A nice Boston Spring weekend!

"We got cuties" Jen just declared, as we recount the weekend...

Saturday am, I got to take out a single-- BEAUTIFUL day, so calm, warm, peaceful. Rowed down to the canoe dock and back (7 miles?). My comment to a fellow sculler: "Those people driving by have no idea what they are missing!"

Then first mow of the season- the mower started on the first pull. Lawns are looking good (and still chemical free).

Then Jen went off to do a few errands (including picking up the iMac from the Apple store after having it's HDD replaced-- long story, but it's back!) and so Garson, Jasper and I hung out until Mom and Dad arrived around 12:15 to take Garson to the Gore Estate sheep sheering event. Sounds like it was a big, fun event.

Jasper and I played in the yard, I managed to get the herbs planted, and yes, Jazzy ate some dirt. But not much :)

And another Jasper (9.25 mo) milestone: language! I swear he is now mimicking some sounds like "aah-g" for Again and "aarh" for lion roaring and "mmm" for "mooooo." I know this may seem like a stretch but Jen and Garson concur, and he is making the sounds matching the ones we say. And I think he knows I want him to sit down (again) in his high chair.Also, he is DEFINITELY doing sign language symbol for "more" (touching hands together). He is also now standing and balancing for 1-6 seconds-- this all just started in the last few days. Meanwhile, back to the chronology of the weekend.

On Jen's return, she joined the fun in the yard and did some weeding while I put Jasper in his new swing-- it's a green bucket and he LOVES it. And we can keep him hanging there for quite a while :)

By 5:30, we had cleaned up, Mom and Dad had returned Garson and gone off to a date with the Agnes' and Jasper's teacher Christine had arrived to watch the kids for the eve.

Off to Mike T's 41st B-day party (them, Dave, Jane, us @ Douzo). Took 9 minutes from being parked at home to being parked on Dartmouth St right near the restaurant. Nice- the advantage to living in the city. Douzo is a fancy-pants sushi/Japanese place with some really yummy concoctions. Afterwards, hung out @ Cleary's just down the street. A really nice eve chatting with the peeps!

Christine reported all was well with the kids, though Garson managed to get 2 movies, chocolate and stay up to about 10pm. Oh well, it's all good.

The next morning (today, Sunday, Apr 25, 2010) arrived all too soon with Jazzy up at 6:30. By 8:50 we were out the door for a fun and full day of activity. 9am met Drew and Adriana at Uncommon Ground for some yummy b-fast (me: cinnamon challah French toast and eggs). Great to catch up with them! They are deep in the process of setting up to seek an adoption. They are building their "portfolio," selecting their "agencies" who will place ads etc. It's a huge, complex system.

10:58am arrived at the YMCA for Garson's gymnastics; dropped her off so I could return home to get her towel for swimming and drop off Jen. Jen had a work in the house day and I had a keep the kids out of the house day! So, while Jen grouted the shower and organized just about everything, I returned to Y and Jasper and I hung out while Garson finished in the gym then had her swim lesson. She swam 16 lengths of the 25 yard pool. Completing this session, the little cars she received said she can move from level 2 to level 3. College, here we come :)

After the Y and after a slice at "Pizza, Etc." Jazzy, Garson and I headed to Mt. Auburn Cemetery for a beautiful, peaceful walk. Though the reports predicted rain, we had dry, nice conditions for the serene walk. I liked that the Prius was nearly silent as we wove part way though to find a suitable parking spot. We walked the remaining distance to the tower and since Jazzy was asleep I carried the car carrier up the 98 steps to the top. I love the views up there. Colorful trees, young leaves, hight of pink and white on the flowering fruit trees, great to see in every direction, and to be able to ID so many landmarks and buildings. Garson could name a few too! We took a nice, slow walk down and around a dell (the vernal pool there is great), looking at names of trees (Tulip Trees, European sycamore, etc) and making up a long story about the witch who lives in the pond and makes potion with these white (beech?) leaves. Garson couldn't sneak up on the large frogs :).

Next, a cookie shared on the side deck of the new Sabra cafe at Mt Auburn and Belmont Str. Garson seemed so mature sitting on the stool, offering me the first bite of the cookie.

On the way home we stumbled upon the tail end of the "Run of the Charles" event-- lots and lots of hard-core and not-so-hard-core canoeists and kayakers. Herter Park was PACKED. Nice event. Maybe next year? We played in the park-- including letting Jazzy slide down the slide a bunch of times (funny!!) until finally, by 5pm, we returned home. Tired!

Evening of left over Taiwanese food from Jo Jo Taipei, finish watching the original Doctor Doolittle movie from 1964, and Jen reading some of the first Harry Potter book to Garson while I put Jazzy to bed via another bottle. Delicious.

Feeewww. Now to get the rowing stuff together for the 4:40am wake up call...