Boston in February.

Oh you beautiful city, you. Parker, Anders, and I drove into the city last week (I drove, they rode. Merrrrp, terrible joke.). Our reason was two-fold: Get out! Fresh air! Temperatures weren’t too cold (but there was some wind, which always throws a curveball into the projected temps, you know. 40 degrees you say? Subtract 32 from that once this wind picks up.). That’s reason one. Seeing good friends was reason two. So there we were! One of Parker’s oldest friends is Lux (yes, only 4 years old, but it’s all relative!) He was so excited to see her.

There was a sort of winter celebration taking place on the Commons. A giant snow globe the kids could go inside and throw “snow” around in, a big slide, free Dunkin Donuts hot (lukewarm! For the kids.) chocolate, a DJ (who played Who Let the Dogs Out–winning!). We stayed as long as we could manage, and when cheeks were getting too chilled, fingers a bit numb, bellies hungry, we headed to Rachael’s apartment.

The Moms managed a quiet lunch while the kids played! What an (unusual) treat. Rachael threw together a salad of mixed greens, roasted sweet potato, and fried egg on top with a vinaigrette drizzle. When I say threw together, I mean it was just sort of presented to me, beautifully delicious, with seemingly little effort. I always appreciate a lunch like that (and a breezy host who moves about the kitchen, opening the fridge, arranging things on plates, and then serving up something wonderful while you talked her ear off the whole time). We only saw the kids for the occasional drink of water, or to show us their latest costume. I eventually had to tear Parker away to beat the traffic home, but not without making future plans.