philadelphia

camping fun in PA state parks

Melissa

This weekend we joined a group of friends and went camping in French Creek State Park in PA. This year, we tried out a camping cottage. This was our home for the weekend:

Gorgeous! It costs about $35-40/night (as opposed to about $25 for a tent site with no electric). Sleeps 5, has a table and chairs inside (along with heat, a fan, and electricity!) and a picnic table and fire pit outside. Perfect for relaxing around with breakfast.

We ate lots and lots of s’mores…

And went hiking and boating and fishing….

And had hours of fun talking and laughing with old friends…

Perfect Memorial Day!

stars at longwood

Melissa 1 Comment

We just love Longwood Gardens! Its one of our favorite places in Philly. We’ve gone here on dates for lots of romantic strolling among flowers and we’ve brought the kids for some fun in the gardens. Its a quick drive from the Main Line out to Kennett Square. We’ve gone in summer, of course, and to see the famous Spring Blooms where you can walk through an ocean of tulips (so so amazing) but somehow, we’ve lived here over 10 years and have never actually been there at Christmas!! Wow – have we been missing out!

I wandered around a winter wonderland, with over half a million twinkle lights, thousands of poinsettias, and so many Christmas trees I lost count. It was gorgeous and magical!

I couldn’t possibly pick a favorite part. We have so many favorite parts of Longwood already. The Conservatory was breathtaking.  Can you even imagine the elegant parties the duPont’s threw here?

I highly recommend Longwood at Christmas! Its perfect for a family holiday tradition – and makes a romantic date night as well!

A few tips and tricks for enjoying a Longwood Christmas:

1. Timed Tickets Required: Timed tickets sell out quickly, so purchase early and online at tickets.longwoodgardens.org to make sure you can get in when you arrive. Once you’re in, you can stay as long as you want.

2. Dress Warm: The Conservatory is lovely, but the grounds are impressive as well! Make sure you can enjoy them comfortably!

3. Save on Non-Peak Days. Purchasing a timed ticket during a Non-Peak day means fewer crowds and you save! Non-Peak days are Mondays through Fridays (except December 26–31) Click here for pricing.

4. Become a Member: Members only on Mondays! So to really avoid the crowds, join Longwood and enjoy a smaller, members-only crowd on Monday evenings.

5. Make a Reservation: The fine dining restaurant, 1906 is divine! BE sure to make a reservation the same day you purchase your timed admission ticket in order to enjoy – this place is especially popular during the holidays. You can also enjoy a more casual Café service which is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

6. Make a Day of it in Kennett Square! Before heading over to Longwood, head into the adorable historic Kennett Square! I was just there the other evening and I could have spent hours pouring through the lovely shops and boutiques! I saw fashionable boutiques, like Frolic and Green Eyes Lady, great gift shops, like Greenable and BedBuggzz… lots of gorgeous sparkley things at Bove Jewelers and yummy treats at Sweet Christines and Opa Yo Greek Frozen Yogurt… and La Verona was delicious! I’ll definitely be back to wander around and explore Kennet Square more!

 disclosure: I attended a blogger event at Longwood and Kennett Square and received samples and complimentary admission to Longwood. As always, all opinions are my own.

summer fun

Melissa

Its the last week of school.

(Oh, noes! Now what?)

We kicked off the summer by heading to a minor league baseball game. What says summer more than baseball? We went to the Camden Riversharks game and the kids had a blast!

Then on Sunday, we headed to the Crayola Experience in Easton, PA. It was so fun – the kids had a blast! We were here for two hours, but still didn’t see everything. Make sure to plan for at least 3! And hit the gift shop – we got tons of great deals on Crayola products there!!


longwood gardens

Melissa

On Saturday it was sunny. Then it suddenly started to snow. Then it stopped. Then the sun came out again.
Weird.
But we decided to live life on the edge and head to Longwood Gardens anyway! (Who says the wild and crazy life ends when you have kids?)

Longwood Gardens is one of our favorite places in Philly. We’ve gone here on dates for lots of romantic strolling among flowers and we’ve brought the kids for some fun in the gardens. Its a quick drive from the Main Line out to Kennett Square. We were excited to visit in February, as we’ve never been to Longwood in the winter. We’ve gone in summer, of course, and to see the famous Spring Blooms where you can walk through an ocean of tulips (so so amazing) but never in the cold weather.

