Please Touch Museum

Another great Groupon find was admission for 4 to the Please Touch Children's museum in Philadelphia.  Eliza's preschool group took a field trip here and she said she had a good time.  I wanted to go and see what all the hype was about.  We went on June 23rd.  The museum was pretty large, and there were plenty of things to do to keep the kids occupied.  We drove down to the city, and spent the entire day down there.

There were plenty of activities to keep our munchkins busy for the entire day.  We started on the first floor.  This area had a plethora of "moving" toys.  None of the toys actually moved, but you could pretend to drive the SEPTA bus, the Philadelphia trolley, and other object that can move. Zabien was an excellent driver who took us anywhere he wanted to go.  We went to the park, the swimming pool, and the zoo - all his favorite places. 

 They did have this neat remote operated crane positioned in a large ball pit. Zabien was a big fan.

 

Eliza waited patiently until it was her turn. 

 

After a while we headed downstairs to the CHOP (Children's hospital of Philadelphia) hospital where daddy got a thorough check up. 

 

The doctor scrubs and MRI machine were my favorite.  Eliza took extra special care of the baby dolls they had there.  She had to make sure that the babies were in good, healthy condition and wrapped up tightly in their blankets so they didn't get cold. 

 

After the doctors visit, we headed to the neighborhood Shoprite (my favorite grocery store) to fill our carts up with groceries. 

 

Zaby ran around the store with his little cart filling it as quickly as possible - mostly with pop tarts, cookies, crackers, cereal, chocolate milk, and bananas.  He was a bit disappointed when he found out that not only did he have to put all his groceries back on the shelves, but the pop tarts were only a box, there wasn't a single pop tart in it.  He was very particular about not mixing his groceries with anyone else's at checkout.  How cute!

 

 

 

Eliza filled her cart to the top over and over and over again.  She kept wanting to put the groceries away and make dinner in the play kitchen area.  I have to admit that the funniest thing about the whole process was when she got up to checkout.  She was completely serious about the fact that she didn't bring her purse full of coupons so she couldn't buy any of these things - she asked me if I could find some more paper money to give her.  Too cute!  This girl, like her mother, is obsessed with coupons - she gets excited when I give her the mail coupons I will never use. 

 

After the shopping trip, we ate the lunch we packed in the cafeteria.  The cafeteria was unlocked, but I wasn't quite sure if we were actually allowed to use it because no one else came in the entire 30 minutes we were there.  After lunch, we had our own adventures in Wonderland. 

 

She loved dressing up as the Queen of Hearts.  We painted the roses red, had a tea party with the Mad Hatter, and hugged the King of Hearts

We took a minute to pose by the bushes before we wandered into the maze to chase the white rabbit.

 

 

 

We couldn't make it through Wonderland without playing some hedgehog croquet. 

 

Zabien was really good at this - he managed to knock his hedgehog through the card hoops several times. 

 

Posing with the hoops

 

 

 

From Wonderland to Mother Goose Land

Yes I am discreetly nursing in the corner.  For a children's museum, they sure didn't make it easy for nursing mothers.

 

where they built an amazing track out of these foam building blocks

From there, it was on to the carousel.  We had 4 tickets, but parents were able to ride free with a child which meant that the two of them each got to ride twice.  Before hoping on the carousel, we stopped to pose in this cute photo.

 

 

 

On the carousel:

 



Hazel

Zabien

Eliza

 

After the carousel, we did some quick water play, then it was off the art room where we painted skeletons of fish.

At the end of the day, they did an "end of the day parade."  I was quite surprised at how quickly and enthusiastically Eliza participated in the parade - she is often one to be a little shy in a big group especially if it is something she hasn't done or witnessed before.  She jumped right in with her little tambourine, and gave the giant drum a large whack. 

This was one of those moments when I realized how much preschool and primary has helped her with trying new things and participating in group functions without being scared.  What a fun day at the Children's museum.

National Zoo

Our ward had a youth temple trip at the Washington DC temple (our current temple district) on June 20th.  Since we had a free night stay at a Hilton hotel, we decided to go to make a whole weekend of it and see some new sights in DC.  Neither Bruce nor I were particularly excited about chasing the kids around any of the Smithsonian museums.  Since we had never been to the National Zoo, we thought this activity would be more suitable for the children.  That's exactly what we did.  Unfortunately we spent more time in the van navigating the narrow, crowded streets of DC than we expected.  It took us nearly 5 hours to drive the 3 hours we were expecting.  After being rear-ended by a very impatient driver, we finally made it to our hotel.  Feeling adventurous, we decided to walk the nearly 1 mile jaunt over to the zoo - a double stroller just didn't have enough seats for 3 young children. 

