Downtown Natick Day of Fun

There is a little place in Natick, MA that is actually now a protected historical monument. It is called Casey's Diner.




It is a little quaint food joint that serves up some of the best burgers and dogs and pie ANYWHERE!




Everytime we come home to visit we have to have at least one trip there. And I wont even tell you how many hot dogs and burgers my husband can put down in one visit there. But I make Daddy happy by taking the girls there even when he doesn't come home with us.




This place is so tiny as you will see in the pic below. There is one row of seats at a tiny little bar. And usually there are no seats available ever. We got lucky somehow.



After we stopped at this ADORABLE place called Crazy Jaynes.




I LOVE this place. It is in downtown Natick on Main Street. And the decor grabbed me as soon as we walked in the door.




This place has ice cream, toys, novelty penny candy, fun everywhere you look, colorful decor AND a pottery studio downstairs where kids can create some masterpieces if they want! If you haven't checked it out I recommend you do!

We started with some ice cream!





And some cuddles with Nana! :)



And then we had a dance party, right in the store!





And you can't buy a Dunkin' Donuts coffee here without getting a reminder we are in Beantown Baby! :)



After Crazy Jaynes we stumbled on a Mom and Pop toy store and played. They had all these toys out and a train table and baby carriage and even a cute Mom bench so the kids could play with stuff while the parents sit and watch.



We played for only a few minutes though, cause there was this weird grandma employee there who either had a bad case of OCD or was super anal, cause she kept taking toys out of the kid's hands to clean up or to put them back where they go. She even took the Hello Kitty out of the baby carriage that Ryen was pushing it around in, cause "a baby is supposed to go in there." Weird. LOL. So we left. But we still had a great time hanging out just blocks from where Jimmy and I had our first two apartments together :) I have a soft spot for Downtown Natick and will always love the area.

It's Like Traveling Back In Time

When I was visiting Boston we took the kids for a walk around my parent's neighborhood. The same neighborhood I grew up in on Springhill Rd...



Where there is now a real cool bunny population that never existed when I was a kid. These bunnies are practically my parents pets. They don't run away when they see us, and they would probably come inside and curl on the couch if we held the door open for them :)



Ryen finally tried a scooter for the first time :)




We walked to the park I played at as a kid. Except now there are huge play structures that they didn't really have back when I was young. All we had were some metal slides and some swings, and a baseball diamond and half court. But we also had a creek in the woods with wooden bridges and we would spend all day walking around in there and riding our bikes to this park. It was fun to go back with my own kids. I wish I had taken them to see the creek, but they were too busy with the play stuff. Maybe next time...







We took a break from playing to add some masterpieces to the half court





Even though so much is different, so much is the same as well, and it does sometimes feel like I am traveling back in time. I remember waking up on Saturday or Sunday mornings to the sound of the lawn mower and the smell of fresh grass, or the sound of the chit, chit, chit, chit, brrrrrrr. chit, chit, chit, chit, brrrrrrrr of my Dad's lawn sprinkler that would spray water over an entire section of grass before swinging back to the left to start all over again.

Now when I go to visit I wake up with a tiny foot kicking me in the stomach or a high pitched little voice saying "Mommy". But it is just as sweet. :) And I do get to go back in time everyday as a Mom when I see the joy of my own children's childhoods.

Goodbye Cape Cod!

Our last night in Cape Cod we visited the Marina. I was so bummed cause I love looking out over the bay and seeing all the beautiful boats. And of COURSE there had to be a ton of fog, low visibility and it was cool and rainy :( But we sucked it up and took the kids down there anyway for an after dinner stroll and some photos.




We found a lonely pirate skeleton and gave him some love :)





We stumbled across some folks fishing and since Ella and Ryen both recently got fishing poles (and LOVE them) they were eager to watch someone fish for a REAL fish instead of a pink or purple starfish or jellyfish, ha ha.



Then we raced over to this grassy area and walking path.



Follow the red brick road...




The kids loved running around the grass and enjoying the park.




But Ryen didn't so much love her grass covered baby feet ;)



My sister Lori and I. :)



I also got some nice pics of the beautiful scenery there.



What a great vacation in Cape Cod with my Mom and all my sisters and nieces and nephew :)