our trip to Philly

Sorry for the unannounced, prolonged absence from this space.  We spent the last several days in Philadelphia visiting my brother and his family.  I thought I might blog from up there, but I decided to be in the moment as much as possible and not spend my evenings blogging.  I honestly didn't even take as many pictures as I normally do.  I did manage to get quite a few shots of our time at the Crayola Factory and the Philadelphia Zoo. The kids had a wonderful time playing with their cousins, as they always do.  And I enjoyed watching my children and my brother's children interacting and caring for one another. I only wish they could do this more often.

We returned yesterday afternoon, too exhausted to head out to any of the local fireworks displays so we just set off some sparklers in the basil.

I hope everyone that celebrates July 4th had a lovely day! I plan to be back in this space regularly now. :)

Road Trip: family and friends in Philly

My sister-in-law took us to this amazing park the other day which was so delightful and imaginative for the kids that we spent the entire morning and picnicked there.

In addition to the typical slides, climbing structures and series of swinging and dangling tools, we found musical instruments, sundials and finger mazes.

And cousins...which are more fun than even the best playgrounds.

We were also happy to catch up with friends and meet this sweet little girl, whose adoption was completed just after we visited the last time.

She and Elizabeth, the master baby-swing-pusher, got along quite well.

And she has a gorgeous smile that she generously shared.

It was great to see her mama and brother again too.

(I forgot my camera on one of our excursions, so I can't show you time we played with our other friends in the Philly area, but it's safe to say we find plenty of brotherly love each time we visit.)

On our last evening in Philadelphia, we took a stroll with my brother's family to Cone Heads.

We caught a glimpse of a bit of local wildlife. (Peter Cottontail!)

If messiness is any indication, I think Aren enjoyed his cone the most!

Trudging back toward home, I think Finn might have been sugar-crashing.

And Aidan was ever-so-lucky enough to have a lightening bug land right on his hand! How thrilling. :)

Thanks to my brother and his wonderful family for sharing their home and city with us on this last leg of our road trip. We had a perfectly lovely time!

Road Trip: Philadelphia Zoo

Today, we visited the original American institution that began the spread of state and regional zoos across the country. America's first zoo was located in Philadelphia as a wildlife refuge and zoological garden. The kids were a bit leery at first as our NC Zoo is vast and takes quite a bit of stamina, which is wonderful for the animals, but can be very tiring for the humans who want to visit them.

I loved seeing new and unique animals that aren't in our local zoo, including the fruit bat, which was Finn's favorite animal to see today. Those bats are huge! Most of the bats we've ever seen are so much smaller, and it was wonderful to see bats that you could really get a good glimpse of what they look like.

The prairie dogs were a new zoo feature for us too, and they are such cuties popping in and out of their holes and dugouts.

We were also fortunate (and grateful!) that my sister-in-law has a membership to the zoo which enabled us to do many of the activities that the park charges extra for, including the carousel.

My nephew, Aiden, was very excited that his favorite zoo animal, the cheetah, was free for the riding, while Aren was content to sit on the frog next to him.

The kids scored the caboose on the train ride, which thrilled them to no end.

After a break for a picnic lunch,

we stopped by the Children's Zoo, which has many animals for petting and feeding.

I love how interactive this section was for the kids with the pony rides

and animal brushing. The animals were so sweet and docile and all of our kids thoroughly enjoy getting so up close and personal with them.

Then we were off to see Aren's favorites, the lions, and other African animals. I couldn't believe the length of the horns on some of the gazelles!

And it was fun to see the baby giraffe bending down to eat grass. You always read about how they spread their front legs to bend their necks to the ground, but you rarely get to see that in person.

We meandered our way through the rest of the zoo.

We saw Elizabeth's favorites, the flamingos and the spider monkeys.

Then we headed home with tuckered out kiddos who took very good afternoon naps! We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the Philadelphia Zoo. It almost makes me want to visit more zoos to find other animals to observe that are new to us.

Road Trip: Philadelphia suburbs

Elizabeth, Finn and I made our way further north this weekend to visit with my brother's family. The last few days have been low key (due to some sickness and general resting needed) but we did take a few minutes to visit a nearby farm. I love how many suburban farms there are in this area! It's easy to forget that a major city is a stone's throw away.

We attempted to pick some strawberries, but the fact that strawberry season is nearing it's completion in this area coupled with trying to pick at the tail end of the weekend did not make for successful strawberry picking.

We did get to admire some cute farm animals.

A sweet daddy-son embrace.

And the farm's you-pick Zinnia season is now underway. I've never seen a you-pick farm for flowers. What a fun concept!

Random water lily in the farm pond that I couldn't resist photographing.

Today we largely stuck to the area around the house to accomodate Finn's return to health.

(He looks just fine now, don't you think?)

Fortunately there is a park for playing with cousins directly across the street from my brother's house.

(And letting big sister/cousin drag you around in the wagon.)

I'm so grateful for this time to spend with my family and watch these cousins enjoy each other.