East Coast Adventure, Part II

Sunday morning we were set to make the scenic drive to Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire for the start of my conference, but not before one of my favorite things ever- going out for breakfast! We found Mike's Eastside Diner in Boston, that was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives and it was awesome! Here are some unimpressive photos with the iPhone, but you get the gist...

The corned beef hash was excellent, topped with poached eggs (my favorite way of egg preparation), with the oh-so-necessary (not)potatoes and raisin cinnamon bread on the side. Mike's meal ('The Emergency Room') included blueberry pancakes the size of his head! After rolling our stuffed selves off the bar stools, we took the bus, then subway to the airport to pick up our rental car for the drive north. More to come...

I'm Sure Dad Tastes Bad

Life is grand here in the posh and toney suburbs. While the schools in the old 'hood were in lockdown mode for a few days last week, we were none the wiser. Mr. Mom is anxious to hear the insider scoop from our informant at the MPD. Was it overblown media hyped craziness or has this city finally/officially arrived in hades?

The FroFamily euphoria experienced during the winter olympics has finally melted away. And with the torrential downpours over the last few days, so has the bobsled/luge/skeleton inspired track we made in the backyard for AB&C to begin training for the 2026 Olympics. Never too early, right? I'm thinking of trying to join them by beginning a curling career. Mr. Mom needs something in the winter to offset summer softball. You know, yin and yang. Listen to those Chinese. An unbelievably wise people. Plus, I heard those rebel curlers like their post-match beverages. And from what I saw, I could totally get away with playing in sweatpants. Did anyone catch the Norwegian team's clown pants? After seeing those, it is clear anything goes on the curling sheet.

That leaves me with the latest golden nugget I've mined from our children. Again it comes from our beloved B. Scene: Mrs. Dad and A were attending a 6 year-old birthday party leaving Mr. Mom home with the boys. We are playing with cars and trains and out of the blue B delivers this: "Dad, I don't think a crocodile would like to eat you because you'd taste like beer. But I hope I don't ever see a crocodile because it would like me. I taste like candy." So many things to glean from this quote. As Mike Myers/Linda Richman would say on SNL Coffee Talk, "Discuss."

Destination: Boston- Mike and Katie on the Freedom Trail

Grandpa F drove us to the airport bright and early on Saturday, February 27, and our eastcoast adventure was underway. Certain persons staying at the homefront were skeptical, as they heard tell about The Greatest Storm to Ever Hit America!! But surprisingly, the conference was not called off, the electricity was fully functioning at Logan, and the flight was not at all delayed. So this sassy photo, albeit blurry was snapped at the airport with the iPhone as proof of our survival.

We LOVE Boston! Some years back, Mike and I had been in Boston for a national PA conference B.K. Mike had the best week, bellying up to the oyster bar, and meandering through Boston Commons while I was holed up in the convention center all day. We again stayed at the lovely Park Plaza, and received a room upgrade- nice! We immediately walked across the street, and had the most scrumptious lunch at Legal Seafoods, where I unexplicably lost my new black microfiber hat (only $4 at Kohl's- but still!) when I think it was cleared from the table with the black linen napkins. Having nothing to do but wait until morning for our roadtrip to New Hampshire, we had made the luxurious decision to do something that is not at all commonplace in our current lifestyle- we went to a movie in the theatre! But this is what put us over the top, luxury-wise: with full bellies, no desire to go clubbing, and no agenda whatsoever, we decided to stroll down the Freedom Trail, and then- we went to another movie! (Shutter Island and Valentine's Day, since this blog now serves as my peripheral memory bank) What a great day! It is one that I will savor for quite some time.

Next up- in search of a diner, drive-in, or dive...

B's Fourth Birthday Party

On Friday, February 26th, we held a family party for Bennett's 4th birthday. Both sets of grandparents were there, as well as B&S's family. We worked hard to make a racetrack out of a strawberry Bundt cake, cut in half, and a chocolate 9x13 cut into strips and stacked to make the straight-aways of the McQueen racetrack. Thomas's traintrack ran around the outside of the track. The kids especially enjoyed licking the grass (green sprinkles) from the cardboard base.

Bennett and Annalise started playing non-stop with the Take Along Thomas sets he received for his birthday. Which is nice, because on Saturday morning, Mike and I left for FIVE DAYS away from our children...

Our Big Boy

Happy Fourth Birthday to our wonderful Bennett!

We love you so much, and are so very proud of you, and always entertained by you too. We're having a Thomas the Train/Lightning McQueen (Cars) family party tomorrow night. B's birthday celebration at school is tomorrow morning. We're thinking about having a friend birthday party to celebrate both Bennett's and Annalise's birthdays sometime in March.

Bittersweet

Mike and I are preparing to set off on an unprecedented adventure. We are leaving our three children, the apples of our eye, our greatest accomplishments, our pride and joys, in the care of grandparents, as we head to New Hampshire, by way of Boston, for FIVE DAYS! I am attending a medical conference, and Mike is planning on sleeping the days away. I was planning on bringing a laptop to blog on the go, but Mike shot that idea down. I also mentioned that I planned on bringing the camera (we're hoping to do a tree canopy tour and zipline in the White Mountains), and Mike was surprised- I don't know how he expects me to get some good blog posts out of this, gheesh! I am looking forward to taking pictures of something other than my little sweeties. I'll close with a few pictures of said sweeties:We love watching the Winter Olympics. Go USA! Storytime

Rarin' to go

Buck Hill tubing, 1/30/10

for Katie's work winter event

Bennett's stomach bug didn't last for long. Colin seems to be on the mend, but it's really hard to tell, since he has been pretty crabby in general lately. But he doesn't feel as feverish at least. We had a really nice time with E,K, C, and K on Friday night. As expected, I didn't take any pictures, so you'll just have to imagine.

We are gearing up for a busy week, as Mike and I leave on Saturday morning for a medical conference, after having a family birthday party for Bennett's 4th birthday on Friday night! Bennett's birthday celebration at school will be Friday morning, and when asked what he'd like to bring for his class treat, he replied, "cherry pie."

We've really been enjoying the Vancouver winter Olympics in our household. Annalise loves the figure skating, and gets really excited to see "that long-haired guy" (Shaun White, the snowboarder).

Gastrointestinal Distress

We're in the midst of another busy week. Mike and I are having Chad, Karen, Eric, and Katie over for dinner on Friday night. Mike and the boys did the grocery shopping this morning, and I hope Mike gets the house cleaning done during the day tomorrow.

Colin has had a fever for about 4 days or so, and has had some loose, AWFUL smelling diapers lately. We had to bump up his iron sulfate intake, since his hemoglobin recheck at his 15 month appointment showed he was still anemic (just like his big sister Annalise), and that has a lot to do with it too.

Bennett has vomited 4 times this afternoon, and evening, and is such a sad little guy right now. Mike woke up this morning with a weak stomach (that's about as bad as Mike gets, without liquor involved, that is), so obviously something is trying to creep into the F family household. Annalise and I plan on staying strong, and avoiding this whole GI mess.

I'll try to post some pictures of our dinner party. We always have such a good time that we forget to commemorate it. I guess that makes for better stories as we age- we will be able to remember things however we want!