Grandpa Jim and Grandma Suzy visit

My dad had a work thing in NY last weekend and my mom got to tag along. They flew into NY Wednesday night, my mom took a train to Philly Thursday, dad joined Friday, and we played till Sunday afternoon when they took the train back to NY to catch a flight back to California. It was very fun and very quick (though, I'm sure 2 weeks would have even seemed quick).

Here's a rundown of everything we did ate (cuz lets face it, for me vacations are all about the food):
CPK, Panera, Mr. P's (got the 4 cheese, not the biggest fan), PF Chang's,
Rita's Water Ice, Fairlane Grill, Chubby's, Tasty Twisters, Outback, Rita's Water Ice again, Panera Breakfast (amazing), and City View Pizza on Broad St by the Med School.

Tasty Twisters
Which we called "the mafia pretzels" all weekend
Here's what happens at Tasty Twisters: You drive up this skinny hill and park at the back of this old brick building which is looking a little run down. You go in a door, turn a corner, and arrive at this desk. You ring a bell and this old man shuffles out (ok, it's not always the same guy). Without the man asking you what you want (because he just looks at you), you tell him what you'd like from the little menu they have. He disappears through a door, you wait for 5-10 minutes, and he emerges with your order. Hand over cash and he hands over the pretzels, then you're on your way.

Ok, so it's not as shady as it sounds. It's a factory where they make all the soft pretzels for street vendors and such. They are really good because they are warm and fresh, and a good price at $.40 a pretzel!

As for the non-food related: Walked Valley Green and went to church
Oh. And played with Dean, a lot.

My dad took these pictures with his phone. He looks so big huh?

Miss you guys! See you in 9 weeks and counting!

Zach and Aly Visit!

We were lucky enough to have Zach and Aly come out and spend a few days with us here in Philly. I've mentioned them before, but here is the gist (found on this post):

"Alex met Zach at Weber where they had a few classes together and got through the MCAT together. They introduced their wives who were named Allyson Paige and Alyson Paige, who became fast friends. Us girls were able to go through pregnancy together and keep each other company when both husbands worked night shifts. It's been fun to experience becoming parents together also. We'll miss them terribly when we part ways to head off to different Med schools, Alex to Temple and Zach to Ohio State."

And we do miss them terribly.
But had tons of fun with them while they were out here!

The boys and their boys July 2010

The boys and their boys March 2011

The little boys. July 2010

Beckham 1 week. Dean 10 weeks
Matching Volcom Onesies

The little boys. March 2011

Beckham 8 months. Dean 10 months

Instant friends.

Here's the rundown of our tour through Philly:

Tasty Twister Pretzels

Boys riding in style

Girls riding deliciously

The Art Museum
Love this candid Aly caught of us.

I love my family

The friends.

One of the cutest Rocky pictures ever taken

Reading Terminal

Boys FINALLY reunited on the tennis court.

Two birds boys with one stone tub.

Chubby's Cheesestakes. Of course.
The goodness surprised them.

The Liberty Bell

U.S. Mint
Our first time. Glad we did it. Not in a hurry to do it again. Would have been a lot cooler if the machines were actually in production when we were there.

Fancy dinner

Tour of Temple Med

Really good BBQ from small place by Alex's school.
The goodness surprised me.

Our church building
Have I ever shown you a picture?

Aly's camera catches the bars on the windows perfectly. :)

It was a good trip.
We are back to missing them terribly and can't wait to see them again!

New Hampshire Trip

Dean and I were lucky enough to tag along with our friends who took a trip home to New Hampshire!!! We left Friday March 18th and got home Saturday the 26th. Dean did pretty good in the car...better than I expected. I'm sure it helped having two other kids in the back to talk to him, sing to him, and give him toys and snacks. If he had slept better that week, I would say he was the best vacation baby ever! A couple days into the week we figured out a little routine, he got better naps, and it was easier for me to enjoy him. Oh and you'd better believe he LOVED exploring a new house! It was a fun adventure for both of us and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Unfortunately, I didn't get as many pictures as I probably should have (of course), but here are some I did get:

The Children's Museum in Dover
For the California people: it's kinda like Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana
For Utah people: It's kinda like Discovery Child's Museum at Gateway

They had a little section for infants and toddlers
Dean's favorite parts...
Mirrors

And the trains

We titled this video "Success. Fail. Fail. Success."

