I travelled up to Boston for a few days to visit my family. Colin lives in Somerville and Byron, Karen, and my niblings* live in Quincy. I realized a few weeks ago that if I couldn't come up to visit, I had no idea when I would see them again.
We walked around the beach and playground at Wollaston Beach. Zephan liked the tunnel on the playground. Tamzin did not like wearing Colin's glasses.
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In the evening Colin and I headed over to hang out with Byron at his jam session. I didn't really want to play any of the instruments, but Colin messed around with the bass and the keyboard. Byron's one friend brought his electric violin. I enjoyed listening to their jam session. They finished up a session and Colin and I headed out to his apartment.
He has moved since I last visited and his new apartment, although the same layout and one building over from his old one, is vastly better than his old one. I was not afraid to take my shoes off and walk around barefoot. I was not afraid to use the bathroom. I was not afraid to breathe the air. These were issues in the old apartment.
Wednesday I spent time with Karen and the kids at a splash pad type thing. Zephan likes water. It was very hot so being at the splash pad was nice. It was clear, to me anyway, that I do not know how to interact with small kids. I mostly stood and watched Zephan the other parents/ babysitters/ nannies seemed so much more at ease than I felt. Zephan seems to have had a good time, so that's all that matters.
I went to the Artisan's Asylum with Colin for a demo of the game called Ortus Regni. The game is a lot of fun, though it is very much a strategy game, which I am not good at. I think Dan would like it a lot.
Thursday I had most of the day to myself so I wanded down to the Harvard Natural History Museum. They have an amazing exhibit on glass flowers. If you get the chance, you should check it out. I was fascinated by the various ovum cross-sections. They have some truly interesting geometry.There were several groups of young children at the museum. Luckily for me, none of them were interested in the flowers so the exhibit was fairly quiet and empty.
I wandered around a bit more, Colin and I got pho for lunch, and then I went back to wandering. We were waiting for our friend Mary Rose to get into town.
She arrived in the evening and shenanigans ensued.
Friday was my last day before heading back to the move mess. Colin, Mary Rose, and I climbed the Bunker Hill tower. It has 294 steps. My legs felt like jelly. By the time we got back down I wasn't sure my legs were going to work anymore.They don't do time trials for fastest climb, but marathoners use it for training as do firefighters. The firefighters do it with all their gear on them. I would die. I can't even imagine being in that good of shape.
The last adventure was taking the water taxi to and from the Inner Boston Harbor. It was fun and it had a great view of the downtown Boston area.
This ends my Boston adventure.
*Nibling is the gender-neutral term for nephew or niece. I find it easier to say "my niblings" than "my nephew and niece." Now you know!
