Our Hometown: Like Nantucket, but without the price tag

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Here is a cool excerpt about Marshfield & Scituate, taken from Boston Magazine: 

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/home-design/article/2013/06/25/towns-like-nantucket/

Island living is large—if you can afford it. Here are five towns close to Boston that approximate Nantucket life, sans the six-figure property taxes.

This is the store that Steve Carrell (from "The Office) owns. 
He's in town now for the release of the film "The Way, Way Back" which was filmed here last summer.

 Marshfield

A Working Man’s Paradise

This low-key beach town features weathered cottages tightly packed on streets that dead-end at sandy shores.
Population › 25,000 (year round); 40,000 (in summer months)
Area › 31.7 square miles
Average sale price over 12 months › $397,645
Beaches › Professional lifeguards watch over the town’s five beaches.
Historical charm › Marshfield’s 19th-century general store (known as “The General”) was saved by native celeb Steve Carell in 2009.
Food › Tuck into a seaside breakfast at Arthur & Pat’s.
Recreation › The North River Wildlife Sanctuary attracts avian fans.
Summer fun › The Marshfield Fair is a 145-year-old tradition.
What the locals say › “People go to the pier and watch the boats bring in the king-size tunas. Then buyers from around the world make bids,” says real estate agent Betsy Hines.

Scituate

This Deal Won’t Last Long

Close to Boston but still quaint, Scituate is an unpretentious alternative to Duxbury and Hingham.
Population › 18,234
Area › 16.9 square miles
Average sale price over 12 months › $491,205
Beaches › Five sandy beaches with lifeguards mean plenty of umbrella space for all.
Historical charm › The Old Scituate Lighthouse (1810) and Minot’s Ledge Lighthouse (1850) continue to warn ships of undersea dangers.
Food › Oro and other fine-dining spots mix with townie staples like Cosmos, Riva, and the Mill Wharf.
Recreation › Cyclists and strollers enjoy the town’s bike trail and Harborwalk.
Summer fun › Heritage Days bring games, local crafts, and music to town every August.
What the locals say › “You walk through the harbor and people smile and say hi to each other,” says Margie McShane, of Coldwell Banker.

Eva's 6th birthday

What a great birthday!!  Thank you, everyone!

Some new (old) pieces

Dave happened to be in the right place at the right time yesterday.  He has been wanting to find some antique furniture for the house, in hopes of sticking with the era of the house.

At an Estate Sale, he found two perfect additions: an end table with folding sides and an antique secretary desk for the dining room.  After a quick coat of tung oil, they looked beautiful!

I added my Victorian hurricane lamp, from Grandma Wentz, I believe... and I think it's perfect.

Living Room

Dining Room

At a cost of $100 for the pair, these were a fantastic find.  (I found a nearly identical desk here on Ebay for over $700!  Ours is missing the key, but I couldn't see ourselves using that anyhow.) 

Little by little, our house is coming together.  It is fun to look back and see the before/after pictures and realize how much progress we've made over the past year.  We are pretty proud of the work, and absolutely love this home. Sometimes we wonder if we will ever be finished with everything, but the journey itself is an adventure.

Bruno Mars: Moonshine Jungle Tour 2013

Last week, Dave surprised me with Bruno Mars tickets!!

When the Moonshine Jungle Tour was announced in February, I immediately looked up tickets.  I couldn't believe how expensive they were for a new artist!  More than Aerosmith tickets?  Really?  I was THRILLED to have the chance to go!

I knew it would be a fantastic show, based on the live performances I had seen of him on SNL, the Grammy's, etc.  It is high energy stuff.  Accompanied by his 8 piece band called The Hooligans, there is constant dancing around, all while playing their horns and jumping up and down.  It really looks like they enjoy performing together.

 If you're not familiar with Bruno Mars' music, think Michael Jackson mixed with Earth, Wind & Fire... and then throw in some 50's doo-wop and reggae.  That type of mix could suggest that the show is geared toward an older audience, but it's not.  The interesting mix of music has mass appeal.

I was reading some of the tour reviews from other cities this morning, like this one from the Houston Rodeo, where they created a new world record: over 75,000 fans at a show.

"Mars is, to put it plainly, a fantastic entertainer. He sings beautifully, is a charming dancer and was backed by a showy band, complete with horn section and their own impressive footwork. He’s an expert at playing to every person in the building. It’ll be hard for any forthcoming show to top this one."   - Rodeo Houston review from March 7, 2013

We had to drive through pouring rain to get to Boston, hence lots of traffic as usual, and it was a 90 minute ride.  We had planned to have a nice dinner somewhere, possibly a Moroccan restaurant that Dave had heard about, or a tavern that had great burgers.  Instead, we ended up in a booth at the Ninety Nine.  Dave apologized; I joked that it felt like we were at Denny's - but it didn't matter because a night out is a night out!

