Lots of birthdays

Lunch at Casarecce Ristorante.

We have been busy since we got back to Boston. We have tried to help with transporting kids to camps and swimming lessons, celebrated birthdays, and a lot of other stuff.

We took a day and went to the North End, also know as "Boston's Little Italy," last week. We had a history/food tour of the area gifted to us one Christmas by Josh and Zia. Covid hit so we just now got it scheduled. We arrived but our guide forgot. She felt terrible but we have it rescheduled for next week. So this was a dry run.

We walked 30 minutes to Harvard Square, caught the Red Line to downtown, and then another half hour walk to our meeting spot in the North End. What a fun and busy place!  We looked around a little and ate at one of the plethora of Italian restaraunts.

We walked by the Holocaust museum downtown. It was the first time we've been there. Near the Freedom Trail, it's 6 glass towers representing the 6 major death camps soar towards the sky.

At the base of each tower is a grate with steam rising from the coals below. I felt such a sadness walking through the rising steam representing the gas that killed over 6 million Jewish people. You hope the world learns from history, but often it seems not to.

The walls of each tower have stories to tell and, while they look transparent, they are filled with lines and lines of 6 million numbers of all those who perished.

Limoncello's was recommended for lunch but they didn't open for another hour.

Open windows on this beautiful day. They took the color yellow to new heights!

We ate on the "patio" at Casarecce. Lots of street tables at many restaurants. Fresh pasta everyday here. We shared the delicious gnocchi in a butter/nut/cream sauce.

Lots of August birthdays in our family. Alexa and Josh share one. We didn't get to be with Alexa for her Harry Potter themed party.  Her Mom, Toni, also has a birthday at the end of August.

Josh hit "42," the answer to the meaning of life, the universe, and everything, at least according to the Douglas Adam's book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

These kids were busy on our RV adventure making pot holders for Dad's birthday. Remember those looms?

The day after Josh and Alexa's birthday is Pat and Cyrus's. All Cyrus wanted was the same space shuttle cake his Dad made a couple of years ago. 

Poor Pat.  He got a candle in a piece of Josh's pie.

On Sunday The School of Honk paraded from Tufts Park in Powderhouse Square, through Davis Square, and finished in Kenney Park.

The Old Powder House had a prominent role as a gun powder storage facility leading up to the Revolutionary War. It was built in 1703 or 1704.

People on the route stopped or followed along to enjoy and dance to the music.

Kenney Park

After the parade we ate dinner near Kenney Park in Somerville at a favorite, The Five Horses Tavern.  

The classic wooden puzzles, from Liberty Puzzles, are as much fun to look at as they are to put together. 

Many of the puzzle pieces are shapes themselves. There is always a lady bug hidden somewhere.
Where are the Piepers now?  Boston, MA