Our First Trip to NH of the Summer

Gram came to NY to see MiniM.E.'s recital and we left with her to go back to NH Wednesday evening. It's always exciting to go to NH for the first time in the summer when the pool is open and the weather is nice and we can swim and play outside all day.  

The plan was to have the girls sleep on the way.  50% success.

Thursday we swam and played outside.

And Thursday evening after work Daddy came to meet us.

Today we went to the trampoline park in Nashua for toddler time.

Our Second Dance Recital

Last night was MiniM.E.'s second dance recital. Her first recital was a huge deal as it celebrated some big firsts for her. The second time around she was like a seasoned pro- just the tiniest bit of nerves and so excited to dance on stage! She's really grown a lot in the past 6 months!

MiniM.E. is already looking forward to dance next year.  And LittleL.G. too! She can start when she's two and is already excited about it.

Congress Park

Today was our weekly playdate with our best friends and we met downtown to do what we affectionately call, "Bucks and Ducks" - a coffee and snack at Starbucks and a walk through the park to feed the ducks.

MiniM.E. was nibbled by a duck pretty early on in our walk so today we added feeling the water in the new reflecting pool:

And playing with the water, rocks and coins in this fountain:

So enjoying just being outside in the nice summer weather!

Beach Day!

Today we didn't have anything planned so last minute I decided to take the girls up to the beach.  It wasn't very warm even though the day got up to the high seventies this afternoon, but they both seemed to have a good time digging and building.  

We all even went in the chilly water! 

After being wet and cold the girls were done with sand and water but we still had some time before we needed to go home for lunch so we explored the playground a bit.  It was nice that it wasn't too hot to play as it usually is when we come to the beach.

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!