The buddies are Phillie's fans, if only because their dad loves the team and because all their relatives sent them t-shirts and hats after they won the World Series in '08. And so, after a busy day of parading and ice cream festival-ing, we loaded them up in the car again and headed to Reading to watch the Phillies (albeit the minor league R-Phil's) in action.
What fun we had. Ben enjoyed sitting with his dad, learning about baseball. He loved the spectacle created after the Phillies scored a run or made a good play. Plus, with minor league games, you get to watch crazy fan contests between innings. We watched a food race and then got to see the fan dressed as a broccoli propose to his girlfriend on the jumbo-tron. Exciting stuff, I tell you!
Ace discovered another great pastime. The R-Phils have five funny mascots, and each time one made an appearance, Ace and I would leave our seats and head to the autograph booth to meet them.
He collected autographs from Change-Up (the turtle), Quack, Screwball, and Woody. But, sadly, we missed seeing Blue Bird (the dog). To correct the situation, we "mailed" his autograph card back to Blue Bird the next day and he signed it and sent it back to Me Mom's house.
Friday, July 09, 2010
Phillies Game
Super Scooper Ice Cream Festival
During our trip, we traveled to Penn's Landing to help the Joshua Kahan Fund "lick leukemia". A $5 donation toward the cause gave us access to over 20 ice cream and Italian ice vendors. That's right: all-you-can-eat ice cream. With proceeds going to a cause that is near and dear to our hearts.
First, we hopped on a train downtown. Then, we navigated the busy Philadelphia streets and managed to find the right trolley (after one wrong trolley) to take us to Penn's Landing.
We arrived! Along with the rest of Philadelphia!
The buddies were ecstatic. The answer to the question, "Can I have some more ice cream?" suddenly became, "Yes!".
Ben sampled several flavors. About an hour in, he became more discriminating in his choices.
Ace followed his dad's advice and alternated ice cream and water ice and was able to last a bit longer.
Eventually, everyone fell into a sugar coma.
Thanks, Me Mom for a fantastic adventure!
Thursday, July 08, 2010
July 4th Festivities
First, an awesome fireworks display...
The buddies fell asleep in the car on the way home, only to awake the next morning to be rushed off to the Rockledge Parade.
The candy and sucker pops were the best part (of course!).
SMITH Playground
"Since 1899 SMITH has been providing magical play experiences to the children of Philadelphia."
Our family fell in love with this incredibly unique, 6-acre playground this year. And after returning home and reading up on SMITH's history, I think I love it even more. The good folks who have designed, preserved, and updated this playground have done so to give the children of Philadelphia a safe place for unstructured play. Even the adults in our party couldn't resist playing.
With unique swinging structures...
A super-cool spinning, climbing tower...
Unique climbers that could almost be confused as art...
And a giant century-old wooden slide...
It really is a magical place!
Ocean City, NJ
After our stay in Wildwood, we awoke the next day to drive 30 miles North to Ocean City, NJ. Me Mom, Aunt Amy, Uncle Chris, and Cousin Finn met us there for a fun beach day.
We soaked up the sun, collected sea shells, went for walks on the beach, took silly pictures of the kids, jumped the waves, and explored the boardwalk.
Wildwood, NJ
After a fun-filled week at Granddad's house, we headed to the Jersey Shore, where we took up Steve's cousin's offer to spend the night at their shore house. Their place is a paradise for kids - 8 apartments that share a courtyard where the kids meet up to play in the fresh air, just blocks from the beach. We could have stayed forever.
We hit the boardwalk for pizza and rides. Later, I enjoyed a solo run on the beach while the dads took all the kids to play basketball. Then, it was double-date night, thanks to the responsible teenage babysitter next door. Fantastic!
Ace's First Dive
During Day 2 of Steve's golfing (and the day that I won the Best Wife Ever Award), Lindsay and I took the boys to a fantastic swimming pool near their house. None of our local pools allow diving, so it was a treat to get to try it out. And in 12 feet of water!!
Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery
After enjoying the trains of Strasburg, Adventure Monday Part II brought us to America's first commercial pretzel bakery. Founded in 1861 by Julius Sturgis, the bakery is still maintained and run by the Sturgis family.
The buddies loved the hands-on part of our tour, where they learned to roll their own pretzels, using salted dough. It was easy and now that we all three have certificates that declare us "Official Pretzel Twisters", we can't wait to try it at home and wow our friends and neighbors.
After learning to roll, our friendly tour-guide explained how pretzels were first made, how they are mass produced now, and filled us in on the history of this particular bakery. The buddies declared much of this "too boring" and squirmed, wiggled, and even laid down on the century-old basement floor in exhausted boredom. Between corrections, I managed to learn a few tidbits: The first hard pretzel was made by accident when young Julius Sturgis, at the time a pretzel twister at another bakery, accidentally left a tray of pretzels in the ovens overnight. They slowly baked over low heats through the evening. The next morning, the fires were lit again before the mistake was discovered, thus baking the pretzels a second time. The result was a crispy pretzel. Young Julius thought they tasted great and pitched the idea to his boss, who turned him down. So, a few years later, he bought his own pretzel bakery and began producing the first hard pretzels.
