Weekend update 9/12

We wrapped up a nice weekend. We attended the cutest housewarming party for Sam and Abby (Chris' cousin) and had a great time catching up with family in New Hampshire. Abby decorated her new home for the party with tons of burlap, chalkboard and wood. Super cute!

Ben had soccer games all weekend one in downtown Boston, one in Lincoln. The weather was enjoyable. Sports affords us reasons to stop in new places. A quick trip to the farmers market in Concord was beautiful and fun to snap a few pictures. I purchased a couple of HUGE mums for only 6$. Bargain! Nic participated in a vegetable derby race and won his heat. He built a car out of a large green pepper. The cars name is Pepperman. 

We stopped at a coffee shop called HAUTE coffee and had a nice breakfast. Ben ordered cinnamon toast. The toast was literally two inches thick. Mom, you have competition. 

Today was a holiday (Rosh Hashanah) and the kids were out of school. More holidays are celebrated and recognized here than in Utah. I cleaned and worked. Andrew had a dr. appointment to look into his elbow pain (overuse), we now have a referral to a sports medicine guy in Lexington in October. 

August ends - Last week of summer

Summer is ending and it's hard to believe it is the last day of August. This past week was full and we enjoyed our last bits of summer. We took a day trip to Mattapoisett to pick up Ben (Ben was invited to stay a few days with a friend). Nic and I really enjoyed our visit. We spent a few hours on the beach and toured around the amazing town with new friends. So peaceful and a summer highlight.

While Ben was away I headed up to Nashua, New Hampshire for an afternoon with Andrew and Nic for some back to school shopping. It was a quick trip (Nashua is about 40 minutes away). Nashua has a ton of the big name shopping stores (and a Costco) with the benefit of NH tax free shopping. 

Mattapoisett

We love playing tourists. Saturday we headed to the city to continue sight-seeing and walk a bit more of the Freedom trail. This trip took us to Faneuil Hall and the Old State House where the Declaration of Independence was read from the balcony in 1776. We toured the Museum and brushed up on Revolutionary War facts. We even visited the "Historic" 1980 Beacon Hill Cheers Bar location and ate some grub at a Cheers replica. 

More stops along the Freedom trail: Faneuil Hall and the Old State House and Cheers on Beacon hill.

We snuck in a play set just before the end of Summer. Nic is beyond happy. He loves his new clubhouse and slide. The weather has been perfect here for the last week and it's made being outdoors really enjoyable. The humidity is giving us a break.

Our new play set - before and after

The playhouse is huge but luckily we have the space. This would have never fit in our Sandy backyard. It makes our yard feel much more homey. The playhouse has an area for a sandbox. I plan to add sand underneath the play house one bag at the time of the next while. We'll see how that goes ... 

Other highlights from last week; kindergarten orientation - Nic is beyond excited!!!, a visit from Leslie, visit from Abby and Sam, yard work—the hillside is free of weeds, bike rides, crafting, a new countertop area for my craft space, and lastly a bunch of work. Yeah for work!

Can I also just note how much I LOVE full weeks? LOVE. THEM.

Minuteman National Historic Park

We are getting to know our area a little bit. Chris suggested we start using trip advisor for places to visit. Why not? This morning the boys and I drove a short 15 minutes to Concord and walked around and saw the sights at Minute Man National Historic Park. “North Bridge - Where Organized Resistance Began ...” 

Fifer's Day

We are used to celebrating July 24th or Pioneers Day in Utah. In our small town of Boxborough they celebrate Fifer's Day.  The town puts together a parade, fair with booths and fair type things. We were invited to sit along the parade route with a few new friends from kindergarten. Nicholas met 5 new kids and collected parade candy. He declared "this is the best day!".

1. A fifer is a non-combatant military occupation of a foot soldier who originally played the fife during combat. The practice was instituted during the period of Early Modern warfare to sound signals during changes in formation, such as the line, and were also members of the regiment's military band during marches.

Some history for you about our town and why it celebrates Fifer's ... taken from Wikipedia: 

Boxborough is known for its annual Fifer's Day celebration. The day commemorates Luther Blanchard, the fifer who marched the local minuteman company to the Battle of Concord on April 19, 1775. At the North Bridge, minutemen companies from various towns of the Commonwealth successfully engaged the British, forcing the redcoats to retreat. During this action Blanchard was wounded slightly, one of the first battle casualties of the Revolutionary War. He survived to fight the British again a few short weeks later at the Battle of Bunker Hill, where he was again wounded. But in September of the same year, he died, ostensibly of the wounds he received in these battles. He is buried at the Old Burial Ground in Littleton, Massachusetts.[17]

Andrew had a baseball game near the coast later in the day so we decided to head down a bit early and check out Marblehead. We stopped by Devereaux Beach, ate some yummy seafood and watched Andrew pitch in the game. 

Snow days

We were home bound again yesterday. Another snow day. We received a foot of snow overnight and the local schools and the NEU campus closed. The boys have had only 3 days in school, and 3 snow days. Not such a great record. And hard to build momentum at school. This morning was clear but school started with a 2 hour delay.

Friday was my birthday. It was a busy day. I got the boys off to school, and then Nic to preschool. It started to snow so I carefully drove around town to run errands; opening bank accounts, getting Nic set up with a new doctor (so we can get someone here up to speed with his needs); groceries, etc. Our Nissan handles the snow on well but seems to be one of the bigger vehicles on the road. Not sure why. The boys took me to dinner and found a great cake. It was a busy but super nice day.

The kids are adapting to a new school and environment really well. Andrew has involved himself immediately with baseball practices and work outs. Ben had his first futsal game. School is going well. Andrew's math teacher had him take the math midterms to see how the curriculum matched up with his learnings from his old school at the first half of the year. He felt he bombed it, but in my opinion, he did ok given that much of the items he hasn't been taught yet. We are looking for a math tutor to get him up to speed on the curriculum here. Ben started French midyear (they don't offer Chinese). I can't imagine starting a class midyear let alone a new language. Our kids are tough and I am so proud of them!

Took the kids and dog to Burpee Steele Barn and surrounding land. The kids played in the snow and Lucy ran but it was way TOO COLD to stay for long.

On the house front - we think we have found the one! We put in an offer and it was accepted. The real estate process here is different than we are used to and has been frustrating. But we are under contract! I think... Ha. I do a house post soon.