Tag: fun

Red Sox games this past weekend

Geoff here – I actually had the chance to go to not one but two Red Sox games this weekend, thanks to the kindness of my cousin John and my Aunt Donna.  Friday night I went to a game with John, his brother-in-law and his nephew.  We had a pretty good time, despite the fact that we kept thinking it was going to rain on us.  Thankfully it never did and the game was REALLY good.  In case you hadn’t heard, the Sox stomped the Orioles and almost got into a hell of a brawl.  Then Sunday afternoon Kelly and I got to go together with the tickets Aunt Donna had sent us as a gift.  Kelly brought her camera and she took a lot of pictures.

The Sox warm up before the game - you can see Pedroia, Ortiz, and Youkilis here.
On the screen, the guys selected for the All-Star team hold up their jerseys.
Who's on first? YOOOOOOOOOOOOUK!!!
Pedroia at bat

We got more pictures than that, so I will see if I can find some more good ones to put up.

Pahk youah cah in Hahvad Yahd

One of my funniest memories from back when I first went to Alabama and met Geoff was when we went to his regular Monday night group, lovingly called the “Terrorist Knitters”, and I met a bunch of his friends for the first time.  One of them was Bruce.  Bruce was Geoff’s mechanic and Bruce’s wife, Sarah, was an avid knitter and a member of the knitting group.  Bruce and Sarah arrived a bit later in the evening and when Geoff introduced me to Bruce and told him that I was from Boston, Bruce’s face absolutely lit up and he exclaimed, “Boston!  Say something!”

Bruce was under the impression that I was a native Bostonian and that I had a Boston accent.  I had to apologize and explain to him that while I had lived in Boston for a long time I did not, and still do not, actually have an accent.  He was very disappointed.

I was reminded of this memory this evening when I got home from a Red Sox game and happened upon this article on Boston.com.  If there is one place that you’ll hear varieties on what we lovingly call “Masshole-ish” or “Masshole-ese” it’s Fenway.  Geoff and I were theorizing on our way home that the yellow shirted vendors, who all speak with a Boston accent of one variety or another, are actually trained that way.  We suspect that if you’re walking around Fenway selling “ice cold beer” you’ll sell far less than if you’re selling “ice cold beah.”

Anyway, pictures from Fenway will follow.  Today was the end of a four game series against the Orioles and the Sox swept the series.  Though today the score was 8-6 as opposed to the spankings administered earlier in the series.  We were concerned that the Orioles might actually leave town with a little self esteem as a result.  I think Papelbon took care of that when he closed out the 9th inning.

More later, with pictures.

~Kelly

Woof vs. Meow

I’ve always considered myself more of an Animal Person rather than a Cat Person or Dog Person.  Those terms always felt too exclusionary too me.  So I found this little thing interesting when it came through my feed today and I thought I’d share it with all of you.  Where do you fall?

Cat Person, Dog Person, or Animal Person?
Quite the chart. Where do you end up?

Of course it doesn’t mention anything about small mammals.  Or snakes.  Do they count as “Exotics?”  I wonder where my work at the museum with raptors and alligators puts me?  Hmmmmm…..

~Kelly

 

Amanda is traveling, lucky us

My friend and bridesmaid, Amanda, is currently in the South of France.  She’s blogging her adventures here.  She’s an excellent writer, photographer, and she’s a total foodie.  If you are at all interested in hearing about excellent meals, how to make them, and seeing photos of old churches and the hills and valleys of Provence (and who isn’t, really?) I highly suggest you bookmark the blog and check it every so often.  She’ll be there for about 3 weeks.

~Kelly

Hiking in Portsmouth, NH

Yesterday Geoff and I went up to visit his newly transplanted sister Liz, brother in law Dan, and their three kids Will, Ben, and Kate along with their dachshund Ralph.  Liz was, up to that point, the only sibling of Geoff’s that I hadn’t met yet so I was very much looking forward to it.  We made arrangements to take the kids out for the day so that Liz and Dan could have some time to actually get some stuff done around the house.  (They just moved in and are still making the house livable.)

We took Thumbelina and Rerun with us and when we got to NH they met Ralph for the first time.  The dogs got along pretty well and the kids liked the dogs.  Kate was positively *taken* with having a female dog around.  Thumbelina is generally not a fan of the younger set so it took a while for them to get used to each other but they did.

