Walden Pond

This past week we visited Walden Pond, where (as many of you know) Henry David Thoreau lived in his little cabin when he wrote the book Walden.  Now it is not only the site of the cabin replica and original site, but a beautiful place to visit where locals can swim, fish, hike, and picnic.  The pond is absolutely beautiful, as it has no inlet or outlet, so it's levels depend on the amount of precipitation.  It happens to be that currently it is quite high, reaching 100ft. at it's deepest point!  The water is so lovely that you can actually see the bottom to about four or so feet (from where we could see standing on the shore).  Anyhow, we had a perfect day there, with the weather being just right we visited the cabin replica, hiked around the pond perimeter visiting the original cabin site along the way, and finished off with a picnic lunch.  It was an all around great day!  Here are a few pics from the trip.

Carl in front of cabin and woodshed replica.

Inside of cabin (unfortunately there were a couple large tourist groups there, so we had to snap a picture fast...girl signing guest book and all).  :)

The pond.  The trees you see are all around the perimeter, so make for a lovely hike all around the pond.

Though this is a poor picture of Will and I, it does help show the clarity of the water.

The walk through the woods was so peaceful, it put Will to sleep.  :)

The original cabin location (across the pond from the main road/replica site).

My boys ready to eat their picnic goodies!

While eating lunch, we discovered that Will apparently loves acorns.  He kept picking them up and popping them in his mouth!  At one point he had actually tried to chew one.  Silly boy.  Anyhow, as a disclaimer, he is holding a candy wrapper Carl gave him, but it was clean of any candy remains when he received it.  At the end you will witness his acorn love.  :)

A Day at the Sprayer Park

Yesterday Will and I went with a group of other mommy's and kids to a "sprayer park".  It's a free park near here that has spraying water fountains and a little park in a sectioned off area in the city.  It was a great little park, and Will really enjoyed playing in the water.  Unfortunately I forgot the camera, but did have my phone, so have some pictures from it.  We had a great time and I am sure will be back to visit again.

This was the smallest little fountain, so I sat Will by it and he played for a while splashing in it.  I just blocked out the other boys' faces because I didn't ask their mommy's permission to post their picture.

A view of part of the park and part of my finger ;).  This was the deepest standing water, which was nice.

A larger fountain Will found and decided that he wanted to try sticking his little finger in.

Here he is seemingly contemplating whether or not to stick his finger in it again (he decided the answer was yes, by the way).  :)  What fun on a hot day!

The Minuteman Trail

Living so close to many places known in US history, we really want to take advantage of seeing all we can while we are here.  So this past weekend we took an outing to sites along "The Minuteman Trail", which is right next to where we live.  The Minuteman Trail is a trail that follows the path the British used when they went from Boston to Concord to start the Revolutionary War, and as they marched the colonists fought them (since they were warned from Paul Revere and others).  :)  We snapped a few pics of the few places we visited.  I am sure you will see more in the future, as there are quite a few stops along this route to see.

Will and I in front of the bridge where "the shot heard round the world" took place...the colonists stood their ground on one side of the bridge, keeping the British from coming across, the exchange known as the beginning of the Revolutionary War, I believe.

Carl standing on the British side of the bridge, where their first casualties were taken.

It gives me chills to read "In gratitude to GOD" on this monument.  Praise the Lord for the freedoms we have to this day!  :)

"Hi!" From Boston

Will has officially said his first word...I was trying to teach him to wave, and each time I waved to him I would say "Hi Will!".  Apparently I inadvertently also taught him his first word...hi.  :)  He started waving and then one day when I was holding him in front of the mirror he looked at his reflection, waved, and said "Hi!".  We hesitated to call this his first word, until he repeated it multiple times and now he does it consistently.  In the first video he is saying the word without waving, as I am waving to him or saying hi.  In the second he waves along with the saying hi.  I think that since he now knows that the wave and the word hi go together, and are interchangeable he sometimes just says the word when he doesn't feel like waving.  You'll have to excuse the little bit of a mess, since at the time I was letting him play with his clean laundry.  Also, the angle is bad at times, since I had to put the camera on the stand.  If I hold it, he is too mesmerized to do anything but go after the camera.  :)

Going bananas!

Whenever I go to our grocery store (the commissary) I look in the produce section for whatever they have discounted.  Well a couple of weeks ago it was bananas, and a lot of them!  They discount their fruit or veggies that need to be eaten asap by plastic wrapping them and marking them down in price as a bunch.  Anyhow, I bought tons of bananas and here was the result of my banana party...

Just SOME of the bananas!

Blended bananas for fruit leather.

For some strange reason, the smaller loaf would not get done in the middle, where the large loaf turned out wonderfully.  Hmmm...something I'll have to figure out in my new oven.

I made LOTS of fruit leather--so good and so easy!  :)

Swimming and Biking and Running, Oh My!

Carl completed his Half-Ironman triathlon this past weekend!  What an accomplishment!  It was a 1.2mile swim, 58 mile bike ride, and a 13.1 mile run!!  WHEW!!  Makes you exhausted just to read it, doesn't it?  He did a fabulous job, and made it through alive!  Praise God and good job Carl!  There are quite a few pictures below, as I thought such an accomplishment deserved plenty of them.  ; )  I must apologize about the quality, though...I forgot the digital camera, so had to use a one-time use camera.

Daddy and Will around 6am prior to the start of the race.

Carl prior to the race's start next to his bike in the "transition area" (#61 behind him).

The swim route was FAR, around the orange buoy's in this lake...you may be able to see them if you look closely behind the larger green buoy.

Carl's swim group getting ready to go.

Carl exiting the water after the swim.

Carl exiting swim.

Carl coming in on the bike (after his 58 miles!).

Going out on run.

Bringing it in on the home stretch!

Great job, Carl!!  What an accomplishment!

Cookie?

So I was making cookies, and the last two of the bunch were forgotten and burned a little.  It's always those last two lone cookies that don't make it through for me.  Anyhow, I gave the cookies to the dog.  I know, I know, dogs aren't supposed to have chocolate and all, but it was only two cookies.  : )  Missy, our dog decided that she would take one of the cookies into the living room and drop it on the floor.  As she did this, Will spotted the cookie, and being highly intrigued and inquisitive, made his way quickly to where the cookie lay.  He picked it up and was examining it, then put it down.  Once he did this, Missy swooped in, picked it up, lay down, and started munching on it.  Will saw this and again wanted to handle the cookie, so took it directly from between Missy's paws and out of her mouth.  Being the mild mannered dog she is, Missy didn't even bat an eye.  Then Will apparently got the idea of holding the cookie out to Missy.  Missy saw this and rewarded his thoughtfulness by licking and munching on the cookie while Will held it in his hand!  Ha!  Pretty cute!  This whole exchange happened a few times, as Missy would chew and Will would happily wave his arms in the air, cookie in hand and then again hold it out for Missy to munch on, so I was able to snap a few pictures of the whole exchange.

"Hey, want a cookie, Missy?"

"Mmmm...thanks, Will!"

"What?!  We weren't doing anything?  Nothing to see here!"