending a lot of time playing with...


Ezra's lookout...


Pink Ezra...


How many Ezras do you see??


The beehive. I was really hoping Ezra would want to wear a bee suit...but no cigar.


The water table that Ryan and Ezra were sailing boats and fish down...


The XLERATOR hand dryers that Ezra was FREAKED out by ... but then one step at a time he walked a little closer...until he had both hands and his head underneath and did not want to walk away from...






The life size light bright...I think Ryan and I may have enjoyed this more than Ezra. :)


And we found a great playground on the walk back to the T.

Uh-oh...caught kissing mama through the tunnel hole... :)

Buddies...

Ezra has started signing/saying Owen. He signs "O" with his hand (which we taught him...though I'd like to just say he's a genius and came up with that on his own)...and says "O" "O" "O" at the same time. It's super cute. And even cuter when he just stands in the front window, looking out and signing "O" as if he is just waiting/hoping for him to show up on our doorstep. :)

Fortunately for Ezra (and me!), Owen (and Stephanie) were able to come over a couple of times last week to play.

Ezra is a little overdressed as part of a fashion statement he insisted on, and due to our influx of mosquitoes, I was quite happy with his clothing choice. Poor Ezra's back is covered in bites the size of quarters.




Lounging in our footstool that desperately needs to be re-covered. (I'm holding out to see if the outdoor fabrics go on sale after the summer season ends.)




Playing with puffed rice...


Watching these boys play together is one of my favorite things.

Mr. Accessories

As I've mentioned before, Ezra loves to dress up. Sunglasses, hats, shoes, backpacks...he loves his accessories. Yesterday, he found a tie that Cameron had left here and wanted to wear it...as well as my watch. Here he is, all dressed up to sweep the kitchen. :)

A black tie affair...

On Saturday night our friends had a dinner party to premier a movie that Jacob had made....starring...all of us! In the last 18 months we've taken several trips together, and being the camera man and artist extraordinaire that he is, we all received DVDs of memories. Thanks Jacob...we love it!!!

On the invitation, it jokingly said, "black tie optional". However, we all (to their surprise!) decided to take it very seriously. And, step it up a notch. Not just black tie attire...but wedding dress attire. :)

Once we arrived all decked out, Samamtha joined in on the fun and put her dress on as well...



We've been talking about wanting to have an occasion to wear our wedding dresses again, however it seems as if someone is always pregnant. Abby Narter (far right) is opting out of wearing her wedding dress at this time because of a baby on the way...yay!!

Cousins....3 of a kind!

Last Friday we got together with Ryan's cousins and their kiddos...3 babies (well, now toddlers) born within 3 weeks of each other makes for lots of cuteness (and craziness)!

We met at Grandma and Grandpa Green's house, ate pizza, played with the same toys that Ryan and his cousins played with when they were growing up...




And then headed out to the pool...




The kids were quite polite and remembered to clean up after themselves...


...and they even obliged in getting their photo taken together...


...however Ezra was insistent that his contract said only 1 group photo, so he was not pleased when we tried to pull a fast one on him and have him pose with grandma and grandpa...

The Cabin

We spent more time at the cabin this trip than we have in past years. I loved spending the night in our little loft (totally reminds me of Little House on the Prairie even though it actually has stairs instead of a ladder), waking up and eating breakfast outside, spending all day until bedtime playing in the yard, woods, and creek, sitting by the campfire in the evening (and watching Ezra walk around it from afar with his hand out saying "hot hot hot").

Blowing bubbles...


Eating a piece of watermelon bigger than his head...


Bathing in the creek...


...and by hose (the creek water was wayyy to cold to wash his sticky hair with)


getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. :(


A late night trip to the outhouse...