Over the last few months it feels like I’ve gone from over-documenting to not documenting anything at all. Since I’ve totally failed on the paper documentation, I am going to try to be better at posting our adventures on the blog.
Last week we went to New England and enjoyed time with friends and family. We started Wednesday morning with a long flight to Boston. It ended up being SUPER easy. We had a full row to ourselves and Paige was so good.
Hanging out with dad in the Boardroom.
Sitting in her own seat on the plane.
We landed in Boston around 5pm and took an Uber to our hotel. We went looking for a dinner spot, but there was a Boston Bruins game right across the street from our hotel later that night and a 45 minute wait everywhere. We decided to be like our old, spontaneous kid-less selves and jumped on the T.
Dads who baby wear are sexy.
We’re downtown! With a baby! After dark!
We found a Legal Seafood and P had her first bites of broccoli. She loved it and it kept her entertained while we ate our dinner, not at warp speed for once. Love that she is old enough now for us to order her something off the menu that keeps her entertained for a bit.
Thursday morning started with Paige giving herself a pep talk in the mirror. Dad went to work in the Boston office and we were off to spend the day with our good friends, Amanda and Ruby. We took the T (I didn’t realize how much I miss living in middle of a city until we had all these public transit options available to us) and met them near their apartment.
First stop, the park. The girls got a kick out of swinging together. (PC: Amanda)
While Ruby took her nap, I walked around the South End with P and managed to get her to sleep.
Loved checking out all the old homes and streets.
Aftern nap time, we went and visited the dads at work. The office happens to be right near the Boston Public Library main branch. The children’s area nearly the size of a grocery store!
Once the girls were tired of the library we went walking. Amanda took Ruby to another little park and I walked Paige around the Boston Public Garden (I think) to try and get another nap in.
We finished the day with dinner with Jon and Amanda then took the T back to our hotel. While waiting for the train I noticed I had walked 29,000 steps that day. New record!
Friday morning we headed over to Cambridge to walk around Harvard.
Paige is embarrassed to be seen with us in family selfies already.
The campus and Cambridge are both beautiful. If Paige doesn’t get into UCLA we’ll consider Harvard as a back up.
Greg introduced me to Shake Shack. Totally worth it. After lunch we were off on the second part of our trip – a wedding in Rhode Island.
Almost all of my local aunts and cousins were able to make it. Nice to see everyone, since I have no idea when we’ll manage to get back down to the area. The food was really good. I had french toast, after my mom pointed out making sure that she had several paleo options on the menu for me. Thanks mom, but my own baby shower is a once in a lifetime event and I went with dessert for brunch. (And to be honest, then regretted it because the Cobb salad looked amazing.)
We played two games and had some great conversations. It’s always fun to hear about my aunts’ experiences and how things have changed over the years. Everyone very generously showered the baby with gifts, including this little toddler USMNT uniform. He or she will be styling for many of the 2018 World Cup qualifying games.
Somehow my mom found a place that would host a strawberry shortcake bar for dessert (my absolute favorite, followed closely by carrot cake). Even though I felt a little weird and shaky after my french toast (I do not do well with sugar), I took down a delicious piece of strawberry shortcake. A big thank you to my mom for making it a fun and special morning for me and the martian. 
Before I jumped into school mode for the first week, we celebrated Soccer Sunday. Our friends, the Kays, hosted a World Cup final party complete with a German brats bar and dolce de leche for dessert. I was rooting for Argentina, but well done Germany. I’m ready for 2018 already. We went home to take care of the dog and then it was time for our second match of the day: Sounders vs. Timbers on Sunday evening. I love a city where 65,000 fans come out to cheer and sunset isn’t until 9pm.
My first week was a little more work than fun, but I’m really thankful I had three full days to study for my midterm before class started Thursday. In fact, it worked out so well I’m a little nervous about not having time off before the final in October. I spent my days getting very familiar with 103 color-coded index cards and a few coffee shops around our neighborhood.
West Coast Martins 
