family fun

i won’t be around this morning…

Melissa

As I will  be chaperoning Ellie’s field trip for five hours. (I got a reminder in the mail yesterday – that was this week? Whoops!)

According to the letter, I will be riding the school bus. And I will be in charge of a group of 7-year-old girls. Who I am supposed to “keep quiet” on the bus and during the play.And we all have to go to the bathroom together so they are chaperoned at all times. For FIVE HOURS.

Something tells me that this afternoon, I will most likely be found taking a nice, long nap.

Hello from CA!

Melissa 1 Comment

Girlymama and family will be in Southern California all week!

WOOT!

We said goodbye at 5am Saturday morning (stupid frequent flier flights) to the snow and freezing temperatures and are now enjoying things like Not Wearing Snowsuits! Sun! Palm Trees! Sand! SUN!

I've figured out how to post from my phone, so I'll try to upload some of our adventures for you guys!

Have a great week!!

t-minus 45 hours

Melissa 1 Comment

until we leave for vacation.

And am I ready? NOT IN THE SLIGHTEST!

Wait, that’s not true. I did get the suitcases out of the attic. But that’s it. I have so much to do – pack for all of us for a whole week, get all of our tickets and such ready, find all the little Disney treats I’ve been buying for the kids and stashing away (humm.. where are they anyway?), clean the house, arrange for Bunny Sitting for the %^$# bunny (by the way, are you sure you don’t want a pet bunny?), get Ellie a haircut, do laundry, write a fashion friday post and find enough activities and food to entertain a two-year-old on a SIX HOUR flight.

Wish me luck.

I’m trying to figure out how to post from my phone to the blog, so I can post adorable pictures for you all week, so if you see some wonky posts today, just ignore it!

just let go! (or i survived rock climbing)

Melissa 3 Comments

This weekend, we went rock climbing for the first time. (Well, the girls and I had never gone. Husband loves rock climbing.)

We went to the Philadelphia Rock Gym for the Family Climbing Package that we scored on Living Social a few weeks ago. All of us put on our harnesses, then Husband and I got a quick lesson in belaying and they said, "Okay! Go ahead and climb." The kids were like "OKAY, AWESOME!" and immediately headed to the most difficult wall, while I immediately volunteered to belay with my feet planted firmly on the ground.

The girls found out fairly quickly that rock climbing is not as easy as it looks, especially when you're little! Neither of them got very high – maybe 10 feet off the ground – before they got scared or stuck, but they had fun and loved zooming back down to the ground.
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Then it was mommy's turn. I climbed up fairly quickly to the top of the wall… Surprisingly, that was the easy part. It was the getting back down part that got to me. Or, to be more accurate, it was the turning around and realizing just how high up I was that got to me.

Husband and I had the following conversation (which may not totally accurate, as I was hanging off a wall approximately 2000 feet in the air.)

Husband: Look down so I can get a picture!
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(that is me trying not to have a panic attack)

Me: (concentrating on breathing, as to avoid fainting) How do I get down?
Husband: Lean back and let go!
Me: Ex-CUSE me? What do you mean "lean back?"
Husband: Just let go and you'll fall back down to the ground!
Me:  No! I'm afraid!
Husband: You're not going to fall! Just let go!
Me: Wait, you just said I would fall!
Husband: Yes, but you'll be fine.
Me: (again concentrating on breathing) Okay.
*nothing happens*
Husband: JUST LET GO!
Me: (closing my eyes and taking a deep breath… and letting go)
*fall very quickly to the ground, although he was right, in that I did not die.*
Me: I don't want to do that again for awhile. Man, this is so going on the blog.
Husband: Good thing I make you do stuff like this, otherwise you wouldn't have anything to write about.
*insert glare*

Besides the whole "getting back down to the ground" thing, it was very fun. The kids had a blast! And it was quite a workout!  I could barely feel  my arms when we were done. We'll totally go again sometime.
You can come with us if you want.
You can climb… I'll belay for you.

 

 

happy new years!

Melissa 5 Comments

So this year, for the first time since Ellie was born, we found ourselves childless on New Years Eve. What to do?

"Lets go into Philly and go out to dinner," I wildly suggested.
"Lets go to New York," my crazy husband said.
{Yes, my husband is nuts. But I knew that when I married him.}

So on New Years Eve, I found myself on a train to New York's Penn Station on my way to Times Square. After years of watching it on television and saying, "People must be CRAZY to go there!" I was there! This year, we were the ones who were actually crazy enough to go to TIMES SQUARE on NEW YEARS EVE!
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It was even more crazy as it looks on TV. Except much louder, smellier and with more people. At one point we were in such a crazy crowd that people pressed up to us on every side and when someone moved next to me, I was actually lifted off the ground — that's how tightly we were packed into this street! Not super fun.

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We really did it right – we had a hotel right in Times Square. You could actually see the ball from our hotel room window! See?

DSC_0199-1 So we had a place to get away from the crowd and warm up and – most importantly – a bathroom. (There are NO bathrooms in Times Square! DUH!) And we of course needed a place to sip champagne 🙂

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We can cross Times Square on New Years Eve off our bucket lists – and now we never, ever have to go again!
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Some tips if you ever go:

  • The people you see on TV who are in the front of the lines and watching those concerts probably arrived in Times Square around 9am. Unless you plan to arrive then, you will be way in the back or on a side street.
  • There are no bathrooms. Most of the restaurants are closed. Once you get your spot, you canNOT leave it. Plan fluid intake accordingly. Pack a snack.
  • You can't bring backpacks or purses into Times Square, so make sure you have lots of pockets.
  • You are in Times Square. On NEW YEARS EVE. Do not complain about the crowds. You would not believe how many people were doing  this. DUH! What did you expect?
  • I would NEVER bring my kids. My husband and I got separated a few times because of the crowd. There's just so many people and they are all pushing and not looking where they're going…  I would be FREAKING out if I was trying to keep track of little kids!
  • Get a hotel. There are over 1 million people who have worked their way into Times Square over the course of the day. And they are all trying to leave at around 12:15. The roads are closed, so there are no cabs or buses nearby. That means one million people walking or trying to get the subway. People were still waiting to get a train out of Penn Station at 7am.
  • Speaking of that, the 7am train out of the city the next morning is a little scary.Yikes.