Philadelphia Flower Show

The kids and I did something really fun this week, Aunt Mary and the kids and I went to see the Philadelphia Flower Show. I really wanted to go because the theme was Hawaii and I thought it would be a lot of fun.

We drove down to NJ on Thursday and stayed at the Hilton where my BFF Jodi is the General Manager. I told the kids there was a pool there and they talked about going swimming for days! Within 10 minutes of entering the hotel we were in our suits and in the water.

I love this picture of the 3 of them!

This was their first time with water wings and at first they were both hesitant to let go of us, but C realized that she could float and that it was a lot of fun so she wouldn't let us hold her anymore.

K quickly caught on to what C was doing and he started taking off too!

After swimming we went out to dinner with Jodi and Adam.

C loves reading and had Great-Great Aunt Mary read the 3 books that we brought several times.

K was happy to oblige my request to jump on the bed while I played with the settings on the new camera.

Friday morning we went to the Philadelphia Flower Show. It was incredible! We walked in the doors and I was just overwhelmed by the smell of the Hawaiian flowers and the Hawaiian music playing I got a little teary eyed. It's been 16 years since we moved away and I haven't made it back for a visit yet. Sigh. Someday!

This cool display was a Hawaiian hut and that hula dance was projected onto it. C kept waving to her, and the other projected characters, trying to get them to wave back.

There was also this!!

The displays were stunning! There was even this indoor waterfall.

We ran into Smokey the bear and of course K gave him a high five and I was able to snap a picture, but C is not too fond of big animals that move. She stood back and held my hand tight. It was really funny because a few minutes later we were standing next to a woman with a fur coat and she had the exact same reaction.

"Shaka!"

C found this little chair and sat in it for a good 15 minutes, people kept coming by and saying how cute she was.

 

We had a blast and the kids did great! The last thing we did was watch the hula show and C loved it so much that she cried at the end because it was over. Now she wants to be a hula dancer.

My handsome 4 year old

Chuck E Cheese

Aunt Jess and Aunt Jo got K a big boy bicycle for his birthday, so like Christmas, they had to stay up late the night before getting it put together.

In the morning he was very surprised, and really not quite sure what to think of it.

But with the right Spiderman helmet he was ready to roll.

We took K's buddy J with us to Chuck E Cheese. They played almost all of the games in the place!

Here they were riding a roller coaster simulator.

Practicing for the Saratoga races.

K and J had a GREAT time together!

C had a pretty good time too. She rode this merry-go-round 2 dozen times. She would get off one horse and say "next game" and then get one of the other horses on the ride.

 She really dug the "Big Win" wheel. She knew exactly where to put the token, then to pull the big lever, and then push the big red flashing button to make the tickets come out...

 ... then she would rip off the tickets and run them back to Dad.

Besides games we had pizza...

 ... cupcakes ...

 ... and presents.

 Can you tell this boy likes superheroes?

 Aww best buds.

We all had a fun time together, and I was so grateful to have 4 adults to 3 kids. When we got there it was not too busy, but by the time we left it was a mad house and all hands were needed!

 Can you believe our friendships all go back to high school?