Beach

As the possibility that we will have to move away from the beach draws nearer, I realized that we hardly ever go: Lillian's probably only been 5 or 6 times in her whole life. So, we've been trying to make good use of it while we can.

As for Lillian, she loves it. These shots are from when Tyler took her while I was at work. Even now, while I'm making this post, Lillian is behind me saying "Beach! Beach! Shovels! Water! Beach! Blanket!"

This is Lillian's "super-smiley face."

Crazy Day

The other day, Lillian had so much energy. Manic energy. Everything was hilarious, she couldn't sit still, and she wanted to change activities every thirty seconds. After changing said activity, she would pursue the new activity with much force and vigor until she wanted to do something new 30 seconds later.


During dinner, she was doing this but with a whiplash-type back and forth and going "aaaaaaaAAAAAHHHHhhhhh, aaaaaaaaAAAAAHHHHHhhhhh, aaaaaaaaAAAAHHHHhhhh."

She's normally a demure child, so this day was particularly exhausting.

Recent Happenings

Making blueberry muffins

Lillian and Tyler's fort.

Ten points to the person who guesses what this picture means (you can't already know to win).

Concord

A short drive up from Boston is Concord. This is a statue of a minute man which stands about 20 yards away from where the opening rounds of the Revolutionary war were fired.


This graveyard is called "Sleepy Hollow" which equals creepy. In this little corner called Authors' Hill, Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau are all buried.


This is Orchard House, where the Alcott's lived. In front, they were staging some drills. Louisa May Alcott started out writing the sorts of stories that Jo writes; murder mysteries, vampire stories and the like. Her editor told her that there was a big demand for girl's books. Louisa didn't know much about girls as she was mostly a tomboy, but she decided to write a book based on her sisters. As we toured the house, it was really neat because all the characters in the book more or less lived there. Their names were different, but we saw "Beth's" piano and "'Amy's" paintings. Below is the desk where Louisa wrote Little Women.



Walden Pond. It was so cold here. It was around 33 or 34 degrees and snowing. I'm not sure what made this 34 degrees so much colder than the 34 degrees in Boston, but I was so cold, I was pretty sure my ears were going to freeze off my head. Thus, we didn't stay at any of these places for very long. If it had been warmer, we would have explored the battlefield, toured Emerson's house, and walked around to see the little hut that Thoreau lived in on Walden Pond. But, it was freezing, and we had a flight to catch.

Dad may kill me

Last night, I watched a documentary called "Why We Fight." I cried almost all night. I didn't know what I could do to help. All I could think of was to write this letter:

April 10, 2008
George W. Bush
President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President,
I am a person of no consequence. I have no connections and no real means. All I have is my voice and my vote. I am writing to tell you that I am deeply saddened by what you have done to my country. My America is not a country of lies or half-truths. My America is not a country of bullies or a country of economic imperialism. You have taken my America and made it into these things, and it makes me sad.
It makes me sad to think of mothers around the world who will never hold their children again because of this war that you insist if for my good and my safety. This war, based on lies and deceit is making widows, taking fathers and brothers, and killing children. Even our own soldiers know their life is a lie as evidenced by the unprecedented rise in suicide and depression among the troops.
I had just graduated high school and was preparing to go to college in September of 2001. I had no idea who or what could do something like that to our country. I watched the news and tried to unravel the mystery of what was happening, all to no avail. I could not straighten it out. I realize now that that was the idea all along: you wanted to keep the American public in the dark so we did not see what you were doing. But, I see it now.
I am glad that you are leaving office. I did not vote for you. I pray that whoever will replace you will be able to fix the mess you are leaving. I fear the damage may be irreparable. I fear for this country you have created. I never feared for America, but this is no longer my America.
Sincerely yours,

Amanda Ball

Baston

In AP history, my teacher told me that Paul Revere didn't make his historic Midnight Ride and that he was passed out drunk at the time. After visiting Paul Revere's house, his grave, and Lexington and Concord (the place he rode to) I'm pretty sure that Mr. Sink's version of history is false.

Below is a picture of Lillian riding the Donkey, the symbol of the Democrats because, according to our tour guide, "Massachusetts is very democratic, even the Rebublicans are Democrats."


My favorite part of Boston was seeing the U.S.S. Constitution, "Old Ironsides," the oldest commissioned boat still in the water. It was commissioned by George Washington to fight the Barbary Pirates. She saw something like 30 battles and never lost. During a battle in the war of 1812, the cannonballs were seen to bounce off the sides of the ship (which is made of wood) and some sailor shouted something like "Huzzah! It's like she's made of iron!." Hence the nickname.


The green monster at Fenway Park.


I wish we had more pictures of our duck tour, but the camera died. It's a WWII amphibious vehicle, so we toured through Boston and into the Charles "Chals" river. It was really cool, if not really cold. They gave us these blankets and I realized at the end that I had four and Tyler only had one.

Refrigerator

It was out of a possible 150.

Biking the Monuments

The monuments are located in a place called the National Mall. From the Lincoln memorial to the Capitol building is (I'm guessing) five miles: way longer than you'd want to walk. Parking is ridiculous, so it's impractical to drive to all the places you want to see.

To solve this problem, we rented bikes and biked around. The price was a little steep (around $60 for two bikes, helmets, a trailer, and locks for 4 hours) but it worked out really well.


The guard yelled at us for parking our bikes here on the steps of the Lincoln memorial.


Above: Jefferson memorial; Tyler and Lillian are standing in front of the middle column. Below: Vietnam memorial.


We came the week before the Cherry Blossom festival, which I'm glad about because I'm pretty sure it turns into a big circus. But, we did ride along the Potomac river which was really, really cold, but the blossoms were just coming out, so it was really, really pretty.