Charles River Museum of Industry

We finally got one more check on our "Boston Bucket List." 

We spent our first two Boston area years living in Waltham and we never did made it to the Charles River Museum of Industry. It wasn't at all what I expected--just a small section of an historic factory--nothing fancy, no lavish displays, expensive frills, or other visitors; yet to a history addict like me it was still interesting.

We spent about an hour exploring. An hour is about the limit of two boys at a museum and an hour was how much change we had for the parking meter.

The shop manager had a fun and quirky personality. The kids were allowed to touch and play with most of the machines. Bonus! That helped them survive the ten minutes of time where I tried to read a few signs and explore the Waltham Watch displays upstairs.

I was especially impressed by some framed letters that Chester Nimitz (think WWII) had written about the repair of his watch. After his watch got fixed he the company and explained that he needed a bill for the services and had done nothing to deserve a free repair. I would beg to differ.

David and Will sit on a fire truck that was pulled by horses. Fascinating!

I was also a little blown away that I was standing in the part of the factory where Francis Cabot Lowell had installed the first steam powered loom. The UK was ultra protective of their industrial revolution technology. Lowell memorized how the looms in England worked and brought (or smuggled?!) that here. For some reason I remembered that detail from a history course long ago!

We got caught in an June downpour on the walk to the car but we didn't mind. It was a good afternoon and I'm really glad we went.

A nice walk from the parking lot!

"Love that muddy water"

Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl

Would you ever let your kids eat 30 bowls of ice cream? Well, we did. Sort of. We tried about that many kinds of ice cream ourselves. There was a fantastic assortment with many different vendors offering about five  flavors each.

David and Will were content with about two or three scoops and {shock, horror} were done after that. Brad and I, however, were more ambitious and had at least one spoonful of each kind and if we liked it ate more...up to an entire scoop!

Happily eating their ice cream.

Enjoying testing out a zip car.

 Why yes, I think we'll support cancer research and come again next year!

Brad was very sick the next day, I can't help but wonder if it was related to insane ice cream consumption.

We had a nice little family walk around the public garden afterward. The boys really enjoyed riding the T home with their Dad. Brad reported that they squealed, screamed, and looked out the windows with excitement and delight. Oh to be a three or four year old boy! I took the car back with friends. Surprisingly, even with the notoriously slow bus ride I was not the first one home! 

Enchanted Village

We visited the Enchanted Village at Jordan's furniture for the second year in a row. It was fun to be able to go with Brad. He had some time off during Christmas but used much of it to study for the boards.

Here are the boys looking at one of the Christmas scenes.

Looking at the camera!

Brad gives William a ride.

This was my favorite little life like scene, it is by no means the most elaborate of what we saw but for some reason I liked it best. Just look at all the detail!

People waiting to send or pick up packages at the post office...

A "real" bulletin board.

And finally when we were done a(nother) visit with Santa. Of course William didn't want to be involved!

We headed to Ikea for lunch afterward. Who doesn't love a trip to Ikea?!

Christmas Program

All dressed up for the Christmas program at church!

Both Brad and I sang in the choir; Brad because he has some singing talent and me because I had to be at the practices anyway. I played a simple flute duet with a friend and then a really lovely obbligato (pretty flutie part) with a small singing group. It was nice to play again. I love celebrating the Savior through music.

Copley Square Tree Lighting

One of our first Christmas activities was attending the Copley Square Christmas tree lighting. Compared to the two tree lightnings that we went to last year (The Newbury Street one was a dud, the other at Quincy Market was waaaay too busy...) this was FANTASTIC. We didn't get there early but were able to see everything going on and even snuck to the front of the little stage.

An Air Force brass band played beautiful Christmas carols. Characters from the Nutcracker were there: the huge bear and a soldier on stilts to name a few. Different sponsors were passing out free cookies, egg nog, and chocolate milk. (We all know that our BrDad can't pass up free goodies!) A children's choir sang, and the mayor gave a short speech and invited the children on stage with him. The tree was beautiful as was the backdrop of the Trinity Church on one side and the Boston Public library on the other.

David on the stage with Mayor Menino in the background.

I forgot my camera so Brad's cell phone had to do.

Perhaps the best part of this night was the weather. It was threatening rain but clear and WARM. Hurrah New England, thanks for coming through, especially after Thanksgiving!

The most fancy part of the evening was the after party at the Farimount Copley Hotel. We had no idea we'd be able to attend such an event. I love things like this that are free and open to the public. It was fabulous to sneak a peek at the fancy ballroom and then be able to go to a party inside! There was a decadent hot chocolate station, a cookie decorating station, and "tea" finger foods. A live band and Santa and Rudolph made the lavish event even more special.

The kids really enjoyed decorating their cookies and having them all packaged up to take home. David enjoyed Santa and William kept his distance from the jolly old guy. We ate some Wendy's for dinner. I thought this night was well worth the few dollars we paid to park downtown! I'm beginning to feel a little sad that our time in Boston will come to a close and we may not be here to enjoy another Christmas. I'm glad we were able to squeeze in this perfect family outing.

Ward Christmas Party

Brad spent Friday night and Saturday making what is becoming some of his "famous" ice cream. Ever since we acquired a free chest freezer he's been experimenting and I'd say he has come up with some delicious creations. This time it was a peppermint cheescake. It included peppermint, fudge, crushed oreos, and other stuff to make it taste cheesecakey. He made double the amount he made for the fall ward party and it was GONE in no time.

Brookline Ward Inaugural

Christmas Party 2011

Below: trying to take a photo of the boys before we left.

And finally we find something acceptable.

I can never decide if we should tie David and William to their chairs at events like this of just or let them run around with the other kids. It was wonderful that our opera-singing ward member did a rendition of the Mr. Grinch song for the kids. Most amazing male voice I've heard in person.

There was cupcake decorating and a showing of the Dr. Seuss' How the Grich Stole Christmas for the kids. The four course meal was amazing. It was a FABULOUS party. I know it is a darn lot of work to put on something like that. It was nice being able to go and enjoy it without doing all the planning and preparation.

A Family of SEVEN?!

No, we aren't having triplets (and no we aren't expecting at all) but we did babysit three extra kiddos during the week of Thanksgiving. It was an interesting learning experience.

Things were both easier and harder than I thought they would be. I found out that older kids are more helpful and independent. Who knew! My boys enjoyed playing with the two bigger ones.

The hardest part was probably just not being my house and being able to do "my house stuff" and not being sure where to put stuff away that was taken out! The youngest little girl (2oish months) was a sweet China doll that was an angel the entire time.

Case in point above. I don't think these were supposed to be taken out by the 4 year old we were watching, nor were they supposed to be put on by David.

The 4 year old girl M had a beautiful mane of hair. Thick, long, and amazing for 4. But I was incompetent when it came to doing anything with it. I'm glad she could walk me through the steps of washing at least! I can't imagine what my Mom went through to keep our hair under control. Thanks Mom.

Another bonus was getting to drive the pretty new mini van. Loved it! We were all pretty tired when it was time to go home on Wednesday night. For the first year in forever I was glad we weren't hosting Thanksgiving dinner.