Train Town, USA
No trip to Pennsylvania would be complete without a visit to Strasburg. The buddies and I decided to hit up our favorite little town for our Adventure Monday, while Steve took the day off to golf.
We hit up the Choo Choo Barn and enjoyed their fantastic model train layout. It wasn't as impressive as last year's trip to the National Toy Train Museum, but we enjoyed it nonetheless. After two laps around the layout, we made our way to the Strasburg Railroad, picnicked, and then hopped on a train.
Shrek Forever After
The buddies experienced their first IMAX adventure during our trip. They enjoyed the 3D most of the time, but found some parts waaaayyy too scary. Ice cream afterward made it all better.
Lake Tobias Wildlife Park
Granddad, Lisa, and Lindsay took us on another great adventure to Lake Tobias Wildlife Park. The safari tour featured herds of wild and exotic animals. We saw buffalo, llama, elk, emu, watusi, deer, and even the oh-so-exotic (though not to us) Texas longhorn.
The buddies got a kick out of feeding the animals popcorn from the snack bar (the recommended treat).
Add a picnic lunch, some time on the playscapes throughout, and lots of time in the petting zoo and it was one great outing!
Dutch Wonderland
Our first adventure of the trip brought us to Dutch Wonderland with Granddad and Lisa. The buddies discovered this place last year, and have been talking about it ever since. This visit was no disappointment either.
With train rides...
And roller coasters...
And swing rides...
A funny dive show version of the Frog Prince where Ben and I chose to sit in the first row of the splash zone...
We closed down the park...as usual.
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Home at Last
We are home after two fun-filled and adventure-packed weeks with family on the East coast. But don't worry, our heads are still intact. Even Mom's and Dad's.
More stories to come soon...
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
They are going to make awesome frat boys one day...
I left the buddies alone in the bath for about five minutes a few nights ago. And heard fits of hysterical laughing, so thought I'd better investigate.
Ace: Mom, we drank each other's pee!
Me: (throwing up a little in my mouth) What?? You're joking, right?
Ben: No, we really did.
Me: Tell me exactly what you did.
Ace: First, we peed in these cups. Then, we traded, and put a little bit in our mouth and then spit it out. Ben did it twice, but I only did it once.
Me: (really trying hard to hold back the dry heaves) Did it taste good?
Ace: No!
Ben: No!
Me: Well let's not do that again. That's really yucky and could make you sick. (more dry heaving) Now get out of the bath and let's brush your teeth. Twice. And then throw away your toothbrushes.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Barton Springs Pool
Adventure Monday #5 brought us to Barton Springs Pool, one of the top-rated swimming holes in Texas. The 900 foot long pool is spring-fed, giving it an average temperature of 68 degrees. My camera didn't venture beyond the very shallow end, but we all three took several plunges into the chilly water. Refreshing!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Father's Day 2010
It was a pretty typical Father's Day around here. Homemade gifts, sleeping in for Dad, grilling in the backyard, and some pool time. Actually, that is a pretty typical Sunday for us, minus the gifts.
The buddies also completed their usual questionnaires. Ace's answers are in blue. Ben's in red.
How old is Dad? 60-70 / 57 (actual answer: 37)
My dad has black / no hair. (actual answer: brown, though not much of it)
My dad has green / green eyes. (actual answer: blue-green)
My dad loves to tickle me /play!
I love it when my dad cooks me cheesy chopped eggs /plays with me.
My favorite thing to do with dad is tickle him! / get Dad to tickle me. That’s my favorite part of Dad.
My favorite game to play with my dad is Candy Land / The Get You Game.
I like it when my dad sings Twinkle Twinkle / Twinkle Twinkle.
My dad makes great hamburgers / eggs.
When I’m sad, my dad tickles me / tickles me.
I like to play games / play the Get You Game with my dad.
I love my dad because he has green eyes like me and I look like him / he plays the Get You Game.
What the hell is Uncle Jeff up to? - Part III
While I had planned Part III to be "What the hell is Uncle Jeff up to? - The College Years", I can see the writing on the wall. The cold hard forces that be are going to shut me down.
The people have spoken. And they have been heard. If its Ace and Ben you want, Ace and Ben you shall have.
For those that do not know,
our two wee heros are in adventurous Oklahoma this week, kicking things up a notch with Grandma and Grandpa.
This photo is an example of brotherly love. And it highlights the importance of water safety. Good job boys!
Now Oklahoma has much more to offer than life jackets and squirt guns.
Oh yeah, much more.
Like FISH!
And RACOONS!!!
Mmmmmmm MMMMMMM! Nobody makes Racoon-Fish Casserole like Grandma! You're in for a TREAT Ace and Ben!!
And there you have it, adoring fans. Your weekly fix of Ace and Ben. This is Uncle Jeff signing off. To my sister, go ahead and change your password. I'm done.
And to my nephews...be good.
Uncle Jeff is WATCHING...
