Boston, MA! (and a little Mystic, CT)

Cheers! We loved Boston! What a cool city, I tell ya. Of course being the fan of popular culture, I dragged Chris and Reid on a long detour to check out the inspiration for the TV sitcom, Cheers. And of course the only part of Boston actually on the TV show is this shot of the outside (and the rest was filmed on a sound stage in LA. Go figure)...but fun to see anyway!


Ok, so settle in, this is a long one...



Possibly Chris' favorite part of the tour around Boston was the USS Consitution. A historical ship aka "Old Ironsides" because even though it is made out of wood, it deflected so many cannonballs in battles that it was like the sides were made out of iron. It is owned an operated by the US Navy since 1797. The USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the US Navy. Named after the Constitution of the United States by President George Washington, she is the oldest commissioned vessel afloat in the world.

Chris and Reid in front of the cool old ship.













We had an active Navy member (originally from Oregon!) as our tour guide wearing traditional style crew clothing. He took us down to the next of the 4 decks down to see the many cannons on the "cannon deck" (as I call it...but really what else could it be called?) ?Ok, so Chris just informed me it is the Gun Deck...close!

Being the picky sleeper that I am, I was amazed to see how the men on the crew slept. I just couldn't do it. Also couldn't do the food. There was just one cook for 450 men! Talk about slop, but they did have lemons and limes to help with their scurvy.



Reid and I waiting outside of the ship while Chris continued the tour due to Reid's meltdown on the actual ship. If you know Reid, strange I know, meltdowns usually aren't a part of our vocabulary, but we were on a wacky traveling schedule...




After finishing the first day's trolley tour, where we could get on and off all day, we jumped off near Chinatown and found our way. We were craving some dim sum lunch! So after being in Hong Kong, we are no longer afraid to seek out a Chinatown to bring us back to the magic.














If you take a look at Reid's face, you can see the fear of sticking his hand in the lion's ear! Daddy laughing...





What a perfect stop for a little boy! A good 0l' Boston Firetruck or "wee oh wee oh" as Reid calls it (the sound the siren makes).

You can also see the Staples sign in the right side background. It is actually established as the oldest office supply store in the US.

just kidding



The firemen nearby saw us checking out the truck so they ran over and opened the door so Reid could climb up inside! It was sooooo cute.

It was a cloudy 4 days in Boston, but warm enough not to be miserable, so some of our cityscape pics are a tad grey...however here is cityscape #1...you can see a mix of the old (historic) and new buildings. Boston has really done a nice job mixing the two.













Cityscape #2 a misty shot











Cityscape #3, what a beautiful city and extremely clean too











Here is the Massachusetts State House near the start of the "Freedom Trail", (The Freedom Trail is a red, mostly brick, path through downtown Boston which leads to sixteen significant historic sites). We spent a lot of hours walking!

Nearby in the historic Beacon Hill area (Gaslight district) there are alleyways and gas light lanterns that have remained so true to history that you could almost see the horses and wagons and people milling about.


Faneuil Hall , (with a statue of Samuel Adams out front) located near the waterfront has been a marketplace and a meeting hall since 1742. It was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others encouraging independence from Great Britain.

The Quincy Market...
by the time Boston was incorporated as a city in 1822, Faneuil Hall was bursting at the seams. So to to provide an expansion of shop space, Quincy Market was built, as an indoor pavilion of vendor stalls and a marketplace which now hosts many food and tourist items booths (and also the best chocolate chip cookies in all of Boston...guess who's weakness dragged Chris there daily?!)

The Old North Church..."One if by land, two if by sea" sound familiar to anyone? The Old North Church (officially Christ Church), in the North End of Boston is the location from which the famous "One if by land, and two if by sea" signal is said to have been sent. (You know Paul Revere's midnight ride, of April 18, 1775 during the American Revolution?)

The tower of the Old North Church where Paul Revere's lantern signal was displayed!

Paul Revere's house. The Paul Revere House (1680) is the colonial home of Paul Revere during the time of the American Revolution. You could actually feel the history here!

Happy guys on the trolley city tour

Just off the freedom trail near a statue of Benjamin Franklin, (and the former sight of the very 1st public school) was this "stand in opposition" sign...there was a donkey nearby and these footsteps were stompin' some good ol' elephants...which I took to represent freedom and democracy...(and also some fellow democrats expressing themselves!)

The Boston Common, established in 1634, it is the oldest city park in the US and was once used for military training and public hangings, but now a beautiful park in the middle of the city and serves as a public park for all to use for formal or informal gatherings.

The Granary Burying Ground is the city's 3rd oldest cemetery, founded in 1660. Another stop on the Freedom trail, it is the final resting place for many Revolutionary War patriots and 3 signers of the Declaration of Independence, and 5 victims of the Boston Massacre. It was so super cool, like straight out of a spooky Halloween movie.

One evening, we had heard that Harvard Square was a pretty hip spot (yes, right next to the Ivy League college known as Harvard) for restaurants and bars. So reliving Hong Kong days again, we are not afraid of a good ol' subway and we made our way to Havard square for some of the best Mexican food we have had in a really long time! We also walked a little through the Harvard campus after dinner and absorbed some of the knowledge seeping through the ivy covered brick buildings. We started reviewing Reid's alphabet skills with him in prep for his return to Harvard in 16 years.

On our 4-5 hour drive back from Boston, we chose a fun stop to Mystic, CT. Our drive took us through Rhode Island, through CT, and back into NY then to Jersey. So I digress, here is the quaint coastal town of Mystic.

