More Fun at Fenway

Well, here we are in the last week of September. It's definitely changing to fall here - the nights are getting darker earlier, the air is cooler and the trees are showing some color. I'm so behind in my blogging that I'm still talking about the last weekend of summer! We're going to be taking our "rain date" (well, really hurricane\rain date) Bermuda trip soon and I'll have lots more posts to do so I need to get all caught up by then. So, here we go....

One of the touristy things to do in Boston, which I've never had the chance to do, is to take a tour of fabulous Fenway Park. Since Amy and Brad really wanted to do this tour, we were more than happy to join them for the fun.

The Family at Fenway

While I was definitely excited about the tour and eager to learn some Fenway facts, I knew this was something that Mike would even be more interested in so I was in charge of Dylan so Mike could focus on the tour. The tour had just a few stops and we stayed in those spots for a while to listen to information. With a wiggly little guy on my hand who was eager to explore, this worked out pretty well. I let Dylan down at each stop and followed him around while (mostly) staying in ear shot of our tour guide.

Playing on the Steps Overlooking the Outfield

Down on the Field

The Green Monster!

Playing With the Sand by the Monster

Some of the most sought after seats at Fenway are the new(ish) ones on top of the Green Monster. Our tour took us to these seats. It was pretty cool to be able to view the field from there...it might be the only time we ever do!

View From Atop the Green Monster

Dylan And I On The Monster

It was a great tour and we all enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend it to anyone coming to town....or even for those who live in town and love Fenway Park (like every good Red Sox fan does)!

Italian Aqua Green Marine Trail

Continuing the narrative of Amy and Brad's visit. This posting reports on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. The title is actually word snippets from all the activities we did on an extremely full day in Boston. It was a busy day...let's get started!

With the busy days we'd had, running from state to state, through caves, up mountains and to games, little Dylan had literally been dragged all over the place. We all decide the next day should be more about Dylan. So, first stop was the aquarium!

Boston Aquarium - Brad, Amy, Kara ,Mike and Dylan

It didn't occur to us (well, at least to me), that on a nice day on a holiday weekend that the place would be a mad house. It really was! Apparently, it didn't bother anyone else and I tried to keep my slight crowd claustrophobia to myself. Amy and Brad, it being their first visit there, had a great time exploring all the tanks. We saw the infamous Myrtle the turtle swim (which she only does about once a day), watched the penguins swim around and saw tons of awesome fish species. The aquarium has a great outdoor exhibit of the harbor seals and Dylan had a great time running around there. He even discovered a cute statue...

And we plopped him on top for a photo...

After the aquarium, we picked up some ice cream on our way to the Rose Kennedy Greenway park. While we sat and enjoyed our ice cream, Dylan had fun playing on the grass.

Then, he saw the ring fountain and wanted to go play in the water. Mike, the super dad that he is, was prepared with a little swimmer diaper, a towel AND a change of clothes!



Next on the agenda was a walk on a portion of the Freedom Trail to see the USS Constitution. Amy and Brad had explored most of the historical trail the day after their arrival but, as what happens with many tourists, ran out of time and steam before making it across the harbor to this sight. Dylan fell asleep on the walk over so I let Mike take our guests to the ship tour and I hung out with the sleeping baby.

USS Constitution

As I mentioned, this is the last portion of the Freedom Trail which normally isn't quite as heavily traveled. In fact, the many times I've taken tourists around, I've never even made it to the last site on the trail - The Bunker Hill monument. Since I had some time on my hands and a sleeping baby in a stroller, I made the walk up through the really cute streets of Charlestown (an area of town I've really not spent any time in) and up the hill to the monument.

Sleeping Dylan with Bunker Hill Monument (apparently getting some work done to it)

After our detour, I brought Dylan back to the navy yard, waited just a few minutes before he woke up and walked around with him until the rest of the gang finished their tour. Next stop, dinner in the North End. You really just can't go wrong in any restaurant in "Little Italy." So, we picked one out that had a menu we were all happy with, had tables immediately ready and looked somewhat child friendly.