Saturday ended up being quite chilly, so we stuck to the lovely and warm indoor Conservatory for our visit. We brought along my in-laws – Longwood Gardens is a great place to bring out-of-towners, who may not be up for a trip into the city. My mother-in-law used to always bring her mom here. None of us had been in over a year, so we were looking forward to seeing what was new. The conservatory was just as breathtaking as I remembered. Flowers everywhere, the air smells amazing… its like walking into Eden.

image via longwoodgardens.org

The kids had a great time taking pictures. Longwood Gardens is an amazing place for budding photographers!

Colin was fascinated by the banana trees – he took so many pictures of the bananas!

The orchid exhibit was incredible.



The kids were inspired – they were talking about what flowers we should plant this year and what veggie plants we should try to grow. And they even got to get their hands dirty, leaning how to pot plants and each bringing home their own little spider plant.

Meet Spider-Girl, Grace’s plant.

We had a wonderful afternoon at Longwood Gardens. Our kids made us promise to go back on a warm day so we can explore all of the gardens!!

disclosure: we received a complimentary admission from visitphilly.com. all opinions are our own.

 

 

academy of natural sciences

Melissa 1 Comment

This afternoon we had no school (insert daughters doing cartwheels here) so we hit up the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. Now, I would never tell you to play hooky. But if you ever have a random day off, go into Philly and hit the museums when they’re not crowded. Even if you’ve been somewhere twenty times, it is incredible to have it practically to yourselves.

The dinosaurs were awesome of course.

Except when they tried to eat Ellie and Grace…

Then we headed up to our favorite place… the Outside In! We met some new friends. Ellie was watching this cute bird play in the water – and it splashed her right in the face! Hilarious!

We got to pet a legless lizard, a box turtle, this swimming turtle I forget the name of…
and THIS GUY:

Can you believe how brave Grace is??

I was brave enough to touch it with one finger, but if that thing had climbed up my arm, I would have probably shattered glass with the high pitch of my scream! (I am NOT a bug person!! I prefer my wildlife cute and furry, thanks.)

We had so much fun – what an amazing day! The Academy of Natural Sciences remains one of our favorite outings in Philly!

Check out the girls’ blog – they wrote about our visit as well!

disclosure: we received a complimentary admission from visitphilly.com. all opinions are our own.


philadelphia flower show

Melissa

Today the kids and I bopped into the city (literally – MMMbop was definitely played at one point) for an event at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society for a sneak peek at the 2012 Philadelphia Flower Show. We have gone to the flower show several years now, and it is always a treat. Despite my definitely not being a gardener, I do love flowers.

We arrived and my kids immediately got inspired and started making signs to advertise the flower show. Ellie’s was greeting people at the door:
We watched a sneak preview of the show this year, and the kids were enthralled. They were all asking, “When can we go there?” “Are we going there this year?” “Mom, please can we go?” I don’t blame them. The show looks even more incredible than previous years. Watch this and tell me it doesn’t look amazing:

One thing I appreciate as a parent is how family friendly the Philadelphia Flower Show is. They are partnering with Sprout to bring families some truly unique experiences – kids can meet characters from The Lorax, do crafts, see puppet shows, play with toys, see live performances of their favorite Sprout shows – and more in the totally free Family Lounge.  And for an additional charge, kids can meet their favorite Sprout characters in the Sprout Snack! How cool is that? Honestly, if my kids had this much fun at the preview, they’re gong to love the show!

Check out the PHS Family Fun Pack tickets, which includes tickets for the whole family and a one-year family membership to the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society!

disclosure: we received a gift bag as a thank you for attending this event. as always, all opinions are our own.

day in philly

Melissa

We went into Philly on Friday and started the day in one of my favorite places, Reading Terminal Market, for breakfast at the Dutch Eating Place. Best breakfast in Philly.

If you’ve ever had a hankering for a pancake the size of your head, this is the place to go.  Seriously – out of control yummy pancakes, french toast and bacon the way it was meant to be – thick, crispy and in abundance.

We wandered around finding all sorts of amazing culinary wonders. Reading Terminal Market is a cook’s paradise. Or a eater’s paradise. If you can’t find it here, it probably doesn’t exist. And discover things you didn’t know existed. Like Bacon Salt. Oh yes, BACON SALT. *cue angels singing*

And hit the Christmas train! Colin could have stood here all day.

Then we headed over to Macy’s for the Holiday Light Show, then took the kids to Chinatown. Grace is in love with China and keeps asking to go there. Since we are a little short on vacation time, we did the next best thing 😉
The kids were fascinated by it – we’ll need to come back when we can spend more time – and we’re not stuffed full of pancakes!

What did you do for New Years?