Day 2 Philadelphia!

Kevin didn't have classes on Friday so we tried to pack a lot of fun into that day. Our morning started at Please Touch Museum.  For some reason I thought it was "Please Touch Me" museum and that is what I called it. I guess I said it so much that when my mom got a taxi from our hotel doorman she said she wanted a taxi to "Touch Me" museum.  The doorman smirked and I said, "MOM, It's Please!" So she said, "PLEASE TOUCH ME!"  It was so funny. Completely embarrassed my mom but Kevin and I could not get our composure. Either could the door man.  We were the first 4 people in the museum that day. In fact for a WHOLE hour we were the only ones in the place.  It was great because by 10 a.m. there were a TON of field trip kids everywhere.  We had the best time. Here's some of my favorite pics from our morning at the Children's Museum. 

Will and me on the BIG piano from the movie BIG! 

 Will then found a mini piano he loved!

 One area was all the children's nursery rhymes. The boys loved it.

 The second floor was all sorts of jobs. Zachary & Will loved the manual labor spots.

 Will picking carrots in the garden

 There was a "pretend" McD's. Z loved it. He worked all positions behind the counter, making lunch for Kevin. **Please take note NO ONE is in this museum at 9:00 a.m. on a Friday :)

 He even made Kevin pay for his value meal.

 Swiping the debit card hotel key.

 Water/Weather station. Kevin and Zach could have spent all day making boats and sending them through the boat races.

This picture shows how my mom the boys Grams will do anything they ask her to. Will kept begging her to sit on the swan and she did it.  SUPER GRAMS!

 Zachary shopping at the store

Checking out at the local supermarket

 Me running on the hamster wheel

 Daddy & Zach shooting rockets into outer space

This next picture is hilarious!  Because there was 5 of us we had to take 2 taxis. One taxi was waiting so Kevin & Will took that one so they could take the carseat back to our hotel room. Mom, Zach, and I were going to get the second taxi and meet Kevin at noon. My Aunt Ann & Uncle Wayne (who live in PA) took the train into Philly for the day and were going to meet us at noon.  After about 10 phone calls to the taxi company, several phone call confirmations to my cell phone from the taxi co. , and 75 minutes our taxi finally arrived. It really was not a big deal because it was beautiful and cool.  Kevin and Will met up with my aunt & uncle, however it was just rude that our taxi assigned to us kept picking up other people on the way to our scheduled pick up. My mom flashed this picture of me frustrated at the taxi situation and me praying for a random taxi to come get us. 

 Meanwhile Z &  I played freeze tag... We had so much fun that we almost forgot about the taxi delay!

 Finally we caught up with Aunt Ann & Uncle Wayne.  Zach was pooped so Will shared his stroller with him.

 Waiting to get into the Liberty Bell

 Zachary couldn't wait to see the Liberty Bell.  For months he has checked out lots of books about the historical sites in Philly. My mom read a ton of books to him on the plane so he was stuff full of knowledge about this bell.

 Little Will and my Uncle Wayne have a special connection. They absolutely adore one another. It's priceless to see them together!

 We took the Ride the Ducks tour through Philly. Poor Will couldn't take it anymore. Gosh it sure is nice to have a baby that just sleeps wherever we are at. I do not take this for granted for one second!

Our second day was a BLAST! Full of lots of fun and our family.  What a great day!

Will's 1st Plane Ride! Philly Day 1

The first week in May we went to a conference for Kevin's work in Philadelphia, PA! We took my momma with us to help me while Kevin was attending CE courses. It was the best decision. She was such a help, the boys loved having her vacationing with us, and we enjoyed her company the entire week.  We flew out of a local airport at 6 am.  The boys were AMAZING!  

 Pops, MaMaw, & PaPaw dropped us off at the office and took this group picture before we boarded the plane.  I think we were the only ones at the airport at this time of day.  It was so dark!

 Will was SO excited and was such a big boy!

 Grams & Zach sat behind Will & I.  They played games the entire flight.  Z loved having Grams undivided attention.

Will fell asleep on the 2nd airplane. He was so excited and adorable. He just couldn't take it for another minute.

 Upon arriving in Philly we decided to take bathroom breaks, play in the kids zone, and take our time getting to the baggage claim.  It sounded like the perfect plan. However when we went to get our 5 suitcases there were only 5 suitcases on the carousal however only 4 of them were ours. There was a navy suitcase that resembled mine but it was not mine. I knew immediately someone must have taken it on accident.  Sure enough some lady grabbed the wrong bag. After a little delay in the baggage claim area and a very patient private shuttle van driver we were off to our hotel.  Thankfully the lady returned my suitcase and the airline delivered my suitcase to me later that night. Not really a big deal but something we will always remember from our trip.

After getting settled and exploring the area we decided to eat at Hard Rock Cafe Philadelphia. We thought it would be perfect for a 19 month old because of the loud music however Will was great!  Mom quickly learned that when we are on vacation we eat whatever we want, we eat often, and we try lots of food.  In fact our trip usually revolves around the food. 

 After dinner we went to the Reading Terminal Market to check out all the stops.  We loaded up on a "delish" dessert box of cupcakes, whoopie pies, and cookies to take back to the hotel.  My plan was to stop by the Flying Monkey bakery daily to gather goodies for our hotel room but we never made it back there because it was either closed or out of desserts. Total saddness! This was trip #1 of about 10 to the Terminal Market.

Also at Reading Terminal was this Bronzed Pig that you could drop change or dollars into its mouth. Then it would poop out your money into a large, locked plexiglass bin. Zachary thought it was hilarious. Everything with a 6 year old boy is pooping, tooting, or armpit toots.  So the pig was a hit.  All the money was donated to feeding the hungry so it was a great cause. So great that Zach and Will fed the pig EVERY TIME we walked by it...EVERY TIME we went to the Terminal Market. 

