Guys Day 2011
Guys Day last year was a BIG success so we decided to replicate the event and make it, hopefully, into an annual tradition. Here were the posts (post one and post two) from last year's day (look how little he was). This year G-Daddy again came into town on Veteran's Day weekend. We planned on taking the little guy to Harvard Natural History Museum.
The trip to the museum was really fun. It was Isaac's first ride on the T, and here is the cool thing, G-Daddy riding on the T with Isaac continues a tradition--Pappi, my Dad's dad, took me into Pittsburgh on a streetcar when I was Isaac's age. We'd come back to Nunni's house with a loaf of bread, some salami, and on the way home he'd usually tear off a chunk of one or the other for me to snack on. I'd be wearing a police officer's hat and smoking a bubble pipe to boot. We were planning on taking the commuter rail in, but we missed it so we drove into Alewife station and took the T into Harvard from there. Here is a video of the start of the trip:
Once we got off we had a bite to eat before hitting HNHM. Here is part one of a series of photos:
and part two:
That's one heck of a chomp, but then again, he is a chompasaurus.
After breakfast we made our way around Harvard Yard, or Havad Yad, to the museum. We walked and were met immediately by an old friend. There were two skeletons in glass cases in the foyer. Inside one, standing about four feet high, was Smilodon (Isaac has a toy one that he likes to tote around). His giant teeth looked very dangerous. I turned to Isaac and asked him "Where's Smilodon?" and he quickly looked at the two skeletons and pointed to the right one, his little finger aiming directly at the giant teeth. Love that boy.
Then we went inside. The soaring ceilings of the Agassiz Hall house one of the most impressive collections of mounted animals anywhere. G-Daddy and I figured that since Isaac loved his visit to the local zoos and he might like the up close and personal view afforded by the dozens if not hundreds of mounted animals. We had no idea how much he would like it though. Here is a brief (very brief in comparison to how long it actually lasted) of his joy:
We went from the animals to the dinosaurs. Isaac had worn his Triceratops t-shirt in anticipation of seeing dinos and, well, he wasn't disappointed. There was a massive Triceratops skull, the world's only mounted Kronosaurus (at about 50 feet long with jaws about 12 feet long, it was a fearsome beast even in bone form). We even saw a Deinonychus, the dino that started the whole "dino claws" thing. A giant turtle shell provided a good photo op:
After the animals and the dinos we went and stared at tons of gemstones in the massive Harvard minerals collection. Isaac is a big fan of rocks, too, so it went well. In the gift shop G-Daddy was kind enough to complete the theme and bought Isaac a toy Triceratops (t-shirt, skull, and toy). In the end, the little guy was pretty tuckered out. We rode the T back to Alewife and then drove home. All this fun before noon.
Isaac went down like a champ for his nap and then when we woke up, we all went to Lowes, because, well, its Guys Day, right? When we got out of the car we saw something very, very rare--a rainbow in November. See:
Since it was Guys Day though it was not a rainbow, but a rainBRO. Get it? Oh, so bad. Inside Lowes Isaac and G-Daddy had fun playing with all of the displays, especially one with big flashing yellow buttons. Take a look:
It was pretty much like that all day--Isaac would do something and both of us would laugh for about ten minutes until he did something else funny. And that is what Guys Day is all about--three generations of boys being silly and having fun together.
Can't wait until Guys Day 2012.
The trip to the museum was really fun. It was Isaac's first ride on the T, and here is the cool thing, G-Daddy riding on the T with Isaac continues a tradition--Pappi, my Dad's dad, took me into Pittsburgh on a streetcar when I was Isaac's age. We'd come back to Nunni's house with a loaf of bread, some salami, and on the way home he'd usually tear off a chunk of one or the other for me to snack on. I'd be wearing a police officer's hat and smoking a bubble pipe to boot. We were planning on taking the commuter rail in, but we missed it so we drove into Alewife station and took the T into Harvard from there. Here is a video of the start of the trip:
Once we got off we had a bite to eat before hitting HNHM. Here is part one of a series of photos:
and part two:
That's one heck of a chomp, but then again, he is a chompasaurus.
After breakfast we made our way around Harvard Yard, or Havad Yad, to the museum. We walked and were met immediately by an old friend. There were two skeletons in glass cases in the foyer. Inside one, standing about four feet high, was Smilodon (Isaac has a toy one that he likes to tote around). His giant teeth looked very dangerous. I turned to Isaac and asked him "Where's Smilodon?" and he quickly looked at the two skeletons and pointed to the right one, his little finger aiming directly at the giant teeth. Love that boy.
Then we went inside. The soaring ceilings of the Agassiz Hall house one of the most impressive collections of mounted animals anywhere. G-Daddy and I figured that since Isaac loved his visit to the local zoos and he might like the up close and personal view afforded by the dozens if not hundreds of mounted animals. We had no idea how much he would like it though. Here is a brief (very brief in comparison to how long it actually lasted) of his joy:
We went from the animals to the dinosaurs. Isaac had worn his Triceratops t-shirt in anticipation of seeing dinos and, well, he wasn't disappointed. There was a massive Triceratops skull, the world's only mounted Kronosaurus (at about 50 feet long with jaws about 12 feet long, it was a fearsome beast even in bone form). We even saw a Deinonychus, the dino that started the whole "dino claws" thing. A giant turtle shell provided a good photo op:
After the animals and the dinos we went and stared at tons of gemstones in the massive Harvard minerals collection. Isaac is a big fan of rocks, too, so it went well. In the gift shop G-Daddy was kind enough to complete the theme and bought Isaac a toy Triceratops (t-shirt, skull, and toy). In the end, the little guy was pretty tuckered out. We rode the T back to Alewife and then drove home. All this fun before noon.
Isaac went down like a champ for his nap and then when we woke up, we all went to Lowes, because, well, its Guys Day, right? When we got out of the car we saw something very, very rare--a rainbow in November. See:
Since it was Guys Day though it was not a rainbow, but a rainBRO. Get it? Oh, so bad. Inside Lowes Isaac and G-Daddy had fun playing with all of the displays, especially one with big flashing yellow buttons. Take a look:
It was pretty much like that all day--Isaac would do something and both of us would laugh for about ten minutes until he did something else funny. And that is what Guys Day is all about--three generations of boys being silly and having fun together.
Can't wait until Guys Day 2012.