Castle Island

Finally another Friday field trip--it has been too long since I did one of these with the kids.

Castle Island was our destination today. I've wanted to bring Andres and Celia (mainly Andres, though) into the city for a while, as I think he holds romantic notions about what "the city" really is. When he sees the commuter rail picking up people in the morning, he usually asks, "Are they going into the city?" And more than a few times, I've heard "When I get older, I can go to the city." I think he knows that "the city" is not here, and that it has some buildings--but that's about all he really knows about it. I think.

Though I've never been there, I've heard good things about Castle Island--lots to see, easy to get to, beautiful areas to walk or just sit. (And great for the kids because of all the airplanes flying out of Logan.) So this morning I told Andres that we were going to go into the city to watch airplanes. He seemed cautiously excited: "daddy, are the planes this big [holding his hands one foot apart] or this big [holding hands two feet apart]?" When I replied that they were bigger than that, he muttered "Ohh" and looked a bit nervous. So the next time he asked I just said "they are that big!" [holding my hands two feet apart] and that seemed to please him.

In the car by 9:25, at Castle Island by 10. We walked around a bit, saw a few airplanes fly overhead, and then went to the playground (a very nice one too--lots of space for kids to run around and some good structures...sadly, though, nothing but woodchips for the baby set, which meant that I spent the next half hour removing woodchips from my daughter's mouth).

The swingset was a big hit, as you can see from this video:

Andres being a helpful brother, pushing Celia on the swing

It was windy

Cutie!

Time for a little walk around the island. We made our way up to the fort on top of the hill and knocked to see if anyone was inside (nobody answered). Then we took a nice stroll around the fort, pausing for seagulls and to admire the ascending aircraft.

Around 11:30 Celia let me know that it was time for lunch. Andres was slowing down a bit too, so we sat at a little picnic table and managed to eat in between gusts of wind. Celia chowed down on her yogurt, cereal, and butternut squash; Andres opted for apples and a cereal bar. He also informed me that he didn't like yogurt anymore (though he did not offer any explanation).

It was a glorious day to be on the island. The wind was quite gusty, but it wasn't cold; there wasn't a cloud in the sky to compete with the sun, either. Perfect New England fall weather.

We all relaxed after lunch. Celia crawled under the table, then scooted around on the footpath and walked a little, babbling away most of the time. (I can also cross "change Celia on a picnic table in Southie" off my bucket list.)

Andres held a toy plane piloted by Diego aloft and mimicked the motion of the real planes overhead. I amused myself by watching both of them play around, entertaining themselves, and occasionally each other.

All clear for takeoff

The Island started to fill up with other kids around noon, and it felt like the right time to leave...it had been a nice morning there but I knew that sooner or later I would end up pushing a crying Celia and carrying a tired Andres. So we headed back to the car for the journey home.

I meant to point out all the tall buildings--the city!--to Andres as we headed up I-93 towards the Pike, but he had already fallen asleep. Poor guy missed it...we'll have to head back in soon.

More pics are available in my new Fall 2010 gallery...though I'm sad to be moving on from Summer 2010, I think it is about time. :(