Patriot's Day
Before we moved to Boston, Adam tried to explain Patriot's Day to me. "It's this day off and they run the Boston Marathon and the Red Sox always play. And there's copious amounts of beer! It's awesome!" It didn't make any sense to me. But now that we live out here, I'm hooked. It was a Patriot-packed weekend.
Saturday: On my long run today I headed up to Lexington Center, where the reenactors were practicing their techniques for Monday. The weather was gorgeous, the run was smooth, and the Redcoats were blooming.
Sunday: Adam had papers to write, so Doodles and I went on a long walk with a couple of other moms in the 'hood. On the way to Carberry's, we just so happened to run into the bloodiest battle of the beginning of the Revolution. We stopped to watch and the babies seemed undisturbed, but us moms were freaked at how loud the muskets sounded (I could picture my poor Doodles little ear drums popping, although if I had thought about it, I would have realized that all that lovely wax in there makes a nice buffer for him) and we made a hasty retreat. But Doodles witnessed his first battle. What a true Bostonian.
Monday: Last year Adam and I went to the Lexington reenactment of the Battle on the Green. This year, we decided to do something different (read: something that doesn't start at 5:45 a.m.). Our friend Kevin and his son came over for a waffle breakfast (Kevin was our cohort in battle last year, as well) and then we headed out to Concord to see the re-enactment of the Battle of the Old North Bridge. Doodles loved it. The Redcoats fascinated him (yes, our son is a traitor; he didn't give the Minutemen a second glance).
From Concord we headed straight to Brookline for a barbecue at a friend of Adam's house and to watch the Boston Marathon. First we went outside to see the wheelchair, men's, and women's winners (we were at about mile 23). Then we went in for some yummy ribs, chickens, mashed potatoes, and greens. Back out again to watch "the everyman and woman" (as the oh-so-brilliant newsperson said). Definitely the highlight of the day, although I was with a bunch of downers who didn't understand the concept of cheering. Runners wear their names on their shirts and their arms just so you will cheer them on by name (and they really seemed to appreciate it). Not so you'd stand around saying, "How crazy do you have to be to run twenty-six miles?" (ahem, Adam).
From there we met a bunch of Adam's sectionmates (those with kids or those who are about to have kids) at Full Moon for dinner. I really didn't think Doodles was going to survive a whole day out (from 7:45 a.m. to about 7:45 p.m.) and that we'd have to beat a hasty retreat home at some point, but the kid was a champ. He happily ate on the run (well, watching the run; I had him in the Baby Bjorn at the marathon and I fed him peas as we watched) and napped a couple of times in his stroller. He was smiley and happy and social and overall was a delight. What a change it is from just a few months ago. We need to enjoy this while we can, because I hear once he hits toddlerhood, our social activities will be significantly more difficult.
Unfortunately this may be the last year we enjoy Patriot's Day as a family, as I've just learned that Adam's new company does not have the day off (how unpatriotic!). Perhaps, though, Adam will use one of his floating holidays for it. As Adam said, "Rosh Hashanah or Patriot's Day? Patriot's Day or Rosh Hashanah?" A guy's got to have his priorities, right?
Saturday: On my long run today I headed up to Lexington Center, where the reenactors were practicing their techniques for Monday. The weather was gorgeous, the run was smooth, and the Redcoats were blooming.
Sunday: Adam had papers to write, so Doodles and I went on a long walk with a couple of other moms in the 'hood. On the way to Carberry's, we just so happened to run into the bloodiest battle of the beginning of the Revolution. We stopped to watch and the babies seemed undisturbed, but us moms were freaked at how loud the muskets sounded (I could picture my poor Doodles little ear drums popping, although if I had thought about it, I would have realized that all that lovely wax in there makes a nice buffer for him) and we made a hasty retreat. But Doodles witnessed his first battle. What a true Bostonian.
Monday: Last year Adam and I went to the Lexington reenactment of the Battle on the Green. This year, we decided to do something different (read: something that doesn't start at 5:45 a.m.). Our friend Kevin and his son came over for a waffle breakfast (Kevin was our cohort in battle last year, as well) and then we headed out to Concord to see the re-enactment of the Battle of the Old North Bridge. Doodles loved it. The Redcoats fascinated him (yes, our son is a traitor; he didn't give the Minutemen a second glance).
From Concord we headed straight to Brookline for a barbecue at a friend of Adam's house and to watch the Boston Marathon. First we went outside to see the wheelchair, men's, and women's winners (we were at about mile 23). Then we went in for some yummy ribs, chickens, mashed potatoes, and greens. Back out again to watch "the everyman and woman" (as the oh-so-brilliant newsperson said). Definitely the highlight of the day, although I was with a bunch of downers who didn't understand the concept of cheering. Runners wear their names on their shirts and their arms just so you will cheer them on by name (and they really seemed to appreciate it). Not so you'd stand around saying, "How crazy do you have to be to run twenty-six miles?" (ahem, Adam).
From there we met a bunch of Adam's sectionmates (those with kids or those who are about to have kids) at Full Moon for dinner. I really didn't think Doodles was going to survive a whole day out (from 7:45 a.m. to about 7:45 p.m.) and that we'd have to beat a hasty retreat home at some point, but the kid was a champ. He happily ate on the run (well, watching the run; I had him in the Baby Bjorn at the marathon and I fed him peas as we watched) and napped a couple of times in his stroller. He was smiley and happy and social and overall was a delight. What a change it is from just a few months ago. We need to enjoy this while we can, because I hear once he hits toddlerhood, our social activities will be significantly more difficult.
Unfortunately this may be the last year we enjoy Patriot's Day as a family, as I've just learned that Adam's new company does not have the day off (how unpatriotic!). Perhaps, though, Adam will use one of his floating holidays for it. As Adam said, "Rosh Hashanah or Patriot's Day? Patriot's Day or Rosh Hashanah?" A guy's got to have his priorities, right?
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