Boston: home away from home

Sabbatical: Part 3 of 3 

We finished up the last part of the sabbatical in Boston.  It was a good change of pace to get us acclimated towards returning home.  We’ve now been away for more years than we lived there!  Our annual trip has been a way to maintain, and in many ways, deepen those relationships with our family and friends.  

Boston was filled with daily life similar to our SF rhythm: visiting Museum of Science (three times), getting sushi with the cousins, picking blueberries, going to playgrounds (although with added splash pads), and the big girls even went to craft camp for 2 days!  We stopped by Central Square Church and, of course, we always get a lobster sandwich at Alive and Kickin’ Lobsters in honor of Louie.

As I reflect on my sabbatical, I am grateful that I had the opportunity to take some extended time off. We wanted it to be filled with purpose, fun, and connection. This summer kicked off several big transitions: moving homes after 12 years and changing jobs/roles for both of us! What I have come to appreciate is that the gift of extra time from sabbatical was spent going deeper into the things we are already doing rather than doing something entirely new. It was nice to slow down the pace. I’m excited for all these midlife transitions…haha. Ready for the 2nd half of life.

The time away has certainly solidified my/our desire to do a “family gap year”. If anyone is interested in ideating on that topic, let us know. :)

Denmark and the Disney Dream

 Part 2 of 3 sabbatical

This was our first big international trip with the kids and was definitely a lot of work AND a lot of fun.  Our flight from SF to Copenhagen was 12 hours.  The kids did great all things considered and Tori’s new favorite movies are Coco, Finding Nemo, and Finding Dory. 

(Packing: How It Started - 12 years ago.  How It’s Going - today)

We spent a few days in Copenhagen ahead of the cruise to work through the jet lag.  Copenhagen was such a fun city to visit - biking around, lots of parks, and easy to navigate.  We’d love to come back sometime.  

(Royal Palace)

(Biking around Copenhagen)

All aboard on the Disney Dream. 

I’ve always loved Disney and traveling, so was excited to take a cruise as our way to visit multiple places while keeping some consistency of “routine” for the kids.  We went on a 7-night cruise around Northern Europe (Kiel-Germany, Stockholm-Sweden, Fredericia-Denmark, and Oslo-Norway).  I never thought of us as cruise people, but we definitely are when traveling with a toddler and grandparents.  There’s something for everyone.  The adults enjoyed our short visits to these ports - rain or shine!

Here are some highlights from the kids: 

• Lexi: Disney characters and Mickey bars
• Ellie: Disney characters and arts & crafts
• Tori: so much screen time (from what I can tell pre-talking)

One of my favorite parts of this trip was being able to travel with both sets of living grandparents.  We know these memories can’t be taken for granted.  They were able to spend time watching the shows on the ship, doing arts and crafts together, and of course, eating a lot of ice cream.  Even my dad ended up ordering a Mickey bar! 

W & I often talk about how much Nai Nai (Warren’s mom) missed out with the girls.  She was the ultimate cruiser and maximizer of all things fun.  We tell the kids that Nai-Nai loved traveling, playing card games, going on cruises, and exploring Tahoe. Our hope is that while we know we can’t be together, we’re able to share her memory, the things she enjoyed, and her adventurous spirit.

Well… the Disney cruise was definitely a success since the kids asked which Disney cruise we were going to take next year.  Haha.  We’re eyeing Alaska at some point, so would love for anyone to join us to make some magical memories.