Morris Family Adventure

My family came to visit the 2nd week in August, and it was an action packed vacation for them. It was Megan and Andrew's last week with us, so my parents and my brother, Nathan, sis-in-law, Julie, and niece, Mikka, came out to Philly. We kept busy and saw lots of fun things (some were new things for me which was nice). Nathan served his mission in Philly years ago so I think he really enjoyed being back here.

Here's a run down of the fun things we did:


Valley Forge - while we were driving around there was a really big thunderstorm moving in. We got into our cars just in time - the rain came pouring down and the lightning and was so close I honestly thought we might get hit.


Philly - we went to the U.S. Mint, Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and Alex took us up the Comcast Center to get an awesome view of the city


Barnes Foundation - My mom and I went to this private art institution where there is a collection of impressionist paintings - there were a ton of Renoir, Picasso, Renault, etc.


Mikka's Birthday Party - Mikka turned 3 years old while they were here, so we celebrated with Chinese food and a cake! My brother Dan happened to be in town for work so he came out for the party.


Lancaster - for some reason I didn't take any pictures of Lancaster, but couldn't help adding in this photo of the sleepy-heads in the back seat! We went to our favorite, the farmer's market in Bird-in-Hand, and then went to eat at the Good 'N Plenty restaurant (the picture is of Nicole playing peek-a-boo at the table). We stopped at a quilt shop and admired all of the amazing quilts the Amish make, and then we wandered over to the outlets.


Martin Guitar Factory - this was awesome. My dad has wanted to go to this factory for a long time, and this time we made it! You get to do a tour of the factory and they show you the whole process of making the guitars. We packed a lunch and made a day of it up in Lehigh Valley.


Crayola Factory - after the Martin Guitar Factory, my dad wanted to get some ice cream. So we found the Purple Cow Creamery which makes their own ice cream, and happens to be next door to the Crayola Factory. Alex and I took Nikki in, and Nathan and Julie took Mikka in. We only had an hour before closing, so we got in for half price. It was a lot of fun - an interactive factory for kids. There was a ton to do, and Nicole was loving it!


Longwood Gardens - my mom finally made it to Longwood Gardens. It was their last stop before flying home, and it was beautiful (as always). Nikki couldn't get enough of the children's garden and was soaking wet by the time we left! It was a really nice way to end my family's visit.

Happy Birthday to me!

My birthday was at the beginning of August, and it was such a nice day. Alex made me dinner and my very own ice cream cake! The tradition in my family is that my parents always buy an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins for birthdays. So Alex made me one out of mint oreo ice cream (my favorite) and used his cake decorating talents. I was so excited to get a HUGE container of Jelly Belly's and some tart pans. You can check out my baking blog if you want to see what I've made with them.



Megan and Andrew went with their friends to New York that weekend, and when they got back they brought me my gift - a cheesecake from Carnegie Deli. Yum! For those of you who don't know, my favorite dessert is cheesecake and Carnegie is famous for their cheesecakes. What makes them different? They have a sugar cookie type crust (though not as sweet as a cookie). Very creamy and delicious!

Chocolate World

A couple of weeks ago, we ventured to Hershey country and got our fill of chocolate world. We started with the factory tour, where Nicole was pretty excited about the singing cows. She also loved the chocolate sample we got as we were leaving the tour.


Our next stop was Hershey Park. Let me state the obvious by saying that going to an amusement park with a kid is very different than going without. Especially when you're dealing with naps. That said, we had a lot of fun! We went to the water park first, and Nicole got to play in the water with Alex.


From the water park you can see the ferris wheel and Nicole kept pointing at it the whole time we were in the water park, so that was the first ride we went on. I think she had just as much fun waiting in line as she did on the ride, but it was fun.

We went with Megan and Andrew, so we waited in line for a roller coaster with them, and timed it so that they went first and then took Nicole while we went on the ride. Nikki crashed on Alex's shoulder about a minute before we handed her off to Megan. It was pretty cute.


And before leaving the park, we had to let Nicole ride the Merry-go-round. Alex took her on the ride and said that they both felt pretty gypped about a minute into the ride when they realized that the horse Nicole was on didn't go up and down.