Apparently the cardinals have elected a new pope because the word is
that there’s white smoke coming from the chimney and the bells are
ringing.
CNN has a “Vatican Smoke Cam” so we can keep up to date on the status of the smoke.
Sphere: Related Content(it looks like my mail server at work failed to send this in a timely fashion. Its from Thursday 4/14)
Liz wants to know what I’d like to do with the upcoming 3-day weekend.
I said “mulch”.
She knows this will be a half-day at least.
She wanted to know what else I had in mind.
“Stain”
I have to stain the swingset, adirondack rockers, table & picnic
table. I figure that should pretty much suck up a good chunk of two
days. But its a three-day weekend and I should probably figure out what
to do with that last day. I mean, it doesn’t HAVE to suck up that much
time, but it COULD suck up that much time — if I really milk it.
Fish?
Ride bikes?
The GPS mount came in so I can put that on — cool. Also, bicycle-bag,
patch kit, wrenches and airpump arrived from REI. I’m still not sure
how to attach the pump to the frame of the bike. Tiny bungees? If Ben
is feeling better I’m certain we’ll go out for a ride wherever he
wants. Maybe the woods? The weather is supposed to be beautiful.
Maybe we’ll go see the Boston Marathon or the “Shot Heard Round The World” re-enactment?
Sphere: Related ContentThe weekend went very well. My
mother-in-law is visiting. The weather was outstanding so we spent the
weekend out and about doing things. On Sunday we went to Endicott Park
in Danvers where the kids enjoyed climbing and playing with all the
other kids who showed up. Ben has seemed a little down lately. He says
nothing is bothering him but he doesn’t seem to have the usual snap in
his step.
We had lunch out and enjoyed it. Everyone was good.
Afterwards we swung by Brooksby Farm and visited the animals briefly.
Finally we stopped by Northeastern Nursery where Liz got a bunch of
pansies. When we got home she planted them while the kids played
outside. She wound up squirting the kids with the hose — they loved
it. In fact, even the neighbor-kid, Jessie, ran inside and got his suit
on so Liz would drench him. After a while me and Ben went for a short
bicycle ride downtown and cruised around by the library and over by the
Bebe school. It was a nice ride but we didn’t have very long — it was
getting late.
Yesterday we went to Gloucester, MA — “Stage Fort
Park” specifically. Although it was warm the trees still haven’t gotten
their leaves. Everything looked kind of desolate. The kids loved the
playground and then we went down to the beach to see what treasures we
could turn up. Grace has been asking for months to go to the beach, so
she was thrilled to be able to play in the sand. All the kids played in
the sand and got their feet wet and had a very good time.
Afterwards
we did a quick loop around Cape Ann to Rockport, MA. We had an
outstanding lunch at “The Greenery” and spent some time on Bearskin
Neck looking at shops that were almost open. The kids got to buy some
special candy at a candy-store. We drove the rest of the way around
Cape Ann and then made our way home again. By the time we got home it
was nearly 3pm!
I found a place to take a nap and focused on
napping for a little while but eventually I got up and did some chores.
The kids played video games and watched some kid-TV.
We watched
“I, Robot” last night. Fun movie. I liked it. It was better than “King
Arthur” (2004) and “I heart Huckabees” that Liz and her mother had
rented. Clearly, I picked the winner.
Incidentally, the new
camera is outstanding! It takes better and clearer photos than the
elph. Its an interesting camera to operate because it offers so many
more choices than the standard point-and-shoot. It has so many more
capabilities and produces such brilliant photos. I’ll have to post one
Chloe took of a purple pansy that came out beautifully. Also, its very
easy to take a photo of Chloe where she looks terrific. She’s very
photogenic. I took one yesterday where she looks much older than five.
I’ll post some examples.
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