I alluded to last weekend’s trip to Boston and its significance to our family, but I certainly didn’t do our trip justice with just two pictures.  Have you met me?  Do you think I ever take two pictures of anything?  Case closed.  We have a lot to discuss.

JDubbs is a proud alumni of Northeastern University and one of the benefits of having that claim to fame is that they host a family day at Fenway Park once a year on a non-game day.  Basically, they set up a carnival throughout the park: think music, monkeys, men on stilts, games, cotton candy, photo ops and a chance to explore the park and you’ll have an idea of what a fabulous day it was.  Or so I hear, since Em and I had some girl time while JDubbs and Jax did their guy thing.

We left Vermont and drove straight to the park, where we dropped the boys off and they met up with JDubbs’s brother and our nephew Tommy.  I imagine that taking their boys to Fenway together is something that Tom and JDubbs had been fantasizing about since they started thinking about having kids.  Two boys, less than 10 months apart.  I have written about how lucky we are to be so close to them and have the boys be so close in age, but as they grow and do things together (and don’t worry, Em will be there next year right alongside them!), we just can’t get over how blessed we are.  There’s just nothing like good cousins.

So, back to Boston.  JDubbs obviously isn’t me, and thus he wasn’t going to lug around a camera at the park all day, so he utilized his camera phone as well as he could.  Here are some shots of the day, courtesy of JDubbs and his phone:

 I had to laugh when I saw that the only photo he got of Jax and Tommy was this:

What is it about little kids and drains?  Doesn’t matter that they’re at the world’s coolest ballpark; a drain is far more fascinating.  I was hoping for a more memorable photo of the two boys, but with men in charge, that’s what I get.  You get what you get and you don’t get upset.

Here are the two best photos of my boys from this memorable day:

Sitting on the Green Monster.  What the heck kind of face is that, Jax?

When I asked him about the Green Monster later that day, his reply was “I poop on it!”  Maybe that answers that question.

And a photo op with the glorious 2004 and 2007 World Series trophies.

Apparently when my brother-in-law and nephew were posing for this same photo, Tommy reached out and grabbed one of the trophies!  Security appeared out of nowhere and took care of it immediately, but if you are wondering if you’re allowed to touch the trophies, the answer is apparently no.

 So that’s all I got for boy time at Fenway.  They cut out a little early and took the kids to Jillian’s (so appropriate) for food and to watch bowling.  I haven’t been to Jillian’s since I’ve actually been old enough to get in there, so I can only imagine the fact that they had their babies in a bar.  “You have a baby…in a bar!”

 Em and I, meanwhile, were living it up the way only girls can when they have an afternoon to kill in Boston.  Lunch and shopping on Newbury Street with lifelong girlfriends.  I get all smiley just thinking about it.

‘Sup, Boston.

 Em is already a city girl.  She loved the people-watching, the food, the shops.  She was a rock star in Lucky where I tried on a zillion pairs of jeans and finally bought a pair that actually fit me and don’t look like playground/arts and crafts sweatpants made of denim.  The girl working there even said that Em could destroy the store for all she cared because she was so darn sweet.  I guess playing peekaboo in and out of a dressing room is enough to melt the most urban of hearts.

Then my girlfriend Diana and I strolled the length of Newbury Street and wandered through the Public Garden.

You may be familiar with said garden from Make Way For Ducklings, but if you haven’t been there in the summertime, put it on your bucket list.  It is heaven draped with willow trees and punctuated with stunning flowers.  Speaking of that book, I really can’t believe I didn’t take her over to the duck statues, but it’s just another excuse to go back there this year and take her on the swan  boats.

Thank you, Diana, for coming with us and for taking these photos of me and my baby girl!

For a girl who was woefully late for her afternoon nap, she was quite cheerful and very eager to explore the area around the pond and to see the ducks.  Duck is probably one of her favorite words.

It was delightful.  I even had those moments in my head about how much fun taking her shopping in Boston will be when she’s in high school.  But then I took this photo of her:

and I feel like I can see sixteen-year-old Em in that face and stance.  I mean, she’s gorgeous, right?  She’s got her front knee bent and everything, just like she’s striking a pose.  Sigh…we’re in trouble fifteen years from now!

For such a quick visit to the city, I felt like we took advantage of every second.  I get all kinds of antsy when we’re in the car heading south on 93 and can barely wait to see the skyline.  Every time we’re within view of the TD Garden or cross over the Charles River, I get so excited and I always turn to JDubbs and say, “Don’t you just love coming back here?” and he always replies, “You say that every time.”

I guess I’m still part city mouse, living in the country until life brings me back the city’s way.  For me, Boston is a part of me that I don’t realize how much I miss until I’m back, when I can just exhale and remember how life can be.  How my life used to be and sometimes feels like still should be, although that’s not in the cards right now.  Until then I’ll just keep brainwashing my kids and enticing them with enchanting afternoons in the big city, and hope that one day we can go and just jump on the T to get home.

Here’s to hoping!