What an exciting morning it has been!  As some of you may know, Mayor Menino was in the neighborhood today celebrating the extension of the East Boston Greenway, which is just a few steps from our front door here are Harbor City School.  After our trip to the playground, we walked down to the gate that leads to the extension to hear the speakers.  We also threw on a few HCS t-shirts, so we looked extra special!  The children were so well-behaved as we sat on the sidewalk hearing about all of the wonderful reasons to connect the neighborhoods of East Boston, along with the plans for the new library being built in the Bremen St. park.  The Tugboats love any reason to applaud, so I think each change of speaker was welcome to them!  I noticed a few press photographers snapping up shots of the cutest kids I know, so keep your eyes peeled for some free press!  After the speeches, the children played Duck Duck Goose in the community garden while I took an opportunity to thank Mayor Menino on behalf of all the families at HCS.  I also had a chance to chat with our friends in City Hall, Councilor Sal LaMattina and Neighborhood Coordinator Ernani DeAraujo, and to thank them for their support in getting the new stop signs installed.

In addition to all the political hullaballoo, our new on-call substitute teacher, Dana came by to spend a few hours getting to know us.  Dana joined us for snack, our time outside, as well as lunch.  The children demonstrated some of the conversation skills we’ve been practicing at lunch and snack: waiting their turn to speak, asking polite questions, and listening to one another’s answers.  I think we are all looking forward to spending more time with Dana on Friday and Monday while Peter is away!