My favorite thing to do on Vacations....

Eat.

Here are a few of the places we went...

Papa Gino's
It had really good pizza. And I saw for my first time the New England way to eat hot dogs.. wrapped in a piece of really good bread instead of in a bun.
Crazy. But good.


Moe's Subs
Went there twice. Best Italian subs ever.
When they first started they would only serve one type of sub- the Italian, but now they have a variety. But if you order the "Moe's Sub" from the menu they won't substitute anything on the sandwich...or something like that. But you wouldn't want to anyway. It's heavenly.
(ignore the send it here thing... best picture I could find on internet)

LaFiesta Brick & Brew
Yummy Yummy Yummy pizza. Like, so good. I'm really into the thin New York style pizza, and boy is this some of the best (that i've had) yet. Even the 4 yr old in our group wanted more than just his usual cheese pizza... it was that good.
The Friendly Toast
Tied for one of my top three favorites.
Funky place, with funky decorations, and funky staff. I loved every bit of it. It's in downtown Portsmouth surrounded by streets lined by quaint and cool shops. I loved it. If I were to move to NH, I would bet it would be here.
Portsmouth...not Friendly Toast.
Although...that'd be cool...
We shared Friend Green Tomato BLT, a Mission Burrito, and King Cakes (really yummy pancakes with bananas, chocolate chips, and peanut butter)

Newick's
Another tied for favorite.
For two reasons:
1. The location and view. It was right on the water and you might not be able to tell but the whole back half of the restaurant had windows looking out onto the water like this:

2. I had my first lobster at Newicks. It was a good, yummy Maine Lobster. Loved the taste, not so in love with the dismembering part. I just avoided eye to eye contact with the poor guy.
Last favorite, but definitely not least...the food I don't have pictures for...
Home-cooked goodness by my friend's parents.
I had corned beef and cabbage for the first time, awesome steak sandwiches, Zuppa Tuscano soup (home-made Olive Garden soup), and pumpkin pancakes with buttermilk syrup. It was all so delicious. Yum.


New England Scenery pictures:
Cool bridge we drove on coming home
Look how close to the water you are... you're basically driving on water..

Cool houses.
I told my friend it was like Laguna Beach, but half the houses and two times the trees. Same great view...

Hampton Beach
One day I babysat the kids while my friend and her parents attended a funeral. I took them for a 10 minute drive to the beach!

Beach on the right, east coast beach houses on left

Definitely less crowded and crammed than the beach cities I'm used to. Driving inland from the beach it went: shore, houses/stores/restaurants, and a mile inland you see this:

It was an adventure, I loved it, and I can now say I've been to good ol' New England. I would love to take Alex someday because 1. he'd love it, 2....I want the food again :)

White Coat Weekend

With Alex's mom in town, we got to go out into the world and explore the City again. The photo opps might look familiar...we did pretty much the same things as we did with my friend Nicole in October. It's always fun to take people to see the places you love.

Here are a few shots from our weekend with Grandma Lori.

This picture is for Joel...
One of Dean's many eyebrow expressions

Dean love love loved all the attention from Grandma

I don't think I've shown you our church building yet... Lori snapped a shot. Yep, that's a Burger King next door.

She also got some beautiful scenic shots of our Philadelphia

In October I tried taking Nicole to this spot. It's part of Fairmount Park with a sweet skyline view of the city. Unfortunately in October they were having a Breast Cancer Awareness walk and this park was closed. Fortunately, we got to take Lori there.
Beautiful eh?

I love how Dean looks at Alex



I love this next shot Lori took. It's an old couple just hanging out, enjoying the weather and each other. I want Alex and I to be like them when we grow up.

Walking in Valley Green

Can't wait till your next visit!