Fun weekend in Philly

@ Touch Museum - Milking the cow

Highlight this weekend is Philaldephia.  Also known as Philly or The City of the Brotherly Love from the literal greek translation. Is less than 2hr from NYC depending on traffic. Is amazing how much there is to do in Philly.  We been to Philly many times and each time gets even better.  Many times before the kids and a few times when Megan was younger.  Each visit brings a new discovery.  I'm a sucker for retro and anything that tells a story.  Love the rich history the place holds and beautiful historic architecture.  More and more bohemian and artisant are flocking to the city - opening shops and galleries. It's a nice place.  Anyhow, this time it was more for my kids than for my selfish satifaction.  My husband differs on that note, he thinks these trips I plan are still more design for my ego!

There are many attractions for children in this beautiful city - some right in the city and others not too far from Philly center.  If you plan on staying for more than 3 days, I highly suggest you purchase the City Pass.  Philly City Pass for $59/adult admission to 6 attractions.  

We stayed at the Hyatt Summerfields Suits in Mount Laurel, NJ with another family of 4 - infant and toddler like us.  Fantastic bargain - 2 King bedroom suite with kitchen for $150/night or $110 for 1 bedroom.  Not your 5 star hotel but clean with modern furnishing.  Is about 25 minutes away from Philly and 15 minutes from the Aquarium.  The place is on the small side but big enough for all of us to be comfortable.  Wyatt slept in the pack n play and daughter slept with us in the king size bed.  Breakfast included.  The breakfast had a pretty decent selection to choose from.  Even took a few fruits on the go in case the kids wanted to snack later.   

We spend our first day at the Touch Museum.  Took my daughter there when she was 15 monhts.  I think she enjoyed it much more than she did  then.  She was able to fully enjoyed all the activity the museum offered.  If you never been here, the museum is pretty impressive and looks like just like a grown-up museum.  It's got 2 floors of  exhibits - spread out in 38,000 sq ft with interactive activities.  I have to say - is one of the best museum we have gone so far.  Most likely if you are member to a Children's Museum, they probably a participant in the ACM reciprocal program which means you can attend the Touch Museum for free.  Otherwise do check out City Pass for discount. We spent our whole day there and then we headed down to Reading Market Terminal for an early evening dinner/snack!

On the way to Reading Market Terminal, we stopped by Smith Playhouse.  My daughter felt asleep in the car but my friend's daughter did get to check the place out. Smith Playhouse is dedicated playarea for children under 5.  Recently renovated and updated.  They've got an indoor play and a nice outdoor playground with modern equipment.  Even also have one of those old fashion wooden slide.  Admission is free but they do suggested $5 donation per family. Glad we stopped by and check the place out.  It was a nice detour. 

Reading Market Terminal, to best avoid crowds go before the rush, around 5 o'clock.  I don't suggest strollers.  If you have young infants, is best to sport them on a baby carrier. Parking can be kind of tricky.  You can street/meter parking and if not you can park at Filbert Garage for $4 - 2hr limit - with minimum purchase of $10 which you can easily be done.  Before you set your eyes on a stall, do get a quick tour or grab a map to see all the offerings available.  I started at Tommy DiNic's for a savory kick for their delicious pulled pork sandwiches and husband had the pastrami sandwich, grab a nice cold beer to wash down the grease at the Beer Garden, then walk around and browse the stalls for groceries to bring back to the hotel/home, have ice-cream at Bassetts' and lastly if you get full like I was - pick up some whoopie pies at the Flying Monkey and cookies to go.  Megan was on a sugar high the whole evening!

 On our 2nd and last day of our weekend, we went to the Adventure Aquarium in Camden NJ.  Way better than New York Aquarium in Brooklyn.  Do check out the seal performance however do prepare to get there 20 minutes before showing.  The seats do get fill very fast. Also do know that there is no shades and it can very hot.  So be careful if your kids are sensitive to heat and sun.  The best part was watching the hippos.  I don't think I ever seen them so close and it was amazing watching swim in the water. Is definitely a sight not to be missed.  If decide not to get the City Pass, I read somewhere that you can pick a $4-5 coupon at the ACM Hardware in Bayonne.

I think I had more fun than the kids.  My husband may have been right.  ;-)  If you get the Philly City Pass, do ride the trolley, check out the Zoo and take the ferry to or from the Camden Adventure Aquarium.  If you intend on extending your trip and want to venture further out, you can also include Sesame Place, Dutch wonderland and/or Crayolla Factory!

Updated Hall of Science

The last time I was at the New York Hall of Science was over twenty years ago when I was in grade school.  For some reason I remember it as - boring and dark! 

