stripes

Tim and I were separated for Halloween so our plan to dress as John and Abigail Adams kind of died. Instead we randomly both picked something quick and easy that involved stripes - red duct tape for him, and a yellow crayola marker for me (plus Joanie's nifty knitted hat). Presenting, Waldo and "A-bee."

Getting the shirt on and off wasn't as easy as it looks. I think Tim could fit his whole body through a tennis racquet frame like those contortionists do.

My wings were made from hangers and garbage bags. Only one kid commented, asking "are you a butterfly??" Come ON, kid.

and Jack, our pumpkin. We carved him before realizing we had no candles or tealights for a couple of days. Finally when I brought one home and lifted the top to put it in, about 30 fruit flies flew out. SICK. But a good trap for them, so the next day they did the same thing and then we quickly threw a garbage bag over the top and threw it away. We haven't seen any since!

I followed some of our international friends and their kids around for trick-or-treating and was pretty impressed. Tomas was an Icelandic superhero and was sooooo excited about the candy. He danced from apt to apt and went backwards to get more. He would bring other kids to the ones they missed.

His dad Gunnar is a Dr. at BMC and our friend Olof is my running partner (when we go!).

The french girls, Luisa, Mathilde, and Adele. They were very sweeeeet (haha) and sugared up!The coolest house had wine for adults and carved awesome pumpkin-scenes like these.
This one's plastic pipe was connected to the top of the stair railing and candy came sliding down out of it.

Overall a very fun event, and extremely mild (it was 70 during the day). A great night to be out collecting chocolate if you ask me! Unfortunately it was only for the kids so when I wanted some I had to ask them.

Onto November.

Double Eyes

Ma and Pa Isaacson came to visit! We were treated with family in town for another 7 days. We enjoyed lots of Starbucks, Tchiakovsky at the symphony, yummy dinners, a visit to the farm where we've been getting our summer produce, a Fall/winter Foliage trip and visit to see Dinah in Vermont, whoopee pies and cider donuts, and plenty of in-town Boston fun. Check out a few pic updates in the October slideshow, and these:

The corn maze at Farmer Dave's

I'm in there somewhere! Click to make it bigger!

Driving through start of snow to Vermont

Brattleboro cemetery by Dinah's house

Dinah! The birthday girl yesterday too.

The Church

Dinah's running grounds!

Back in Boston along the Charles

A rainbow of color across the street from our apartment

Fall has nearly come and gone here! I will try to get glorious pics of the river treeline I saw on Saturday, if it's not gone by Wednesday when I have a little time to go there. Soon winter will be upon us, as it is in many other homes across the country. (I'm all ready with my new down birthday jacket!) A nice Fall to end on. Thanks for visiting Isaacsons, we loved seeing you! We should be visitor-free for awhile now, but anyone can interrupt that whenever they wish. Happy wintering!

DC

Right after Kate and Jesse left, we hopped on a plane to visit our UPS friend Erik in DC. Plus this was Tim's first time and it was a whirlwind of blastness! I think we did everything but Arlington in the end, at least in part. Sat and Sun we spent on the Mall going through all the museums and seeing the famous sites. Thumbs up on the National Gallery and the Lincoln Memorial.

Can't get enough of VIA on the go....(or a little promo), who's on top, DUNKIN???

some Supremity

crazy art made all out of Red Bull cans (NOT COOL, DON'T DRINK THIS STUFF!) at Union Station

Some Rothko for Tom Llewellyn

Stradivarius for Steph

There was also a cool exhibit of a college solar power house competition. Our favorites were from CA and MN.

I think this one won for its ugly factor. Looks like a fridge, but who knows how efficient it is!

Also liked the botanical gardens (as always).

Look Tom, bleeding hearts.

Generally cool foliageness

Erik took us through some cool side neighborhoods near his apartment as well.

The famous chili dog bear

creeeepy dolls in an antique store

Monday we ended with the National Cathedral, Georgetown, and what felt like the first day of winter. It's been BRRRR on the East Coast ever since Columbus Day.

Now we're enjoying the first parental visitors (and I'm fighting a cold) and hope to have more weekend fall foliage adventure pics and stories soon. Happy Fall!

Marble Heads

Kate and Jesse came to visit! We had a blast romping around the Northeast, from apple-picking in NH to Maine coast to Marblehead, MA (arrived in the dark, but I heard it's a gorgeous coastal MA town!). We experienced driving in Boston in its true form - boo form. No wonder we don't have a car here! "It no easy, honey" as our landlord would say. We had some good food and adventures. Thanks for making it out, guys! We'll never tire of the Freedom Trail as long as we get North End cannoli's! Check out more pics in the slideshow.

New Song Posted

Hey friends, we just put up a new tune on our music site. You can get there by clicking on the "listen to our music" tab to the right, or by going to www.myspace.com/theeyesinboston. Happy listening.

Double Triple Notch

Last weekend we made it back to our second annual Triple Notch hike. This is an area called Franconia Notch in the White Mountains of mid New Hampshire. There are three peaks - Lincoln, some other L name, and Lafayette - that complete a ridge loop trail. There's even an Appalachian Trail cabin along the way where you can pay $80 for a bunk and hot dinner and breakfast if you are on a long adventure.

Last year we went two weeks later, and there was snow and ice on the top and colors all over the whole region. This time it was warm and green. And both Tim and I think the 10 mile trek felt a bit easier this time as opposed to near muscle torture the first time. We knew what was coming.




Our friends Michelle, Kathryn and Amy came with us. The three hour journey there and four hours back was a little rough, but it was all worth it. Bye Franconia! We won't be here next Fall to enjoy your splendor.

ONE YEAR

We've been in Boston for one fabulous year! We've had our lonely moments, but we have had some awesome adventures and praises (and more to come):

• Hiking Franconia Notch (and Abby camping in New Hampshire, Maine) = Fall awesomeness
• First visit to Cape Cod
• (Joanie and Josh's wedding!!!!)
  
• First Red Sox game (against Yankees!)
• First visit to NYC
• Thanksgiving feast with the Campbell friends in NJ
• Noah and Anna's winter wedding in Iowa
  
• Christmas in Boston, then New Years in Naples!
• Abby getting a full-time job at BU!
• Visit to CO for Becka's graduation from CU Boulder
• Lake Winnepesaukee
• Kayaking in midcoastal Maine
  
• Montreal
• Camping in the Berkshires
  
• Billions of awesome visitors

And of course it was about time to celebrate by going back to Tacoma to visit our dear friends and family. The first five days were super relaxing:

The Isaacson fam resumed its card-gaming traditions and stories for a night

and of course we had to visit hangout with Miles (and Steph)

and resume Sunday (or Monday) night dinner gang fun (don't worry, nothing violent. Elisa and Andy, we missed you!)

and have way too much fun with old kiddos: Lincoln is all words and lots of smiles

Owen's not too sure about sharing his toys but he does like fort-style peek-a-boo.

and I met a new member: Lincoln's little sis, Adahlia!

The next five were more demanding but just as rewarding: REACH Camp 2010. Tim and I lead the Young Adult times for about 30 campers. It was good to be back. We didn't get much sleep, hence perhaps why we both came back with the flu, but it was a great NW homecoming nonetheless. Just a few more years before it's ours again...God knows. Thanks to everyone who made it great and loves us from afar!

Right before we left for Tacoma, I spent a couple days with Dinah and her mom as Dinah is moving into VT for grad school. We went to Rhode Island but it was during hurricane Danny remnant so a little wet and windy:

We were safe in the end. It will be nice to have a good friend living so close for our last year.