Compton Girls' Visit!

 My dear friend Lisa and her girls, Eliana and Rebecca, came for a long weekend to take in Boston in the fall......"have you ever seen Boston in the fall?"

The weather held for the visit and hurricane Sandy even left some of the beautiful colors on the trees to enhance the visit for the girls.  We enjoyed weather in the 50's while exploring the Freedom Trail.

 All the girls enjoyed a fun day at the New England Aquarium and also took in a IMAX movie called "Under the Sea".

 Above is a picture of the girls aboard the USS Constitution which is the actual ship that sits in Navy Yard adjacent to Bunker Hill.  The ship is so fascinating and a "must see" if you are taking in the US history while you are here.

We had to have our famous picture of our visitors on the steps in Newton! (Never mind the sea animals the girls are holding from the aquarium).

 Before we left for Boston, the Comptons' gave us the book, "Make Way for the Ducklings" which takes place in the Public Garden of Boston, MA.  The statues int he garden are a popular attraction for all the kids.

And there just so happen to be a balloon artist in the garden and guess where he was from????
Bloomington, MN.  How crazy!

Happy Halloween-2012

 Each year there is a lot of discussion leading up to Halloween as to what costume the kids are interested in wearing for the night of gathering the unnecessary candy.  This year the costumes were taken care of primarily by their dad.

Carter got his spider man costume months ago after talking about it daily and insisting on shopping for it back at the beginning of September.  Taylor has a hard time making decisions, so Mike helped her decide on the pirate girl and we both thought it was perfect for our strong little Taylor.

Hailey's costume was a big secret for about a week until it arrived via FED-EX on our front step.  She wanted to surprise me and she was right:  I would never guess she was going to be a Woopie Cushion!

Hurricane Sandy 2012

Satellite view of Hurricane Sandy on Monday, Oct. 29, 2012.

Hailey's version of being a storm reporter

Fall 2012 Newton MA

 These are a few of the trees along the walk we take the girls to school each morning.  The colors are so very impressive!  I am guessing that the beauty will be stripped away with the anticipated arrival of Hurricane Sandy on the east coast.

We left Minnesota exactly 4 months ago.  We left Minnesota very anxious and full of uncertainty of whether or not we were making the right choice of moving the entire family for one year was a good idea.

Well, I guess I would like to give a sort of "state of the Miedemas'" address.

Carter:  Carter has officially grown up.  He loves going to school and has big, mature thought running through his brain.  He misses his best buddy Isaac next door and really wants to be with boys and his daddy.  He wore his baseball pants most of the summer and now has moved on to football.  He asks to play "running catch" over and over and falls almost every time even though most of the dives are unnecessary. He is starting a basketball camp and soccer camp next week and is really excited that he has a coach.  His favorite toys continue to be batman, spiderman, imaginext guys, and legos.  He loves watching Scooby Doo, Tom & Jerry, and Spiderman.  He continues to be completely uninterested in writing, coloring, and drawing.  We continue to struggle to have him stay in his bed every night so we have now started a chart for him to earn a Batman Castle with 20 stickers earned by stay in his bed all night.  Carter has met a nice boy at church that he has a play date most Wednesday mornings.  Carter has handled the move very very well, but does ask to go back to Minnesota about once per week.  I just filled out registration for him to start kindergarten next year!!! Sniff.
Taylor:  Taylor has grown in confidence and in stature.   She gets mistaken for Hailey's twin sister frequently and it is not only because of her height but because she is able to keep up with the big kids with  most everything.  Her most favorite thing to do these days are hand stands, bridges, and cart wheels.  Pretty much any open space is view as a chance for some type of gymnastic move.  Taylor's biggest news is that her reading has just starting to take off in the past couple of weeks.  She still does not love to read, but now at least it is no longer a struggle for her.  She is doing really well at school and has made friends very easily.  She is always full of fire and loves any type of competition from card games to races.  She loves to be in charge and thrives when I can put her in charge of some sort of task around the house and is always able to complete it with confidence.  She is very nervous about the hurricane.  Taylor misses her best buddies Kylie and Jaclyn back home.
Hailey:  Hailey has been blessed by a teacher this school year that loves literature, fun games, acting, and silliness.  She has transitioned into the school with ease.  We started piano lessons again here with a Russian woman that studied in Moscow.  At first she hated lessons because they jumped a level in intensity but she now is very proud of some of the pieces that she struggled through and now has conquered.  She also has taken up flute lessons through the school.  She is in the very early stages with the flute and is easily frustrated.  I personally quite thankful that it is a relatively quiet instrument.
Hailey has recently started reading the Harry Potter series which has resulted in late bedtimes.  Her mind loves fantasy.  Hailey is an excellent older sister and although she doesn't excel in taking responsibility of picking up or staying organized, she often is playing legos with Carter and putting on shows with Taylor with to me is invaluable!
Overall the kids have thrived with the move.  I wonder sometimes if it would be different if we were not moving back.  The kids are well aware of the fact that this is temporary and are certainly making the best of it!
Mike:  Mike has been very pleased with all of his requirements and obligations thus far.  The medical system and the resources available to him here are extremely impressive.  His classes at the school of public health have been very enlightening and well staffed with great presentations.  His research has been moving along very well.  He has 5 papers sort of "in the works" right now and is also taking his cardiology board exam this coming Thursday and Friday.  Next week he is presenting his research at the AHA convention out in LA.
Mike's biggest complaint here is the complexity of the logistics of getting from point A to B with transportation and parking.  He also has filled out more paperwork than you could imagine for him to practice medicine here and acquire credentials for access.
 Me:  I would have to admit that I have handled to move with the least amount of grace in the family.  I do a lot of worrying about the kids and their transitions that I forgot to worry about my own.  My favorite times have been preparing for our visitors and then hosting them.  I love feeling like we run a bed and breakfast out on the East Coast.  The traveling and the sites that we have been able to see have been an incredible opportunity and I know that I will cherish the memories that we have made with our family.

