We had a nice May, weather wise and now that we have had Covid, let's do ALL the activities!
He loves it when she does this. Really. This was after Natalie's spring play, "I Only Have 10 Minutes!" We took a bunch of pictures of Natalie with her friends and costars, but I didn't want to put a bunch of random kids I didn't know on this blog! The play was hilariously funny. I wrote a bit about it in the April post, but the play itself spanned over three days and rolled into May.
This is a really weird thing I did in May - I joined the Boylston Schul-Verein, or the German-American Club, which is New England's OLDEST German American club, so that's a superlative! I'm going to start taking German classes there in the fall, but for now, I had to attend one of their monthly meetings so that they could vote me in. No worries, they have a full bar serving delicious German bier AND I was voted into the club by a unanimous vote!
This was literally the best part about going to Walpole for this German-American club meeting. I literally had to do a double take when this popped up on my phone! At first, it didn't register and then I was like, "Wait, what? Where am I???"
Natalie and I got to attend Anna's bridal shower on the first Saturday in May! Anna is marrying our nephew/cousin Gordon (or GoGo as we call him) in June. We love her. She and GoGo have been together for about a decade, so it already feels like she is part of the family.
GoGo stopped in for some gift opening. They got a bunch of great stuff and are definitely ready to start their life together.
When the family gets together, it can get a little weird sometimes. Cousin Heidi and Madison joined us in our crazy selfies!
I love Heidi so much, I call her MY cousin. Natalie says I look insane here, and she isn't wrong.
On our way out, we grabbed a quick picture with the bride! Natalie, who is taller than me, says she always feels so short compared to the Bailey family!
As SOON as we got home from Anna's shower, we high tailed it down to Bellingham to catch Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, which was really good. Here is Natalie, doing some Dr. Strangey sort of things at the theater.
Oh and it was Mother's Day in May! Todd bought me a hydrangea, which he planted in front of the house (in a spot where we had one die - so this made me very happy!) Let's hope it grows!
Grantie wanted some cinnamon rolls for Mother's Day breakfast, so why not? I love this kid!
Afterward, we went down to Plymouth to enjoy a nice Mother's Day with the Bailey fam. Grant, Lauren, KK and GoGo played some games outdoors on the back deck.
I don't know why, but I thought it was cute that Todd was reading stuff out of this paper with his dad.
One of the funniest parts of the day was when Carole called Betty from her phone so she could bring her some wine. Yes. That's Betty behind Todd.
Hello dear sister-in-law, how can I be of service to you today?
Grammi got some nice presents for Mother's Day!
Aunt Betty, Shirley, Bean, Lauren, Madison, Natalie, Kathleen and Grant with Todd way behind them. This family is entirely too big and this is only half of it! We're gonna need a bigger house!
I took this picture of Natalie (on the right) and she was making this grumpy face at me for taking a picture of her (that's kind of unusual for her - she usually poses!) but it reminded me of this picture we took of her when she was a toddler. STILL THE SAME.
ANOTHER thing we did in May was we finally made it to Bronwyn in Somerville with our friend Mikey! Mikey was finally learning that it's a marathon and not a sprint when it comes to Germany bier. We were super lucky because we scored a nice table outside with a big umbrella that covered all of us.
Todd, of course, had to order the schweinhaxe! This thing was a beast. He ate all of the meat! (Some of the potatoes got left behind... he isn't a savage for crying out loud!) Mikey and I had the schnitzel, yum.
We laughed because we literally have this sign in our backyard.
I was super nice and was the designated driver, but that didn't stop me from at least take a picture of myself holding a Maß of bier! Todd and Mikey had a few, but I stuck to the little bier and a Mexican cola.
Todd, Mikey and me! The only thing missing is Brian, but we had a fun time reminiscing about Oktoberfest and conspiring to get Brian to come to Boston at some point (other than his usual Cape trip that he makes every summer.)
It also happened to be Porch Fest in Somerville on this particular day. Just have a band on your front porch and the people will come! We stopped to listen to a band on Everett Street for a bit after we left Bronwyn.
I was sure this guy would hurt himself.
He didn't though (that's him, shirtless on the left, jamming out to the jam band.)
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my rhododendrons were blooming so nicely! I love spring!
One evening, when Todd was out playing golf, the kids and I were having dinner when they suddenly jumped up and started doing this. And I'm like, "What are you guys doing?" and Grant looked at me like I was an idiot and said, "It's from The Office!" Of course it is.
OOOOOO! Also in May, Todd and I scored some SWEET Red Sox tickets behind home plate from our sweet friend Jenny! We parked over near the First Church of Christ, Scientist off Huntington Avenue, which is of course "The Mother Church" for this religion founded by Mary Baker Eddy in 1879.
We walked over to Fenway, and realized along the way that this was a random 6 pm start. Like who starts baseball games at 6 pm???
Not only that, but my purse was too big and they wouldn't let me into the stadium because you know our mom totes are DEFINITELY suspicious and are likely holding weapons of mass destruction right next to our Chapstick and hand sanitizer! So I had to walk ALL the way around the stadium (twice!) to find this dumb mobile locker, which only had lockers that were half the size of my purse (umm, what's the point of that!? Purses of those size are allowed in the stadium!). It was the fourth inning by the time we sat down. But aren't these seats awesome???
I wanted to feel like I was even closer than I was.
Todd always takes a nice panorama!
It was a surprisingly packed game for mid week and for a team that wasn't playing very well!
I also got the biggest kick out of the ketchup and mustard they have now at Fenway. It's been about 7 or 8 years since we have been to Fenway - what the heck is this?? No sugar added ketchup with apple and butternut squash??? Dude. It's a ketchup packet and I'm at a major league baseball game. Gimme the Heinz!
It was a beautiful and crowded night at Fenway and Nick Pivetta threw a two hit complete game!
Afterward, we had to run to pick up my purse that was still crammed in the mobile locker. Since the game was an early start, it ended early, so we stopped at Bleacher Bar under the centerfield stands for a drink before heading home.
One of my favorite thing about Bleacher Bar is the men's bathroom. If you're tall enough, you can watch the crowd from the urinals because there is a little window up there!
After having one drink, we headed back to the car. Back over at the Church of Christ, Scientist, I was CERTAIN I had accidentally gone to Athens and spotted the Parthenon and the Acropolis right there in the middle of Boston! Actually, it's the Mary Baker Eddy library. Well that's not nearly as fun!
Boston sure is pretty at night!
Toward the end of the month, Natalie (and AHS) had her spring concert! That's her toward the right in the first row. That was her spot this year!
She's so cute, I can't stand it. Sometimes I stop and wonder how I made this beautiful little creature!?
This was definitely a weird way to end the month. It was 56 degrees on a Thursday and 96 only 48 hours later!
We set up the big screen in the backyard the weekend before Memorial Day so we could watch Tatum and the Celtics lose to the Heat (don't worry- they beat them in the series!) Our neighbors Brendan and Jeff came over to watch some of the game with us! I am the bad luck and stress eating Cheetos didn't help.
Grant also went fishing with Todd, Brendan and AB (behind Grant above) the weekend before Memorial Day over at a fish-stocked pond off of the Sudbury River.
By the end of the morning, he was baiting his own hook with worms (although Todd was still taking the fish off the hook when he caught them.)
Grant caught a BUNCH of freshwater sunfish! So fun!
And we're on to June!
