The Philadelphia Zoo

During our trip to PA, we took a break from Sesame Place to visit the nearby Philadelphia Zoo.

It was a really nice zoo- good size with lots of animals, but not too big that we couldn't see everything in one morning.

The girls were excited to see all the animals, but with a busy day the day before and much less sleep than usual, all the walking wore them out pretty quickly.

They were most excited about the petting zoo. We are a bit spoiled after repeated trips to Adirondack Animal Land where you can feed and pet almost all the animals. MiniM.E. really just wanted to touch something. Even in the petting zoo there was no feeding, which I think might have been a bit disappointing. At least there was brushing, which might have made up for the lack of food.

A really cool feature of the zoo (that I didn't take photos of because now that I have kids I hardly take photos of anything but them) is the zoo 360 where animals can walk right over you in caged tunnels. We had some pretty amazing views of some monkeys and a cheetah. 

The best exhibit was the tiger because we got to see him right up close and he got into the water for a swim. I think the girls' favorite part was that as he got out of the water he pooped in it. Even LittleL.G. was giggling and kept asking for "mo rah poo!" (more roar(tiger) poop!).

Sesame Place

Last week we took an awesome vacation. We went to Sesame Place in PA with Gram - just the girls.

The drive down was a breeze. After driving all the way down to VA, 4 hours was a piece of cake. We tried to driving during LittleL.G.'s nap, but she was so excited she fought it for a long time.  She finally passed out under her blanket.

Once we arrived, we checked into the hotel where MiniM.E. prepped for seeing Elmo by taking photos of the Elmo we brought with us:

We swam in the pool and MiniM.E. met a friend the same age as her and they had a blast jumping in and swimming together. After dinner and a rainbow (good luck for the rest of our trip) we tried to get the kids to sleep since we had a big couple days ahead!

Sesame Place was a blast.  Wednesday was cool and breezy which was perfect weather for an amusement park (not so much the for the water park which we promised MiniM.E. for Thursday).

MiniM.E. LOVED the rides and was excited to go on everything. We bumped into her friend from the pool so she had a riding buddy for some of the rides that Gram and I didn't want to go on.

MiniM.E.'s favorite ride, by far, was the roller coaster. It was one of the only rides Gram liked so she got to be MiniM.E.'s riding buddy every time.

Gram also got to ride the Cloud Eraser.

LittleL.G. was a surprisingly patient observer.

She had a great time on a few of the rides like the hot air balloons and the tea cups, but was not a fan of the restraints.

I was the primary ride rider since I could (almost) tolerate all the spinning and jostling without feeling too dizzy and icky.

Funny how I used to love amusement park rides as a kid, but as an adult they really do a number on me.  The carousel was more my speed.

LittleL.G. rode the horse around once, but by the end of the trip decided she preferred the bench.

Aside from the rides, Sesame had some other cute things to offer.  Lots of opportunities for character photos:

And the best part of the trip, the Sesame Parade and Street Party.

The first day the girls were interested and watched intently. But the second day they were both dancing and MiniM.E. even got pulled into the parade to dance!

It was a really enjoyable trip for everyone. The girls had a blast and MiniM.E. is already asking when we can go back again!

Puddle Jumping and Playgrounds

This weekend felt odd because I was away from the girls most of the day Saturday. I am rarely away from the girls for more than a couple hours.

Both of them were so excited for "Daddy-Daughter Day" and had a great time with Daddy while I was gone.  Maybe we'll make it a monthly thing!

Sunday was miserably rainy.  It was raining when we woke up, it poured all day, and it didn't let up until after the kids were in bed.

We ventured out for a few minutes for a walk and some puddle jumping, but LittleL.G. fell and got wet, so it didn't last long.

It was nice to see the sun this morning! We are preparing for a trip to Sesame Place tomorrow and we had planned to stay in this morning and get ready, but it was too nice to be inside after staying in all day yesterday so we took a packing break to go to the playground.

End of the School Year

Today was the end of the year park day celebration at the new playground in Milton.  One last day to play with school friends and have a good time.  MiniM.E. and LittleL.G. had a good time running around and playing (and mostly swinging)- it is such a nice playground.

We had a good time, but I think both of us were more relieved than sad that the school year has come to an end.

A little more about our new adventure:

we are starting kindergarten in July, at home.  I'm sure it will be exciting and rewarding and probably trying at times, but we are both really excited about the year ahead.

Preschool Graduation

Yesterday MiniM.E. graduated from preschool.  She also "graduated" from preschool last year, but this year was a much bigger deal since MiniM.E. is now officially NOT a preschooler and is excited to tell anyone and everyone that she is now a kindergartener.

Many of the parents at graduation were sad that preschool is ending and their kids will be off at kindergarten next year.  Some will be sending their kids to pre-K at the same preschool next year.

As much as I would like to say it was a tearful event, I have been counting down to the end of school for months now.  Not that I don't LOVE MiniM.E.'s school or her teacher, they are both wonderful and I couldn't have chosen a better place for MiniM.E., but I have been dragging her (often times crying or kicking and screaming) to school every Monday, Wednesday and Friday since September and there is not even a tiny part of me that is sad not to have to do it again.  I'm sure she will miss school sometimes.  I know she will miss her teacher.  And maybe some of her friends.  But it is time to move on to a new adventure.

big squeeze from her teacher

handing out flowers to her classmates

snacking solo

After our exciting morning we celebrated "graduation" with a trip to the toy store and dinner out at the Lake Local.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

Our long weekend started out as a blank canvas. In fact I it took me a few days to realize why everyone kept asking what I was doing this weekend because I forgot it was a long one! Since we had zero plans from the start we decided to be spontaneous and just go and do things!

We started Saturday at the Great Escape. The plan was only to do the waterpark since this was our third weekend going up, but though we thought the waterpark opened at 10 (when we arrived) it actually opened at noon, giving us two hours to bake in the sun and ride some rides in 80+ degree weather. By the time the waterpark actually did open we were pretty tuckered out and only lasted an hour or so.

We got home from Great Escape and prepared to go to a BBQ in the evening.  Had a great time there and got home a little late.

Sunday after church, we headed to the spray ground downtown.  After being out in the sun and heat all day yesterday we were all a bit tired.  The girls had a great time for a while...

But it was soon obvious that we all just needed a nap...

LittleL.G. took a nap and we prepared to host an improptu BBQ at our house.

It was a late night, both girls were up way past their bedtimes.

So maybe we should have figured that a trip to the beach Monday would have been too much. But we tried it anyway. The hour we spent there was very pleasant, but I think what we all needed was a relaxing day at home, swimming in the inflatable pools in the yard and sitting in the adirondack chairs. And that's how we spend the rest of the day.

Bathtime

Who can resist a bath time photo shoot?