more Boston

I am always amazed at the amount of stories and pictures I want to recap for this blog.  Since this blog has become a living journal of our life, I like to get as much into it as possible.  Being back in Boston was a really sweet time both with and without Evelyn.  While she was in school and visiting other family in the area that she knew, Kyalo and I managed to keep busy. 

We had a visit from dear friends Judy & Neil.  We met them in Portland last year so they could meet 5-month old Kyalo.  Since they were "in the area" (Western Mass) they wanted to swing by and meet a more grown up and mature Kyalo.  They also got to meet Evelyn and enjoyed talking with her about her course work at NEJM and medicine in Kenya and other things.  They loved seeing Kyalo again, of course. I wanted to get some great group shots of them with Kyalo, but it was the end of a long day, and he was tired, and more interested in playing with Neil's iPhone.  I thought if I took it away from him I could hold it above the camera to get him to be interested in picture taking.

Nope.

don't mess with a boy and his toy!

 

These were the best photos of the lot!  While there's no real record of our time together it was a nice reunion.  I am enjoying realizing that I will now be seeing people more regularly here in the US.  After so many years away, that's a nice feeling.

On Saturday, Kyalo helped Grandpa cut the grass. . .

which we think he enjoyed until they ran over a big rock and the fan belt (or something) fell off. 

On Monday Evelyn was done with school early so I picked her up at the train station and we went in search of lunch.  Even with a(n old) GPS thing we got lost a lot! We finally found our place though and had a very tasty Mexican meal.  Kyalo is an absolute terror (everywhere) in restaurants: he climbs out of the high chair, wanders around the room, makes a total mess. I'm sure they were glad for us to leave!!  After lunch and a bit of shopping, we headed to Crane Beach in Ipswich.  Evelyn was instructed by Francis that she must put her feet in the Atlantic Ocean or he wouldn't bring her home.  And there needed to be proof. 

Here it is:

It was also first time for Kyalo to be at the beach, and probably to experience sand.  He loved it, and was sad to go.  {And yes, we're all bundled up...it was clear but still cold!}

After the beach we got ice cream cones from a local stand.  Ice cream in Kenya is not that great so I wanted Evelyn to experience a) an ice cream stand, b) the many, many flavors available and c) GOOD ice cream.  A success. Plus, I think I found my new favorite ice cream: coffee ice cream with a fudge swirl and heath bar chips. Yes, please.

The rest of that week was filled with more good things...dinner with friends, story hour at a local library with a high school friend who's son is just a couple of weeks younger than Kyalo, walks, and simple living.  Suddenly, it was Friday and time to go.  At this point I realized I had gotten zero photos of the two of us together, so in the midst of packing up the car we got a couple.

I love the early evening light on the Essex Marsh.  That's basically my parents' back yard. Not a bad view!

Once the car was loaded up, off we went for our five hour drive to NJ, books on CD ready to go, and Evelyn the trusty co-pilot. . .who promptly fell asleep.  Still, we made it home safely, and it felt good be be back.