A Look Back at the Last Month (or so)

This was me standing in the only space left for me to stand in our old room in Boston. Most of stuff went into one room. After one heck of a learning experience from moving (most of our boxes were crushed, and a lot of our non-boxed stuff was scratched, gouged, or otherwise marked), we're more or less settled - at least for the next four months. We've been in California for a little bit now, and it's starting to smell like home again.

We headed out to Santa Cruz to take in the beach...


... the boardwalk ...

... and of course, the carousel.

Okay. The race cars were a winner too. We rode them (almost all of the cars) before he decided that we were done riding them. Well, really I was done, and he had to be dragged away. That restraint belt was mucho tight. It had to be tight enough for the smallest passenger.

Yeah, the weather really sucks, doesn't it.

Emmitt found moving to be a fun experience. Packing bubbles are fun! Look at the concentration on his face. He sits there for a good 30 minutes before he gives up on it.

By the way Greta, the TV we pilfered from ya'll when you moved out... it's all we've got left now after our other TV fell victim to moving. Thanks! We'd be staring at the wall without it!

....aaaaaaannnd We're Back!

We're finally back in San Jose, CA. Michelle and Emmitt are happy as tornadoes in a trailer park. It's good to see family, it's cool to see familiar places, but I miss the East Coast. It rains at least once every couple of weeks all year out there. The dry, brown hills with trees that are wheezing for water is a shock when compared to the year-round greenery out east. We hadn't even been back a week when a brush fire broke out on the hill our house is on. It didn't threaten our place, but it looked close for a while. This move is an adjustment for sure, but I'll get there.

Bye Bye Fosters

As is the norm for this time of year, more of our friends have left Boston. We've gotten pretty attached to the Fosters, so this one was a hard hit. Matt was one of the first people I met in Boston on the first day I got here with the truck and he's been a great friend ever since. Brittany and Abby have been awesome playmates and we had lots of fun hanging out with them. (Although I still feel bad about your bad luck at the zoo Brittany! You were always a good sport despite nature having it in for you.) They also saved our bacon a few times watching Emmitt for big chunks of the day. When they got the call to travel west this time, we found out while we were on vacation in Maine that they would packing up in 3 weeks. Talk about a buzzkill. Emmitt still hasn't accepted that they're gone, and asks, "Go see Abby?" whenever we drive by their old apartment building on Beacon St.

I was lucky enough to see them off at the airport, and unfortunately I won't be able to call in an airport pick-up favor anymore from Matt!

No more games of chicken...

...no more playing couch potato...

...no more sailing in Fall River...

and no more fast, fast, fast rides on the car. He looks sad because he knows it's their last ride.

We wish them all the best luck in their new digs down in Arizona, and we'll miss them a lot. Bye guys...

Now Sit Right Back and You'll Hear a Tale...

Having been in Boston for nearly three years, we felt it was time to finally see the Harbor Islands. This is our first island trip, and hopefully not our last.

Admittedly, I was pretty resistant to going, what with all that driving through downtown and parking in the North End, and all. However, all that went away once we got on the boat.

The trip out was really fun, and Emmitt loved it. He was jumping up and down and pointing for the first ten minutes, until he bumped his chin on the rail and split his lip (not shown).

Once we got there, we got to see a giant old granite fort that was built back before the Civil War. The fort dominated most of the island, so we spent most of our two and half alloted hours tooling around in it. This was the tunnel to get to the main entrance of the fort.

The structure was beautiful, and the grounds were pretty well maintained. The bridge in the background takes you over what used to be a moat, which is what I'm standing in to take this picture.

Once you get inside the main wall, the parade ground dominates the area.

The fort is star-shaped, and each point of the star is a "bastion." One of them was completely open for folks to wander around in, so we did. It was really cool inside (literally about 10 degrees cooler that day).

Some parts were granite/stone...

Some parts were wood and brick.

Some parts were a little creepy.

Naturally, we found the bakery.

Up on top of the wall, the views of the harbor are awesome.

You can see the Boston Harbor Lighthouse too.

Back inside the fort looked cool from the top.

We found another part to wander around in, and it was really creepy. This picture doesn't give you a good idea of how tall and cavernous this part was. Really dark too.

By this point it was getting really close to the time when our boat was going to leave, so we beat feet out to the pier to catch it.

Emmitt had a great time all the way back, but he whacked his face on the rail again. Notice the massive air he's catching. When he came down, that top rail was chin-level. Ouch.

Boston looked pretty cool from the water too. Not something us landlubbers see everyday so we got all touristy with the camera. This is one of a thousand pictures we took of basically the same shot.

For anyone thinking of heading to Boston, or living there already, it's certainly worth the trip out there. It also helps if you finish the trip with a killer burger and shake from Uburger.

