mummies, fire alarms, and the MFA

On Memorial Day, we took advantage of the free day at the MFA. After a lovely breakfast of waffles and a homemade blueberry sauce courtesy of Brett and Emily, the four of us hopped on the green line and made our way to the museum.

I was most excited about the Egypt exhibit, which had been extended through June 27 due to popular demand.

Brett and Emily breezed through the exhibit and then headed out to a picnic they'd promised to attend. We, however, took our time. Ian and I are both slow museum people, stopping to read almost everything and take photos (the MFA allows non-flash photography in most exhibits).

The Secrets of the Tomb 10A was very engaging, telling the story of the culture and showcasing some amazing art. It's fascinating to see what the culture valued and what they believed. It was all very connected to the physical — a painted door in the sarcophagus allowed the spirit to come and go from it's mummified body, and symbolic food, supplies and servants in the tomb sustained the spirit. Spells written all over the interior of the tomb were oriented so the mummy could read them. I also was intrigued that tomb robbers would burn the tombs behind them — if the body was destroyed, the spirit couldn't come after them in retribution. Even the people who were very concerned about their material lives wanted to cover their bases.

We avoided spending money at the exhibit's gift shop, but couldn't resist seeing our (last) name in hieroglyphics for only $1.

We headed downstairs for the cheaper-than-the-ground-floor-cafe cafeteria and enjoyed our food outside in the courtyard. Just as we were finishing up, alarms began to sound and a a security lady ushered everyone through the museum and out to the front drive.

We still don't know what happened - no fire trucks showed up at the front entrance (we can't say regarding the back). But they eventually let us back in, and we continued, starting with the Asian galleries and continuing across time and space.

The building and galleries are beautiful, and I love that everywhere you turn, you're surrounded by incredible art in every form and culture imaginable. We covered a lot of ground but still only saw a fraction of the museum. Many exhibits change quite often, and they're adding an Art of the Americas wing, which opens November 2010. The 3+ visits we'd have to make for a membership to pay for itself no longer seem like a lot.

Of course, we also can take advantage of the free community days (the next is July 30) and the discounted passes through the Boston Public Library. Paying $5 instead of $20 (i.e. $10 vs. $40 for us) would be worth the pit stop. No library card? Admission on Wednesday evenings after 4 p.m. is by voluntary contribution (suggested $20). If you do pay full price (and maybe even if you don't?), admission includes a free repeat visit within 10 days, making each visit only $10 - and you can feel good about supporting the arts.

The MFA is definitely a museum we'll be visiting again — feel free to join us!

For more photos, click here — and any help identifying some of the artwork is much appreciated!

happy birthday, Ian!

Help make Ian's birthday wish come true — read about his charity:water campaign, then donate — every little bit helps!

mycharitywater.org/ian24250

we shop at Trader Joe's part 2

When you bring your own bag to Trader Joe's, you are eligible to enter the b.y.o.b. raffle that happens every so often.

The other day, Ian got a call from Trader Joe's. He won. His ridiculous good luck is why I can't competitively play board games with him. But it makes me want to send him grocery shopping with our bags more often.

At work, several people noted they've been entering for years and have never won. Needless to say, he got more dirty looks than congratulations, but we're happy to share the prize package with all of you!

• reusable canvas bag
• box of Joe's O's
• Joe coffee — medium roast
• jar of peach halves
• snack packs of dry-roasted unsalted almonds
• red pepper spread with eggplant and garlic
• crunchy & salted valencia peanut butter with roasted flaxseeds
• deli-style spicy brown mustard
• dried sweetened hibiscus flowers (similar to fruit roll-ups in taste and texture)

The night Ian entered the eventual winning ticket was stressful: getting home late, everything going wrong. He rode his bike to pick up last minute dinner ingredients while carrying two bags of bottles to recycle. Winning made that day a little better in retrospect. So thanks, Trader Joe's!

a day on Spectacle Island

Taking advantage of the three-day Memorial weekend, we took a Saturday trip to Spectacle Island, part of the Boston Harbor Islands. Spectacle Island has been home to Native Americans, a quarantine hospital, horse rendering factory, and city landfill. Most recently, the city used fill from the Big Dig to reclaim the island, turning it into a beautiful national park.

A lot of science goes into capping a landfill to make it safe for visitors and the ocean, which is detailed in the visitors center. In keeping with the eco-friendly nature of the project, they have composting toilets (which aren't smelly — it's amazing!), and solar panels to charge electric vehicles.

We packed a picnic and took the 10 a.m. ferry to the island, which was a lovely 25 minute ride. From there, it's hard to describe, so I'll just show you.

We give the experience a hearty endorsement. For you Kansans, it felt like a bit of the Konza prairie with a beach and surrounded by ocean. Just a quick trip from downtown, and you're in a beautiful natural landscape. It's like the prairie, but with things like jellyfish and seashells thrown in the mix. For those of you visiting this summer, we might drag you out to the harbor: you're warned.

For more photos, click here.

an impromptu weekend: grown-up prom + little kids

A few weekends ago, we didn't plan anything. And had tons of fun.

Friday, we received a last-minute invite to ¡Club TropiCaliente! from Brett and Emily. The non-profit marketing firm where Emily works purchased a table for this Hurley School fundraiser, but didn't have enough people to fill the seats. Emily said free food. We said yes.

Agreeing to meet at Copley gave Ian and I a little time to kill after work, so we people-watched and were fascinated by this little boy playing in the fountain. His parents kept reminding him not to drink the water.

