Anatomy of Patriot's Day

Today is Patriot's Day in Massachusetts. A state holiday commemorating the onset of the American Revolution which happened right around our area. Many local communities have parades or war reenactments on this day. Our town had Paul Revere and William Dawes reenactors traveling through it on horseback as they followed the path they originally rode back in 1875.

We gathered at the town hall for snacks, crafts, and colonial music as we awaited the riders. S made some big welcome signs and J really enjoyed watching the horses.

Afterward we cooled off with some delicious ice cream!

Soccer Star

S gave up ballet this year and instead wanted to try her hand (or foot, rather) at the game of soccer. She waited all winter and finally had her first soccer practice today. Thankfully she was on a team with at least 3 other newbies. She had a blast and enjoyed every minute of it. I enjoyed watching as did J, who was quite the enthusiastic cheerleader for S. A couple times I had to run after him though because he wanted to go see S on the field!

Only a few times during the scrimmage did I hear the coach yell, "Kick it the other way, Sydney!" Toward the end of the game she finally figured it out! Although no score is officially kept in her age's league, S kept score. Her team was certainly outplayed by 8 to 2. Guess the blue team didn't have any newbies on it...

Easter Highlights

We all had a great time on Easter, especially since S&J had their Grandma and Grandpa visiting.

S&J opening their Easter baskets!

S enjoying cotton candy after church!

Our church puts on a HUGE Easter celebration party every year. This year was no exception and even had a little petting zoo! The kids got to hold bunnies, pet baby goats and sheep, AND little chicks and ducklings (see below!) It was the best little petting zoo!

The ducklings.


Oh, and there were pony rides, too :) I think the kids learned that there is a great reason to celebrate on Easter - He is Risen!!

After church we went to Nathan's parent's house in Newburyport for dinner. J found a Jesus figure and had quite a lot of fun playing with it and Lightening McQueen - I think Jesus and McQueen became very good friends that day :)

Gami and Papi planned an outdoor Easter egg hunt for all the kids. J had a good time!

Easter chick cake pops - yummy AND cute :)

Our 2 favorite little bunnies (S&J that is, not the kid on the left - don't know him at all, but I'm sure he's some one's favorite bunny!)

Grandma and Grandpa Come to Visit

A couple weeks back my parents came out to visit with us. As usual we were busy, took lots of pictures and now I have a lot of catching up to do on our blog! I'll try to keep to the highlights of the week.

S&J with Grandma and Grandpa after the Easter egg hunt in Arlington.

J during the "hunt" - as you can see there are actually no eggs, just candy sprawled out over the field!

S was not afraid of the Big Bunny like J was so she posed for a picture. Interestingly J was at this same park a week later and said he didn't want to see the Big Bunny again! What a memory!



J loves helping to make coffees in our Dolce Gusto machine - a barista in the making, I think!

One day we went into Boston to visit the North End and see Paul Revere's House and the Old North Church.

The kids really had fun walking the Freedom Trail! Afterwards we had a yummy Italian lunch at a cozy restaurant! It was a beautiful albeit a bit chilly day!

Landscape Changing Political Moment

No, I'm not referring to Rick Santorum's decision to suspend his race for the GOP nomination for president. Those of you who weren't following last night's election returns live on ACMI might not have realized that I was fortunate enough to be elected as a representative from my precinct to Town Meeting.

First off, I'd like to thank my wife - who collected the majority of signatures to help me get on the ballot, and probably had more to do with any intentional (more on that later) votes in my favor than anyone else.

Second, I'd like to thank the Town Clerk in my town, for placing me squarely in the middle of the ballot. I'm sure it's no coincidence that the woman who wasn't elected in my precinct had the unfortunate luck of the draw to be placed second from the bottom of the page.

Third, I'd like to thank all those who contributed to my Super PAC Fight the Future. Thanks to your generous contributions, we were able to make significant ad buys in the relevant markets to saturate the airwaves with advertising.

I'm proud to have waged a clean campaign - and I'm sure it was clean, because it was entirely non-existent. I have no particular ideology heading into Town Meeting, and unfortunately the list of agenda items this year looks pretty mundane - no exciting and polarizing issues like "pay as you throw garbage" or "expanded off leash dog hours" on the agenda as in previous years. But, we'll see what this experience of local politics is like and decide whether to run again next year.