July 2011: After returning fron Taipei, it took Aurora (and Kathy) more than a week to get over the jetlag. This meant
long afternoon naps and waking up in the middle of the night. Aurora was often up and ready to start her day by
4 or 5 am! We tried our best to keep her busy until 1 or 2 pm, then let her nap until dinnertime. In the
evenings, we found that if we kept her up late, it allowed her to sleep in a little later the next morning.
Some of the activities this month included a carnival in town, a visit to the Franklin Park Zoo, playing at the
Children's Museum, meeting up with friends for picnic dinners, and going to art museums. Aurora visited
the DeCordova Sculpture Garden, the Peabody-Essex Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts in July. She is
becoming quite a cultured young lady!
July 16, 2011: The Saint Mary of Carmine Society has an annual carnival in Newton. We took advantage of it
two nights in a row to
help keep Aurora awake and excited (and hopefully uncranky) until late in the evening. She definitely remembered
some of the rides from last year. The only drawback? Going at night meant the music was much louder - sometimes
too loud for Aurora. You can see her with her hands over her ears in many of the photos.
Here she is riding the Crazy Bus with Baba!
On the carousel with Mama.
The Dragon Coaster is another favorite from last year.
Video: Dragon Coaster!
On the carousel again, this time with Baba.
Video: Bounce House
Video: Giant Slide!
Another trip around the Dragon Coaster, and then some fried dough before finally heading home.
July 17, 2011: Swimming at the Walnut Hill Pool. Aurora is so comfortable in the water this year!
Video: Turning
Video: I'm going to get you, Baba!
Video: Floating in the big ring
After swimming, Jon and Aurora like to go to Five Guys for burgers (and fries, of course).
After a nap, Aurora is ready to go again! Here she is showing off her new dance moves.
Video: Dancing 1
Video: Dancing 2
Video: Dancing 3
July 19, 2011: We take a trip to the Franklin Park Zoo that morning. Aurora is lucky and gets to
see the lion and one of the tigers up close shortly after the Zoo opens.
Video: Roar!
There's always time to goof around at the Zoo!
Aurora learns that on a hot summer day, a lot of things in the sun are too hot to sit on. Luckily, the carousel is
still cool (she got the twiga!) and so are the safari cars.
It is also cool inside the Butterfly House and on the train ride. About halfway through the ride, one of the
rear tires got a flat. The driver took off that car, and had everyone squeeze into the remaining seats. Aurora
clearly remembers that happening (she still talks about it), even though she fell asleep on the train shortly afterwards.
July 21, 2011: Happy 5th Anniversary Mama & Baba! We had our traditional family dinner at Minado. This year,
we had to pay for Aurora's meal (the drawbacks to having a tall kid). Aurora took this photo for us.
July 21, 2011: Free Friday Fun at the Peabody-Essex Museum! Aurora enjoys the exhibit about water and the children's
room. Whenever we walked into any of the other rooms, Aurora
would take a quick glance at the art displayed and promptly tell me
that she didn't like the art in the room and could we please go to see another room.
Video: Wrench xylophone
Another photo by Aurora.
July 23, 2011: Off to the Children's Museum this morning. The advantage to being a member is we get to go
early, before it gets too crowded. Aurora hits the jackpot in the golf ball room!
Video: Ding?
Video: Ding!
Aurora and Jon build a castle from cups, then she models the aprons before heading into the bubble room.
Video: Experimenting
There was a special exhibit about the Wizard of Oz.
Video: Talking tree 1
Video: Tornado!
Video: Munchkin talk
Video: Talking tree 2
Aurora was a little scared of the wizard.
Video: The man behind the curtain
She was happy to give Baba a haircut.
Video: Steel drums
Aurora is learning to be a Boston driver.
Video: Wild ride
Video: Carnival walk
Jon and Aurora work on finishing a structure started by others. She made the red walkway and fixed the roof.
Driving a Bobcat is always fun!
Aurora makes her stage debut as "Patsy Pig" in The Three Little Pigs. We were so surprised and proud of her
for raising her hand to volunteer to go on stage!
At about this point, she realizes that Baba and Mama won't be on stage with her and she starts to
desperately stage whisper "Baba come!" and she gets more and more anxious. Shortly afterwards, she
is released from her role and she happily runs back to join us in the audience.
The trauma was not too big and after the show Aurora and Jon climb up the tower. She is really getting
much more comfortable doing it and now only needs a little bit of help from Jon.
Video: Aurora gets a free ride
She knows exactly what to do at several of the exhibits. Here she is using her arms to
pedal a bike and power up some lights overhead.
Pulling herself up (with a little help from Baba) and then some basketball.
Playing dodgeball on the lighted floor is another favorite activity. Again, it is amazing to see how
much her skills have improved in the past year!
Video: Dodgeball
In "Peep's World" Aurora likes to play with the sand and water tables.
Video: Paddlewheel
Aurora and Jon pull the plug on the table, creating a giant whirlpool. She loved using her wrench to "fix" the drain.
While Mama made a stop at the South Station Post Office, Aurora and Jon took a short walk
along the waterfront.
July 26, 2011: I'm not sure what we did that morning, but Aurora is exhausted! She sleeps in the
weirdest positions sometimes!
July 27, 2011: We joined Greer and her parents for a free concert in Emerson Park that evening.
Video: Boogie woogie
In addition to the traditional playground equipment,
this park has a giant sand play area and a mini spray park - Aurora tried it all out!
Video: So high!
Video: Dump truck
July 30, 2011: We spent the first half of the afternoon with Lindsey, Justin, and baby Peyton. Jon
is such a natural with it come to holding babies! Aurora is a little jealous, but she eventually
warms up to Peyton. We also got to see the St. Mark's campus and try out their pool. As we were getting
ready to leave, Jon found a small frog outside.
Video: Swimming like a dolphin
July 31, 2011: The next morning, we got to the MFA before it opened - the line was already out the door and almost to the
corner. We went to see the special exhibit of Dale
Chihuly's gorgeous glasswork. This is our second time going (we already went Friday evening), but Aurora
loved it so much, she wanted to go back. Wolf also liked looking at all the pretty glass pieces.
We met up with Lindsey, Justin, and Peyton there.
After a lunch break in the courtyard cafe, we headed back inside to check out some 20th century art. This was
Aurora's choice - she looked at the MFA map and pointed out which paintings she wanted to see that day. One
gallery had a light table where you could create "paintings" in the style of artists like Hopper or O'Keefe. For
Aurora, it was like playing with a giant version of Baba's iPhone!
Our final stop was at the Impressionists. Mama was hoping to show Aurora some Degas ballet dancers (like in "Olivia")
but the best we could do was this staute of a ballerina.
That evening, Aurora had fun playing in the backyard while Baba grilled our dinner.
