Sesame Place!

After months of an obsession and love for all things Sesame Street, we decided to plan an outing to Sesame Place in Langhorne, PA. Abram was anxious to check out the map and see what he wanted to hit up first!



Honestly, I feel bad saying it, but I was dreading it in a way. I hear stories about mobs of people with screaming children, lines so long you have to wait and wait for anything, hot summer days so hot you can't stand it, and so on. Obviously those stories weren't exactly creating excitement for me!!! as you can imagine. But we planned to meet another couple with their son who is only a couple months younger than the kid. So I was definitely looking forward to seeing our friends and their son.

Turns out, the day was awesome! Yes it was hot and yes it was crowded. lines - yes there were some but nothing as bad as I had expected. And - the best part which made the day a blast for all of us - the kid loved every single moment!! He had such a ball!!! We had prepped him for days saying "guess who we're going to see this weekend?? Big Bird!!!" He was very excited and happy days before but especially when we finally got to see big bird!!!



There was a parade in the afternoon and boy was he excited to see all his favorite guys, all in one place! He was pointing and shouting, saying "Wook! Wook!! Ernie! Elmo! Abby!" etc...



We took a break and went into the AC for some cool down time and to watch an episode of "Elmo's World Live"! Both the boys were tuned in and in complete focus on Elmo and Mr. Noodle!



This was the kids first experience with rides. Though he was slightly apprhensive beforehand, he got right on them and enjoyed it! All 6 of us piled into a tube and went down a waterslide - the boys wore lifejackets. The finale of the ride was a huge drop - abram held his breath the whole way, it scared the crap out of him i could tell. But afterward - he kept saying "wow! good job! fun!! good job! fun!!" Too Cute:) that was the longest line we waited in all day but was well worth it.

The boys really enjoyed each others company, as the parents did!! They had some water time in the many pools. rode some rides together and even enjoyed some ice cream. One of our last visits of the day was with Bert and Ernie. The boys were So excited to see the brothers and ran right to them, giving out big hugs and kisses! As you can see, they weren't scared a bit!



Afterward, on the way home, Abram kept saying, "I hug Ernie! I see Big Bird. I hug Ernie!" Then he fell asleep about 2 minutes later. It was fun but exhausting too... as you can see, he was zonked. and slept the whole way home!



It was an awesome outing and day I love to look back on. We can't wait to take him back!

Happy Fathers Day

We spent fathers day celebrating in Philly. It was a beautiful warm summer day and we enjoyed every minute! Our first stop was Silk City Diner. We get a real kick out of watching Diners, Drive-in's, and Dives on the Food Network. Not too long ago Guy stopped by this diner in philly so we just had to check it out ourselves! And we were more than pleased we did! the food was SO darn good! Everything was tasty:) though deciding what to order was tough - heres the boys reading over their many choices...



Posing with dad for a good fathers day shot...


Later on we stopped by to get dad his favorite cold treat - an ice cream cone from Chick-fil-a. He wasn't wanting to share ONE bite with the kid so - as a special treat, we got the kid his very own cone. his first one. And you guessed it - he LOVED it. its a special treat only - so not something we are frequenting this summer for him. He mostly eats fresh fruit for dessert. but for fun - we do like to work in some special treats;)

Traveling...

We have done a lot of traveling this summer. It all began in late April with a trip to TN, then soon after a trip to Utah followed. Then onto western PA for a visit to see more family and later a trip to NC for a high school graduation. The kid has done SO well with all these trips! We do tend to spend a lot of time on the road in the early months of summer. We don't really have a choice if we want to see our family and friends! Philadelphia is a great place to live but we do hate to be so far away from everyone. So, we make the trips necessary to keep in touch and see everyone as much as possible.

The kid has gotten used to being in the car and doesn't seem to mind. I pack lots of great snacks, drinks, and videos. He has a dvd player that hangs on the back of the passenger seat. He looks at the scenery a lot too. But then we do let him get in a lot of video time which he adores. He doesn't watch videos at home so its a real treat in the car. He enjoys big bird and elmo videos and also some veggie tales too! Usually a nap works its way in there sometime as well - thankfully! He got a new travel pillow from mamaw/big daddy. he won't use it as its supposed to be used - he likes it on his head like ear muffs! lol...



One of trip to NC, we left on a friday afternoon, heading to high point, NC for the night. The kid had a ball on our trip despite long lengths of time in the car. He loves staying in a hotel. Whenever we pull up to a hotel though - he does the funniest/strangest things. We park and he says "No Dinosaurs!! No Dinosaurs!" I assure him there are no dinosaurs at this hotel. Then he's fine. bizarre! anyway, once in the room - he goes into Turbo Hotel Mode. Meaning - crazy! he runs around the room like a complete maniac no matter what hour it is - then finally crashes. There were no pack-n-plays available at the hotel in high point, so he slept with mom. It was a hard decision though.

"I sleep with Daddy", he would say. Run over to daddys bed. gets cozy. covers up.

"Uhh, Mommmmyyy.... I sleep with Mommy!" he jumps down and into my bed.

" Ohhh Daddddyyy! I wanna sleep daddy", and back and forth and back and forth.

I finally forced him into a decision so we could all get some rest. "Mommy or Daddy, Final Answer!!" I demanded.

He went with mommy and cried for daddy!

I know some parents love to sleep in bed with their kids but i have never been one of them! UGH. He tosses, he turns, he whines, he rolls. what a nightmare! I was seriously hoping he would pick daddy haha. Nevertheless, we got some rest and hit the road onto the Charlotte the next morning. He had a great time with family and enjoyed his first graduation experience.



Here he is getting some instructions of some sort from Papaw:)



We headed home on sunday morning and had a great travel day!

Strawberry pickin'

We ventured over to Highland Orchard Farms with our neighbors and friends, Steve, Kelly, & Avery on a sunday morning. We are so blessed to have such a great couple right next door with a boy only 6 weeks older than Abram! The boys truly love playing together! And we get along fabulously with Steve and Kelly. We took them right on the invite to go strawberry picking with the boys.

It was a 'pick your own' patch and we got right in there with the other pickers and started our own box of berries.



the biggest challenge was to keep the kid from eatin' the goods!! lets just say - he didn't eat much lunch that day!


all of us after our pick was over... you can see the leftovers on the kid's chin! haha... he loved it!


Then... later that night, after dinner, he got his first serving of southern style strawberry shortcake!!! he loved every bite!!!


what did we do with all those berries?!? not only did we munch on them as snacks, but we also had lots of strawberry shortcake, and even made some freezer jam! delish! and we made lots of great memories in the process. fun stuff!

June Summer Fun

We've been having loads of summer fun and here's some of what the kids been up to thus far!

Playing in his tent...


Cleaning up outside with dad...


Wagon rides to the Park with the friends...


Outside water time with Mom...


Just as in the spring, the kid adores being outside! and though its summer and hot hot hot outside, it hasn't changed at all. He loves his pool, his water sprayer, his sandbox, and his play castle! Yes, we've loaded up on outdoor stuff for him obviously. And i'm glad we did - he has so much fun out there;)