The funny thing about going through this market is that Will waved and said "HI!" to every person he was strolled by. This gentleman and his wife could not get enough of Will, Wills kisses, and his waves. So he stopped my mom and the stroller about 8 times to see Will.  As if walking through a huge farmers market didn't take enough time  on its own, it took an even longer time with the "Social Chair Committee, Will".  Memories!

Our first day of traveling and seeing Philly was a hit.  Zachary went swimming while I got Will to bed in the pack & play. Then Zachary got showered and headed to Grams room for his evening PARTY! Grams & Zach were "crazy animals" and stayed up late, ate snacks, and made memories!  Grams is such a wonderful grandma!  

Helping Daddy Out!

The boys and I decided we would help Kevin out a little bit at his office. It was time to update the flower boxes at the office and our house.  The boys and I did it all by ourselves. It was so much fun!  We shopped and shopped for the flowers. Then we loaded up Zachary's bike and scooter and headed for the office.  While I pinched back our fall mums and planted the new flowers Zachary drove around the parking lot on his bike & scooter. Will helped a little bit here and there but he was excellent to stay close by. 

Shopping with the boys! Zachary remarked that it looked like Mother Nature was in our van. 

 Before: Our Fall Mums were still in the window boxes so we just pinched them back and hid them in the flowers.

 After:  Man I love me some colorful summer flowers!

We had a blast while helping Kevin out!

Perspective

When my oldest son was a baby I used to get super frustrated or tired of messes.  I felt like every time I turned around I was cleaning something up. Oh wait...I was.  This time around 5 years later with son #2, I am still cleaning up messes. However I have taken on a new approach. My husband has too.  We have seen how fast our boys are growing up.  Zachary hardly needs my help for anything, except getting those darn dirty baseball cleats on.  He's so independent. I am happy and proud of him for being able to be self reliant however it makes me sad to see how fast time has flown by.  I know in about 5 more years he won't even want to hang out with me.  At least he still needs hugs and kisses.  Baby 19 month old Will still needs his momma to help him to everything. It's exhausting but this time around I am enjoying every second. Even if it is demanding, exhausting, and messy.  Both of my boys LOVED/LOVE to feed themselves.  They want to do it by themselves. So we let them and then clean up the after math. Here's a daily example of our post lunch table....

 Exhibit B: Will's chair and the floor. This is about the only reason I would see why we need a puppy.  However it isn't enough to make me go to the shelter and get one.

This used to frustrate me but I am realizing that God gave us this day and stage. It's a blessing.  It's a blessing for me to be a momma to these precious and messy boys.  It's a gift.  I treasure it and will look back one day sad that they have moved on and don't need their momma.  So today I am looking at my day in paradise (aka a messy kitchen) and giving thanks to God for my baby's.  I love them so!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Grams!

This year on my moms birthday we celebrated with a Girls Day Out luncheon + Will.  We enjoyed a tea room lunch with Ruey, "Aunt" Kelli, "Aunt" Steph, Rachel, Me, & Will. We had the best waitress who catered to our every wish and more. I wasn't planning on bringing Will but due to other circumstances I did and he was absolutely PERFECT!  I.MEAN.AMAZING!  Everyone loved having him there and he was SO good!  

It was a fun time celebrating mom with lunch, hot tea, dessert, coffee, and mom opening her gifts.  One of our gifts we got Grams was a self adjusting lipstick. I had seen it on another blog and thought it was a great gift.  Basically it is a clear gloss that you apply to your lips and it adjust to a light lip color.  It was funny because we all passed around this lipgloss and it totally looked different on each other.  It was a fun time! 

 Two very special ladies in my life!

 Grams opening her lovely gifts!

 Rue Rue getting some sugar from Will!

 Group Picture underneath the PEACOCK painting

 Will carrying out Grams gift sacks.  He was the gentleman of the day!

To be surrounded by such amazing women in our family is so inspiring to me.  These individuals have been amazing moms, have/had dynamic careers, and loved their families to pieces.  They are such good role models to me.  So thankful for my mom/Grams and celebrating this day with her!

COLOR RUN 5K

My BFF Melody formed a Color Run 5K team so that we could get discount codes and save some money. She posted on FB that we had a team and next thing you know our team of 4 went to a team of 20ish.  It was a lot of fun! I had shirts designed for our "Rainbow Rebels" team, Mel found rainbow socks, and we get ready for the walk.  Zachary was so excited.  He was excited about the "paint" and very excited about getting do something with just me.  I never thought he really noticed but the morning we left Kevin & Will at home he said, "Yes! Just me and my mom!" 

Before the Run

At the Run!

 After the Run!

We had the best time!  We had colored boogers for 2 days but other than that it was a blast! 

Goodbye tooth G! Hello Tooth Fairy!

It seems like the past few months has been nothing but loose teeth and the Tooth Fairy for Zachary.    After Zach lost tooth D a few weeks ago,  Kevin said that tooth G was very loose too but a little jarred between the adjacent teeth.  He told Zach that he needed to get that other tooth out soon so that everything said symmetrical.  That was music to Zachary's ears.  I picked him up at school and he had wiggled his tooth all day.  It still was still jammed so Kevin brought a few things home from the office.  These pics crack me up because it was really not this dramatic, traumatic or scary.  I honestly think Kevin could have pulled it with his fingers but I think he liked knowing he was needed.  Zachary was in heaven.  Kevin was in heaven.  The tooth came out in our living room! 

 Dr. Dad holding the gauze in place.