After a long day, the big, wonderful meal felt fabulous! While we finished eating Dylan had a great time entertaining himself with two empty glasses, pieces of pizza crust and a lot of transfers back and forth with the crust between them. Hey, whatever floats his boat and keeps him happy is good for me!

North End Dinner - Mike, Kara, Dylan, Amy and Brad

The Newest Red Sox Fan

After our hike we hopped in the car and drove back to Boston, just in time for a Red Sox game.... Dylan, Amy and Brad's first!

Since we hadn't thought far enough ahead to bring the tickets with us, we had to make a quick stop at the house before heading to Fenway. The game was already a couple of innings in by the time we got there. Mike dropped us off near the park while he ran into a drug store to grab some diapers. Luck was on our side because the guy in the drug store parking lot, turned super high priced parking for the game, gave Mike a super discounted price for his last space because we had a kid with us. Either that or he gave us a discount so that he didn't lose the full price for the spot. In any case, we all only had a one block walk to the park (compared to the 1.5 miles we normally do for a game).

As Amy, Brad, Dylan and I got to Yawkey Way (Mike still on diaper\parking duty), Wally the Green Monster had just come out for photo ops. We hopped right into the short line and got our pictures taken! !

Me, Dylan and Wally (I think Dylan was a little star struck!)

After doing pictures with Wally and grabbing some grub, we joined Mike at our seats and got settled in to watch the game.

Dylan Watching His First Red Sox Game

Mike couldn't resist buying Dylan the big foam #1 hand. As Brad so eloquently put it, "so you gave your son the finger." Haha! Yes, he did....and Dylan looked really cute rooting for the team with it.

It was approaching Dylan's nap time and he was antsy. So, Amy and I ducked out of the park with him to go scope out the fan shop and try to get him to sleep while walking around with him. But first, he had to try out the big glove chair.

Since the only Red Sox gear we'd had for Dylan was about half a year too small, I got him a new fan tee that should last him the rest of the (not much left of it) season and perhaps a good amount of 2011's season. Pictures on the rest of the post will show of his new duds.

After walking around a bit, Dylan was very drowsy but just not falling asleep. So, we headed back to the stands where Mike waved the magic sleepy dust over Dylan's head and put him to sleep in his arms in just minutes.

Asleep At The Game

Unfortunately, the Sox didn't win that day. In spite of the loss, we all enjoyed the game, the great weather and the awesome experience that Fenway Park always has to offer.

Yawkey Way After The Game

Speaking of Hurricanes

Right now, I should be on the beach, watching Dylan play in the sand and dipping my toes in the gently rolling waves. Instead, Igor has hit the poor island of Bermuda and our trip there is postponed for a couple of weeks. So, other then continuing the work week as usual, I find myself with no fun plans. I guess that means I have some time to catch up on my blog!

Just before Labor Day, my great friend Amy and her new beau, Brad, came to visit us for 5 days. We had a few things planned and a few things we would do, depending on weather. Well, speaking of hurricanes, there was one threatening the Bay State in the days after they arrived. So, we packed up (Mike, Dylan and I did...Amy and Brad hadn't really had a chance to unpack yet) and headed to the mountains of NH.

We drove up on a Thursday morning and went straight to the Polar Caves Park....one of our family favorites. This would be Dylan's first trip there as well as Amy and Brad's. The park has animals, trails and, of course, caves! The caves are basically a big jumble of rocks that fell\formed with the ice age you can climb through. It's really cool - cool to climb AND cool inside all of the caves (temperature, that is). It was a warm day so the relief of the cool caves was perfect and we all had a great time. Man, I just love the Polar Caves! Here's our day in pictures.

Feeding the Ducks

Grrrr!

From the Top, Looking Down on What We'd Climbed

Playing At The Top

Dylan Was Obsessed With the Lookout Telescope Thing

Amy and Me!

Climbing Down - Amy, Dylan and Me

Brad, Amy, Dylan and Me Under the Rocks

Dylan Had Fun Chasing the Ducks!

