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!  

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!

Making Memories

When I was a small child, my mother would take us out of school for a day so that we could all head to the Fountains of Wayne and experience Christmas. We'd ooh and ahh over the many rooms of brightly colored and decorated Christmas trees and we were allowed to pick out one ornament. We'd then head up the staircase to the top, where the magical animated Christmas story awaited us.



We did this every year. It was magic. I still have many of my ornaments that I chose as a child. The memories of that place, although it no longer exists, brings me back to my childhood. So of course, I want my child to have similar memories...



It was no surprise when Joe mentioned the Wannamaker Light Show that we had to go. I looked it up and found out that the Strawbridge Dickens Village was also at Macy's. And the Comcast Christmas Spectacular was only a few blocks away. It was like hitting the jackpot!

We took the speedline over to Philadelphia. Patrick enjoyed every minute of it. We even saw the light show twice!

A Day on the Farm

On our days together, we try to do things that will enrich Patrick's lives. We seize those days to create new memories for him, and of course, eventually Maura, who rather naps through much of our adventures just yet.







This particular day, we headed to a working farm. It isn't the first time we've taken him to a farm, but this was our first visit to Howell Living History Farm.





The weather was faltering on rain that morning, but we decided to head out anyway. By the time we got there, the sun was bursting through the clouds, making us glad we'd come. We practically had the whole farm to ourselves save for the farmhands! We headed for lunch after the farm, only to drive home in thunderstorms! The day was meant for us!

Visiting Shelburne Farms

One of the places we stopped at in Vermont was Shelburne Farms. Joe and I had never been there before, but we really thought Patrick would like it. (Does he even realize how much we do for him?) I should know my child best. He was most amused by the tractor ride! He just said to me today, "We go on tractor like this again Mama!?" Yes bud..we will, in the fall, when we go pick pumpkins! Until then, he'll have to make do with his toy tractor that he showed me today.



This place is amazing. It sits on a peninsula on Lake Champlain and their goal is to really educate people about a working farm. They were making cheese and milking cows and goats and gathering chickens...just so much fun! It really gave us a taste for the farm life.



I was happy to visit and try on someone else's shoes if only for the day. It was almost like stepping back in time!

On the Edge of the Atlantic...

Even rainy days down the shore can be a good time.



I'm often inspired by Amanda Soule's visits to the beach in Maine, but our beaches here in NJ are so very different....there is lots of sands, and many people..and I knew of one place with jetties...


and tide pools so on a cloudy drizzly day recently, we headed out there to Long Beach Island to the lighthouse...



The rain certainly didn't keep us down....we made the best of it in our rain gear and the day flew by..



Patrick enjoyed exploring the tide pools even if it wasn't very sunny out...



Sometimes, down days are good to have at the shore..it leads you to new and exciting places...seeing interesting things...Hopefully we can still get a beach day or two in before the fall sneaks into our lives again!

Sesame Place

With all this time home with Patrick, we've been really creative in finding cool things to do this summer. One of those things is Sesame Place. We happen to live just 20 minutes from the home of Elmo, Zoey, Abby, Grover, and the rest of the gang, so why not capitalize on that!? Another bonus is that Patrick wasn't 2 when we bought season passes, so it worked out nicely price wise!



About once a week, we find ourselves wandering over to Sesame, playing in their water park areas, riding rides, and playing in their playground spaces. This week, we got to take some good friends of ours and share in the fun!





The weather wasn't looking too promising, with rain coming down in spurts, but we decided to go anyway. We didn't get rained on afterall, and it was a great day! The temperature was perfect for walking around, but a little chilly for water rides, although we did brave just a few!



We spent most of our time just playing and that was just fine. We even got to meet a character or two!

Strawberries for the Pickin'

We recently ventured out to go strawberry picking. For some reason, we never fit it in last year, so the last time we'd gone was when I was very pregnant! Of course, any new adventure with a toddler brings a certain amount of uncertainty. It's either going to be amazing or just a total nightmare.

This particular farm, Russo's, has rather become our farm. We've gone apple picking there, we buy produce there on occasion, I've even nursed my sweet child in their orchards. Suffice to say, it feels like "home".



As we got to the fields, we headed towards the back, hoping the strawberries would be best in the spot that we picked. Now, Patrick LOVES strawberries. I can't imagine having a limitless amount of strawberries at my disposal if I were a toddler! Once he realized what was going on, he was more than willing to help pick, although he thought we should also be picking leaves ;)



He definitely ate his share of strawberries and waited on our heals as we gave him new ones to devour.



Overall, the whole adventure was a success! Who was I kidding? Kids and farms? Don't we all already know they fit together well?