The Swan Boats of Boston

Each Friday, some of the women in our ward get together for "play group". Marissa and Brynn are older than most of the kids that attend, but they enjoy going to the activities anyway.

Chaz and Jace even attended the play group this Friday, because it was such a cool event! We went to ride the Swan Boats in Boston Commons Park. Every book, brochure and website about Boston have pictures of the swan boats, they have been a fixture here since the 1800's.

Visiting the Holocaust Memorial

On the way home from the farmer's market, we decided to walk through the Holocaust Memorial. It was such a sobering experience to see, I had to fight from crying. The memorial is 5 glass, walk-through cubes, that have the numbers that were tattooed on the people that were interned in the concentration camps etched on the glass that rises about 20 feet off the ground. Steam rises from the grates beneath the memorial.

They had a quote from Martin Niemoeller, a Lutheran Pastor who initially supported Hitler and then later opposed him and was put in a concentration camp.
The quote reads:
They came first for the communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time, there was no one left to speak up.

It made me think about how many times in our own lives do we choose not to speak up when an injustice is perpetrated because it doesn't pertain to us.

It's Saturday - It must be time to go to the Farmer's Market...

We found an awesome farmer's market about a 1 mile walk from our apartment! We had about $15 cash on us, so we thought we would head down there and pick up some lettuce and tomatoes to go with our hamburgers we were going to make on our new grille for lunch. We were amazed by the sheer size of the market and the awesome prices. We got everything we went for plus, mushrooms, tangerines, star fruit, kiwis, carrots, grapes, plums and bell peppers and still came home with $2 change!

Tennis Anyone?

We knew before we moved here that we would have access to tennis courts, so we brought all of our tennis racquet's. Two of these racquets used to be my moms. She gave them to me when she quite playing tennis. Then a couple of years ago, when I was out yardsaling, I found some more matching ones so that we have a whole set! The tennis courts are about a 2 minute walk out of our apartment. The kids like to go play and I can watch them from the balcony!

Playing at the Park

Almost daily, we take about a 10 minute walk to the park. It is a fun walk! Where we live, it is really green and there are lots of trails through the area. We walk out of our building and past our basketball and tennis courts and then past The Boston Children's School Annex. Then a little farther down we pass a pretty synagogue and then past our favorite little deli called J. Pace and Sons. Then we get to take a really high bridge across the freeway and back down the other side to the park. It is great to get out of our apartment and take a nice walk.

Our Sunset Tonight...

There was a beautiful sunset tonight that David missed because he is in Virginia, so I took this picture for him...

Our First Visit to a Museum

Today we took our first official tour of a museum. We walked down to the Ottis house which is about 2 blocks from our house.

http://www.historicnewengland.org/visit/homes/otis.htm

It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot about the area of Boston that we are living in as well as some of the people that helped settle the area.

I asked each of the kids to tell me one thing that they learned:

Deena - The area of Boston that we are now living in used to be part of the Ocean. They cut off the top of Beacon Hill and used the "dirt" to build up the area where we now live.

Brynn - I learned that when they built their home in the Federalist style, they liked everything to match. So if there was a window on one side of the wall, they also put one on the other. They also would put fake doors in, to match the real door on the other side.

Marissa - I learned that they would insert mirrors in their doors to reflect the candle light and help to light the rooms.

Jace - I learned that they had a decorative metal back in their fire places, so when a fire was burning, it would get hot and radiate heat into the room.

Chaz - I learned that they only bathed once a month. The parents got to go first and then the children got to bathe from oldest to youngest.