Family Time

My Sunday was just what I needed, time with my family. My brother in law is taking a professional development course at MIT this week, so my sister, 3 year old niece, and niece or nephew to be 🙂 came along to hang out with me.

After a loooong morning of cleaning, trying to fix my Windows Live Writer, and blogging, I met them at their hotel, and we went for a walk down by the waterfront.

It actually felt lovely and cool and even rained a bit. My family is from NJ where it has been in the high 90’s and 100’s for all of July, and they loved the break.

Mid-summer flowers were all along the path, and my niece kept stopping to smell them. I would love to post photos of my nieces and nephews, but I feel like the blog is just too public for the little ones. Trust me when I say they are all cute 🙂

Dinner was laid back, New England-style food at The Ledge in Dorchester. I had heard great things about their patio, and it did not disappoint. It is beautifully done with great stone benches, lots of flowers, and tons of space. It is the best outdoor dining space I have seen in Boston because it is private and completely removed from the street. They also have an outside bar 😉

I started with a Sea Dog Blueberry with a few juicy blueberries floating at the top.

For dinner, I started with the wedge salad, crisp iceberg lettuce, blue cheese, pickled onions, bacon, eggs, and grape tomatoes. I shared it with the table. It was enormous!

I shared some Island Creek and Point Judith oysters with the hubs.

And then had some mussels in a flavorful broth chock full of fennel, carrots, grape tomatoes, and garlic with a little grilled bread.

We also shared The Ledge’s ooey-gooey blue cheese tater tots, literally giant potato nuggets filled with melted blue cheese. Amazing.

The adults were full after dinner, but a certain 3 year old asked for strawberry ice cream with sprinkles, and we obliged. We stopped at the nearby Ice Creamsmith, a Dorchester favorite and some of the best homemade ice cream in the area. I stole a bite of the delicious, berry filled creaminess, and it definitely made me wish I had saved some room!

Being with my family is definitely nice, especially in my hometown. Today I am off work to spend the day with my sister and niece at a farm in Central MA. I can’t imagine a better way to spend a day right now.

Do you live close to your family? If not, how often do you get to see them?

I certainly cherish the time I have with mine!