After a fun afternoon there, we headed to our condo, had homemade pizza night and tucked into bed early. The next morning, we got up and going with Dylan, the alarm clock, and went to our local favorite hike - the Welch\Dickey Trail. We wanted to take Amy and Brad to the first outlook for a nice view of the landscape before heading back to Boston. We lost Amy on the trail about half way up - she had tweaked her knee at the Polar Caves the previous day and didn't want to cause any further injury. So, Brad, Mike and I go to the outlook while she rested up.

Napping

Are We There? Oh! Ok! I'm Awake Now!

Group Self Portrait - Brad, Mike, Me, Dylan

Dylan and Me on the Big Rock

We met Amy back on the trail on the way down and we all continued back to the car. From there, we hit the road and headed straight back to Boston. This was only the beginning of our day! I'll continue the day's fun on the next post.

A Night Away - Flying High

Well, the big surprise was for the next day. Mike and I were going tandem hang gliding! I told Mike that morning while we were getting ready. Since we went sky diving together in Australia just a few months after we started dating and I professed "that was really fun but I'm never doing it again," his first reaction to me telling him the plans was "that doesn't sound like you." Somehow, I never considered hang gliding to be all that dangerous. I mean, we were going to be strapped to a big ol' kite and someone that knew what they were doing. What could go wrong?

As to not overwhelm our nervous\excited bellies with food, we had a granola bar while making the 45 minute drive to the flight place. We also checked in with Mike's parents, confirmed they were having a great time with Dylan, and assured them that our life insurance policies were up to date while finishing the drive there.

We got there, checked in with our hang gliding "pilot," Steve, and then were instructed to go wait under an umbrella out in the middle of a huge field. After a bit of a wait, we saw a strange little plane drive over the field and pull up next to us. Then, Steve drove up on a 4 wheeler dragging the huge glider that would take us on our ride.

Here's how it was going to happen. The plane, aptly named the dragonfly, would pull our glider, attached by a rope, up 2500 feet in the air, at which point we would detach from the plane and hang glide back down to the ground. Mike, being the gentleman that he is, stuck to the no fail "ladies first" rule so I was first in flight.

The Dragonfly

So, I got my helmet on, got the harness on, got ready to go and we were off!

Rolling Down the Runway

It's a little surprising, with your face mere inches from the ground, how fast the speed felt. I'm now curious what speed we had to achieve before take off but of course that's a question I thought of after we were long gone. Any any case, it felt really, really fast!

Oh, in addition to Mike being right next to me at take off and landing (and vice versa with me on his flight), there was also a camera attached to the glider. Steve could snap a picture at any time from a handy remote right under his thumb, so we have pictures from the ground and the air!

On The Ascent!

Again, I had no idea what to expect from this experience. Something I hadn't thought to consider was motion sickness. Apparently, if you're prone to it, you can definitely have it while hang gliding. As one that's not good on boats and can't read in a car, I guess I'm one of those that's a little sensitive to it. I definitely had a touch of it during the flight. The good news is that it's decreased with fresh air (which I was surrounded by) and the flight was only half an hour long so it wasn't for an extended period of time. Though I felt it, it was not bad enough to put a damper on the fun!

After a little while in the air and a little instructions, I got a stab at steering the glider. Being told what to do isn't all that helpful since it's really something you need to get a feel for. After a very short time in the drivers seat, I really didn't get it down at all, so Steve took back over. Oh well, I'm okay with not being a natural at hang gliding.

In the Drivers Seat

Mike Took This One of Me Flying

After getting a chance to drive, the real fun began. Steve did a little of what he called the "adrenaline rush portion" of the flight. He steered such that the glider took a hard left, then a hard right, then pointed the nose up which stalled the glider and made my stomach drop like it does on a roller coaster dive. SO. MUCH. FUN! I wish we had done that stuff the whole time!

After the tricks were done, we went in for a landing. Steve was a great driver and it was a smooth touch down.

Coming in for the Landing

With my flight over, it was Mike's time to fly the friendly skies while I watched from below. It was really cool to get a different perspective of essentially the same flight I had just taken. That glider turns into a little tiny spot in the sky at 2500 feet!

Mike Driving

That dot to the left of the peak of the hill is Mike on the glider. Since this was most of the way through his flight, he'd already dropped in altitude quite a bit!

