Berkeley's first Concert

Christian has been working all year long to put together a "marathon" electronic music concert at Brandeis. It is a concert that goes from 12 noon until 12 midnight, as as you can imagine is quite the ordeal. Concert day finally arrived and Berkeley and I drove up to Brandeis so we could see and hear Christians piece.
Berke was really excited as they were setting up, he kept saying, "Daddy's piece" over and over again. I was nervous he would freak out or yell during the piece, but he was completely intrigued and engaged. When the music started, he started dancing on my lap. Yes my kid can even rock out to contemporary modern music (how cool is that)? He turned to me at one point and just had a huge smile on his face. He really loved it! He started clapping with everyone else and said, "Yea, Daddy's piece." We went out in the lobby and Berkeley give his Daddy a big hug and started clapping. It was pretty amazing how Berkeley was so proud of his daddy; it was such a precious and sweet moment.

Here is a video of the piece being played a few weeks ago in Hartford, CT.

Great job on all your hard work Daddy, we are so proud of you!!!!

Cambridge Science Festival

Berkeley and I had a fabulous time today getting out doors with his favorite friends, Lily and "Q" for a fun filled day. MIT was hosting a Science Festival and we went to check it out. Our first stop was to see the Black Hawk helicopters. There were super cool to see up close and we even got to sit inside. I am not sure I would enjoy riding in a helicopter.

Berkeley and Q inside the helicopter; Berke looks a bit drunk, but he had just woken up from a little cat nap.

The past month this little boy has developed a MAJOR attachment to his "banky", aka blanket. This was given to him by his Godmother, Julia, who prides herself in finding the softest blankets she can. We he loves his soft banky so much he has to take it EVERYWHERE with him. We had a huge meltdown this week because he couldn't bring the banky to take a bath with him. As cute as it is to see him attached to something so much, it really is starting to get more annoying than cute; the thing is huge, he drags it around everywhere, and throws a tantrum if we don't have it.

I digress, we also were able to go down this fun bouncy slide which was a big hit. He was a bit nervous during the climb up, but asked to do it again, so I took that as a sign that he enjoyed it.

Hey look, it is Astronaut Laci!
I was able to dress up in a space suit today and as you can see I scared the crap out of my kid. Lily wouldn't look at the camera, just too intrigued by my cool new outfit, and Q was just happy to have a new fun place to sit down. Oh the things we do for our kids! The space suit was VERY hot and confining, not sure it would be my cup of tea, but I will say, I wore it well.

We had a really fun time playing outside, visiting with friends and balloons, making sand creations, and walking around the MIT campus.

Eggs, Candy,and Bubbles....oh my!

We had quite an enjoyable time with our whirlwind of Easter activities this weekend. This was our fourth Easter and Boston and for the fourth year in a row, we colored Easter Eggs and decorated Easter cookies with our good pals, the Hadleys.

Berkeley was mainly interested in the accessories that came with egg decorating, which was probably for the best. Somehow he got this to stick in his hair and I thought it was pretty creative.

I tried to teach him about how Easter Eggs change colors; he then grabbed two eggs and smashed them together...CRACK! Needless to say, he was banned from touching the eggs the rest of the night.

I just love this picture! He was so excited about our family Easter traditions.

Saturday we hosted a Easter Egg Hunt for a few of Berkeley's friends. It was planned to happen in our neighbor's backyard, which would have been perfect, however the rains came down and they never stopped. So the party moved indoors. All 7 kids and their parents in our place, but it turned out really well and we had a fabulous time.

It turns out Berke has a competitive side to him and really gathered a lot of Easter Eggs. He was not interested in bubbles and pencils; he wanted the eggs and he knew they had "cany" in them.

Per his usual, he turned his Easter Bucket and his two pencils into a new drum set.

Here he is with his little gal pal, Sophie.

Here is the little gang gathered in Berke's room while the Easter Bunny hid the eggs around the house.

