Old Granary Burying Ground and Boston Public Garden

Andrew has been working "American" hours instead of "European" hours here in Boston and it's been an adjustment for all of us. The good thing is that on the weekends, he spends one day taking us out on an adventure. The Aquarium, the Children's Museum, the Harvard campus, the Harvard Natural History Museum, and the Boston Public Garden are some of the places he has taken us to.

Boston Public Garden is like a giant Central Park in the middle of downtown Boston. In the wintertime the Frog Pond is a skating rink, which turns into a wading pool in the summer. The swan boats run in the spring and summer and the park is full of tourists, locals strolling, and people exercising and enjoying the sunshine that seems endless in this city.

One block from the park is the Old Granary Burial Ground, where some famous people are buried as well as other key people in the history of Boston such as the victims of the Boston Massacre. We saw the graves of John Hancock, Paul Revere, and Samuel Adams to name a few. Really neat to see this beautiful cemetery preserved very well and to honour its cherished citizens. Several of these people were signers of the Declaration of Independence!!

Touring the cemetery did lead to some questions from Maddy about death, and I think she grasped the idea and handled it very well. Since this visit, it has sparked some inquisitive and curious questions from her.

One really cool about the park was that Maddy could relate to one of her books. Aunt Nora and Uncle Calvin bought her a book called "Make Way for Ducklings", a story about a family of ducks who walk through the city trying to find the Boston Public Garden. There are duck statues in the park to commemorate this famous book. Maddy really thought this was neat.

Here are some pictures of the park and the cemetery:

Conleys' New Neighbourhood

Here are a few pictures of our street and the neighbourhood in the wintertime. Hopefully I can take some pictures soon of the glorious spring that is hopefully right around the corner :)

I want to be a Supermodel

Maddy has been choosing her own outfits for quite a while, but one day she selected an outfit that she was particularly happy with, and asked her dad to take some pictures of her. This is the end result! She is such a ham sometimes.

February Pictures of Boston

Boston was a lot of fun in February. Although we got a fair bit of snow, there is a lot of sunshine here. We have to wear our sunglasses everywhere after our eyes have grown accustomed to the dark cloudy days of Finnish winters.

My mom and my uncle Fred came to visit us and we had a lovely time with them. Unfortunately you get so busy enjoying your time with them that you forget to take pictures, but here is a nice one of me and the kids at the skating rink.

 

We also took them to the aquarium and spent some time relaxing around the condo and enjoying the sunshine.

 

Also in February was the SuperBowl. Unfortunately the Patriots weren't playing in the finals but it was fun to watch nonetheless. Our landlords came up for a Superbowl party and we had a nice time socializing with them while watching the game. Maddy was super excited and made some Superbowl decorations to hang around the condo.

 

When we were at Harvard, we went to the Curious George store and bought a dinosaur excavation kit for Maddy. She has expressed an interest in being a "bone digger", so we thought this would be an enjoyable kit for her. Wow, she just loved it! Check it out.

 

 

 

As difficult or challenging it may be sometimes to have two kids at home, we are trying to make the best of the four months we have here. Between ballet classes and swimming lessons, Maddy is getting a little bit of socializing but most of the time she is hanging out with Charlie and I. Luckily scooter season is upon us, and she doesn't make too much of a fuss going for walks and exploring the city.

Looking forward to what March has in store for us.

Kim

 







Snowpocalypse

Just when we thought we were coming to Boston to get away from the snow, it turns out that the snow followed us here. I don't mind some snowflakes here and there - I mean, we are Canadians and we live in Finland. But John and Penny were scheduled to come visit us and unfortunately spent many hours waiting at the Toronto Airport only to find out their flights were cancelled! Extremely disappointing not to see them, but hopefully they will reschedule and we will get to see them under safer conditions.

The storm was actually pretty big, with the tram service being shut down for two days and the city was declared in a state of emergency. We wandered through the streets on the weekend to check out the snow. Here is the result of the storm:

The following day, we decided to drive around Harvard campus and the Beacon Hill area, as it was our last day with the rental car. Harvard is quite spread out throughout the neighbourhood but does have a central Harvard Yard and Harvard Square. It was really nice to see. Of course it was covered in snow, but luckily the students have a lot of free time and built some really nice igloos, which the kids enjoyed playing with.

First Two Weeks in Boston

Our first week in Boston has come and went, and it was quite a whirlwind. The kids were insanely jet lagged, with them waking up at midnight the first night (which happens to be 7am Helsinki time)! Breakfast at 2am, baths at 3am, and nap by 7am. It took us 5 nights before we had them somewhat on Boston time!!

We had rented a car for the first 10 days and that turned out okay. It's very strenuous to drive in a new city, with a rental car that has no collision insurance! But we managed to get out to Target and Best Buy and the pet store and buy all of the necessities to get us settled into our new temporary home!

On first glance, Boston seems extremely friendly and welcoming! The neighbourhood really seems lovely and all of the service people have been more than happy to help us get what we need. It has been a wonderful experience so far, and we look forward to our time here.

Our first weekend, we ventured out to the New England Aquarium. What a great place!! We decided to buy a patrons annual pass, as anything over two visits makes it worth our while and we already have some visitors from Canada who have requested for us to take them there. We also strolled through the downtown Financial District and part of the harbour.

Our second weekend we went to the Boston Children's Museum. It was extremely hands-on and a lot of fun for the kids. We also bought a pass for this one, as I can see myself taking the kids back another time or two.

Here are some pictures from the Aquarium, the Museum, and our walks downtown:

 

 

North America Bound!!!!!

It is with great pride that I announce that we are headed to Boston for four months!!!! Andrew has been offered an international work assignment through his Finland employer to collaborate on a research project with Dr. George Church's lab at the Harvard Medical School!

What an opportunity for Andrew! And since I have nothing better to do, we decided that the whole family will come along for the ride.

Things were a bit hectic in December and January, trying to figure out the logistics, subletting our apartment, and finding somewhere to live in Boston that meets my extremely high standards!!! Lots of arrangements to prepare for the trip, but we're very excited to be back in North America, even if only for four months. Likely a trip to Canada to visit with the family over Easter, and an opportunity for some of our family to come to Boston and visit with us.

I have to admit that I'm looking forward to the grocery store - I'm sure that will pass, but it will be nice to have a bowl of Lucky Charms in the morning :)  It will also be weird to be surrounded by English everywhere, or at least Boston's version of English...