Waiting for the subway

By the time we found parking, bought our subway tickets and arrived at the Garden, the opening act had already come and gone.  We found our seats, 2nd row from the very top.  It took me a few minutes to get used to being that high... it felt like we were going to tumble right down.  We were surrounded by screaming women.   We have seen several shows at the Garden - KISS, Rush, Aerosmith, etc. - and none of them were as loud as this.  It was deafening at times.  You could feel the excitement in the air.  I couldn't believe how many people were there!  I had heard that it was a soldout show, and sure enough, it looked like there were barely any vacant seats.

The kids are big Bruno Mars fans too, so I promised them I would take some pictures and video.  Of course, the iPhone is limited in its ability to take great video but at least they'd get an idea.

The stage for the Moonshine Jungle Tour

 When the arena went black and the thundering sound of jungle drums started, I got instant butterflies.  The sounds of gorillas and screeching monkeys made me feel like I really WAS in the jungle.  I could see one of the band members off to the side of the palm tree printed curtain, stretching and getting ready as if he were about to run a marathon.  This video was taken using my iPhone, so the quality is poor.

 

 

The guys, Bruno and his six frontmen, were all wearing bright red suits. The drummer, his brother, was the only one not wearing the fancy suit... kind of hard to play drums in a suit coat.  The show was everything I thought it would be.  I loved every minute of it!  The crowd sang along (quite well, I might add!) and filled up the arena with the sound.  Dave said he genuinely liked the show too and thought they were very talented musicians.

We left as they finished "Just the Way You Are" and said good night to the crowd, even though we figured there had to be an encore.  We wanted to beat the stampede to the subway.  This morning, my first thought upon waking up was,"He didn't play 'Locked out of Heaven!"  Sure enough, I found out later that we missed "Locked Out of Heaven" and "Gorilla", which is disappointing but I already found videos of them on YouTube.

Here's some great video from two nights earlier in Philadelphia, where the show was the same...

The third song in was the current hit, "Treasure."



Here's one of my favorites, "Natalie', followed by a medley of 'Money' and 'Billionaire':



As we waited for the subway to arrive, we witnessed two men playing Bruno Mars' music in the subway station.  One guy was on keyboard, and the other was just drumming on the floor.  Here, they are playing 'Treasure.' It was pretty good and many people stopped to dance and toss coins into their hat.  Pretty smart idea to set up right as the show was letting out!

It was a fun night, and I'm so glad that I got to experience the Moonshine Jungle Tour!

Rexhame Beach

We had plans to meet the kids' best friend Katelynn at Rexhame Beach, because of its larger parking lot and shorter walk to the beach.

The downfall is that the water is colder and the beach is rockier. For those with sensitive feet (me!), I can't walk on those rocks without shoes! As for the cold water, it was welcome on this very hot day.

The four kids had fun digging with our laundry basket full of beach toys and utensils. The girls enjoyed swimming and riding the waves on their boogie boards.

Dave met us there after his conference call.. after a hot bike ride. I don't know how he managed. Today was miserably hot and tomorrow will be no better. As of 7:40 pm, the current outside temperature was 90*. (That's pretty much the same temperature as the upstairs of our house, so the kids will all be having a sleepover in Amanda's room, much to their delight.)

The summer is off to a fine start!

Finally, school is out!

This has been the longest school year ever, literally. All of my friends say the same thing... It felt like it would never end, thanks to the horrible winter we had, and thus having to make up all of those snow days.

Today was the 2nd grade picnic, and luckily we found a nice, shady spot to escape the 90* heat.

Amanda had a super year, probably her best one yet - and the end of the year report card is proof. 

Thumbs up!  We're moving on to 3rd grade!

Amanda loved her teacher, Miss H., and will definitely miss her. 

 

Goodbye, 2nd grade... Hello, 3rd grade!

Dance Recital

This year's theme was Anchors Away.  It was a great, albeit long, recital.  Amanda enjoyed it, other than having to wear makeup.  She has decided to take a year off from dance next year.

The first tap number was "Sea Cruise."

The second dance was a ballet routine done to "Be Our Guest" from Beauty & the Beast.  Amanda's job to was to dance holding a giant dinner plate in front of her.

Amanda's favorite dance was "Hot, Hot, Hot" and she got to wear a comfy bright colored, tie-dyed swimsuit type of costume.  I didn't get a picture of that one, unfortunately.

The whole studio in their sailor costumes

Eva's Kindergarten Graduation

Eva's last day of Kindergarten was Friday.  To celebrate, the families were invited to see a motivational speaker/musical entertainment.  We then had refreshments in the courtyard, followed by their graduation ceremony.

Eva's favorite part of the day: refreshments!

Eva and her good friend, Grace

 Eva doesn't seem too sad about school being over.  I think she is looking forward to 1st grade

Receiving a diploma, memory book, and a giant packed of schoolwork to do over the summer

A new porch

The old portico and old porch looked like it was sinking into the ground. Sure
enough, there were no solid footings in the ground and the wooden supports
had all rotted away. Dave had to replace the entire porch, save the portico.
We were surprised that the old portico was still standing!

