Tag: <span>philadelphia</span>

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Philadelphia is glorious at night time. The street lights twinkle, the skyline is lit up in the most glorious way, and the summertime air feels magical. I knew all of this, of course, but somehow, seem to have forgotten while mired in the minutiae of every day family life. For the first time since becoming parents, Evan and I had our house all to ourselves; The girls went to my parents house for a sleepover and we enjoyed a rare night out.

The sun had set, the street lights shining bright, and while walking down Race street right past Franklin Square we noticed that there was an outdoor screening of an old movie. Everything about that moment was quintessentially Philly, utterly charming, and more than ever before, it felt like home.

Meanwhile my parents played hosts not to just Sophia and Eliza but to my nephew Alex. There was gardening, water games, the playground, books, crafts, a little bit of baking, and chocolate custards at a local establishment. The sleepover, which I had a few trepidations about, was a stellar success and the girls are excited about the next time they’ll have a chance to stay over again.

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After a quick jaunt to visit with Evan’s family, we spent the remainder of Sunday enjoying each other’s company and being mad scientists. Sophia has shown a keen interest in science and so she and I worked through a few chemistry and physics experiments. We learned that oil and water are afraid of each other and that heat makes air molecules dance so much they fill balloons with air without any other assistance.

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And before the sleepover and the science experiments, there was dance class… and I simply cannot resist this posting this picture.

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Life Moments

For the first time in what seems like forever, the weather forecast shows that we are not expected to freeze for the next few days and that alone gives me hope that spring may arrive yet. Another sure sign that winter has departed is the arrival (and departure) of the Philadelphia Flower Show. The show is a big event drawing crowds from near and far and reducing the convention center area to a standstill, especially on a weekend when the Reading Terminal Market is in full swing. Having been away for a few years, we decided to partake in what used to be our yearly tradition of visiting the flower show. Sophia went as well, though earlier in the day on Sunday and with my in-laws. This year’s theme was Disney and she was dressed in, according to my mother-in-law, a mandatory princess dress. She put the princess dress on later in the evening and now our entire house (including the toilet seat and now our bums) is covered in glitter. Needless to say, we will be retiring her royal wardrobe as a cost cutting measure since our “palace”, unlike Buckingham, does not employ an extensive cleaning staff. But I digress…

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As per usual, there was quite a bit of cooking since we had on-hand help from both sets of grandparents. I made this vanilla-bean raspberry swirl cheesecake that is was divine and so very beautiful. Alas, Sophia has decided that she doesn’t like cheese and even adding cake to the name wouldn’t sway her. Except that she eats mozzarella and cheese ravioli (though we call that just ravioli). Oh well, more for the rest of us.

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And when we weren’t visiting the flower show, baking a cheesecake and getting treats from our local ice cream and candy shops trying to soak up every warm ray of sunshine outdoors, we were … living and enjoying.

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This move, our life is more than ever crazy, busy, and exhausting. Still, it is thrilling, wonderful and I wouldn’t trade it for all the sand in the Sahara.

 

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