City of Brotherly {Sisterly} Love

Well, despite a few fevers, we survived, and even ENJOYED our quick trip to Philadelphia this past weekend for a friend's wedding.  The entire trip was a big adventure for the girls and it was a lot of fun living it through their eyes. 

 

watching the planes go by bright and early Friday morning (we left the house at 4:00 a.m. for our 7:20 flight)

Millie, perched to get the perfect picture of a plane taking off

 on the plane and SUPER excited!

Once we got to our hotel Scott and I were pretty tired and were hoping the girls would nap for a bit before we headed out to explore the city ... the girls had other plans though.  They just didn't want to miss a thing!  I did manage a brief 30 minute rest while Scott took Millie on a hunt for coffee.  Millie was SUPER excited to get a promotional balloon from a passer-by shortly after we stepped out for the afternoon. 

 Merrill was slightly less enthused ... and she FINALLY let go long enough to sleep for a bit :).

 Dinner was at The Continental -- a bit fancy for the kids, but the food was good and they enjoyed the eclectic atmosphere.  We went there on the recommendation of the hotel front desk -- I'm guessing the man who gave us that recommendation doesn't have small children as he assured us it was "kid-friendly" :).  The near-by square we went to after dinner WAS kid-friendly and gave the girls a chance to run off some energy before heading back to the hotel for bed!

nothing like PB&J for breakfast on the road!

 Millie really enjoyed the chaise in the hotel room -- living the life :)

Saturday we were off to the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul for the wedding.  Millie was very interested in watching the ceremony and asked lots of questions about what was happening.  

the church

 the vows

 It was a beautiful ceremony -- simple and elegant.  

 post-nap pictures for Merrill -- getting ready to head to the reception at the Philadelphia Art Alliance. 

 We walked through Rittenhouse Square again and were lucky enough to catch the bride and groom on the tail end of their picture taking tour of the city.

 We really enjoyed spending the evening with our friends Michael and Jessica

 The bride and groom making their grand entrance

We were slightly worried that the "cocktail" party format wouldn't be a good fit for our family of four, but after a bit of a rocky start (i.e. before the food came out ...) we ended up having a really great time (albeit a very HOT time...).

There was lots of dancing to be done!

 Needless to say, everyone was VERY tired the next day.  We met up with Michael and Jessica again for brunch and then took a nice walk to Franklin Park. 

 Merrill didn't make it through the walk there ... but she woke up in time to enjoy some play before we headed to the airport

 we can never pass up a carousel ride!

After walking back from the park we started our journey back home -- a shuttle ride to the airport, a flight back to St. Louis, a shuttle ride to our car and finally our car ride home.  As Scott was walking out of the jetway into the airport in St. Louis, Millie loudly proclaimed how happy she was to be back in St. Louis.  While we had a wonderful time in Philadelphia and were really impressed with all of the parts of the city we saw, we definitely agreed with Millie and were happy to be home :)!

Summer!

The sun is sizzling (90+ degrees this week!), the cicadas are singing, and the girls are swimming ... summer is here!

Keepin' Us on Our Toes

As if getting on an airplane with a 3 1/2-year-old and a (almost) 2-year-old isn't daunting enough, our girls have had impeccable timing so that we are taking a SICK 3 1/2-year-old and a SICK (almost) 2-year-old on an airplane ... at 7:00 in the morning no less. 

Awesome.

Wish us luck!

Fun Friday

A little art at home

 A little art at Craft Caboose

Millie's first end-of-the-year school picnic

 Donkey and pony rides

 Games

 Crafts and friends

 Songs

 Food :)