Walden Again! But with a Detour for History

Wednesday morning we did a few chores in preparation for leaving for beach week in North Carolina. Casey mowed the grass while Beau and a friend watered the garden.



Afterward, everyone was hungry and sweaty: ready for lunch and a swim. We ate at a Japanese restaurant.



Among other things, Dante had sushi and Beau had gyoza.




On the way to Walden Pond for one last swim, we stopped at the Old North Bridge in Concord: site of the second skirmish on the first day of what was to become the American Revolution. The boys were not too happy about the detour.



Here you can see how glad they are to be waiting for a ranger talk.



With the forced history lesson over, Casey was finally willing to join in the photos.



Then we beat a hasty retreat (just like the British).



When we finally arrived at Walden Pond, Dante decided he wanted to swim across it -- on the one day I was the lone adult on our outing. We came to a compromise, and as we left, Beau and Casey walked a short way and waited at the main beach for us while Dante and I swam from our preferred beach to the far corner of the main beach (behind him in the photo), then we had a short 2-minute walk to meet up with the younger boys.



Being from California, it's a novelty to Dante to see out-of-state license plates, so we've been calling out all the non-Massachusetts plates we see. We've seen a fair number of California plates, some Texas plates, and a few from New Mexico. In the parking lot of Walden Pond we found one from Alaska. It got the prize for "having come the farthest.



Our day wouldn't be complete without ice cream. We stopped at Christina's in Cambridge.




Our last stop of the day was to get Casey to the ice rink.

Day Seven: Back to Walden Pond

Walden Pond was such a big hit that we went back today for another swim. Our neighbors, Jackson and Griffin, joined us.



Here the boys are hiding behind their towels because they don't want their pictures taken. Ha Ha.





At Walden Pond there is a resident ice cream truck, and the prices are exorbitant: $3.00 for a single novelty ice cream treat such as a Drumstik. I almost always refuse to buy ice cream from the truck, but Casey brought along his wallet and treated all the boys.




Before our afternoon swim, we had gone into Central Square to have lunch with Britt. Unfortunately, Dante, in his open-toed shoes (flip-flops) couldn't tour the lab, but we did get some Thai food take out and ate outside. Afterward, Casey did what Casey does: climb, balance, and jump. You can't see it in this picture, but he has scrapes on both knees and one elbow.



Having finished Harry Potter, Beau has reverted to reading Garfield comic books. What a big step down. But at least, as you can see, reading Garfield can be a group activity.



Britt is about one-quarter of the way through HP7.

Day Six: Plimoth and PawSox

Despite the iffy weather on Monday, the boys and I headed out for Plimoth Plantation in the afternoon.



Plimoth Planation is a re-enactment of what life at Plimoth was like in 1627 -- for the Pilgrams and for the Wampanoag (the native community). In the "English" village, the volunteers are all in character and speak to you as if they are actual citizens of the 17th century colony. In the Wampanoag village, volunteers from present-day Wampanoag nation are not in character and are therefore able to speak about historical and modern life.


Here are the boys sitting on the bench in the Wompanoag winter home, which is currently being repaired. We also visited a summer-style Wompanaog home that was fixed up as if in use. There we spoke with a woman who told us about the traditional Wompanoag lifestyle and culture.



After touring the Wompanaog village, we carried on to the English village. The contrast was striking. Whereas the Wompanoag home was clean, dry, and cozy, the English homes were dark, musty, and dreary. We each decided that we'd have rather lived in the Wompanoag village than the English village.




Imagine having to make bread by first grinding the corn (that first you had to grow and dry!). Come to think of it: imagine having to make bread at all!



After finishing our tour of Plimoth Planation, we drove into the town of modern-day Plymouth where drove past the Mayflower II (a replica of the Mayflower) and then stopped for ice cream.

Ice creams in hand, we headed west to the town of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. We arrived in plenty of time to meet Britt arriving on the commuter train, and we almost made it to McCoy Stadium for the first pitch of Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA affiliate of the Boston Red Sox) versus Louisville Bats (AAA affiliate of Cincinnati Reds). The PawSox won 3-2 in the bottom of the 10th inning.

Sadly, my camera ran out of battery power, so I have no photos from the ballgame. But here's a bonus close-up photo of the boys at Plimoth.

Day Five of Dante's Visit: Walden Pond

On Sunday, we ate our weekly pancakes, after which the heat and inertia nearly overcame us, but we finally roused ourselves for a swim at Walden Pond. On the weekends, the parking lot often fills up and it's best to arrive after 3 pm, so once we finally got everyone suited up, sunscreened, and in the car, we took the long way to Walden Pond and stopped for ice cream at the well-named Dairy Joy:


Following his cousin's lead, Casey ordered strawberry shortcake, but had his made with orange sherbert rather than vanilla ice cream. He ate it ALL.


Dante, California boy that he is, was skeptical of swimming in a POND. He was worried that it would be cold or mucky or filled with leaches or something. But we quickly made a convert of him. He loved it.



We could have easily stayed longer at Walden Pond than we did, but we hussled back to Cambridge for our weekly Sunday evening pick-up baseball game.






That night, Beau had very nearly finished HP7, but at midnight, when he had only two chapters to go, I pried it from his clutches and sent him to bed.

Casey's Carrots

In addition to our plot at the community garden, we also have a small garden bed in our backyard. Casey planted carrot seeds this spring, and Saturday night he plucked a pretty decent looking carrrot out of the ground. Even more remarkable, he ate some of it!

Day 4

After keeping three kids up past midnight on Friday we didn't do much of note on Saturday.

We played a bit of baseball, Beau read his HP book, the kids and I went to the pool while Britt went off to a summer party to see some former colleagues. Not much, and yet, Casey still managed to stay up until 10:30 pm...

Day 3: Tour of Fenway

Day 3 was muggy and warm, and we were off to a slow start.


We had yummy Mexican food for lunch.





We had a tour of Fenway Park.




And we finished up the day trip with ice cream.




That night after dinner at home, we went into Harvard Square, which is always lively on a Friday night in summer. But last night an estimated 20,000 people were out and about enjoying the celebratory events in anticipation of the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. We ALL stayed up until midnight to collect Beau's pre-ordered copy.

Day 2: Tour of Boston's North End

Today we went into Boston's North End, historically the Italian neighborhood. Many years ago, Dante's father, Charlie, lived in the North End, so it was a bit of a pilgramage.


Here we're waiting for the T at Harvard Square.


First off, we needed to eat lunch. At Pizzaria Regina -- purported best pizza in the North End, if not all of Boston -- we had to wait for a table.


Here we are: happy to be inside and seated.



Dante ordered vegetarian primavera.



True to his word, Casey ate ALL of his 10-inch sausage pizza. Beau and Dante each ate only two-thirds of their respective pizzas.



Outside the Old North Church: "...one if by land; two if by sea..." That church.



Inside the church next to the "William Rideout" pew.



The plaque.



Copp's Hill Burial Ground.



We found Charter Street.



65 Charter Street: Charlie's former residence.



At the waterfront in the North End. Bunker Hill Monument and the USS Constitution in the background.


Looking at the jelly fish in Boston Harbor.



Jellies.


In the rain, standing in front of Paul Revere's house.



We finished up with pastries and gelato.