Maine Vacation

Michelle finally got a few days off, so we took a mini-vacation up to Maine last week. It wasn't all that far away surprisingly (about two hours' drive), and there were some fun things to see/do. The first day didn't look so promising. It was raining pretty steadily when we left Boston, and it only got heavier as we went north.

Our first stop was to be an amusement park that was part rides, part zoo. We decided to go there despite the rain, just in case the rain let up long enough to see a few things. Our luck improved when we arived, and the rain abruptly stopped when we got to the park in York, Maine.

Emmitt had a great time on the kiddie rides, and was excited to go all by himself. Here he is on the train.

The coolest part was Emmitt getting his first bumper car ride! He laughed the whole time and we had to chisel the smile off of his face afterward. That's my boy!

We tried to stay indoors the first two days because it rained literally non-stop for nearly 48 hours. Our first stop on day two was the LL Bean "flagship store" in Freeport. It was huge, just like this boot out in front of the store.

The next day, something amazing happened - sunshine!

We took advantage of the nice weather and headed down to Ogunquit to compare the beaches to what we had back home in CA. Emmitt gave the beaches high marks for scenic beauty and an abundance of rocks to throw...

... but he gave the water a big thumbs down - it was pretty cold and he would only go calf-deep before he wanted to be carried.

We had dinner in Old Port(land), treating ourselves to some lobster. Mommy and Emmitt are excited about eating...

THIS GUY!

He put up a good fight; those things are tough to crack (for rookies like me, so I got Michelle to do it)! However, despite his best efforts, he met the ole' skull n' crossbones. There is room for all creatures on God's green Earth - right next to the french fries!

Old Port(land) has some really old areas with cobbled streets.

On our last day, we stopped by the Children's Museum and let Emmitt run wild. They had a cool fire truck to climb on too.

Our last stop was a place called Fort Williams Park. This is an old coastal defence base dating back to the Civil War that was finally closed in 1963. It has several gun emplacements and lots of great scenery. One of the best parts of the whole place is called the Portland Headlight. It was commissioned by George Washington and is supposedly the most photographed lighthouse in the US.

There were lots of old emplacements like this one for two 3" guns and a few spotters. This park was great, and we were glad we went. The scenery was beautiful and the park was huge.

We were sad when we had to pack up and go home. Some of us were more sad than others.

Baby Talk (sorry, no pictures)

Emmitt's mouth has developed very rapidly in the last few weeks. He repeats things that are better forgotten, and makes incorrect, often hillarious, observations out loud. Here are some embarrasing examples:

1) While standing in the check out line at the local commercial farm, we were surrounded by folks who lived up to the appearance I've come to associate with greeny eco-warrior-types: drowning in REI fleece, sandals, and other outdoor gear normally reserved for outdoor activities. A nice young woman wearing a beenie was standing behind us and Emmitt points at her - "Boy! Daddy look! Boy!"

2) Every older woman he sees gets called "grandma." Yes, we're trying to fix that one. At the grocery store checkout, he points to the checker, who was by no means old but obviously had seen some tough times, and yells "Daddy look! Grandma!"

3) Standing in the elevator at the mall, he must have broken some silent wind, because seemingly out of no where he says "Fart! Excuse me!"

4) When he wants something and doesn't get it, he says (with as much irritation as you can imagine off of a 2 year old), "Come on, daddy!" Where did he get it? When he does something irritating that causes delays and I'm in hurry, sometimes he gets a "Oh, come on Emmitt." Turnabout is fair play I guess.

Belated Memorial Day Remembrance

We took yet another trip to a historic naval vessel last weekend to enjoy the WWII battleship USS Massachusetts (again).  Look reeeaaallly hard and you'll see all of us sitting on the waterbreak under the big guns.  The ship was having a belated Memorial Day ceremony where they took time to remember the fallen with some moving speeches, a wreath toss over the side, and a 21 shot salute from one of the 5 inch gun mounts.  

We got there a little early, and we had fun watching Emmitt climb a bunch of things and clown around for pictures.  

The ceremony was great, and I appreciated seeing the Sea Cadets and Boy Scouts helping out.  Even after the years I've been out of the Marines, I still can't resist snapping to attention for the National Anthem and gettin' a little emotional when Taps plays.

He kept telling us that it was a "big boat" over and over again.  He's seen video of the big guns shooting, and he can't say "big boat" without adding "boom, boom."  I was hoping Emmitt would enjoy watching the "big boat, daddy, big boat!" go "boom, boom daddy!"  

I watched with an appreciative smile plastered on my face, but.... 

... Emmitt was slightly less appreciative.   Alas, the first shot sent him into a panic and Michelle had to take him back to the stern of the ship for the duration of the shoot.  He recovered quickly, but was ready to go after that.  Admittedly, it was pretty stinkin' loud.  The organization puts on a great ceremony and works really hard to maintain the ship.  We had a great time, and it was humbling to remember those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our way of life.  

After quite a big morning, we decided it was time to disembark and head back to base.