Last Day of School: A Series

Presenting the Tiny Taught's Class of 2012.  We'll miss you, Berkeley and Jonas!

MFA - Part 2

Here are some cool things we saw at our second visit to the Museum of Fine Arts.  And this time we even roped Loren into coming with us!

Sophie and I with the famous portrait of Paul Revere

John Adams - Gilbert Stuart, 1823.  This was painted when Adams was almost 90!

A picture of a little girl in front of a picture of a little girl...  Helen Sears - John Singer Sargent, 1895.  Helen was six when this portrait was painted.

George Washington - Gilbert Stuart, 1796.  This is the portrait that is used on the dollar bill.  Now do you see why Sophie and I took a picture of his tombstone?

Caresse Maternelle - Mary Stevenson Cassatt, about 1902.  I think this portrait is so sweet and tender.

And the famous Sargent painting:  The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit - John Singer Sargent, 1882.  Sargent painted this when he was only 26, wow.  The placard called his composition, "daringly empty."

Mommy-Daughter Date

Today was our big moving day and since we packed up the computer, I scheduled this post.  I know, it is high-tech.  Hopefully everything went well with the move!  On to the subject of this post...  One Saturday we decided to go as a family to see The Lorax at the movie theater.  It was only playing at the theater off Boston Common and it was only in 3-D, so that's what we did.  There was a tense moment during the previews when I thought Sophie was going to refuse to wear her 3-D glasses, but thankfully it passed and we all enjoyed the show.  It was everyone's first 3-D movie and it was cool, but I think the consensus was that in general, it's not worth spending the extra money.  Afterward Loren had to go back home and study (lame) so Sophie and I spent some time wandering around Boston Common and the Public Gardens.  Well, I wandered and she scootered.  It was a lovely spring day and I had a great time sightseeing and spending some special time with my daughter.

In front of the tombstone of artist Gilbert Stuart

Sophie for scale in a graveyard in Boston Common

I love these old tombstones and the elongated "s"

View of the Hancock Tower from the Public Gardens

 

Yes, I was usually too lazy to take off Sophie's helmet before I took a picture

An unusual monument celebrating the discovery that using ether helps relieve pain during medical procedures.  It was first used at Mass General Hospital

 

I love these pictures in the tulips!

Scooter Girl

After seeing Sophie play with her cousin's scooters in New York (which I will post about... someday), I decided she needed one for herself.  She had picked up the technique so quickly that I knew she wouldn't have too many accidents, plus I figured a scooter would be easier to carry up and down our stairs than a stroller would be.  Also, I may have secretly hoped that outings where Sophie rode her scooter would wear her out more than just sitting in the stroller.  Sounds logical, right?

Loren and I decided to get Sophie the scooter, but not tell her and have it be a fun surprise.  After agonizing a little longer than was necessary about the color choice (we picked green), we ordered it and waited for the big reveal.  Sophie was surprised and now loves her scooter!  She knows the safety rules about riding it and I'm happy we have something fun for her to do in our new neighborhood in Boise.

What could be in the box?

 

Surprise, your very own scooter!  I think she likes it.

 

Riding around the neighborhood.  This mural is on the side of the local florist's shop.

MFA - Part 1

Yikes, I better get on this blogging thing so I won't be posting about Boston things two months after we move away.  That would only make me sad.  Awhile ago I came up with a great plan to venture into Boston with Sophie at least once a week.  I don't know if we've gone quite that frequently, but we have been doing better about getting out.  This has been partly facilitated by passes from the library, which give you discounted tickets to some museums.  As a side note, we LOVE the main branch of the Cambridge Public Library, which is only a few blocks away from our apartment.  Not only do they have the museum passes, it's also a beautiful, big building with a park.  It's high on my list of things I will miss when we're gone.

Since we've started going on our "Boston Outings," Sophie and I have been to the Museum of Fine Arts twice.  Both times I've gone in the afternoon, so we have fun riding the T over there, then walk around for a bit before Sophie falls asleep in her stroller.  Score!  Then I'm free to take my time walking around the galleries and don't have to worry about keeping Sophie quiet and away from the art.  I feel so lucky to have such a world-class art museum this close, where I can go see the expansive Egyptian collection, check out the new Modern Art wing and amazing Art of the Americas section, plus see famous works by Monet, Van Gogh, John Singer Sargent and so many others.  Here are some pictures (of pictures!) from our first trip together (I made them bigger so you can see the paintings better):

Ice Floe, 2011 - Whenever you touch the white part you hear the sound of "air bubbles being released from glacial ice as it melted into the [Arctic] sea"

This bed reminded me of Downtown Abbey, I think because of the greyhounds

Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer - Edgar Degas, cast in bronze after 1921.  This is Degas's largest surviving sculpture and the clothes and ballet slippers were originally pink satin and gauze

Lullaby: Madame Augustine Roulin Rocking a Cradle (La Berceuse) - Vincent Van Gogh, 1889

Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist - Sandro Botticelli, about 1500

Sophie for scale in front of a Temple gateway, built during the reign of Ptolemy VIII, about 170-116 B.C., with additions by Nero, about A.D. 54-68.  The plaque said the gateway is 24 tons and 17 feet tall, making it the second largest ancient Egyptian object in America!

A view outside

One of the museum entrances

Short and Sweet

First, some current news:  we are moving in one month (from yesterday)!  That sounds really soon!

Now, some old news:  I cut my hair right before Christmas.  As in, I cut all of it off into a pixie/boy haircut/awesomely easy hairdo.  Loren doesn't love it, but I expected that.  That's okay, since most days I really love it, mostly because it's SO easy to do.  Here are some pictures, in case you haven't seen it.  It's been through some trims and modifications, but you'll get the idea.  (I'm finally posting about it because just when I think everyone has seen my new 'do, I see a friend I haven't seen for a while and they all say, "You cut your hair!"  Hopefully this will settle that, plus finally get some Christmas pictures up here.)

Sibling picture at Christmas, right before Heather went to a dance

Sophie's birthday, with my cousin Steph

With my Grandma Burk

Taken in April, en route to New York.  The nice flight crew let us check out the cockpit.

The most current look, taken at Fenway Park

March Madness

http://games.espn.go.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/en/entry?entryID=3646358

That is the link to my NCAA tournament bracket.  We usually make a group with our friends and this year my bracket won.  By a lot.  I was in the top 7,600 people, that's the top .1%!  So this post is just so I can brag about it.  I killed it.  Oh yeah!