After a quick lunch we piled the dogs and the kids into the minivan and headed off to the Portsmouth Urban Forestry Center.  It is quite an interesting place.  5 minutes from the center of Portsmouth and you can hike self guided trails, walk through meadow and forest, see salt marshes and ponds.  It’s quite a nice place to go, and it is dog friendly.  We packed up the kids, all 3 dogs, and we took along the Little Red Wagon of Brimfield fame and took off.

As you may imagine, an outing like this required hats, sunscreen, bugspray, and water.  But, considering that Geoff is Mr. Prepared and I’m not far behind, we were set.  We did manage to walk out of Liz and Dan’s house without the water bottles for the kids, which was a nice trick, but we had our own water already packed and we had a dog water bottle so everything was fine.  Knowing the propensity of certain individual in the party to fall down, hurt themselves, end up in the ER, or otherwise cause calamities, we also brought along a fully stocked First Aid kit.  Amazingly, nobody, human or canine, needed it.

Naturally, I had to take pictures.  You can find them here.  There were lovely flowers, the kids are ridiculously photogenic, and the dogs were having a great time.  The forest was also naturally lovely, so there are all sorts of pictures there.  Take a look, you won’t be disappointed.

Once we were done we headed into town and went to Canine Cupboard in downtown Portsmouth.  It was 5 whole minutes away from the Forestry Center.  It’s a gourmet dog treat store, toy shop, and all around fun place.  We had called ahead to ask when they were closing and if they had any suggestions about places where we might be able to find outdoor dining that would seat us with the dogs.  When we arrived the owner remembered my call and had an additional suggestion for outdoor, dog-friendly dining, the Portsmouth Gas Light Co.  Also, he had the bumper sticker I have been looking for forever.  The My Dachshund is Smarter Than Your Honor Student sticker.  For $1.00.  The one we got looks different than the one linked, but you get the idea.  For $1.00 who were we to say no?

We thanked him and headed off for the Portsmouth Gas Light Co.  We met up with Liz and Dan along the way and, after finding us a table to seat 7 humans and 3 dogs, we had a great meal.  The folks at the restaurant were super and even brought us a bucket of water for the dogs.

All in all a great day.  Uncle Geoff and Aunt Kelly are a bit tired today.  We’re not used to having kids around and it’s been a while since I’ve had 3 dogs on a lead at the same time, but it was great fun.  We’re already making plans for a trip back up north when we can take Aunt Donna with us.  More photos will most certainly follow when we do.

~Kelly

My first trip to the Harbor Islands

Geoff here – I had the chance to go to Fort Warren for some history programs and to meet with some of the staff and talk about Civil War history and living history.  It was just me this time, but I hope to bring Kelly with me sometime because I think she would love it.

24_Sally port from parade ground
The fort's main door from the inside

Especially since this year is the 150th anniversary of the outbreak and the first year of the Civil War, I have been trying to get back into the world of Civil War history.  The people I spoke with at Fort Warren were really great, and several of them were highly encouraging.  They seemed to be interested in possibly having me come out there sometime to do some talks.  How awesome would that be?

It was particularly meaningful for me to be at Fort Warren this month.  It was on June 13, 1861 that the 11th Massachusetts Infantry, the “Boston Volunteers”, were sworn into the Federal service there at Fort Warren.  For those Beaulieus that may be reading this, this was the unit that Moses Beaulieu joined.  So it was somewhat personal for me.  For those of you who have never seen it, here is their recruiting poster that I found.

Recruiting poster for the 11th Massachusetts

I took a lot of pictures, but I don’t want to put too many here.  If you would like to see the rest of my photos (and the Harbor Islands are really beautiful if you have never seen them) from my day trip we will be putting them up in an album on Shutterfly.  Once I have the link I will post it here.

Free Museum Admission This Summer

Ok, I know I’ve been posting a lot today.  Oh well, it’s my our blog, so 😛  This is important.

Free Fun Fridays 2011
Free Museum Admission all summer long!

Have summer Fridays at work and looking to up your cultural quotient?  Looking for something to do with the kids?  Find your way to a Free Friday at one of the institutions listed above.  Feel free to spread this around, email, repost, tweet, etc.  Leave a comment if you want a copy of the original pdf poster.

~Kelly