Fourth of July Weekend
We had a lovely long weekend over the Fourth of July this year. Robert was off on Friday (the 3rd) and Marcus's day care was closed, so we made a little vacation of it, walking around by Copley and Boylston, browsing in the Apple Store, having lunch at the Back Bay Sel de la Terre (where the waiters made a big fuss over Marcus and where he loved sampling the seven or eight different kinds of housemade bread), walking over to the fountain at the Christian Science Pavillion, and having Coldstone ice cream outdoors while Marcus slept in the mei tai. It was pretty much the first day in over a month that the sun had been out and it hadn't rained, and we were thrilled to have lovely weather at last.
On the Fourth of July we lucked out again and had a warm sunny day--a bit windy, and people watching the fireworks at night said it got cold, but during the day we were glad to be able to enjoy our roofdeck. Marcus got to play with his water table for only the second time since we set it up (pictured above, with Sean looking on), and when our friends came over in the evening, Nathanael and Madeline joined him in walking around splashing and pouring and generally getting wet. We had twenty-two adults and five babies/kids, ranging from Jef and Jinyoon's six-week-old Jayden (pictured below at left with Bob) to Nathanael, almost four years old. In the middle were Molly (five months old), Marcus, and Madeline. Toward the end of the night, both Marcus and Molly (pictured below at right, on Ren) fell asleep in wraps and slept soundly through the fireworks. It was a great evening.
Sunday was the Chowderfest at Government Center; we go every year, and we were pleased that this year there were a full eight stalls. Some years it's been a little sparse recently, but we were able to vote not only for the best clam chowder in Boston, but also for (as write-in) best costumes and decorations, best bacony taste, most environmentally friendly, and nicest garnishes. Marcus sampled all the chowders but the last two (he fell asleep) and definitely had preferences. He also liked gnawing on the spoon and making crumbs down my shirt with the Parker House rolls. It was very warm and sunny out, and incredibly windy, but we had a nice day. On the way home we stopped at the Whole Foods for a few small things and ran into one of the professors from school who hadn't yet met Marcus. She randomly turned up behind us on line and got to admire him, of course.
On Monday, then, it was back to work for us all and back to day care for Marcus. Below, Daddy and baby share a face-to-face moment as Robert slings Marcus (in the Kelty Kids backpack from Bob) onto his back before leaving for work/day care.
