2nd Grade Humor.

CHRISTMAS 2012!

Christmas came early in 2012....

For 2012, we celebrated with family early on the 23rd, and flew to San Diego for Christmas in California (that will be another blog update!)....  We hosted a family gathering: 

This time it was wonderful that all cousins could come!  I might be biased, but dare I say this family has the cutest little ones around??  Travis and Nicole have Paisley and Graham (and baby #3 on the way); Amy and Neal have Lilly and George; Andy and Anna have Molly, Drew, and Max, and we have Mr. Jack!

 Lilly, Molly, Jack, Drew, George, and Max!

 Paisley, Lilly, and Max....

 Paisley, Lilly, and Graham!

 Anna and Max!

 Jack was thrilled with this crazy Garbage Truck with "trash packs" ('tis a trend with boyz!)

 Lilly got a cool chapter book!

 George got Skylanders books and guides ('tis a popular video game)

 Sweet Lilly!

 Sweet Paisley!

 Awesome Amy playing with the kids!

Miss Paisley in her faux fur coat!

This year we had an "Ugliest Christmas Sweater Contest."  Unfortunately, only 3 participated (including myself)....The grand prize went to my Uncle Doug....such a good sport!  (His picture is with the group, below)....

My dreadfully tacky "Santa Bear-ish" sweatshirt and Mom being a good sport with a Snoopy T-shirt...

We also took pictures with fake mustaches for added cheer:

 Note my uncle Doug's festive sweater!  That won him a $10 Target gift card!

The next morning, we flew out to San Diego and drove to Anaheim for Christmas Day in Disneyland!

The Johnson 3 on the East Coast!

We, the Johnson 3, had an awesome voyage to the East Coast in October.  One of my favorite places in the world!  I love the history, the architecture, the sea, their accents, all of it!  We visited Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Connecticut to catch up with good friends, then Boston for all the historical goodness!  While on the Cape, I had the "World's Best Chow-dah!"  (Of course every restaurant says that, so I guess I'll never know for sure-- but it was incredible!)

Prepare yourselves for a LENGTHY BLAST of pictures of the whole trip:

 Jack is now an experienced flyer!

 The restaurant on the Cape that supposedly serves the best "Chow-dah."

 Spooky "Lob-stahs" in this tank....it was right before Halloween.

 These kinds of buildings make me go crazy-- just love clap-board, gables, shutters, etc.

 Picture taken via Ferry on the way to Martha's Vineyard.  ("Mah-tha's Vin-yed.")

 Look at this "little" cottage!

 Arriving in Vineyard Haven.  This is the famous Black Dog Tavern!

 This is what you see all over the island of Martha's Vineyard... (Serious eye-candy for me!)

 Lunch at the Black Dog Tavern.

 Nearly on the beach!

 The back of the Black Dog Tavern.

 The Marina at the Black Dog.  Sooo picturesque!

 Lovely home #1.

 Lovely home #2.

 Moving on to the town of Oak Bluffs-- known for its intricate "Gingerbread Cottages."  Tiny, but they sell for more than half a million dollars.  Most of them stay in the family.

 They all have front porches.

 Yes!  I'll take this PINK one, please!

 We met the owner of this home.  It had been in his family for many generations.

 You'd better like your neighbors if you live here!  You could shake hands out of the windows!

 Now in Edgartown, an old whaling captain's town.  Martha's Vineyard's first colonial settlement.

Edgartown dates back to 1642....

 .....and is one of New England's most elegant communities.

 Another view of Edgartown.  Just across the shore a bit is Chappaquiddick where Ted Kennedy, you know...."crashed."

 Back on the Cape, we're now in Hyannisport.  This is someone's garage and guesthouse, or perhaps kid's playhouse?

 See it to the right of this gorgeous seaside home?

 This cute church on the Cape had a PUMPKIN PATCH!

 This is the sea at Hyannis.  Note the grassy dunes....

Jack and I were searching for sea creatures on the beach, but no one was out and about-- not even one creepy crab!

Now moving on to Plymouth, MA....

(We weren't planning on visiting Plymouth, but we're sure glad we did!  We will definitely go there again.)

 The museum we did not visit...

 Here you have it!

 This is what's left of Plymouth Rock after being moved at least once, dropped at least once, etc.

 A replica of the Mayflower.

Jack's "Lob-stah" hat!

This is 1st Street: the first street in the USA!

 Only 45 of the 102 Mayflower passengers survived the first winter of 1620-1621.  Such a sobering thought.  Many were ill from their voyage and they had a very harsh winter with little shelter.

 Walkin' up 1st Street.

 This is where the very 1st Thanksgiving is believed to have been held.

 The 1st Church!

 Many Mayflower passengers were buried here.

 The headstones are toppling over.  The original ones were made of wood and are long since gone.

There ended our visit to Plymouth, we'll have to plan to spend more time there someday.


