Grandma Joanie's Last Visit

Well, after 4 years of regular visits from our beloved Grandma Joanie, we officially embarked upon her last. She was only here from Tuesday to early Friday morning, so we had to cram a LOT in.

We had kicked around the idea of ditching the kids and going to NYC for the day on Tuesday, but since it was supposed to be rainy and cold all day we decided instead to use the money to make it a "Girl's Day" with Lucy. First we got lunch at a super yummy burrito bar I'd been wanting to try down in Manayunk called "Mauchismo." Lucy loved her taco!


Then we splurged and spent the afternoon at "Adventure Aquariums" in Camden, NJ. It was a great day to be inside because of the weather, and we timed it so that most of the school groups had already left so it felt like we had the place to ourselves. Our favorites were the hippos (mine), Shark Alley (Lucy), and petting the sting rays (Grandma).

On our way home we stopped at "Brown Betty Bakeshop and Dessert Boutique" which was this super cool little bakery featured in Rachael Ray magazine awhile ago. I'd been wanting to try these cupcakes FOREVER but had no one to go with!

Here they are! Best cupcakes in Philly: Red Velvet with Creamcheese Frosting, Hattie Don't Play (fudge cake with vanilla frosting), and Pineapple Pound Cake with Pineapple Cream Frosting. Yum!

The next morning we took a long walk down in Valley Green to burn some extra calories in preparation for lunch, which was another place on my list of "Places To Try" that were featured on the Food Network show "Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives" called the Dining Car. This was the French Onion Soup. AMAZING.

We also tried the other item Guy Fieri tried which was the Chicken Croquettes, which were pretty tasty, but I actually liked my mom's Russian burger better. It was fun to have someone adventurous enough to go and try all of these foodie places with (especially with 2 rowdy kids in tow)!

Thursday we took a picnic out to the Kids Castle in Doylestown, and Lucy and Zachy enjoyed showing off for Grandma Joanie by running all over the castle and playing in the sandbox. All in all it was a great visit even though it was short and sweet. We are so glad to have such GREAT memories of our Grandma Joanie visits to Philly!

"We're Going to the Zoo! Zoo! Zoo!"

"How about you? You? You?" Anyone else a childhood fan of Sharon, Lois, and Bran? Those were the days... Anyway, we had another great trip to the zoo recently while Jon was busy preparing for his WREBS.

Thanks to Kelly's SUPER-deluxe pass we got access to all of the cool extra amenities like the merry-go-round and horse rides. Zach wasn't sure what to think about it.


You can tell by these pictures that Lucy was absolutely TERRIFIED of getting onto the big draft horse-- when he walked their little heads would bob right into each other, so I can't blame her really. Although half the battle was talking her through her fears while waiting in line, "the horse is SO nice and loves giving princesses rides, and he looks just like Belle's horse Phillipe" etc. She still freaked out when they lifted her up onto the horse, but luckily, she had Dixon to cling to for dear life. I'm not sure if I can get her to do it again.:)



Oh, Zachy. You funny little goat charmer, you!! He LOVED the goats and would get right up in their faces-- he'd even bend over to make eye contact with them if they weren't looking right at him. Before you knew it, he had like 5 goats surrounding him and nuzzling his little hands. Everyone at the petting zoo was laughing their heads off because he was talking to them just like a Goat Whisperer. I wish I'd caught it on tape!

Our Philadelphia Zoo days are numbered....We sure love it!