Aloha, Boston

Steve and Camille are moving to Dallas as soon as they sell their house. Dave and I are delighted that they'll be closer to SLC (19 hours by car, one short leg of a plane flight). We are grieving, though, that we won't visit Boston as frequently. Instead of saying goodbye to Boston, after our May 4-9 visit, we softened it to "Aloha," or "See you later."

Our first surprise, in visiting Lisa or Camille, is always how much the kids have grown and changed. Quiet, proper Mia is now quite the ham, posing for the camera as if it were an old friend.

Ezra ran to put on his favorite outfit to show me--the leather vest that his father, Steve, wore as a little boy.

Dave and I took Mia and Ezra to Friendly's for lunch and ice cream.

Ezra, at 4, can already find his way through the mazes printed on his kiddie placemat.

"Make mine mac'n'cheese."

Camille and Emilie joined us for sundaes.

Camille then deputized Steve as babysitter.

Dave, Camille, and I drove into downtown Boston to visit the Museum of Fine Art.

We were delighted with the Chihuly exhibit of huge, blown glass installations, which reminded us of Seattle/Tacoma, where Chihuly is headquartered and blown glass is a major art form.

We also loved the new American Wing.

We visited its three floors of art of the Americas, from Precolumbian artifacts to the world's finest collection of portraits by Revolutionary War era artist John Copley, to works by Whistler and Sargent.

We hurried home for Emilie's choir concert. The middle school group took high honors during a recent competition in New York City.

Camille, Dave, and I spent all day Friday visiting Block Island, in Long Island Sound, as Steve again supervised the kids. We took a ferry from the Rhode Island coast to Block Island, a remoter version of Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket.

The Block Island shore was dominated by quaint hotels and shops.

Of course, we needed mopeds for an island circle tour.

We passed picturesque lighthouses...

summer homes with their brambles, wood porches, and rock walls...

and stunning coastal views.

So many moments were camera-worthy.

We spent the evening in Providence, Rhode Island, enjoying the quaint Italian quarter with its restaurants and Renaissance chapel and tower.

We ate supper at Al Forno's, a gourmet Italian restaurant with a purple ceiling and a great view across the river to renovated factory buildings.

Camille ordered me the Al Forno Cookbook for Mother's Day and pledged me to share the recipe for tomato and sausage sauce.

On Saturday, Dave, Steve, and Camille attended the kids' games while I spent personal time with all the kids who had birthdays since I last visited. Ezra spent his birthday money at Learning Express on toy airplanes and bubble-blowing machines...

with we made yet another visit to Friendly's for ice cream and mazes.

Sophia bought a purple outfit at the American Girl store, as well as earrings for her doll. What would my thrifty mother think, I asked myself, seeing me spending good money for doll earrings? I answered my own question: the purpose of birthday money is to buy dreams, and if doll earrings do that for the birthday girl, they're financeable.

Sophia chose peanut butter cheesecake for her treat.

I made the trek back to the American Girl store again with Annelise, who also wanted some doll earrings...

as well as orange chicken, pad thai, and mango lassi in the multi-ethnic mall food court.

Emilie chose shorts, shirts, and blue nail polish from Delia's and Old Navy, and a frozen yogurt sundae.

Back home, the Real Men had fixed a dinner of Grandpa's famous hamburgers and corn on the cob.

On Sunday afternoon, after Church, we drove north for a picnic at Halibut State Park on Cape Ann.

We then drove to picturesque Rockport, where we huddled in a pastry shop on this chilly day for fruit crisp.

When we got home, there was still time for Camille to bake and frost a birthday cake for Annelise.

Before our plane left on Monday afternoon, we hiked with Camille, Sophia, Ezra, and Mia through a state park near the Ebert home.

We ate lunch at the Wayside Inn (lobster mac'n'cheese for me, a local specialty)...

before saying, "Aloha."