Hot Spring

 

 Erin was a soccer girl again this spring

 

 Cousin Emily plays softball for Army and we watched her games vs Boston University

 

 

During spring break Grandma and Grampa took the girls to the aquarium

 

the sea turtle was star of the feeding show

 

Erin finally lost her front tooth

 

We decided to remove the empty fish pond from the backyard

 

It took 5 hours behind a jackhammer, but the final score was Dave 1 - Concrete 0

 

 To add to the absurdity of the final week at AstraZeneca, these strange seats were installed throughout the building

 

 There it is, the day we waited so long for, the first 80 degree day of 2015

 

 Orange Leaf never tasted so good

 

 With the warm weather came the orioles, and for the first time we found a nest

 

Don't ask what they were thinking, but this picture is perfect fodder for the high school yearbook 

 

 Max is still Erin's sleeping buddy

 

But she better watch out because Tessie is getting cozier every day



 Erin's sbas diorama

 

 Impossible hidden picture #1: can you spot the animal behind Erin?

 

We finally visited Minuteman National Historic Park to see the official Battle Road sights

 

Answer #1

 

The Minuteman statue

 

At the Old North Bridge

 

 In a different historical vein, Dave took advantage of his free time to spend a day with his friend Gary walking part of the original upper Post Road from Roxbury to Cambridge. This stretch of the road still has its 18th century stone markers labeling miles 4 through 8, and Gary has written an amazing blog about the entire Boston Post Road.  At the end of his day with Gary, Dave could say that he passed a personal milestone to pass 5 milestones.

 

On another glorious hot spring day, we went to Winthrop Beach

 

It was sunny and foggy at the same time

 

and by the end Tessie was wiped

 

 Impossible hidden picture #2: find the least tern seabird nesting on the beach

 

 I told you it was impossible 

 

 Constitution Beach in East Boston had a playground and views of the planes taking off from Logan

 

Pizzeria Regina picnic at home

 

Baby animals at Drumlin Farm

 

Dancing at Drumlin



Coloniana

We spent the 2nd half of Patriot's Day week in Virginia, for a gathering of the cousins in Williamsburg. On the way down Dave took the girls by himself on the flight to Richmond.

Since we were already in Richmond, it seemed sensible to visit the Maggie Walker NHS, honoring a woman from the 30s who was a civic leader and local bank president.

 After 6 hours of travel the girls were a bundle of energy at the site. We were convinced to take the historic house tour, where toddler Tessie only climbed on a few of the off-limits antique furnishings.

Richmond Battlefield had a much more kid-friendly setup downtown on the James River. Caroline and Erin earned their first junior ranger patches.

Having started the week on Patriot's Day in Lexington, it seemed fitting to end the week at Yorktown.

The actual site of the British surrender has this spartan memorial

Wonder how much this would fetch on eBay...

Besides the National Park sites, the highlight of the trip had to be the Great Wolf Lodge (Big-Bad-Wolf Lodge, to Tessie)

 and its massive indoor waterpark. Splash decks, slides of all shapes and sizes, a wave pool, and a hot tub - what's not to love? Caroline and Sabrina looped around on the Tornado slide 39 times. Rowan and Tessie must have done twice as many loops on the baby slides. Brooke and Erin rode waves and the smaller slides for hours.

  Once Katy, Lyla, and Charlie arrived we headed to CW for dinner

Why the long face Erin? C'mon, you're a kid in a candy store

Colonial Williamsburg provides shopping opportunities at every corner. Katy indulged Lyla's soap collection.

These period toys cannot compete with Snap Circuits and Legos

Seven of eight cousins posed by the mysterious wisteria. Tessie couldn't be corralled.

There's Tessie's elbow

Who put these girls behind bars?

They found the sheep

Nice hat, Rowan

There's Tessie

Ehmann family

 3/4ths of the Harrises

 The Ehmann-Joneses

All that colonial fun wiped out the kids. Time to watch Big Hero 6.

The next day we toured CW again and managed to fit our party of 14 at lunch at Chowning's Tavern

Tessie, is that a flagon of ale that you're drinking?

Gardens at the Governor's Palace

 It's a hobbit window

We toured all the buildings, including the printer, the apothecary, and here the smithy

but far and away the kids' favorite was ye olde gaol

The pirates are locked away, with only one feeding a day of pirate's booty

 

The iconic photo in the stocks

Tessie reading to Bongo