This weekend, in detail

This weekend, we…

...bought some old books...

...altered a dress...

...explored Ipswich, Mass. ...

...saw my name on a wood post...

...took a drive to the north shore...

...decided Newburyport, Mass. would be a nice place to live...

...ate a fantastic dinner...

...picked some wildflowers...

... and made petite peach cobblers.

Fun times

This weekend, we:

...made silly faces...

...made smiley faces...

...made more smiley faces...

...taught Andy and Robby how to eat lobster...

...ate the most delicious ice cream (a la Kimball Farm) ...(that's a kids size!)...

...went for a walk in Concord...

...to get to the Picnic in the Park...

...pretended to be Betsy Ross...

...walked through the "town forest" ...

...to get to the fireworks...

and generally had a swell time. Thanks for coming out da country!

The Butterfly Place

How did I not know this was right around the corner. Jan and Tom are visiting, so we went here on Sunday. Sooo amazing to see so many butterflies all around you.

ok, the girl is just in the way. see that gorgeous blue morpho?

This is a HUGE Atlas Moth.

Chrysalthis complete...I'm beeeuuutiful!

She sells sea shells by the sea shore

There’s no lack of adventures on a sunny day in Massachusetts. On Saturday, we took a road trip to Cape Ann.

in Gloucester, Mass.

Looks like the Gorton's Fisherman is going to be pummeled by The Perfect Storm, but it past right over.

Halibut Point State Park. Don't you want to be there right now?

Keeping your eye on the trail does have some advantages, including finding the first ripe blueberries of the season.

Thom on the Rocks.

Those rocks were sprinkled with little tidal pools. I found this starfish and another one just hanging out. The underside of their little legs feel like a loofah...must be the same cells that make these guys too.

The rocks were covered with these little snails, just huddled up together and hanging out.

And this little crab about the size of my thumbnail. Sorry, it's pretty blurry.

Now, right after this last photo, Thommy took a dive on the rocks and sliced his thumb off. Well, not off…completely. We had to book it back to the car to get him all bandaged up. Note: First Aid kit works more effectively when kept in your pack, not your car.

Strawberry pie, strawberry ice cream, strawberry gumbo….

Finally, strawberries are in season in New England! It’s been interesting to be here through two seasons now, because the climate is so much different from Maryland. Everything is about a month behind.

Tried to put more in the basket than in my mouth.

Thommy's mom, Josie, and stepdad, Ron.

That's us.

Weekend fun at the beach

Salisbury State Reservation is only about an hour’s drive from our apartment, making for an easy day trip to the beach.

Thommy’s dad said it sounds like we’re on vacation, going on adventures every weekend. Let’s put it this way, we don’t have grass to cut or gardens to tend, and our tiny apartment takes about 15 minutes to clean, so aside from the laundry, there are very few weekend chores or errands that need to be done. Beside, who doesn’t want every weekend to be like vacation?!?

Oh and, to my surprise, we did not forget the sunblock! See how whitey white we are!

The big adventures of Flat Stanley

We were visited by Flat Stanley, friend of Lucas Platt. On Sunday, we took Flat Stanley on a tour of Boston. He had a lot of fun.

Flat Stan learned to drive

Flat Stan toured Paul Revere's house on the North End. (And ran in to some mobsters...it is Boston's Little Italy after all)

Thommy and Flat Stan on the waterfront.

Flat Stanley's guardians

Flat Stan also went to Quincy (quin-zee) Market.