Friday was the first “explore Boston” day.  My dad took our visitors downtown; where they visited Chinatown and Quincy Market and walked a little bit of the freedom trail.  Saturday was spent in Salem; my haunting grounds.  They toured the Witch History Museum while Jon and I took our kids to lunch.  I enjoyed walking through downtown Salem on a beautiful summer day. I saw many new shops and boutiques that would be fun to go back too the next time I need to buy a gift.

And now I come to today.  Jonathan joined his two brother-in-laws, Ken and Phil, on a hike up Mount Washington in New Hampshire.  That left us women to plan a fun day with the kids.  After visiting with my mom in the morning and afternoon, Kenna, Dora and I took Evan, Karen and Zoë on another downtown adventure.  We took the train to haymarket and took the North End by storm, first stopping at Mike’s Pastries for treats and cappacino.  We then walked along the freedom trail and saw a parade honoring Saint Domenico. Evan donate a dollar to the cause and received a pretty card with a prayer in Latin.  After the excitement of the brass band following the Saint, we stopped at the plaza in front of the Old North Church for a little food, sleeping and running around.  We walked through Chrisopher Columbus Park to the Aquarium, where we spent an hour or so before dinner at Panera at Rowe’s Wharf.  By this point, we were all pretty tired, so Evan, Karen and I headed home.

We had a lot of fun on this full day with the Moms and Aunt!  Pictures from the day are up on Flickr!

We took a little trip to the Boston Aquarium a couple of weeks ago.  I described our trip here and you MUST compare this photo, to the ones here.

I’ve put some other photos  from the day up on Flickr.

First, here’s Evan biking:

And here are two videos of Karen scootching to get toys!

Evan, Karen and I (Alisa) went up to visit Chuck and Jen and their kids in Plattsburgh last weekend. It was incredibly nice to have a laid back couple of days with old friends. The kids got along well… from Max and Evan hitting it off (Evan now designates Max as one of his “friends”) and Catherine playing with baby Karen.

If you compare these to the video I took back at the beginning of the month, you can see how much more she is moving.

These two videos were taken back-to-back.  At first, Evan didn’t realize that I was taking a video.  You can hear him prompting me to take a picture.

Karen is making trumpet sounds with her lips.  It’s her favorite way to get attention.  Now, if only I could find a tiny brass instrument to put up against her lips…. she could be the tinest trumpeter in town!

In this second video, Karen is moving those little legs of hers!

Aren’t these two the cutest???  If you want more, visit me on facebook!

Here’s an update from Manning land….. I’m back to work 3 days a week, which is not enough time for me, but I could not bear to be away from Karen any more!

Karen is really having a fun time being a three month old… and I’m having fun buying clothes for her! Luckily for me, I bought loads of “gender neutral” clothes for Evan, so I’ve got a whole wardrobe to pull from, and I’ve got lots of clothes that were given to Karen as gifts.

Dear friends and family:
Please forgive us for not sending you a Christmas card… things just away from us this year. In it’s place, I’d like to share some of our most favorite memories of the year.

2008 Highlights
- The year of Karen: We knew in January that she was going to join us. Most of the year was spent in anticipation of…
- Meeting Karen for the first time. October 22nd was a very special day. Since that day, she has integrated herself into the fabric of our family. I can’t imagine a time without her!
- Watching Evan transition from a toddler to a preschooler. In January, Evan was not speaking in full sentences. Now, he speaks of abstracts and truths, his feelings and his desires. We have interesting conversations and I love hearing him narrate the adventures of his trains.
- I (Alisa) finished all my schoolwork and exams this year, so I am full into the research stage of my PhD. In some ways this is harder than the exams because I have to schedule my work on my own time. Of course, I haven’t been doing very much on my maternity leave, and I’m looking forward to getting back to work part-time in January.
- Jonathan received another promotion at work and continues to earn the respect of his colleagues. He attained his “bareboat” sailing license over the summer and now looks forward to sailing in exotic locations.

We have been blessed with the opportunity to see most of you this year. Hopefully we will be able to see you again soon!

Here’s wishing you a safe, joyous and prosperous 2009!
Love,
Alisa, Jonathan, Evan and Karen Manning