By the time we finally got to the zoo, mom and dad were already tired from pushing and carrying the young ones.  A mile is far for a 3 almost 4 year old girl to walk.  We posed for this family photo right outside the zoo.  We kind of look like we belong in the zoo. 

We saw some pretty cool animals inside.  I was most excited to see the panda bears, Zabien the elephants, and Eliza the giraffes.  Although they had plenty of elephants (I counted at least 10), sadly, this zoo didn't have any giraffes. 

I think this picture of Eliza standing like a flamingo is just so fun.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a brick oven pizza place and got Stromboli to go.  The kids were fascinated with this mini-chef right outside the restaurant.  Honestly, that's one reason why we decided to order from the place, the kids spent so much time hugging this little statue we kind of felt obligated.  The pizza was delicious and well worth the 15 minute late. 

Eliza also enjoyed the table decorations - the pink lamps were adorable. 

It was a fun weekend if you take out the part where I spent the entire night sleeping at the foot of the bed.  Hazel didn't like the pack n play, so she spent the night in bed kicking Zaby in the head.  Zaby was all over the place, and the only space for me was at the foot of the bed.  I woke up a dozen times; one of those times was to snuggle with Zaby so he didn't roll over on top of Hazel.  Even with all the shuffling, there wasn't enough room for me to sleep in a normal custom on the nice, comfy bed - not my best night of sleep, but a fun weekend nonetheless. 

Sesame Place

I decided that this summer we were going to take advantage of the time away from work Bruce has as a 9-month college professor and spend as much time together as a family as possible.  One of those ways was to scour Groupon and find some good deals on local attractions.  One of the favorite ones that I new my kids would love was a day at Sesame Place.  Unlike the last time we were there, I picked a warm, sunny day to enjoy all that the park had to offer.  Bringing Bruce was a must since it would be impossible to accompany the kids on any rides while toting along a 2 month old baby.  Besides I felt like Bruce needed to see how much fun these two kids have at Sesame Place. 

On June 26, we headed to Sesame Place.  We didn't tell the kids where we were going.  In fact, we had the kids put jewels in a mason jar for doing good things, and when it was full they earned the chance to have a fun family day.  We may have been a little lenient on awarding and removing these jewels from the jars because my Groupon did expire and we had to go before a certain time.  When we pulled up and the kids saw where we were, they were immediately excited to jump out of the van and run in for some all day fun.

Eliza wanted to ride everything.  She ran from ride to ride with so much excitement.  Zabien was quick to follow.  Bruce and I switched off between accompanying the older children and staying back with Hazel. 

Enjoying the rides

I like how the rides are safe for children, but it is very difficult for adults to squeeze their way into the tiny seats to accompany their children.  The kids each took a turn on the carousel with a face full of smiles. 



While the kids were out enjoying the rides in the hot sun, Hazel and I spent some time in the air conditioned mother's lounge where she was all smiles. 

 

The kids got to meet some of their favorite characters. Although it's not obvious from the look on their faces, Eliza was absolutely stoked that she got to pose with Bert and Ernie.  Even though she has been here before, I think their size took her by surprise.

 

 

  Both of them were much more brave with the characters after or during the shows.  Here's the cute bunch waiting for a show to start.

 

 

As an adult with children who love Sesame Street, I find the shows very enjoyable.  I've been to this park 3 different times, and I have never seen a show repeated. 

 

Bruce definitely gets the "daddy of the year award" with this stunning performance.  (I realize that the video quality is bad and quite shaky, but in my defense I took this video while nursing a baby underneath a cover.  At one point I had to stand up in order to get a good view of Bruce.)

https://youtu.be/V7D9uuTGKQ8

Later in the afternoon, we changed into our swimming suits and headed over to the water park.  This part of the park we had never visited before because the other times we came to sesame Place was in November.  Surprisingly enough, Eliza was not disappointed - in fact, she went even more crazy over the water rides, then she did the regular rides.  In the past, she has always been a bit hesitant about water and water related things, but that is not so true anymore.  She wanted to ride everything - nothing was too scary for her.  She even did all the tube rides and body slides without a life jacket. 

 

 

This rubber ducky slide was especially fun.  She went on it first with dad and Zabien, and had such a great time that she wanted to go on it again with me.  So I took her.  The entire way up to the top, she told me all about the ride - how we had to stand in line and we might get splashed by the sprayers but that it wasn't scary.  She told me that there were a lot of turns and sometimes you went backwards so you couldn't see, and that I WOULD get WET but to not be scared.  It was so cute listening to her tell me all about this ride as if she were an expert.  Too fun!! 

