Philly Farm and Food Fest 2016

We spent a fun afternoon at the Philly Farm and Food Fest in center city yesterday.  Erik popped around connecting with potential social series vendors for work, while the girls and I browsed and enjoyed all the samples! 

(photo credit - Meredith) 

Cassie Lou was a trooper and flashed her smile to many folks along the way.  

Sweet Eliza Wren was a bit under-the-weather, so we popped her in the stroller and she was able to nap most of the time...although I caught this smile from her and Meredith after they slurped up Little Baby's sea salt chocolate ice cream samples. :)

Every year it becomes more and more kid-friendly throughout the festival. 

Meredith had a blast participating in many different activities.

Fun day and sweet Philly tradition!

Now We Are Six

Meredith turned six years old today!  Can't quite believe the time has flown by so quickly, and yet this age fits her so well.   She is learning to read by leaps and bounds although our special reading aloud time each day is what she loves the most.  She is a sucker for any audio book we have on hand and listens for hours to the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, A.A. Milne,  Mr. Poppers Penguins, Charlotte's Web, and recently the All-of-a-Kind-Family series. 

She is currently fascinated with monarch butterflies - so her chosen theme for her celebration was monarchs.  The celebration began this morning and carried on throughout the day (and will continue the rest of this month in various forms!). Granna and Grandaddy sent two new books with stories about monarchs which were a huge hit!

Her favorite toy gift was a covered wagon playmobil set (my old set from when I was her age!)

We had fun trying out the monarch butterfly craft punch from Granna and Grandaddy - I'm looking forward to making some sweet decorations with it!

Chocolate cake with strawberry frosting has been her request for several years now - fun spring treat!

Happy, happy day sweet Mer Mer!  We love you oodles and oodles!

Cassie Lou - 5 months old!

Cassie Lou past the 5 month mark yesterday (March 27th).  She continues to be such a sweet, happy and content baby.  So smiley and cheerful - I love seeing her smile so much it overflows into a little wiggle through her whole body.  So cute!  We are hearing a lot of babbling and she's often found chewing on her fists (or mama's scarves) and drooling.  Her hair is growing a little bit and is still brown, so far. Watching her big sisters playing is her favorite entertainment, as well as being outside - yay!  What a joy you are, Cassie Lou!!

Easter 2016

  We had a joyous Easter Sunday - He is Risen!  

Photos are from our backyard after our Easter service.  

Can't believe how much these girls are growing up! :)

 Meredith is just a few days shy of her 6th birthday, Eliza Wren is 3.25 yrs old and Cassie Lou is 5 months old. 

crayon drawing and egg dying this afternoon....followed by many egg hunts.

Waiting for the Easter cake to be brought in!

The proud cake-maker bearing her sweet treats!  Meredith and I had a fun afternoon making this "bird's nest cake" and serving it with peanut butter chocolate eggs (made earlier this week).

(Erik and I think this photo gives us a glimpse of Meredith a few years from now....ack, stop growing up so quickly, kid!)

Out and About!

As usual, there's always something going on during the weekends in Philly.  We pick and choose to make sure we aren't running around too much, however the past few weekends have had us busy in the very best way.  Here's what we've been up to in March.

Mary Poppins Musical with my big girls - what fun!!

Screen printing at Crane Art Studio - free art afternoon for kids.  It was fabulous!

 Hammers, Strings and Winds Concert for Kids through the Astral Artists series.  Here we are looking at how a piano key works - pretty complex!

On the beautiful grounds of Woodmere Art Museum - just before the amazing circus show!

Maple Sugaring Festival at the Wissahickon Environmental Center.  Super chilly and very tasty!  We licked sweet maple sap, tried maple sugar candy and maple syrup made from the trees around us.

McKinzie visit!

Dad, Mom and Will came to visit with us last weekend.  We had beautiful weather, so we spent a lot of time outside.  A trip to the arboretum with a sunny picnic and walk around the grounds was a highlight!

Another day we went for a hike, and found the famous Fingerspan Bridge in the Wissahickon.

Reading snuggles

A fun way for Meredith to practice reading lately is to read board books to Cassie Lou.

Love these winter afternoons at home surrounded by books.