The Brill Visit!

 Scott, Cheryl, Cameron, and Mitchell used their MEA weekend to come explore Boston and stay with us at the Miedema Motel.  We were once again blessed with fabulous New England weather and good company to show off the beautiful city and its character.

 This is a photo of downtown Boston from the harbor off of Long Wharf.  We took a harbor cruise over to see the USS Constitution.  What an incredible battle ship that they have preserved.  They sail it once a year on the 4th of July and fire cannons.  It rests in the harbor right next to Bunker Hill.

 We made a day trip up to Ogunquit, ME to walk the Marginal Way and climb some rocks.  This time it was incredibly foggy and the sea was restless.  10 foot waves coming in and crashing into the rocks.

I love this trail and little town.

I love this picture of the group with the mystical fog along the coast in the middle of the day.

After walking the Marginal Way we enjoyed some lobster and clam chowder at Barnicle Billys

Mitchell and Hailey at the New England Aquarium

Odds and Ends

 In between all of our wonderful visitors, we have been busy with school, homework, and music.  Hailey has recently taken up the flute at school.  She has practice with the band teacher every Friday.  Carter likes music and seems to have pretty good rhythm and desires a drum set in the near future: scary.

 Above: the kids on school picture day

 Every Wednesday when Carter isn't at preschool we have Ryan and Ella from church over for a play date.

Carter

 Recently the kids discovered the opportunity of rock climbing at the YMCA.  It is pretty scary to watch!  The first time only Carter made it to the top to ring the bell; I think the reality of falling did not cross his mind.  However, the girls were fully aware of how high they were off the ground and only made it half way up before stopping.  They did go all the way up their second attempt.

 Taylor

Hailey

Jeremy, Leanne, and Cullen Visit

 Jeremy, Leanne, and Cullen arrived last Friday night at the Miedema Motel in Boston.

They said they were here to visit us, but we knew better: Leanne is a big time Patriots fan and Tom Brady was taking on Peyton Manning at Gillette Stadium Sunday evening.

 We took them to all our favorite sites in Boston.  The kids couldn't get enough of Cullen!

Thanks to our favorite cousin, Heidi from Rhode Island, we were able to have an adult night out to Little Italy.

Sight seeing in Boston with the family of eight!  Poor Leanne.

Like I said: It was non-stop fun with Cullen!

Grandma and Grandpa Visit!

 My parents arrived in Boston last Thursday to start of the whirl wind tour of the best that New England had to offer them in 8 days.  I think we did a pretty good job showing off the East coast!

 The day after they arrived, we drove south to New Haven, Connecticut and relaxed in a hotel to get set for New York City the next morning.  Our previous trip to NY had some significant glitches and we were set and ready to take on New York once again.  This was my parents first time to the Big Apple and it did not disappoint.  We drove down to Broadway and arrived by 10am on Saturday morning and already New York was bustling with activity.  The kids wanted to go and explore everything that we saw in lights!!

 We then took the subway down to Battery Park.  The above picture is of Taylor and Grandma on the subway.  After arriving in Battery Park we took the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty;  seeing it for the first time up close is pretty cool.

 The next stop off of the ferry was at Ellis island (pictured below).  Hours and hours could be spent at Ellis Island reading the stories of immigrants across the world arriving there in hopes of making a better life for their family.

 Below is the 9/11 Memorial.  The two pools of the twin towers are a powerful symbol of what went down that morning.  We also heard that visiting it at night was pretty cool.

Back in Boston we went to the JFK Library and to the New England Aquarium.

The kids love touching the sting rays just a bit too much...........

Family night out to Little Italy

 The Public Gardens

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After taking in much of what Boston has to offer with its history, we decided that the trip wouldn't be complete without at trip up to Maine.  

Maine is never quite complete without some Lobster