Down on the banks of the hanky panky

In fond memory of Lil' Brudder,

and also Frederiquito el Sapo,

in case he didn't survive Caleb's 2nd grade class.

I pretended that my goal was to give Cami and Peter some peaceandquiet, but Actually, I really (really) love frogs and was itching to go see the Chorus of Frogs exhibit at the Museum of Science. Bryn ran around from aquarium to aquarium, bursting at the proverbial seams to see every frog in the building. Calvin, a different kind of nature observer, stayed at each display for 10-15 minutes, intensely studying the subjects.

Calvin looked through this crappy excuse of a microscope for a half hour. He kept asking me to bring him more samples, and figured out how to focus on them using the knob on top. It was beyond adorable.

After the museum, we went for a picnic at a gorgeous park.* In the top right picture (below), Calvin was telling me that Actually, he didn't need to wash his face. My favorite part of the day was when he pointed to the tree Bryn was climbing (she reminds me more of her mother everday) and said, "Is that tree flowering?" I confirmed his suspicions and a couple minutes later, he touched my arm and said, "Laura, I love that flowering tree." His softer side was later discarded when Tim was helping him "climb" the tree. "Let go, Tim," he said. "I want you to see how brave I am."

*Technically known as the grass in front of Boston University School of Medicine (Tim had to check on something at the lab). At one point, a couple of inner-city fellows came by using language that would have made Eminem blush. One of them noticed us picnicking and said, "Oh, hello children. I apologize for my language." Bryn said, "mmm hmm" and smiled. The man nodded and walked on.