A Visit from the South

For Claire's birthday celebration, my parents came into town! It was really fun having them here for such a big life event (and not just for the fact that no one makes grits like my mom...even though I follow her recipe exactly). It was super fun having them at Claire's party. I'm pretty sure they loved it, too. 

But, since they were here for six days, and the party lasted only two hours, we had to come up with some activities to fill the rest of the time. There was a lot of Bear-cuddling, obviously, but we also got out and did a few things. 

Back in August, we went with Brad's parents to Cape Cod and had a blast. Now, March is definitely not "in season" for Cape Cod, as they actually end up with more snow than the city does (i.e. we get 10 inches, they get 15), but we're rebels and went anyway. We went to the best restaurant on the Cape, The Keltic Kitchen, and spent a few *extremely* chilly minutes on the shore, getting some photographic documentation of our visit. We kept our itinerary to a minimum, as Claire is a one-year-old and has limits.

Keltic Kitchen

Hanging in the car while the grandparents get pictures.

We saw this house whose fence was made of old doors. It was so cool.

As usual, we set aside a day to get lunch at Regina's in the North End and cannolis at Mike's (we also picked up Bearsy's birthday cupcake). We had planned to walk toward Paul Revere's house and the Old North Church after picking up our cannolis, but we ran out of time (and by that, I mean that Claire's window of pleasant wakefulness began to close). We settled for a walk through Quincy Market (not for food but for the shops), which was great for Brad and me because we found some Boston art that we wanted. 

Regina's. Mmm.

We spent another day visiting Cambridge, which included lunch at Mr. Bartley's, a walk through Harvard Yard, and quick browsing at Black Ink and the Curious George store. Due to some unplanned walking in the wrong direction, Dad came to the sad realization that Cambridge, MA is not nearly as universally quaint and classy as his mind had always seen it. I felt bad about shattering that vision for him, but unfortunately, it's true. Harvard Square itself is quaint and rather Americana, but Cambridge, as a whole, is not. Bless it.

Mr. Bartley's. Iconic Cambridge.

We squeezed in a lunch at Shawarma King (mmm...we love some Middle Eastern goodness). and Brad and I got a date night, as well (we saw The Monuments Men and loved it!). An excellent time was had by all (especially Claire). We've been adventurers around here lately, so here's hoping I get on a blogging streak and tell you all about it. 

And now, some gratuitous Bear photos: