Nantasket Beach

There is a cute little beach town called Hull about 10 miles from Braintree. We spent Memorial Day here with everyone from APX (the guys all got off early that day!) and roasted marshmallows over a bonfire! It was too dark to take pictures by the time we got there because we went out to eat with Ashley, Regan and Cole at a great BBQ place first.
We went back last Sunday to walk along the water and play in the sand. We waited to go until after church and Cohen's nap and it had been a beautiful day which is hard to come by with this crazy New England weather, but by the time we got there it started to sprinkle. We pulled our hoodies out and made the best of it. Cohen was unsure about the rain and was quite bothered by it dropping on him, but it soon cleared again and we were able to play around building sand castles, looking at all the huge sea shells that fill the beach and we made a rock collection! Cohen wanted nothing to do with the water and the rolling waves! Scott soaked in every single minute at the beach and loved following Cohen around as he repeatedly threw himself down into the sand and laughed. I spent time walking in the icy water, that I enjoyed more once my feet were numb, gathering stones of all colors that had been polished as they were tossed about in the waters. I think it is my grandfather's "Moab red rock, arrowhead hunting" blood that runs through me that makes me enjoy collecting rocks so much... It was relaxing and enjoyable and since it had rained we basically had the beach to ourselves! More heavy clouds soon rolled in so we packed up just in time to miss the down pour, but enjoyed watching the rain fall from our car as well.

Harvard Square

Jen and I drove into Cambridge on Saturday with the kids to check out Harvard! Our plan was to go on the tour at 11 with some of the other girls, but all of us didn't make it there in time so we did some exploring of our own for a bit...
(This old church is beautiful! Click on the pic and look at the detail.)

































It's all about history here and I can't help myself but to stop at every monument or old building and stare... this cemetery was interesting to me looking at rows and rows of hand carved small, medium and large headstones, most without any information on them.
This woman was playing a glass harmonica which was invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1761. It sounds beautiful! It's amazing how it's just glass, but plays complex music. Mozart and Beethoven composed pieces for this instrument as well. It's use died out because they didn't have ways to amplify the sound and it couldn't be heard in concert halls. This is a very rare talent now... online it said there are only a dozen or so performers worldwide. I would have lingered a little longer if I had known! I will try to catch it on video next time I head up if she is there.
There are bridges over all of the small and wide rivers and the water is filled with canoes and sailboats.

This building reminded us of the one in the movie Just Like Heaven.
As we drove by we noticed there are wall murals all over the area in color and black and white.











Neat old brick buildings line the streets everywhere you look.








The view of Boston from Cambridge

Walden Pond

Last Friday we went with the Avery's to explore Walden Pond! We all piled in our car and Jen gave us some history about it as we drove.
The Basics: Walden Pond is in Concord, Massachusetts and is where Henry David Thoreau lived alone for two years in the mid 1800's to write...

We had a lot of fun! It was a beautiful day, which was a relief since it has been so cloudy and rainy almost everyday since we have been here.

The sand was soft and the water was warm and perfect to play in! It was a last minute decision
for us to go so I brought what I could grab in under a minute, Cohen just played in his diaper without a swim suit which he didn't seem to mind. Cohen and Dylan had tons of fun together throwing sand back into the water and being adventurous!

Quincy Market at Faneuil Hall

Like I mentioned before, there is a really fun group of girls out here!

Last Saturday most of us went into Boston to check out Faneuil Hall.
We all rode the T together and when we came up from underground... we were right in the middle of the city!Here is the whole group that was able to go. You should have seen us climbing and descending stair cases with all these strollers! We also got lots of stares of people wondering where all these babies came from! Go ask your mom...
12 girls and 7 babies! Good thing we out numbered the kids!
Chelsea, Michelle, Shawna, Staci, Nicole, Katie & baby Macie, Erin & baby Ben, Alicia & baby Cohen, Vanessa & baby Chloe, Megan, Allison, Rachel, and babies Brock, Jack, and Ella
(I forgot my camera that day so I swiped these off of a couple of the girls blogs. Thanks Staci and Michelle!)

It was a lot cooler than any of us planned (I forget that we live so close to the ocean) so we quickly went to seek shelter and food inside the long large building, Quincy Market, that runs down the center of Faneuil Hall and all the shops.
It has tons of places to eat with lots of "Boston Chowda" and fish. I found the best fries and pasta here too!

We shopped a little and watched some street performers, then soon headed home.
Here we are making our way back, waiting for the T.
Cohen did pretty well and didn't get out of his stroller until the ride home. He sat next to me on the train and said "Wow!" as we flew down the tracks. He wasn't afraid this time and enjoyed the ride!

Country Club with Radebaugh Relatives

It turns out that Scott has some relatives on his mom's side that live in Cape Cod.
We got to meet them for dinner at their country club that had the best food and an awesome view of Boston and the ocean!
Look at all the TREES! Massachusetts sure is beautiful!

I love this picture of Scott and Cohen!
Too bad I was in mid sentence when it was taken.
DANG IT!
Cohen dove out of my arms 1.5 seconds after this so we weren't able to get another one, he wouldn't have it. (Maybe I could just photoshop another, less talkative head of mine in...)

Here is Scott's cousin Kevin and his wife Rachel, with one of the Radebaugh relatives and Regan.

We had a lot of fun getting to meet them (although I was wrestling Cohen most of the time, hense me not remembering their names) and are planning on visiting them again in Cape Cod next month!