We went this past weekend on Easter Sunday and it was nowhere near what I remembered.  Three words - educational, bright and modern!    I don’t know why I never thought of going and I pass by it every day.  Guess it never occurred to me - Hall of Science to be toddler appropriate and thought it was more for mature audiences.  Was definitely wrong.  There was plenty of things to do that kept the littles ones occupied.   I’m so glad my friend convinced us to go.  We were able to use our LICM membership to get discount tickets at Hall of Science - one free adult and child.  We purchased our membership in Long Island Children’s Museum in February and we’ve done so much with it.   We have user our membership several times already.  We were also able to use when we visited in Boston's Children's Museum earlier in March where we were in town visiting family and friends.   Great value and option to take your kids to.  For today's visit only had to pay $11 for the 2nd adult, Wyatt is free since he is still a baby.  NY Hall of Science was super easy to get to, is right off the LIE.   If you have enough time and feeling to do more you can visit Queens Zoo just down the block.  You can pay $10 for parking or do street parking.   We got lucky, the attendant wasn’t at his post so we pulled right in.  Surprisingly the place was pretty packed on a holiday but we still manage to find parking near the entrance.  Once you pay, they hand you stickers that you wear on to show that you paid.  Just as we pass the entrance and peeling the stickers to put on, we overheard 2 people ahead of us talking about sharing the stickers with friends waiting outside.  I know it doesn’t have anything to do with me but I don't totally approve the idea.  Would it bother you?  Do you think is ok for them to?

Anyhow, Megan had a good time running around with her friend.  She enjoyed playschool area, Great Hall and the playground the most.    We left at closing and just before the rain started to come down.  It was certainly a quiet ride home.  We will definitely go back again

Meet Mickey & Minnie

Took my 2 ½ yr old daughter to Disney World for the first time.  People told us that is probably too early to take her there and won't remember much.  They are probably right but we went any way.  Was a bit overwhelming and tiring but we still manage to have an amazing time.   I can now understand why kids under 3 go in for free! 

We opted to go during the first week of April before Spring break rush for 5 days.  We were able to find direct airfare for less than $200 per person on JetBlue leaving on friday evening.   Didn't want to take too many days off from work,  so to make the most time we decided to account saturday and sunday into our trip. We opted to go during the first week of April before Spring break rush for 5 days.  We were able to find direct airfare for less than $200 per person on JetBlue leaving on friday evening.    

Didn't want to take too many days off from work,  so to make the most time we decided to account saturday and sunday into our trip.  We had everything packed the night before so that on Friday after work, we were able to rush home from work and go straight to the airport.    Traveling alone can be a lot of hassle and adding a child to the equation can be worse.  We had to decide on whether we wanted to take the carseat or the stroller, we went with the car seat because we rented a car and didn't intend to rent the carseat even though we knew we can but we wanted to bring our own.  For this reason we got, "Traveling Toddler Car seat Accessory Strap".  It was hard to strap on at first and but once you get the hang of it, it aint too bad.  She love it and asked to sit on the strapping carseat.  Otherwise if no car seat, go with "Ride-on Carryon".   Is an ingenious idea especially when you need go from terminal to terminal.  However it can't replace the stroller.   Unless you want to travel with a suitcase everywhere you go.  Both gadget are smart concepts and definitely makes traveling easier with a toddler!  JetBlue never disappoints me.  Love that they still serve drinks and snacks.  We got to  Orlando in less than 2 hours.  Megan was really excited since it was also her first time on the plane.  So excited that she didn’t sleep on the flight as we were hoping she would.  Megan was all wired up and wide awake.   You can tell she was fighting it because 20 minutes before landing fatigue hit her.  She was completely out as we picked up our rental car and we didn’t finally tuck her in until midnight.  We stayed at Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort.    Perfect resort for families.  We had a 2 bed/2bath room equipped with kitchen.  There was plenty of things to do at the Resort if we opted not to go to the Park.  We schedule it so that on first day – we relax, explore and food shop,  2^nd day visit Magic Kingdom, 3^rd Epcot, 4^th lounge and relax by the pool and 5^th day unwind and depart.  We made bfast every morning to get our day started.  Bonnet Creek Resort is only 10 minutes from Magic Kingdom.  Our room also had the view of Epcot and we able to see the fireworks in the evening.  I think we only saw it once when were in on the 2^nd night.  All the other nights we were out late.  Resort also offers shuttles to the parks which made it really convenient.

Megan was able to enjoy most rides both at Magic Kingdom and Epcot to keep us busy.  Also at this age they get tired easily and still require naps.  My daughter zonked out both days for a good 3hrs in the middle of the afternoon.   If an adult can get tired, imagine a toddler at 2 1/2!  If I had to do it differently, I would have rented a city mini stroller instead of the Disney stroller from the park.  Strollers at Disney does not recline and is just hard plastic.  When she felt as asleep we had pull it in an angle so the kids can get a better nap and drapped our sweaters over it to shade from the sun.  Otherwise she had a fantastic time with her friend.  Oh yes, do take advantage of the Fast-pass.  And do book in advance if you want to do character dinning.  I think this can only get better.  We are going to try and do it again next year if not next year definitely the year after.