Days 5 and 6

Wednesday was our girl's day! I couldn't possibly allow my mom and sister to come all the way out here without showing them the second biggest mall in the country! My dad came too, but he was pretty scarce until it came time for lunch at Cheesecake Factory, our favorite restaurant ever. A few hours after lunch my dad called to tell us that he had picked up Glenn and the kids and wanted to meet us at Five Guys, lol! I don't know that I've ever eaten so much in a week's time! It was a lot of fun though, and the kids were so well behaved at the mall.

Thursday we were all pretty tuckered from the activities of the days previous, so we decided to take it slow. We also figured that the kids could use a fun day too, so we stopped by Wawa for some subs (seriously such good sandwiches there) and went to Smith Playhouse. It was fun to show off one of my favorite places to take the kids, and the kids, of course, had a blast.

That night we went to an Italian Restaurant in Center City called Modo Mio. I can honestly say that it was the very best eating out experience I have ever had in my life. It was a four course dinner including an appetizer, pasta, meat dish and dessert and every single bite was sent from heaven.

Day 4

In all honesty I don't go into Center City much at all. My anxiety can't handle the driving, and it's not the easiest thing to do with young kids. But since my parents were in town, I couldn't let them leave without seeing at least some of the key sites in Center City. It was my first time checking them out too! We started by doing the Walking Constitution Tour, or whatever they call it, (lol, it's late). That was really cool because now I feel like I can finally feel like a real Philadelphian, I saw the bell at last! After that we checked out Love Park, and a square just adjacent to Love Park that has all the huge game pieces. The kids loved that because they got to run around and play. There was a lot of walking involved, but the kids were total champs about it, especially Jayda. I really got to see her as such a big girl during the week my parents were here. She must be turning four soon!

After our few hours of site seeing, I took my folks to the Reading Terminal for lunch, because, you just have to go to Reading Terminal when you're in Philadelphia, it's the law. We all spent a good forty five minutes deciding what we were going to get for lunch, but we all ended up all loving what we got. I could eat at that place everyday for the rest of my life and never get bored!

Since Glenn had to miss out on the majority of the fun since he was in school, my dad took him on a man date that night to get some ribs and see Wolverine. My mom and I spent some fun time in the kitchen, played with the kids and watched movies while they were away. It was a fun day.

Since these are pictures coming from two different cameras, they will be in no particular order at all, but you get the idea!


The bell wasn't the only thing flashing a crack, wah wah!

Skyler wanted to to touch that bell so bad, those little ropes weren't going to stop him!

Day 3

I thought it would be fun to start the week with some touring of Hershey and Amish country. We packed up early and went to Hershey first, then slowly made our way back. Hershey, once again, did not disappoint with their fun tour and never ending supply of gluttonous deliciousness.

My family...
and Skyler. He was not to be seen with commoners such as ourselves.

Eating hotdogs at the KitKat Cafe. Word to the wise, don't eat at the KitKat Cafe, they have a much better eatery just downstairs...d'oh!

This is what heaven must look like!

After a nice chocolately lunch, we made our way to Kettle Kitchen Village in Intercourse. It was a perfect day to go because it wasn't busy at all, so we felt like we had the place to ourselves. We were able to take our time and shop around sampling all the cheeses, salsas, jams etc. My dad was also good enough to appoint himself as Skyler's wrangler, and kept him from running in the streets, which is the only place he wanted to be! We all had pretty decent gut burns from all the kettle chips, fudge, salami and ice cream that we also had to sample.

Feeding the chickens at the petting zoo. An experience best described as "intense."

I LOVE the look on Jayda's face in this picture. Her Grandpa was teasing her and it was making her laugh so hard!

Sampling the Amish Fare

These are pictures my dad took...which is why they are all of Skyler! He had his hands full, thanks dad.

And since we hadn't quite had enough to eat yet, we made our way to the Shady Maple Smorgasbord. I've been hearing so much about that place since we moved here, so I thought this was the perfect chance to try it out. We had to eat in shifts since Skyler was, once again, only interested in playing in the street, but oh. my. gosh the food. Tastiest buffet I've ever eaten, I could have eaten a whole plate of their turkey alone. Next time I go I'm going to starve myself for a week so I can really enjoy it!

This was supposed to be a picture of Jayda, but we can all see how that turned out.

Oh, there she is. The whole time we were there she kept singing "cake and broccoli!" It was the only thing she was really interested in, so it's what she got, hey, we're on vacation.



It took both my mom and dad to double team feed Skyler so that he would stay in dang chair for thirty seconds. He was finally willing to eat when he was introduced to the turkey noodle soup mmmm.

Days one and two

The day our parents came into town, we took it pretty slow. We got them checked into their hotel, and did some exploring, including a lunch of cheesesteaks at the King of Prussia mall. It was fun to show them our place and a little bit of where we live. They picked up Jackie late that night at the airport.


