We have been in Hamden, Connecticut for two months now, and we are really enjoying our set up here. We are renting a four-story townhouse, built in 1909 with tons of charm and character. We are down the street from a great little library and wonderful park, Matt's commute is 10 minutes, and I love the Hamden community. More than ever, I am grateful for the immediate support network provided by the LDS church; we have been able to connect with great people through the ward here and had playgroups and outings at our fingertips from day one.
We also are loving Connecticut! With the final weeks of this pregnancy ticking away, I've been filled with a more insatiable than usual urge to explore, and we have been able to visit a great variety of beaches, blueberry orchards, parks, restaurants, and nearby friends.
*Cousins Dave, Lizzy, and Tillie
They hosted us for a delicious 4th of July BBQ on the beach where they live, 40 minutes away in Darien. We also explored Jones Beach in NY together, and are excited for many more great adventures with them!
*High School best friend Genevieve and her family
They have a lovely beach house in Niantic, and John and I were able to enjoy a great day with her family! They are all so cute with John, and I was able to try out paddle boarding and sea canoeing. Great day! And I am SO excited for Genevieve and Ryan expecting a little boy! It's fun to have friends having babies around the same time.
*Also nearby are high school friends Sarah and Richard Burton, who just started a PhD program at UConn. Sarah and her almost 2-yr-old Miles will be great exploring companions as well! We already visited Stew Leonard's (a highly entertaining grocery store) together and today enjoyed their house and pool.
*Visit from my parents!
Bethesda is only 6 hours away, so my parents were able to hop up here for a weekend in July. We were spoiled with great weather, so we enjoyed blueberry picking,
Lighthouse Point Beach,
and the West Rock and East Rock park overlooks for view of New Haven.
I head down to DC this weekend for Brittany's baby shower, and it'll be so fun to see many friends and family!
*Visit from Kori's family!
Matt's sister Kori and her family of 7 live in Chicago, so it was AMAZING to have them come visit us for a weekend! They visited New York and Boston, with a stop in New Haven in between. The weather wasn't as friendly, but we still packed in an outdoor concert, New Haven pizza, blueberry picking, Hammonasset beach, an unofficial Yale tour, delicious Mexican food, frozen hot chocolate, muffins with our hand-picked blueberries, and loads of Olympics.
After blueberry picking; such a fun family!
About to dive into our delicious dessert- frozen hot chocolate. We gave Serendipity a run for their money. Secret ingredient: Toasted Coconut chocolate bars.
John adores his cousin Emma. She is so attentive with him, and I think he experienced his first real heartaches the week after she left. He still asks about her almost daily!
*Local Exploring
The weekends Matt is on call, we stick around New Haven and Hamden. There are great parks and great food, so we've really enjoyed our weekends here. One Saturday we drove a Whitneyville "walking tour" that highlighted all the historically significant homes and the history of our area. Most of the history revolves around Eli Whitney, thus the name of the town, and it was interesting to learn.
The first trussed covered bridge in the States was built here; down the street from our house
*New York City
Two weekends ago, Matt had a block weekend off, so we drove into the City for a full day. We walked for miles, exploring Central Park,
the American Museum of Natural History
5th Avenue, FAO Schwarz, Rockefeller Center, M&M World
Disney Store, Toys R Us, and Times Square
It was beautiful but quite humid, and by the end of the day my feet were reminding me that I'm well into my third trimester. Regardless, I'm so glad we were able to experience the city when we had the chance, and it was a very fun day. My favorite part of NY is the food, so we enjoyed the Shake Shack, Magnolia's, and Junior's cheesecake en route. I'm excited for future trips and trying out more amazing food spots!
Overall, Connecticut is a great place to live and we're happy that we will be set up here for residency. Matt is working hard and learning a ton. He loves the hands-on approach to learning, loves surgery, and really likes the approach of this program. He is a first-year/intern, so he gets an extensive amount of paperwork and nights on call, is expected to keep up with a fast learning curve, and has a bummer of a vacation schedule. Still, great start so far and we are grateful to be here!
The Resident on his First Day
And the new man of the house, trying to fill his Dad's shoes
Here is a link to more photos from our summer!
