September 2008

Do you want to know a secret?

What's this?

So at the end of August, we found out we were expecting a little one to join our family!

We decided to keep it a secret for a little while between the two of us, and until we knew if Baby H was a boy or a girl.

On Labor Day, we went to our first Red Sox game. We were SO excited! While we cannot claim the status of life-long fans, we can say we've enjoyed following their seasons the past couple years. For Luke, he enjoys following the sports teams where he lives. For Jess, this is a whole new ball game. Before this she's never wanted to watch a game or followed the players. It's a big deal that she knows their names and positions and how they're doing this year. Go sox!

A view of the field, before the game. Welcome to historic Fenway Park, built in 1912.

You can see the Green Monster behind us, one of the the highest home run walls in baseball.

Lil' Pedro, otherwise known as Dustin Pedroia, is Jess's favorite player. Only in his second season in the Majors and being such valuable player to his team is amazing. He's fast and makes plays you least expect, and oh so athletic.

8th Inning: "Sweet Caroline! Good times never seem so good!"

We went down to Hartford for a weekend, CT to visit because Jess's BIL, Gordon was there for an actuarial seminar. It was a humid and rainy Saturday, but we still got to see a few places.

Jess in front of Harriet Beecher Stowe's house. We took a tour and learned more about this amazing woman! If you want to read an excellent book, try Uncle Tom's Cabin. It is historical, instigated change, was well-written, has tragedy and drama and comedy, and has faithful individuals and strong women and families (for all you feminists out there). It is Jess's all-time favorite book. It was and is so powerful.

Luke in front of Mark Twains' house. He loves to read books and short stories written by him, he enjoys his satire. It was a castle. The house of many gables.

An interesting note: Stowe and Twain were next-door neighbors, and there were other great thinkers of the time in the neighborhood as well.

Do not be deceived, even though Hartford has its own Arc de Triumph, it is a pretty small city that has little to offer on Saturdays. Many places were shut down.

The capital building. It was really ornate.

We went to a neat exhibit on the Titanic. The whole thing was supposed to feel like a tour through the ship and each part had items that were on the ship that had been brought up from the bottom of the ocean. It made me appreciate the different class divisions of passengers and how so many were emigrating to start new lives, but never made it. Every person touring the exhibit got a boarding pass, and I could find out more about my specific passenger as we went through. I felt more educated about it afterwords.

We went for a bikeride one weekend. I regularly ride my bike to work as long as the weather is fair. I like how I have built-in exercise, and have a greener way to commute. Plus, most of my commute is along the Charles River Trail, making it so much more enjoyable than driving.

Ouch! What is that? Snakebite? Hardcore bike accident wound? No. It's a we live in the basement wound. Jess was coming down the stairs with a bike and sweaty palms... not a good idea. The bike slipped and the gears met my calf. Lovely.

We visited the Mt. Auburn Cemetary. It is hard to believe that it was the first time we have walked around there, since we live so close. It's beautiful and peaceful and huge. Apparently, Central Park in New York was designed after this cemetary, minus the graves.

We went to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's grave. We enjoy his writing.