Mimi and Papa Jack's visit: Part II

Here we are again, with the second "catch-up" post from my parents' visit. Once of Lucy's favorite places is the site of Thoreau's house at Walden Pond. Over the years visitors have stacked up rocks; a dream come true for ambitious toddlers!

One of the highlights of our time with Mimi and Papa Jack was our visit to the swan boats and the Boston Gardens. Here is a view of another boat.

And a very creative shot from my mom of our own boat.

Lucy enjoyed looking at the ducks and the other boats.

On the common afterwards, Lucy discovered the joys of chasing pigeons.

And we had a lovely picnic.In the afternoon Papa Jack and Matt took Lucy home, and mom and I went to the Isabella Stuart Gardner museum, one of my favorite museums. Visiting it with my mom is becoming a special tradition.

Another day we went on an adventure to Harvard Sq. Lucy loves going "wheee" (as she calls it) with her Mama and Papa.

Papa and Lucy bouncing on the trampoline.

On a hike in woods near us. Papa Jack and Lucy kept hiding and then jumping out and surprising us. And Lucy learned a lot about the woods from her Papa Jack.

Lucy loves playing the piano at my grandparents' house, and has started to play with one finger at a time.

Grandma, me and Lucy, Grandpa, and Mimi!

Intermission: He Came With the Couch

More pictures of our visit with Mimi and Papa Jack to come. As an interlude, I wanted to share about some fun new members of our family (don't worry, they're stuffed).

We recently got some new couches (thanks to the generousity of Grandma Judy- thank you, thank you!). We also got two boxes in the mail from Grandma Judy, each arrived at the same time as a couch, and they each contained a new friend for Lucy- we've been calling them monsters, and they're amazing replicas of the creatures from this book, "He Came With the Couch" (http://www.davidslonim.com/page145.html).

Here are some pictures of Lucy enjoying her monster friends- and our new couch!

Looking back at the summer: Part I

Well, long time, no see, blog-friends. We were waylaid by a series of 2-week colds in October (me, Lucy, then Matt). And then Lucy and I just were out in San Diego last week for a work conference.

I have a lot of catching-up to do here. The summer seems like ages ago (snow is predicted for tonight), but here are pictures from late August/early September, when my parents visited.

Here they are, with one of our delicious pasta primavera creations. We had a wonderful, full visit with Mimi and Papa Jack, replete with a few swims in Walden Pond, a visit to the Boston Gardens and swan boats, a great family dinner at Grandma & Grandpas, and lots of fun hanging out time in between.

Papa Jack and Mimi brought some fun presents too. Here, Lucy is trying on a scarf and shoes from Morocco.

Papa Jack brought a real tea set for Lucy, with cups and plates and spoons and a tea pot, of course. She loves serving tea to us and her dolls.

And here is Mimi with Lucy as she explores her new castle. Her favorite thing is to take the different people and have them say "hi" to each other. I've noticed that Lucy has very social play-imaginings- her dolls are always giving each other kisses or saying hi. And she gets really excited when we're in big groups of people (like the family gathering). I'm wondering if she might be an extrovert...we'll see!

Lucy and I at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Our chirpy bird.

Four generations of Himmelberger/Wald/Frank women!

Papa Jack and Lucy at one of our Walden outings.

Lucy really loved swimming this summer- I can't wait until it gets warm again!