 

 

 

 Rebuilding..

 

 

 

 

 

 Dave put the hydraulic jacks there to raise the portico back up, since it had sunk over the years.

 Here the real supports are back in place and the deck/stairs have been redone with mahogany.

 

Dave was able to reuse many of the original spindles, in white.  The wood ones are new and still need to be repainted.  Here the trellis is back in place too.  We spent time on Friday priming the whole porch, and then Dave finished the painting and staining over the rest of the weekend. 

And here is the finished result... Pretty sharp!  Dave does amazing work and this property is really starting to shine.  It's been a long process but the results are worth it.

 

 

Girls' Day vs. Boys' Day

With three kids, we are very used to the 'divide and conquer' method of parenting.  Kid A needs to be here, Kid B needs to be there... Who is going to take care of drop off/pick up?

This week has been the most hectic of the whole school year, and without teamwork, we easily could have crashed and burned.  Between Wednesday and Saturday, we had: a Kindergarten Graduation, two birthday parties, a dance rehearsal, finishing up the front porch (painting and staining), an out of state visit from Grampy, the school picnic, and the dance recital. Oh, and our two jobs.

By Sunday, a meltdown could have occurred and would have been justified. We needed a chance to take it easy and unwind.  Nothing planned, no 'To Do Lists.' Today was the perfect opportunity to do so... but it meant splitting up into a Girls' Day vs. Boys' Day.

It ended up working out for everyone involved.

Dave and his brother had made plans to take Liam and Nick to the Thomas the Train event, taking place at the Edaville USA railway.  It's like a mini Storyland, with all sorts of kiddie rides.  Besides the carousel and other rides, the main event is a train ride through the park on a train led by THE Thomas the Train.  Anyone with a 2-3 year old boy knows that Thomas is all the rage, and Liam and Nick were no exception.

Since the girls are not into Thomas the Train, I suggested a trip to the beach and they were thrilled. Green Harbor is a sandy beach (no rocks whatsoever, unlike Rexhame) and the water is usually much warmer than the other Marshfield beaches.  However, it requires parking in a lot several blocks from the beach, and the walk to/from the beach is a pain with three kids.  With only two, I was willing to make the sacrifice.  We gathered the boogie boards and sand toys, stopped by Dunkin Donuts for an iced coffee (a must when sitting in the hot sand) and headed on our way.

 

 

After the beach, we took our wet and sandy selves over to Katelynn's house for a family birthday party.  (Amanda and Katelynn have known each other since they were one, so we are practically family and they didn't mind the sand!)  It was so nice to see the three girls playing together while I had girl time with the women.  They spent hours alternating between the pool and playing "Super Spy" with the walkie talkies.

BFF's

We stayed for hot dogs & hamburgers, cake & gifts.  It really was the perfect day.  (But the best part?  They didn't even put up a fight when I announced that we had to stop for a week's worth of grocery shopping on the way home!)

Katelynn turned 8.

Meanwhile, in Carver, MA, Dave and Liam - along with Jason, Angelina and Nick - were having a blast at the Edaville USA Railroad.  Once per year, the park transorms the railroad/amusement park into a Thomas the Train event.  Having only had girls before, we never had the desire to go.  When Jason suggested it this year, Dave was all over it.  We told Liam just one day in advance.  This morning, he told us excitedly where he was going.  He totally got it and couldn't have been any more excited to have Daddy all to himself. 

This morning, Liam said,"I'm going to Edaville and I'm going to hold Nick's hand so he doesn't get scared."  I guess he meant it.

Cousins holding hands

Dave said that Liam wanted to go on all of the rides alone.  This didn't surprise me at all, since he is fully into the "I can do everything myself" stage.  Here's proof...

So independent!

You think I'm kidding?  Look at this ride.  Every kid has a parent with them... except Liam, sitting in the last car.

Too cool for Daddy!

In the picture above, Dave said he kept trying to get Liam to turn around for a picture but he wouldn't.  It's almost as if you can hear him saying,"Da-ad!  Come on, I'm with my FRIENDS.  Leave me alone!!"

Nick and Liam - two peas in a pod

So, now at 4:30 pm on a Sunday evening, my house is a mess.  The laundry is piling up.  The dishwasher needs to be unloaded.  Dinner has to be made.

However, the kids are happy (and sufficiently tired out.)  They are alternately practicing piano and playing nicely together.  Dave is staining the deck.  The washer is beeping at me, telling me to switch the clothes to the dryer.

But tonight we can go to bed knowing that we had some nice family time and made some great memories.  Tomorrow is the last day of school, and we have Amanda's 2nd grade picnic to go to ... followed by meeting friends at the beach in the afternoon.  The housework will have to be done in between those things, but having today as a 'rest day' makes it all worth it.

I couldn't be happier that it is FINALLY summer... and we don't have much planned.  If you need us, we'll be at the beach.