Big City Adventure

s. drives the amphibious vehicle in the Charles River

Sometimes we get out of the wilds and into the city. Things like escalators and public transit are as exciting as museums and zoos. And oh, do the boys ever love the sidewalks at their Grandpa's and Mimi's house---Scootering is possible! It's the little things.

We did touristy things like go on a Duck Tour with our extended family, and our clever driver was Disco Dan. We crawled through Boston's notorious traffic, feeling oh-so smug that we were the most massive thing on the road amongst all the tiny little SUVs, and heard about some of the city's history. And then we crawled into the river. I got a good shot of Disco Dan's amazing platform shoes: a little pretend goldfish is in there! Love it.
And we visited the zoo. Which I am more than a little ambivalent about, philosophically. But it was a gorgeous fall day and we decided to go for it. Of course certain members of our party particularly enjoyed it when the gorillas vomited into their hands and then ate it. I preferred the colorful birds and the tiny pygmy falcons who were eating their lunch of bits of raw meat.

The lion was pretty impressive, in his fully relaxed snooze position, letting it all hang out, so to speak.

It was really the perfect time of day for a nap and I think the Grandpa was jealous.

Oh and no visit with our extended family would be complete without a little ubiquitous computing on handheld devices. It's so fascinating that someone could be born digital, but even when deprived of daily contact with media devices, could still be more proficient with handheld devices than many of his elders. Without the distractions of media in his daily life we are raising a voracious reader, artist, thespian, problem-solver, strategist, collaborator, and most especially, a boy who at almost-twelve who still knows the value of play.