Adrenaline Rush Portion - Hard Right

Mike enjoyed his flight very much. We agreed that our favorite part was the trick portion. I guess we're both just adrenaline junkies. And even though it was a fun surprise and we had a great time, we're also in agreement that it's not going to become our new past time.

After our flight was over, we went back towards our hotel and had a nice big breakfast. Then another surprise for our trip - time at the spa! We both got massages before checking out and heading back to pick up Dylan. Dinner with Mike's parents rounded off the weekend and then we were back home.

A Night Away - Mt. Kearsarge

Well, Dylan's over a year old and, other than a couple of date nights, Mike and I haven't spent much time away from the little guy. Obviously, he's really fun and we don't like leaving him behind, but I felt it was time we had a little time to ourselves. So, I arranged for babysitting for an overnight trip (Mike's parents) and I surprised Mike with a little getaway.

One night away doesn't allow for a super far away locale. I had found an advertised combo deal for a place in NH which started the whole get away plan. Mike knew nothing of where and what we were doing until the day before (and then, just enough for him to pack properly). So, Saturday morning a couple of weeks ago, we packed up, dropped Dylan off at his Nana and Bumpa's and headed up to the Lake Sunapee region of New Hampshire.

First stop was a little hike. Even though hiking up a mountain is challenging for just about anyone, it was nice to again experience how much "easier" it is without a 22 pound kid on your back. The hike I'd found for the day was Mt. Kearsarge - a relatively quick jaunt up for a beautiful view.

A friend at work has a family cabin in that area and he recommended the hike since it's a family favorite\tradition. The weather was perfect that day and we had a nice time talking (without entertaining the little one in between) and enjoying the scenery.

Mike Looking Up the Granite Trail

The View (Not Quite to the Top)

Mt. Kearsarge - The Peak

Beautiful Vistas

The mountain is definitely a popular spot. While we did see people on the way up, it was a bit shocking to see the crowd at the top. I've never seen so many people on the peak of a mountain before.

We Were Definitely Not Alone

Unfortunately for us, a big group of teenagers was tailing us on the descent. After having enough interruption to the peaceful sounds of nature around us, we stepped to the side and happily let them pass. We chose to take a different path down mainly just because it was a different way than our ascent. We found out the path up is more popular for a reason - it's shorter, has cooler rocks and trees to see and is more fun to take. So, the descent was rather uneventful and un noteworthy. But, we were spending time together, which was the whole point of the trip, so mission accomplished for that afternoon.

With the hike done, we continued to our resting spot for the night - The Mountain Edge Resort in Sunapee, NH. Our hotel room was a 2 bedroom suite, complete with kitchen, living room and a fireplace. It was a nice little home away from home. We spent the rest of the afternoon resting and relaxing before getting ready for dinner. Since there was a restaurant just across the street, we kept things simple, dined there then returned to the hotel for a movie and more relaxing. Tough life, huh?

A great first day to our weekend away. The next morning, we had a big adventure awaiting!

Uh-Oh!

Aloha is the Hawaiian word with many meanings. As someone who doesn't know Hawaiian nor ever been to Hawaii, I have no idea what all those meanings are. But I've been told you can say "Aloha" and it mean just about anything you want it to. Now, I've learned a lot of things about myself, child rearing and my son in the last year. What I didn't expect to learn from a one year old is definitions. Apparently "uh-oh" means many things that I was never aware of. It's the "aloha" of the English language!

Dylan is new to words and uh-oh is definitely his current favorite. He uses it to express so many thoughts and feelings....I'm amazed daily at the new meanings the word takes on. Here are some of my favorites listed by translation:

Uh-oh! - I dropped something (most commonly known definition)

UH-oh! - Wow, look how far I threw that (insert object here) across the room!

uHH-oHH - Did you see my food just jump off my plate onto the floor?

UUHH-OOHH! - I love to hear myself talk - VERY loudly!

Uh-Oh! - Oops, I just fell on the cat.

Uh(pause)oh - Did I just toot?

Uh-OOOOh! - My face feels super cool in this "o" position! (Example as shown below in the video)