In Which the Grandparents Visit and We See Winnie the Pooh

Jim's parents came to snuggle the poor sick baby after his surgery. However, after the amazing results of the cath, the poor sick baby was nearly all better, and the week became more about tiring out the grandparents than not overtiring the baby!

They arrived on Sunday. Gus and Jim picked them up from the airport and brought them home, where Jed and I were eagerly anticipating their arrival. The kids were so excited to see them!

On Monday and Tuesday we all kept mostly regular schedules. Jed took some serious naps (the last part of recuperation apparently) and had a blast showing the grandparents his parks.

On Wednesday Mom and Dad took both kids to the Children's Museum, which they always love. After a nap they headed out to our "backyard", the park down the block. Jim and I showed up to arrange a picnic dinner in another park where a kids' band was playing. Jed loves to dance, but after a bit of post-dinner dancing they both blew off the band and headed to the playground. The kids are so thick in the sandbox on these evenings that the air is dusty.

On Thursday we all took off. It was awfully hot, so although our itinerary doesn't look so bad we were all pooped when it was done. We took the train downtown to the Common and played in the playground for a bit. Then a quick (well, for everyone else but Jed, who's been the Poky Little Puppy lately) walk over to the movie theater to see Winnie the Pooh. Gus is fine, Jed spills lemonade on me and then climbs around for almost the rest of the movie. Good thing it was short. The rebooters really nailed it; Craig Ferguson is an awesome Owl and the stuffed animal credits at the end are adorable and memorable. After that we hoisted the kids up to shoulders and went to the Purple Shamrock for chowder, fried fish, and lobster. Another quick jaunt to the harbor, where we just missed a ferry. Waited about an hour. Mom observes that there is water to play in everywhere in Boston, including just off the docks. Of course Jed wants to play with me in the sandbox that is just short of diamond-creating temperature.

We board the ferry and enjoy the A.C. It takes about 45 minutes to get to Spectacle Island, which is made from the dirt from the Big Dig. It was a lot of dirt. There's a classic New England rocky beach, which Gus enjoys to the fullest for about half an hour. Jed is not sure what to do about the waves, but ends up happily filling his bucket with rocks in my lap. We realize that Jed has never seen a wave before, never even been to the beach before! More about that in the next post. We haul all tired people back onto the ferry and over to Fanueil Hall for some dinner. Mom tries a lobster roll for posterity. Jed is so worn out that he pukes up his dinner all over himself, precipitating a cleanup effort that is almost as long as dinner and ends in his falling asleep on my back in his swimsuit.

Boys and parents say goodbye and thank you. Houstonians ship out early on Friday morning, taking the worst of the heat wave with them. Thanks for that too!