Charles River bike path

September 2, 2012

since we moved here i have wanted to take our bikes into the city to ride along the charles river bike path. it winds along the charles river for a fourteen mile loop.

there are good reasons to stop and rest all along the path – cool playgrounds, cafes, festivals, ponds, and of course to view the river! in august, we made this happen, and other than the fact i *flew over my handle bars and crashed at one point, i can’t wait to do it again.

*don’t ride too close to the bike in front of you.

.....

massachusetts beaches

September 1, 2012

this summer we were all about celebrating the long-standing-summer traditions we’ve always cherished,
while also reminding ourselves to start a few of our own new ones here in mass.

so. we went hunting for our favorite beach in massachusetts. i tried to find out exactly how many beaches there are in MA, and didn’t have any luck. so, let me tell you – there are a lot. and we’ve made it to five. however, we did visit those five more than once each. sometimes we’d try a new one, and like it so much we’d have to visit it a few times before choosing another new one. my friend told me that there are so many lovely beaches in the california area.

.....

kj has decided that baseball is his one and only love when it comes to team sports. so, this year he has played spring ball, summer league, and now fall ball! he also takes training classes every week at an indoor baseball center. big papi helped coach when he was in town:

this was our funnest league so far. more practices, more games, and! it was KJ’s first time to travel to an out of town tournament. there is nothing i love more than sitting at a ball park and watching my little guy play baseball. warms my heart.

.....

the north end, boston

August 8, 2012

yesterday we spent the morning getting sela & kJ’s passports renewed in the north end – we need them sooner than we realized in case we head up to canada on our future northwest trip… this little outing led us to hang-out in the north end for the morning, and afternoon. then we took the kids home, and husband and i headed back in to the north end for dinner! we like it there, and look forward to spending more time there in the future!

have you been?

it’s more or less little italy with lots of great food – pasta, gelato, pastries… in a charming area of the city. what’s not to like, right?!?

the north end boston via seejaneblog

the north end boston - rhodes family - via seejaneblog

mike's pastry the north end boston via seejaneblog

caffe pompei the north end boston, via seejaneblog

caffe pompei the north end via seejaneblog

the north end II boston via seejaneblog

{photos by me,

.....

exactly fourteen days ago kiana found out her utah dance studio was going to be in nyc that weekend with various families staying at various hotels like the Crowne Plaza Times Square Manhattan. and the next day she was putting in her verbal request for a spontaneous family road trip, two days later.

after a few details were figured out, we woke up early on july 5th and our second road trip to manhattan was underway. a very happy fourteen year old included.

as soon as we pulled into the city, we stopped by tkts and chose six seats to see war horse. i hadn’t heard anything about the play –

.....

food truck party.

July 10, 2012

Remember that day in June when we celebrated father’s day??? well, the sun came out from behind days and days of rain clouds, and we called all our friends together to celebrate the dads in our lives.

For this party, I wanted to mix traditional New England style with casual party flair. To achieve this I set the table with neutral, classy details – adding chalkboards and neon chalk markers for the kids to doodle. And! For food, we hired a taco food truck that pulled right onto the backyard lawn in the middle of the party scene! Did you know you can hire out most food trucks for private parties?!? This was an entirely new idea to me,

.....