Sunday morning, we woke up to find that the Easter Bunny had visited. Berke was SO happy, he ran straight to his basket and had a huge smile on his face the entire morning.
He looked quite dapper in his Easter suit. Our Church meetings were lovely and we were able to listen to music and learn about the Saviors Resurrection.

That night we had Nikki and RyRy and G and Stef over for a delicious Easter dinner. After Berke harassed RyRy for hours on end. Stef and G bought Berkeley an airplane bubble blower and the fun didn't stop all night long.

It was quite a fun and busy weekend (that's how we like it around these parts). I love Easter, as we are able to celebrate the life of Christ, the coming of Spring and enjoy family traditions.

Boston Marathon 2011

One of my favoritest traditions in Boston is cheering on the runners of the Boston Marathon. There is something inspiring about people running a crazy amount of miles through this amazing city I live in. Our favorite spot is at mile marker 19 in Newton, MA just before the runners begin their trek up "Heartbreak Hill." The runners are pretty tired by mile 19 and I can only imagine the dread and fear that enters peoples minds when they get to climb a huge hill after 20 miles of running.

Christian hasn't been able to join us the last two years, but it just so happened that he has Passover Break this week and we all got to go cheer on the athletes together.

The first men we see running, they got to mile 19 around 1 1/2 hours (crazy)! Our American Hero, Ryan Hall was in the top 5 when he passed us, he was looking so good!

The first women runners where making pretty decent time as well. I noticed a theme this year with people wearing bright colored shoes. I even saw 3 people running barefoot.

Berke had a great time at the Marathon, he cheered on a few runners, but mostly he just played with one of his favorite pals, Noah. Noah is an 11 year old boy in our church that Berke loves to beat up, and pretty much anything Noah does makes Berke laugh. Berkeley was Noah's little shadow; Noah was a good sport and let him follow him around without complaining. They really are two peas in a pod.

Berke's sayings

Berkeley has been cracking me up all weekend with the things he says. His vocabulary is expanding so quickly and I love watching him learn and grow. Some of his funny sayings this week:

***We were at the Park on Saturday and and the only kids at the park were Berkeley and a 5 year old little boy. Berkeley walked up to the little boy and pointed to him and said, "What's that Mommy, a boy?"

***I was taking Berkeley's picture and he said, "Cheese.... Oh, that's cute!" He didn't even look at what I had taken, he just knows he is that cute.

***Berkeley has a new book with 100 different machines. There is a whole page full of trains. He opens it up to that page and walks around saying, "I love trains."

***Berke is getting more and more independent. His new routine in the morning when either Christian or I comes in, is to shake his head at us and say, "No, no. Leave. Leave." Then we get him up and change his diaper and he pushes us out of his room, closes the door and says, "Leave, Leave!" I thought this wasn't supposed to happen until like 12 or 13 years?

Here Comes the Sun

The weather Gods were good to us this weekend; it was rainless and sunny and we took full advantage of the clear blue skies.

We took a stroll to the Somerville Castle on Sunday after church. We gathered up the entire family and packed a picnic lunch. We took the 25 minute walk and then let the children run around and play. The Somerville Castle is where the first American flag was raised in the United States; so it is pretty cool piece of history right in our backyard.

My sweet boys

McDuff was SO happy to get out of the house and enjoy some freedom. Duff and Berkeley played together with the best stick in the area. I love watching these two interact.

When people see McDuff they always comment on how big he is. He has always been big for his breed; but he has put on some serious pound this winter thanks to the lack of walks and his new found love for the toddler eating time. So this dog is a HUGE Westie at the moment. We promised McDuff we would help him get off his winter weight by taking him out a lot this summer.
He was chasing sticks and running around like crazy today; he was in complete bliss! (This dog has NEVER chased a stick before, so it was pretty entertaining.)

This weather does something for the spirits; I am so much happier! Thank you Mr. Sunshine (I do not mean Matthew Perry)!

What Happens When the Kid has a Short Nap

It all starts at dinner with "Sleep Eating"

The head starts to droop.....

SPLAT! Right into the mac and cheese

And back up again.