Saturday, December 1, 2012

Please Touch Children's Museum- Philadelphia



Today we decided to take our sweet pea to a Children's Museum in Philly.   We were fabulously surprised when we got there that it was free for Military people.  

Driving up, it really looked like an adult museum with grand architecture and columns.  But on the inside....it was all kiddy!  It took Ellie a bit to get warmed up to all the noise and movement from all the kids in there.  She loves big kids so did a lot of staring :).  But she managed to let loose and have a great time running around and touching EVERYTHING!!!!

Here are some pictures from our day. 




One of the themed play 'n' learn areas

Driving a race car!

In the open atrium of the museum

Her first carousel ride.  She loved it!
 A clip of her on the carousel:

 

Water fun!

Dancing on the interactive piano






Performance of a lifetime :)

Taking after daddy, driving a boat!


Building train tracks

Shopping

Monday, November 26, 2012

A happy and exciting Thanksgiving (NYC)


This Thanksgiving we went up to NYC!  It was the perfect time to make a trip up there since we were both off and Dave's Aunt Betsy and friends Stephen and Peggy were flying in for their choir performance at Lincoln Center of The Messiah.  The weather also agreed with us and was sunny and surprisingly warm ( well, for an NYC winter ).

We live just over an hour from the state line so it was a quick drive into the City.  We checked in early to The Mansfield, a cute boutique hotel in Midtown.   The rooms were a little small, but the staff and service made up for that.  They were outstanding!  They also had a great self-serve coffe bar in the library....so cozy!  We were thankful that they accommodated us by allowing us to checkout super late the next day.  That was super helpful with Ellie, gave her the opportunity for an afternoon nap.

The day before Thanksgiving we walked all around, checking out Times Square, Rockefeller Center, the Lego Store, and Central Park.  We wanted to head to the upper west side to see the Macy's Day Parade balloons being inflated but thought we'd better get a bite to eat and then veg back at the hotel.   Our bite was a delicious burger, fries, and shake at the Shake Shack!  Yum!!!!  The lines were out the door but they moved quickly and Dave found us a seat, luckily.  We walked our lunch off on the way back to the hotel.  :).  We then just hung out and ordered room service and had a blast goofin off with the girl.








Thursday morning we got up and headed out with the masses for the parade.  CRAZY!   We finally made our way to meet up with Betsy, Peggy, and Stephen and watched the parade from their hotel.  It was all so exciting! Afterwards we ate dinner at a fabulous restaurant called Artisanal....which I highly recommend.  Again, amazing service!







  I absolutely loved it, all of it, and can't wait for next year!

Thursday, November 1, 2012

TRICK OR TREAT

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!


I absolutely love Halloween.  My favorite part is seeing all the kids dressed up and passing out candy.  Living on base, there is no shortage of costumed kiddies on this holiday and thats makes me sooo happy!!! I bought 10 bags of candy and we were out in about 40 minutes.  It lasted longer than I thought, probably since so many families were still without power and went trick or treating elsewhere.  

OUR FRONT DOOR

MY CHEESY HALLOWEEN SHIRT FROM A COUPLE YEARS BACK


ELLIE'S TEACHERS PUT HER HAIR IN PIGGY TAILS

HA HA!! SO CUTE

MY LITTLE SUSHI :)  



SHE WAS FASCINATED WITH ALL THE KIDS AND THEIR COSTUMES

DADDY DAVE, ELLIE, AND OUR NEIGHBOR EDWIN

NEIGHBORS AEDAN AND DEANNA

THIS WAS NUTS!

AEDAN AND MICKEY FROM FANTASIA

WALKING HOME




I love seeing all the costume pictures!  What did everyone else dress up as??


Wednesday, October 31, 2012

One Year Photo Shoot

She's One!!!

Ellie 's one year photo session was....interesting.  The girl would not sit still for anything!  We had goldfish crackers and apples everywhere, balloons, headbands, and even the pearls from the strand she was wearing were strewn everywhere because she ripped it off.  The photographer was a saint and so, so patient with her.  I got quite the workout that afternoon chasing her all around.  Here are a few good shots we managed to get.










Getting cleaned up afterwards