Lil Pop Shop

Of course, it's been a pretty hot week, and what did we decide to do this week?  Paint our shutters!  Fun!  Nothing like hanging outside in the 95 degree heat painting shutters black!  Ahh well...our efforts are paying off and I'll share the details soon!  In the meantime, we did take a break this week to head to Philly to visit our NICU buddies, Stephanie and Tristan.  We were treated to a special place - The Lil Pop Shop!  

It's really quite adorable inside.  Everything is whitewashed and simple, and in the corner, there is even a popsicle stand for the littles to play!  

The choices were delectable!  I don't know how I missed the Creamy Sweet and Salty Summer Corn!  That's what I get for not really looking at the menu and concentrating on the case!!  I ended up with Creamy Mint Chocolate Chunk, which tasted just like the mint from my garden, and Chocolate Salted Caramel Brownie.  Can you tell I love chocolate?  

It was so excited to just spend time with Stephanie.  Tristan and Maura have grown so much!! To think they were once roommates in the NICU is kinda crazy!  

Building Sandcastles

I watched his hands move.  It's instinctual, a right of childhood passage, this playing in the sand thing.  We were building a castle together.  

He turned over the mold again and again, hoping it would stay together.  Sometimes it did, sometimes it didn't.  He's learning.  I gathered a bucket of water and showed him how the salty cold water made the sand particularly sticky.  

We built the little castles together.  He used his digger to create a trench.  I smoothed the edges.  He'll catch on, by watching me. He'll get better, and maybe someday, he'll teach his own children the same way that I taught him.

A Moment of Discovery

We've been quite busy this month!! Stay tuned! More fun posts coming next week! I promise!


In the meantime, enjoy our moment, that we are savoring in these dog days of summer!  

What moments are you savoring and treasuring this summer?

Visiting PEZ!

Joe and I have been long time fans of Pez.  Joe even has enough Pez dispensers in his classroom to line the tops of all of his chalkboards!  So it was no surprise when we saw the signs for the Pez Visitor Center in Orange, Connecticut that we had to stop!

At first, we couldn't believe what we saw.  Really?  A Pez visitor center?  Minutes later, a billboard confirmed it.  A quick check into our iphones, and there we saw it: The Pez Factory was open to the public!  

We planned our trip home knowing a stop was definitely in order.  We were totally geeking out before we even walked through the doors...there were giant Pez benches in the foyer of the visitor center.  It was obligatory to take pictures of Maura on said benches for her baby book.  Don't you agree?

Once we finally made it in, the place was really cool!!  Unfortunately, the factory wasn't working at the time, which was noted on the entrance when we walked in, but there were still lots of neat things to see.  Did you know that Pez was created as an alternative to smoking?  How about that the first Pez flavor was peppermint?  There are swarovski crystal Pez dispensers and check out these Santas and the rare Olive Oyl and Bruto!  Aren't they neat?  

The cost of admission - $5.00 - came with a $2.00 credit for their store.  Of course, we couldn't walk out without buying something.  I was sad that Patrick wasn't there to enjoy it, but we got him enough Pez to make a little boy happy.  Joe scored a special edition Pez Visitor Center dispenser that can only be bought there.  And of course, we got Patrick a very very cool Pez shirt!  

We had no idea the place was there, but it sure was a special treat to stumble upon!  Have you found anything notable in your summer travels so far?  I'd love to hear about them!

Oh What a Weekend...

This weekend included....

One amazingly beautiful wedding in Cohasset...
A very secluded camping spot at Wompatuck...
Time spent in Hull, enjoying the rocky beach...
Collecting some of those rocks for my own garden...
Beach time with just Joe and Miss Maura...
A whole lot of Pez (more details coming!)...
And a bit of missing Patrick!


But oh, was it fun!  What did you do this weekend?  Anything interesting?