We stopped riding rides for 45 minutes in order to watch the Sesame street Neighborhood parade.  Its always fun to see the characters and bright, colorful costumes.

 

 

After the parade, it was back to the water rides until closing.  Such a fun day to spend as a family.  Some might say that Sesame Place  only fun for the kids, but if you are a parent who enjoys watching your children have fun, then you won't be disappointed by this theme park.  I have yet to be. 

May Happenings and beginning of summer

This marks the beginning of a string of catch up posts and a chronology of our packed with fun and adventure filled summer.

May was one of those months that came and went as quick as a blink.  I'm sure it had nothing to do whatsoever with the fact that I had a newborn.  Speaking of said newborn, here she is out for a walk with the family.  This was near the beginning of May when there was still a little chill in the air. 

 

May was full of a spectrum of things like:

 

Playing at the park - this was while Eliza was still in preschool

 

 Ever the daredevil - he dives down slides head first

 

 

Mowing the lawn - this is one of Zabien's favorite activities.  It is so cute to see him outside pushing his toy lawn mower right behind his daddy.  Every morning he asks if they can "moo" the lawn, and he always wants to know where his Moo-lawn is.  He also told me that he needed to wear his helmet so he could be safe.  What a cute boy! 

 

 

Driving tractors - we attended the end of the year picnic for the Brock and Bridle/Dairy Society.  Oddly enough, we ate in the barn next to the sheep.  Not ideal, but at least the tractors were close by, and the kids got to hop on and pretend to drive.  It was fun for the kids. 

 

 

Trying to catch up on some much needed rest. 

 



 

Attending the father's and sons' outing.  Zaby has such a great time watching the "big boys."  Two families in our ward have 4 boys. They are daring each other to do crazy things all the time.  Whenever we have any kind of ward get together, Zaby always watches them with longing that someday he can do crazy things like them too.  He wanted to play in the fire with them too, but daddy was good and wouldn't let him.  Sadly for Zaby, they didn't stay overnight because Bruce had graduation the following morning.  As a side note, this year he conducted the baccalaureate services on campus.  It was quite the honor, and he was happy to do it.  I know he did a great job. 

 

While the two of them relaxed in the great outdoors, I chilled at home with the two girls.  I wish I could say it was easy sailing, but Eliza was so distraught that she couldn't go with them that she literally sat outside on the grass and cried and screamed at the top of her lungs for daddy for a solid 20 minutes.  I would have thought her lungs would get tired and give it up, but she is a determined child.  No amount of coaxing, comforting, or bribing could get her to stop.  Finally I did what every desperate mother would do - I called dad.  After he calmed her down, I gave her 2 big scoops of ice cream and eventually sent her off to bed.  Seriously, once Eliza gets something set in her mind, it is nearly impossible to sway her away from it. 

 

Spending more time at the park - this time with daddy who is much more fun to play with than mom.  

Saying farewell to some friends who also happen to be second cousins

 

Eliza will miss her friend Ally.  In fact the other day when we were headed to playgroup she wanted to make a card to give to Ally.  She was a bit distraught when I told her again that Ally moved to Utah and wouldn't be there. 

 

Training for the Warrior Dash - with kids in tow

 

Zabien loves going running with his daddy.  One time when they went, Zaby ran the whole way with daddy.  They didn't go very far, but it was still quite impressive for his little legs to endure that long without stopping.

 

Putting together some unique outfits - this is always Eliza's domain

 

Attending the annual ward Memorial Day picnic.  I played some softball (until I had to stop to nurse the baby).  We had some great food and great activities.  Bruce played some volleyball, the kids played various explorer games with the other kids from our ward.  We had lots of good food, good company, and a good time. 

 If that wasn't enough excitement for the morning of Memorial Day, after a short nap, we spent the afternoon at the pool. 

We splashed:

 

 

Floated:

 

 

 

Relaxed in the tube:

 

 

And went down the frog slide:

 



 

 

It was a busy Memorial Day and although we thought of our relatives (especially my grandpa who died a year ago on Memorial Day), we didn't actually visit any graveyards because none of our relatives are buried near where we live.  One of the downers of living so far away I guess. 

 

Other May activities include: climbing trees

 

 

 

and getting used to being a family of 5.  We sure enjoy our Hazel Mazel

 

Goodbye May - you were good to us.