Trip to Boston!

Last week Josiah and I flew to Boston to visit my sister. I had a free flight and Josiah is a lap baby, and Southwest Airlines just opened up a new route to Boston Logan airport. Perfect timing!



If you follow Sarah's blog, you'll know that she's chosen to become a vegetarian. She's not just a "not eating meat" vegetarian, though, she's completely turned her diet upside down. Really, she takes "crunchy" to a new level. :)

What was neat to see is how happy and healthy she is now. Clearly, it is working for her. And like all the newly converted, she would like to convert the rest of us, too. She started with Josiah:



Here he is, drinking a "green smoothie".



He LOVED it. Couldn't get enough.



It really was awfully good, once you get past the strange, grass-green color. And Sarah's right, you really can't taste the spinach. Or the chia seed glop that she added. Apparently they are a complete protein and very good for vegetarians. Ok.



Lest you think we're being deprived of normal yumminess, I present the other part of breakfast:



What, haven't you heard that dark chocolate is good for you??

Josiah's favorite place was the refrigerator.



Apparently he wanted some chocolate, too.



Sorry, Siah, that isn't the healthy kind!

Sarah and I are both "homebodies" so we spent some time just hanging around the house.



It is a lovely house to hang out in, although definitely a work in progress. Sarah tells me that houses in New England are nearly always a work in progress, since A) they're really old and B) what we would consider "normal upkeep" often doesn't happen. There is no such thing as a straight wall, or floor, or ceiling in their house. Many rooms have three different colors of paint, all visible, from various evolutions of the room color. The living room wall sports a bright red "Oil switch". Never removed, although the house hasn't been run on oil in eons.

Nathan is incredibly handy, however, and is slowly but surely working on renovating it. The results, even this early in the process, are really nice.

The living room:


The upstairs room where Josiah and I slept. Usually this is where Sarah teaches her violin students.


Since both Sarah and Nathan are professional musicians, they have a music room. This might have been my favorite room in the house.


Their beautiful green yard:


A cute picture of Josiah - he sure had fun with his Aunt and Uncle!



One afternoon we went to Boston to be tourists. We got to see the U.S.S. Constitution, and we toured the U.S.S. Cassin Young.



Aren't they cute together? (The happily-marrieds, not the boat.)


The tour required about 8 climbs up and down steep ladders. Since I was wearing Siah in the mei tai, that wasn't a problem. The tour guide was totally impressed, though, which amused me.

Our guide was pretty awesome. I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy a 45 minute tour of a military destroyer, but it was great. History is fascinating, especially when told by someone who really enjoys it himself.







We thought about trying to see Old North Church, but decided it was getting late and it could wait until the next day. (Sadly, the next day it rained hard, and we also realized that it was the day for Teddy Kennedy's viewing, which would have made going into Boston really crazy, so we didn't end up going there.) :(

Anyway, we went to dinner at the Warren Tavern. Established in 1780. That blows my Californian mind.



Josiah was getting a little restless, so we distracted him with lemon slices. Why is it so much fun to feed a baby a lemon?



My very favorite part of our trip was on Saturday. Nathan is the music director for his church, and he does an over-the-top phenomenal job. During the summer they have a band to lead worship, since they don't meet in the un-airconditioned sanctuary with the organ. Nathan writes arrangements for the songs they play. This man is amazingly gifted (and yes, I'm desperately jealous of his ability). :) Anyway, on Saturday he and Sarah played through a new arrangement, and it was such a blessing to be able to listen in. Not only was the music lovely, it was a joy to see them work together and incredible to get a glimpse of their passion for truly leading worship.

(The falsetto voice you'll hear is Nathan, singing a part he wrote for French Horn. Also, I'm sure Sarah will want me to mention that she was sight-reading. Although you can't tell.)



We headed home on Sunday. Sarah dropped us off at the airport at 8am, so that she could get back in time to go to church. The airport was so empty that at first we weren't even sure that it was open.



But it was. And that was definitely the simplest security process that I ever hope to experience. :) Flying across the country with an 11 month old certainly wasn't easy, but overall Josiah was a trooper. I'm glad we got the chance.



We loved our visit, Sarah and Nathan! Thank you for your hospitality!