Catherine's Birthday in Boston

Off we went to Boston for Catherine's fifth Birthday. It started on the train to Boston. It was touch and go as to what we were going to do but we ended up on the Duck tour. Driving around the city, Catherine really didnt like the idea of a truck going into the river. Once we were floating around the Charles the driver asked for volunteer drivers. Catherine got a good long turn at driving the duck boat. What else did she want?? She wanted to get a hot dog. She still calls them HOP dogs and I love it. The only place I could think of was in the Boston common....off we went on the green line to park street. After eating dogs and sausages(for me) we went on the playground in Frog park. She really didnt want to leave the playground. Dont you get envious as an adult that you cant go flying down the slides and through the tubes without ridicule.
After we were done it was time for the ride home on the train. All we ate all day was junk, junk, junk and we finished it off at the North Station with two Cheeseburgers from McDonalds. I said to Catherine that all we ate today was junk. She corrected me and told me that she ate hot dogs so it wasnt all junk. It was so awesome that she got to ride the duck boat on the Charles.

She got a bunch of phone calls from less than stellar sounding voices singing Happy Birthday. She didnt want to go to sleep until she heard from the UMP and she wasn't dissappointed because you knew he'd call .......and then when we are home and everyone asks her what she did today, she says something about Boston and then talks about hop dogs, cheeseburgers and the playground. That's the way it goes. . Sometimes, maybe more than sometimes, I'm thinking that we might do this for ourselves just as much for them. Kids have this way of making you happy. She absolutely loved the train though and all day long she kept saying how she got to pick what seat we were going to sit in, what drink we were going to get, what ride to go on because she was the birthday girl.

When she was playing in the park, she had to go to the bathroom (of course). She did the hands to her mid section hop hop and began to give me the ole I gotta go, I gotta go. We went to what was quite possibly the most disgusting bathrooms around. It was in McDonalds off of the common. I would let her pee her pants instead of sitting on that toilet seat. No toilet paper either. So we went downstairs and grabbed about a hundred napkins and spent about five minutes cleaning the toilet seat and surrounding area before she could finally sit.

Also, when we were in the park, some kid came out of the tube for the slide crying because someone had pushed him. Out of reaction from experience I went looking for Jack. How easy it seems just taking one, but how lonely it would be without the others.

I got to go to Laura's softball practice tonight. Jimmy was there with Charlie because Lizzy was having a practice with her team too. She is finally more comfortable because she isn't surrounded by all those crazy boys and she gets to hang with girls. She seems to really like it and the coaches are very nice and patient with the little girls. She takes it serious when she is out there and they give her homework to do on her hitting, catching and fielding. She must have asked me a hundred times this week to do her homework on pop ups. Her swing is phenomenal.

Speaking of swings, Jimmy has been in baseball camp all winter long for hitting. Holy crap I say. He had practice the other day and took about five to ten swings. He missed most of them. When he gets to practice his swing its going to be a killer. wow what an improvement. Ahhh baseball..

For the next morning in School, Daddy got to go into the class and read a book for her. It was "on the day you were born". Its got some wear and tear on it but it can tear you up thats for sure. Mommy made gift bags for all the kids with jump rope, bubbles and other little toys. The smiled didnt leave her face.