Another shot of the waterway through Mystic that leads to the Atlantic Ocean.

Reid and Chris playing in a park in Mystic.

We crossed the Mystic River bridge to get to my next pop culture stop...

Mystic Pizza anyone?? (Ok, so it is an 80's movie for all of you wondering what I am talking about! )


So ends the history lesson for the day. Stay tuned for more from the East Coast living Nordys!

Fall in the Northeast

Our little Hercules! Reid in his Halloween costume, ready to go on Halloween day. He just took in all of the madness like a pro! Though technically his 3rd Halloween, this was the 1st one in which he really partook in all the festivities. (1st Halloween he was 1.5 months old and 2nd Halloween he was in Hong Kong!)

Side/back view of his cool dude cape.

Note the red Hercules head band, nice touch with the hair! We had to bribe him to wear the boots, but so glad it worked, they really add to the whole look.

Me 'n Reid, pre-trick-or-treating. I went the easy way out with just being a big girl in her jammies (which I am at heart anyway!)

Can you believe they make footed jammies Chris' size? (Neither could any of our neighbors!) So to match me, Chris went as a big boy, (which y'all know he is at heart too)!

The first gathering of the neighborhood kids, ready to go get some candy.

Across the street on our neighbors stoop, where we tend to gather anyway, was the site of the 'posed' neighborhood kids picture on Halloween. (and these are just some of the kids on our block!)

We had a super fun evening with the kids and then more fun long into the night with adults. The Halloween madness went on into the wee hours! (With several adult costume parties happening long after the little ones were in bed)

We took a Sunday to hike in the Watchung Reservation about 20 minutes from our house in Jersey. It was beautiful to watch the foliage changing (still is!) Here is Reid trying to lick Chris' ear, what a silly little guy...

The leaves and the reflection in the pond behind me where gorgeous. The Pacific NW is beautiful, but nothing beats the NE in the fall, I have to admit.

Chris' artistic shot, water reflection.

aka. our current screen saver

After our hike, near the parking lot, was a playground amidst the beauty of the trees, so Reid was able to play too!

Our new family tent, and inside our lil' camper! We went on a freeze-your-buns-off camping trip up into New York State into the Catskills for some fall foliage camping and viewing. Our great friends from the Netherlands came into town and joined us (see below)!

The lil' fam at the top of Caterskill Falls where we hiked a bit...note the incredible trees and colors in the background.

The trees stand alone...

Apparently we were one weekend too late to really get the foliage in full bloom, but we still were in awe of the colors.

Here are our wonderful friends, Matt and Lisbet, who joined us for the camping and hiking. They are standing in front of Caterskill Falls.

The standard Central Park trip is a must if you come and see us. We took Matt and Lisbet into the city on the Sunday before they had to leave. Reid (and we do too) absolutely loves going into NYC and Central Park was gorgeous too!

Meanwhile, back at our house...a mystery squirrel was feasting on our pumpkins...

Caught ya!

Stella Bella! A little family snuggle with the kitty is always a fun activity around here. :)



Hope you all are having a nice fall too!

More NJ and NYC

To start off, no matter where we go or what we do here in NJ/NYC , Reid still consistently captures our hearts! Here he his, post-bath, jammies on, and ready for bed.

With Reid safely in the hands of our neighbor, Chris and I were able to take a Sunday to head to the Giants Stadium and watch the Giants/Seahawks game. It was super fun!! It would have been more fun however if the Seahawks had shown up that day...they got their "you-know-whats" kicked!!

Here we are happily enjoying the Giants Stadium atmosphere. Notice my Hawks hat...I felt it was understated enough so we didn't get our "you-know-whats" kicked by some Giants fans. (We are in NJ/NYC after all). I heard enough Jersey/NYC boy accents to last me a lifetime! I begged Chris not to start any fights by yelling, "Go Hawks!!" to everyone like he can tend to do. He kept it tame, no fights, and there was nothing really to cheer about anyway with the Seahawks sad performance.

One incredibly hot Saturday prior to the Giants game, we enjoyed the Maersk family picnic here in Jersey at company headquarters. Horsey rides and all! Reid had a great time taking his first ride.

It was a country-themed family picnic, however we chose to wear Reid's gift bandana in a little more cool dude sort of way.

Our little cutie, hot and tired, but still a good sport!

A quick snapshot at home of Reid and I while getting the camera warmed-up for a trip into the city (New York City is called "the city" around here).

Wait, where did these girls come from? Chris?

No really, these are our wonderful friends Karissa (on the left) and Erin (on the right) who flew in from Portland for a weekend of fun and visiting. (They used to be Chris' roommates in Portland when we first met). It was a beautiful day in Central Park!

Karissa and Erin at the pond (where everyone sails their mini-sailboats).

Here is the fam at the same pond. Reid was an awesome little trooper this day.

After a day of sight-seeing in NYC, Reid had some teenage girls over... (for babysitting!) and the adults went back into the city for some dinner and drinks. Here we are at a yummy Italian food restaurant near Times Square.

Chris and I enjoying some pre-dinner cocktails.

Erin and I bein' girls.

After dinner, we walked down to a trendy little bar with yummy cocktails (don't even ask the prices!) and we soaked up some awesome Saturday night NYC Times Square spirit!

Chris and Erin having fun. I did however leave the real night-lifers to the city and went home to relieve the babysitter. Let's just say the other 3 arrived when daylight came back around!

Thanks Erin and Karissa for coming to see us!