Maya celebrated her birthday with friends this afternoon after officially “graduating” from Willard School this morning. Jeanine and a few parents took the girls to Wingaersheek Beach for the party. Although I missed the festivities, I arrived home just in time to capture the group in pig pile formation.
Here are my favorites from each family member in the same order as the last post. Is it possible to inherit talent from your children and spouse?
My final treat was the best gift I have ever received for Father’s Day. I armed each member of the family with a camera and asked them to take a photograph of me (since I am almost always on the other side of the lens). Second, I requested an artistic photo from each one. We agreed on the Minute Man National Historic Park as our photo safari destination. Above are the results of their portraiture. Now just make a guess as to who took each photo? (Hint: The order is the same as in which their first initial appears in the prior question.)
Plan B: My first treat shall remain undisclosed. My second treat was breakfast prepared by the kids and served to me on the couch where we gathered to watch home videos of the children when they were very young. My third treat was a visit to the National Heritage Museum in Lexington with Jeanine where we enjoyed a photo exhibit by Quang–Tuan Luong composed of a single exquisite photograph of each of the 58 US National Parks. My fourth treat was watching the Brazil versus Ivory Coast World Cup Match in the home theater with Maya. My fifth treat was a delicious dinner that was half indulgent and half healthy.
This is the first birthday celebration I can remember where the parents had as much fun as the child. Maya enjoyed herself, having reached the age where she appreciated the full mix of activities we enjoyed today. I hope we can do this again.
After another fountain cool down we reached our Faneuil Hall our final destination for the day. Here we enjoyed various street artists, birthday gift shopping, visiting with the local horses, and Maya’s all time favorite dinner, Mac & Cheese.
Georges Island is dominated by historic Fort Warren, a Civil War-era fort known for its graceful granite archways and reputed ghost, the Lady in Black. Maya led us on a random walk tour and we eventually joined the end of a ranger led tour which took us through the very scary Dark Tunnel.
We arrive on Georges Island just in time to enjoy a wonderful performance of Brazilian music by graduating students of the Berkeley School of Music.
We boarded the Island Discovery ferry for the 30 minute voyage to Georges Island, part of Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.
As the day was rather warm, Maya stopped to cool down at the leaping waters fountain on the green way. She was careful to study the timing pattern and was only partially drenched when it was time for us to leave for our scheduled ferry.
For her birthday Jeanine and I treat Maya to a day in Boston. Our first destination is the Long Wharf. When Maya realized this sculpture was alive she paused for a photo opportunity.
In preparation for an all-day adventure in Boston with her parents, Maya spends some time with Nala playing bubbles (worth enlarging the photo for a better view).
Maya is now 11 years old. Her day stated with French crepes filled with fruit, whipped cream, Nutela and topped with powdered sugar. Nico and Jeanine did the crepe making while Kyle and I assisted Maya with crepe consumption.
In this event, teams of student seek to suspend a bucket of balls using only their feet for as long as possible.