His laps around the edges kept us entertained until Brett and Emily arrived, then we headed to the venue.

At the check-in table, we discovered we were not appropriately dressed for the theme. There were several cross dressers and a lady who looked like Angela from The Office wearing a costume similar to the Chaquita Banana lady.

We also discovered we didn't have the cash to win anything at the silent auction — our $40 bids were very quickly overtaken. But we did enjoy the very believable Cuba-circa-1950s feel, the sweet band, and the incredible latin-style passed hors d'oeuvres, particularly the sliders with manchego cheese and the yuca fries. We may or may not have followed the servers around for a good portion of the night.

With the outfits, the music, the Latin dancing, and the food, the whole thing felt like prom for grown-ups. Which seemed fitting since there was also a prom that night at the Fairmont Copley Plaza. We already had seen large clusters of teenagers dressed up and in crazy vehicles (ex.: "the party bus" and stretch hummers) hanging out the windows screaming things like, "whoo prom!"

But back to TropiCaliente. Most of the people there were parents of elementary kids, and we laughed about the reactions we imagined their kids would have if they saw their parents at "the club" dancing the samba in a prom dress with a hairy man in drag.

The next day, we wandered around our neighborhood and caught a little kids' soccer tournament. My favorite moment is the little girl playing in the dirt while her daddy coaches the team.

Also notable — the little boy who got excited when a ladybug landed on his arm, only to look crestfallen when it flew away in time for him to focus on the start of the second quarter.

Little kids are fascinating. Their sense of wonder. Their imagination. Their drive to learn and explore. Their unabashed fearlessness. They wear their hearts on their sleeves, never worried about tact or the "proper" response.

When do we learn to be guarded? Why does it take something like an elaborate fundraiser for us to be silly and transparent? To play dress up, to pretend?

This weekend, you can find me in the park on a swing blowing bubbles.

the tall one graduates

Three weekends ago we flew home to watch my youngest/tallest brother graduate high school. I feel so old/short!

We flew in Friday morning. As we got off the plane, Ian pointed out that although it was only 10 a.m. local time we'd already been up for 10 hours. Ian's mom graciously picked us up at the airport, and after lunch at Noodles & Co., we spent the drive catching up while Ian passed out in the back seat. When we got to the Mini Max (i.e. Ian's house), Ian promptly forced me to put my newly acquired pinochle skills to use. Grandma Judy was so kind as to assist me in the finer strategy of the game, and Ian and I managed to do quite well.

We also met Ming, the newest family member, who is potentially narcoleptic, and slightly cross-eyed in the endearing sort of way.

Pfluff was still a little put out by her new little brother, but I'm happy to report she's now very attached to him.

After some tasty burgers, we headed the final 50 minutes to the Cornell House to stay with my family. The next morning was filled with lots of post-graduation party preparation, and Ian and I were part of the contingency to go early and save seats. Which also meant we got to watch the slideshow and see this.

The ceremony was short and sweet (30 minutes — what's not to love?).

And Caleb was happy.

At the reception, we munched on shrimp cocktail pizza and kropek (chicharap at Chowking), and admired all of Caleb's accomplishments (we won't even discuss how much scholarship money he's raking in).

After cleaning up, we headed out to Colonial for a joint family dinner: 4 parents, 3 brothers, 2 grandmas, 1 aunt, and us. We discussed the special agent who came from Kansas City to investigate a case at Dad's office as well as Nathan's puffy face (the next week he found out it was a staph infection which is now all better). But you can't tell so much, right?

Sunday was church and a potluck, followed by an intense family game of Pit. The point of the game is to trade with other players to collect all the cards of one commodity. Dad decided to be mischievous and collect one of each commodity ("diversify!"), so no one could win until he traded one of his cards.

We headed back to the Mini Max so we wouldn't have to wake up quite so early to catch our flight Monday morning. We also squeezed in a little more family/cat time before heading back to Boston. In our 6+ months of living halfway across the country from the rest of our families, we've learned to cherish the time we do get to spend with them (and to not envy a jetsetting lifestyle: it isn't as glamorous as it sounds).

For more photos, click here.

cheering on Team Scrappy

On Sunday, May 9, we woke up much earlier than usual to join Emily and Brooke as they cheered on their hubbies (a.k.a. Team Scrappy) in their first triathlon of the season. And despite having a large proportion of friends who are triathletes, this was the first time we've actually attended one. It was a cold and enlightening experience.

After waiting around a bit and trying to stay warm by dancing to the customary pop/rock remixes with DJ, we headed towards the lake to snag a prime viewing location. They separated the swimmers into their groups, gave some modified directions for the course, then released the elite group, which is the blob of splashing in the photo below.

We found out later that they had to modify the triathlon to run-bike-run for the following, less experienced groups due to the waves and water temperature. Even with wet suits, the guys were frozen.

After Team Scrappy made it out of the water, we dashed to a spot where we could see them on both the bike and run before heading to cheer them on at the finish line.

Brett came in first and Gered won his division — not a bad showing for their first race. Of course, they are training for Olympic-length triathlons, so this recreational race was a breeze.

Thanks Brett and Emily, for inviting us to come — we had a blast and Ian enjoyed getting to drive the ZipCar back (sometimes he misses driving). And congratulations to Team Scrappy!

For more photos, click here.

we shop at Trader Joe's

Because on top of great prices and healthy options, this sign is so true.

Happy helpful employees really do make a difference!