The next day, which was Mother's Day, we celebrated by sleeping in and taking it slow. It was so great to have my own Mommy in town for Mother's Day and we did a little celebrating by having a fun Mother's Day brunch. Afterwards we went on a beautiful walk through Fairmount Park.








We did our real celebrating that night though when we all went out to see these guys.

I've been slightly obsessed with Il Divo since discovering them a year ago. They are opera singers who do more contemporary songs. I've had their music on my blog for quite a while now. They are all from different countries and were apparently signed by Simon Cowell. They are pretty much a boy band for grown women, and I've been hooked.

The concert was great and they sounded amazing in person! Glenn opted not to come, apparently not an opera fan!

Sky can relate!

Well, my parents and sister came, we laughed, we saw, we ATE, and now they are on their plane back from whence they they came. I really thought that after a seven day whirlwind of a trip that I would be ready to have my house back and return to reality, turns out I was wrong. I miss them a lot and am a bit blue to have them gone. However, I am that much more grateful for our time together and only look that much more forward to our next reunion. I will get to blogging all about our trip soon, but first I need all the pics from my dad as he exceeds me tremendously as a photographer.



In the meantime I thought you moms might be able to enjoy and appreciate this. My mom is a huge Mary Engelbriegt fan and sent this to me a few months ago. This is Skyler's reality to a tea, but fortunately he doesn't know any different and doesn't seem to mind!

Why I Love My Family So Much

My sister is such a photo hog, she'll do anything to get in your picture, even if it's an arm, leg or a finger. So when you see a sweet family picture like this...

What you don't know is that it started out looking like this...

And had you been at The Kettle Kitchen that day, you would have squinted toward the petting zoo to see four grown adults seizing on the ground with what could only appear to be either complete hysteria, or side splitting laughter. How I love these people!

Pulling the Shades

Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you know that in the next two or three days I will be going back to private blogging. I know it's a pain to have to log in to check the blog, but I'll sleep just a teensy bit better knowing that our family photos, etc, are a bit more secure. If you had access to my blog before, you will have the same access once I go private. Otherwise, please feel free to email me at tsajohnson@yahoo.com, leave a comment, send a messenger pigeon, whatever your mode of communication to let me know that you want an invite, and it shall be done...unless I forget, in which case you'll have to repeat the process.

In the meantime, I get to see my parents and my favorite sister in the world in two days!!!! PAAAAAAAARTY!

Rainy day at Valley Forge

Saturday we decided to get out of the house and do a little exploring at Valley Forge, which is only twenty minutes from our apartment. We knew it was going to be raining, but took our chances and in the end, decided it was totally worth it to just go outside and get wet. The kids ended up loving it, and my only regret is that we didn't stay longer! It was so pretty, and I love all the history that comes with it. I have a feeling that we will be going to Valley Forge a lot in the next three years!

Please Touchy Museum

After the 5K, we figured we'd pay a little visit to the Please Touch Museum, it was right there after all! The greatest thing about this trip was that it was totally free. The libraries in town give out free Please Touch Museum passes, how cool is that! This museum was incredible, outside and in. The kids had so much fun, but I'm really glad that Glenn came with me the first time. Even with the two of us each watching a kid, I still managed to lose Jayda twice, don't ask. But talk about an amazing museum, there were places to play with water, music, and a huge portion was dedicated to Alice and Wonderland, which was my favorite part. The kids had a blast! I love this city more and more everyday.

For the sake of our blog book, and the grandparents, I will be posting a nauseating amount of pictures. Please don't feel like you have to look at them all, although I can assure you, they are all filled with equal amounts of cuteness.



At the museum they were giving out free cookies and punch, which my perpetually hungry children were ecstatic about. After Skyler got his, he looked to his left, his right, and then decided that the very place he was standing was a good enough place to enjoy his snack. The workers at the booth got such a big kick out of it that they took a picture of him too!
Jayda got to make a big crepe paper flower at one of the craft centers. It was really sweet, up until Jayda decided that she needed to tell HIM how to put the flower together...there's no way I could have been that bossy as a kid!

A little "mouse wheel" that Jayda tried out. Skyler got a turn too, but I couldn't get a decent picture.

Skyler tearing the magnets off the wall. He loves anything involving destruction!

Skyler was really only interested in pushing the cart then shopping, which was a bit of a relief since you have to put it all back when they're done!

Jayda shopping for her goods!

Clocking out after a hard day of work.

Trying to cozy up to the Mad Hatter. He wasn't having it.

Painting the roses red.

Jayda going "apple picking" with one of the really nice workers there.

Smile Glenn, c'mon, I see a smile...c'mon...

My kids collided about seven times on this giant piano!