Movin' right along...to Connecticut
We were so excited to see our friends, the Hires Family!  It was so wonderful spending a few days together, catching up, and letting the kids play, swim at the hotel, etc.  We ventured to Six Flags together.  The guys enjoyed some thrill rides while Marcia, the kids and I stuck together in the mild sections of the park.  It was like our old times together before they moved....sniff, sniff.

 The Hires Home...gorgeous inside and out!

Dessert together after a wonderful dinner!

 Six Flags Amusement Park...all spooky for Halloween.

"Driving" Audrey and Lauren around!  He was a careful driver; no tickets or accidents!

 Time to get out of the helicopter....

 ....and into a PINK teacup!  Ha ha.

 Chocolate ice cream + white pants = risky business, Lauren!

 Audrey and her ice cream!

 "This is not a thrill ride, Mom."

"Neither is the merry-go-round..."

Jack got his BELOVED Spiderman hoodie souvenir at Six Flags!  (Teacher said he can't wear the hood in school, though!  Ha ha.)

Now........BOSTON in all its glory!

Beautiful Brownstones of Boston. 

Fenway Park-- we didn't get a tour.

Those Red Sox have won many World Series!

We rode the "Beantown Trolley...."

....and the Boston "T."

Harvard.

Spidey resurfaces at Harvard!

We enjoyed the "T" subway again!

One of Harvard's old burial grounds.  Old cemeteries are all over in Boston.

The Harvard Museum of Natural History was a highlight!

"Hmmmm......what's that SMELL?"

Big cats!

Bird, Bird, Bird....

....The Bird is the WORD!

Jack and his camera, behind him an ENORMOUS sea creature....probably the one that swallowed Jonah!

And he never went to the dentist?

Amethyst

Spikey things-- no idea what they were.

A one-man band in Harvard Square.  Lots of "free spirits" there.

On to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts....

Andy Warhol's silkscreen print of Jacqueline Kennedy.

There were many ancient mummies!

The exterior of the museum.

Amazing!  Ancient Hittite drinking cup in the shape of a fist.  From Old Testament times!

Greek sculpture of Homer.

The ceiling in the rotunda.

Another ancient Greek or Roman sculpture.  ____________?

Vincent Van Gogh.

Claude Monet's Waterlilies.

Bronze head of Christ.

The beautiful Trinity Catholic Church, right along with the sky-scrapers.

We went on a Duck Boat Tour!  Land and Sea Vehicles from WWII.  It was awesome!

One of the USA's oldest firehouses.  Ladder 33.  Note the small rounded garage doors!  Great pic from a moving Duck Boat on the road!

The Duck Boat is now in the waters of the Charles River.

Jack had an opportunity to drive the Duck Boat on the Charles River!

Guess all of that pontoon boat driving at Grandpa Earl's really paid off!

Just lovin' it!

At the JFK Library.  (My happy place!)

They re-created the early 1960's.

Artifacts galore!

Pictures, too.  I bought a souvenir black and white matted photo of Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy!

Now at the New England Aquarium. Unfortunately, their main attraction (huge spiraling center tank) was CLOSED for renovation.

So we saw jellies,

 anemones,

an UGLY eel,

and yes...those delicious things we know as scallops actually look like THIS!

Now for the Historical Sites in Boston....

We saw the site of the Boston Massacre.  March 5, 1770.  The beginning of tensions that lead to the Revolutionary War.

Many historical sites are on the "Freedom Trail," which we walked, and walked, and WALKED!

This is the Old State House.  The Boston Massacre occurred in front of its balcony.  Every July 4th, they read the Declaration of Independence here.

Inside the Old South Meeting House.  In December of 1773, 5,000 men and planned the Boston Tea Party, in protest of the British tax on tea.

Benjamin Franklin's Birthplace is marked.

A very old tomb.

Paul Revere's tomb.  

Franklin's Tomb.

The Boston Public Library is America's first library and is wonderfully elaborate!

How many other libraries look like THIS inside?

The beautiful Trinity Catholic Church.

The Charles River.

The State Capital Building.  (The news trucks must have been there to cover our visit!)

The Freedom Trail is marked by red bricks all throughout Boston.  It's a path you can follow to all of the major historical sites.

Inside the Old North Church.  This is where the patriots hung lanterns for just under 1 minute to alert Paul Revere and the militia of whether the British were approaching by land or by sea.  Two lanterns were hung which meant they approached by sea.

Outside of Paul Revere's House.

Paul Revere owned this home from 1770-1780.  No pictures were allowed inside.

Boston's North End.

Incredible Italian Restaurant in the North End, where we enjoyed a family-style dinner with the warmest of hosts and servers.  Family owned and operated.

Another beautiful restaurant.


In closing, we enjoyed a fantastic time in the East Coast and feel very blessed to have been able to take this trip!  And, we took so many pictures, you probably feel like you were there with us (except for the aching feet)!