Orlando, Florida – Last year, when the twins turned 7, we hosted an all-out over-the-top Harry Potter birthday party, complete with a wand-making workshop, a potions class and a Quidditch match. It was too much fun. And too much work.…
Lonely Planet Caribbean Islands
Somerville, Massachusetts – So we’re hunkered down in the Pink House, getting ready for the holidays, watching the snow fall and dreaming of warmer climes. When what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a box full of books covering…
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
New York, New York — Auntie lives on the Upper West Side, just across the street from the American Museum of Natural History. And just across the street from where they inflate the giant balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day…
Midsummer in Finland
Kirkkonummi, Finland – For the first time, we celebrated the summer solstice, aka Midsummer in Finland. To our credit, this holiday in Finland looks very similar to the Midsummer feast we have when we’re home. Hyvää Juhannusta!
Harry Potter Birthday Party
Somerville, Mass – Daddio has been reading Harry Potter with the twins. I have not read the books. As a result I am largely left out of many conversations about which spells might work in which situations; what Harry, Hermione…
Tulum, Mexico
Tulum, Mexico – This past Halloween, the twins revived their obsession with ancient gods and monsters, which gave me the perfect excuse to plan a family getaway to Mexico. So here we are, celebrating the New Year in the land of…
America’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Detroit, Michigan – You probably thought America’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was in New York, didn’t you? Well, you were wrong, it’s right here in the Motor City. The Thanksgiving Day parade in Detroit started in 1924 — the same year…
Mummy’s Tomb – Part 2
Somerville, Mass – Last year for Halloween, we went a little crazy over Ancient Egypt. We decorated the front of the house like a haunted mummy’s tomb, and the twins dressed up like a Pharaoh mummy and a zombie archaeologist.…
4th of July
Boston, Massachusetts – Two years ago, we took the twins to watch the celebrated Boston Pops July-4th Spectacular (though we just went for the fireworks, not the Pops, and we watched from the Cambridge side of the river, which does…
Thanksgiving
Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica – We skipped Thanksgiving this year. Well, we didn’t totally skip it. We had a drastically scaled down, Thanksgiving dinner (with stuffing and pumpkin pie and, um, chicken) two days before the fact. But on Thanksgiving…