The Pre-Party

I'm told that the 3rd of July in Boston is often as festively busy as the 4th. I'll throw my post-vacation weight behind that statement now.

The morning of the 3rd dawned bright and beautiful and we decided to head out to Walden Pond for some tracendentalist experiences. This includes the always popular game "Connect Four." To be honest, we hauled that game with us everywhere, and it was played in extreme weather, exotic location, and with intense concentration.

It was early enough that the sun was just beginning to peak through the trees. The only sunny non-crowded spot we could find was .... the boat dock. That sound was Thoreau rolling over in his grave.

We had full intention to swim; really we did. But, the weather here has been fantastically gorgeous, averaging 75 degrees a day--hardly the humid summer New England is famous for. Just prior to the swim, a cloud cover rolled in, and us St. George/Las Vegas/Phoenix desert-rats were too content to sit on the dock. Special shout out to Peggy and the camping chairs we borrowed--especially the chaise lounges with the foot-rests.

We picked Jamar up at the train station and the four BFF's (plus me)were together again for the first time in more than a year. Glad I could host.

Lunch was next, and imagine my delight when "Not Your Average Joe's" was suggested without my prompting! (Nate, Joe and I went Saturday night and Jam had been when he was in town before.) Proof at just how great Joe's really is. Yum.

Obviously, the 4th of July in Boston is huge. The evening of the 3rd, the Boston Pops do a dress rehearsal of their 4th of July Spectacular which is open to the public. Instead of fighting traffic and trying to park, we decided to use mass transit. The bus to Harvard was okay, but a fire at the T station made our afternoon of travel hellacious. We started walking away from Harvard Square toward the nearest non-red line station. 2.5 miles later, we hit a station. 2.5 hours after beginning, we finally found the Charles River and our friends.

Ironically, we had 2.5 hours before the concert started. We were late, but thanks to the Criddles (Preston and Marie), Julie and Kylee, we had a great spot with plenty of room to wait and play games before the concert started. Phase 10, Golf, Connect Four, food, photos, music, laughter... it definitely dulled the sting of the high stress traveling.

Wow, this was a really fun time. In hindsight, it may have been one of my best moments of the trip.

But the favorites continue! This is one of my favorite photos from the trip--it makes me happy. These boys don't straight up humor me very often, but after taking a few normal-smile photos, Nate/Joe requested we do a Nat-signature "open mouth" smile. Happy to oblige, here we are.

I hardly saw Kylee while the boys were in town, so we were happy to spend a few minutes together. I was happy to keep the open mouth smile alive. One of these days I'll catch something in thereeeeeee. And for the record, my hair is not dirty. I'll blame this "piece-y" look on the humidity, a long day, and sharing space with five boys. I digress.

Dave wanted to take a picture of our two phones that are in love.


Here's our view of the shell from the Esplanade. The Pops, Blue Man Group, the Boston Children's choir, John "Cougar" Mellencamp and a rousing performance of "R-O-C-K in the USA", and my favorite, a patriotic sing-a-long.

This post is getting long and is already intensely picture heavy (with another heavy photo day to come on the 4th itself), but here's probably my absolute favorite photo from the trip. The five of us didn't have long together (less than 24-hours as the boys were in and out at different times), but we had a fabulous time.

We ate at the Cheesecake Factory at the Pru after the concert and rode the T to Brookline where Peg was kind enough to squash us in her car and drive us home.

I had a heck of a time bridging my old life and new life together.