Click on the photo below to see all of the pictures from our afternoon:

We didn’t hike for as long as I had hoped — Caleb’s energy waned pretty quickly and it became obvious that he would benefit from a solid nap at home — but it was still a lot of fun. Nadine found a goat friend and Caleb had a great time watching the animals and hiking.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned as we woke up to a fairly even downpour. Picking apples in the rain, I guessed, would not be nearly as much fun as in the sunshine. For better or worse, however, Caleb and I decided to go through with it anyway. What’s a little rain and wet clothes — certainly not enough to stop us from having a good time?

I didn’t take very many pictures (juggling a camera, bag of apples, three year old, and an umbrella is not as easy as it looks), but those that I did take are below.

Just starting out. This is just after we crossed the bridge from Boston to Charlestown.

Heading out of Boston on Hwy. 1

Still on Hwy. 1. Still raining.

Still raining, but now the road is beautiful. We are very close to the farm now.

Boots! Our bag of apples is almost full!

Heading home over the Tobin. Still raining, but we have a bag full of awesome apples to eat!

I’ve been considering a stint in graduate school sometime in the next few years and have been itching to check out the UMass Boston campus. Always ready for a new adventure venue, Caleb eagerly agreed to check out the campus. A short Red Line ride and shuttle bus transfer and we found ourselves on the campus…all alone (well, almost). I had hoped to find at least one random straggler wandering around the campus just itching to answer my questions, but alas, we had the grounds all to ourselves.

…Until we discovered the Mini Cooper concert/ race/ carnival/ extravaganza in the back of the campus. Sheesh. If only they had car seats installed in the test cars. There was a very cool looking course that you could race a Mini around, and at least 5 or so cars were screeching around caution cone corners. Maybe next time.

Leaving the UMass campus we found ourselves wandering around Copley Square, the Hynes Convention area, the Prudential, and eventually, the Symphony area. In case you are wondering, the Borders Books in Copley is very sweet, and the two guys standing at the front to answer book questions can indeed direct you to the nearest music store (not for CDs, but for guitar strings).

(If you clicked on the photo above and looked through all of the images and want to check out some of Stoller’s work, look no further.)

The weather was indeed beautiful — sunny and not too hot — and perfect for a long afternoon walk outside. The walking portion of the trip, essentially BU to the North End, via Central Square and the Mass Ave bridge on the way back (instead of the more direct Longfellow Bridge) was just under 6 miles long. Roughly 5 of those miles Caleb trudged from the comfort of my arms or shoulders. (What’s a stroller?)

We learned a few things along the way, namely that Boston is beautiful in the summer, and the park along the Charles River (adjacent to Storrow Drive) is simply made for running/ strolling/ taking everything in.

In talking through our options with Caleb, he picked Harvard Square as our destination. We made a pit stop at Megan’s office, which is on the way to the Park Street Red Line station, because I forgot to ask Caleb to use the restroom before we left our house. A short ride across the river and we romped around Harvard Square for a bit, taking in some dinner, and checking out Eastern Mountain Sports for skateboards (they had none).

On our way back, we decided to take the scenic route along the waterfront and took our time moseying home.