15th Wedding Anniversary

July 11 was our 15th wedding anniversary.  15 years!  Wow.  For months we tossed around ideas of what to do from nothing to throwing a big party.  In the end we got tickets for Wicked playing at the Academy of Music in the city and then decided to turn it into a weekend getaway for just the two of us.

We took the train down on Friday afternoon and checked in around 330.  We had wine and a cheese plate delivered as a treat.

We went to a Steven Starr restaurant called El Vez for dinner on Friday night.  Delicious, the best blood orange margarita ever.  Then we walked around and went to Love Park.

Saturday we were up and out early being tourists.  We got on the hop on/hop off bus tour and did the entire loop ride of an hour and a half seeing pretty much all we would want to see on the surface without exploring in detail.  Had we had more time we could have gotten off the bus anywhere it stopped and grabbed another one back when we were done. Next time maybe.  Got to see Independence Hall finally though after living here for 5 years!

Onto the famouse City Tavern for lunch, even more delicious than El Vez and a quick walk over to Betsy Ross house before it closed.  Tried to get to the Liberty Bell but it closed at 5pm.

That night we went to the Academy of Music to see Wicked.  Such a grand theater and a great show!  Glad we went for sure.

Sunday we got up early and went to see the Liberty Bell, at my request, we made it there before it even opened so we were in and out very quickly!

Then we checked out of our hotel, grabbed the train back home and were home in time for Parker to take the girls to the pool while I did the laundry and got some food in the house!

One Direction at Hershey Park

I *think* I finally got my hearing back from going to the One Direction concert at Hershey Park last weekend.  Did you know pretween/tween/teenage girls can reach a decibel pitch in their screams that will make your ears bleed?  Wow was it loud.  I actually put cotton in my ears - *dork*  The girls had a great time at their first concert though and that's what counts.  We stayed for the weekend and did the park all day on Saturday.  My June board friend Tracy and her daughter Amanda came with us and went to the concert with us too.  Our seats were right next to each other and our hotel rooms were right across from each other.  It worked out great!  The park was super crowded on Saturday though which made it tough to see alot because you spent a lot of time in lines but everyone still had a good time.

July 4, 2013

It was a pretty quiet day.  The 4 of us went to the pool for the afternoon.  Grilled that evening for dinner and then headed over to Abington for their firework display meeting up with the Summers and the Bagbys.  A nice relaxing day for a change!

Brownie Backyard Camping

So after Rowan's birthday party the Brownie Troop got together one last time to have a backyard campout in Kellie's yard.  I was supposed to sleep out with them as well but the accident still had me reeling and having my mind going in a 1000 different places so I just went for the evening with Lily and we left around 1100pm.  Rowan did spend the night and by all accounts everyone had a great time.  I heard stories of some girls not going to sleep until the morning but thankfully my kid was not one of them!

Rowan's Birthday Party

Well it should have been a perfect day for a party.  It was a perfect day for a party, weather was great, it was not too hot outside, we headed out for the party - the 4 of us plus Reese who had spent the night the night before and Serissa who needed a drive - 1 mile from home we got hit broadside by an old lady who just decided that the stop sign did not apply to her.  Everyone was okay.  That's the most important part.  Then I had to call Reese and Serissa's parents - that was not a phone call I ever want to make again even though everyone was fine.  Ugh! Then I had to ask Reese's mother to come and rescue us because she was the only one I knew with a car big enough to take 5 of us while Parker waited for the tow truck and his dad to come and get him.  Jill Murray was on her way to the party and saw us standing on the road so she stopped to see if she could help as well and took some of the cupcakes for me since Holly's car was full.  In the end we got to the party, the movie went off without a hitch, Rowan's teacher Mrs Reed showed up which was a huge surprise for everyone and I think everyone had a good time.  I spent a majority of it worrying about my car and what its outcome would be.  The damage did not look major but the age of my car and the location of the hit had everyone telling me it would be a write off.  Thankfully the adjusted deemed it repairable so I am now just waiting to get it back all fixed up hopefully!