I do not tend to take long trips to Philadelphia, but as the kids have gotten older and easy to travel with the frequency has been pretty decent!
(My parents really don’t love traveling so we’ve chosen to come to them for the most part, though they want to try to come at some point.)
I took G for the weekend and even though it was SOOO short (left our house 4:45 AM Saturday / home 7 PM Sunday!) it felt fun and meaningful to celebrate my niece’s bday with her! I think I’ve only been to one previous bday party, back when she lived in NC.
I chose to take just G because a) I knew the other kids had sports practices, esp A who has meets coming up; b) she’s the closest in age to Miriam and it just made sense that way; and c) we are all headed back to Philadelphia SOON. Plus this way the cost was lessened (2 plane tickets definitely beats 5, though they were pretty inexpensive).
For those not aware, my sister (Rebecca) is a DIY and home decor master.
She knits, sews, makes elaborate sourdough (milling her own grains), etc. And when I she does these things, I mean she does them at elite/expert level (at least it seems that way to me!). In typical Rebecca fashion we made a from-scratch smitten kitchen cake and homemade icing . . . decorated like this:
My main jobs were entertaining her and cutting the fruit roll ups into circles. G and M entertained themselves for hours while we did this — G was soooo happy to finally have a willing partner in pretend play. They were so well matched.
The party was at a pizza restaurant (Bertucci’s in Springfield, for the PHL locals) and so this cake was ON THEME. It was super cute – kids decorated their own pizzas and had fun.
We also fit in time to hang with my parents (just us because M had her friend’s party) and dinner out all together. It was super short, but I think for seeing family frequency beats length any time!!
It was coooollllld but it was not like we were hanging out outside.
ALSO it’s cold here too – all relative, but if you’re heard about the frozen iguanas I can vouch – this is a real thing.
In other news I am on call but it’s a rare ‘days only’ week which is totally different than the usual.
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Mills her own grain? Incredible. That is next level! (Didn’t she used to own a yarn shop or something like that? I’m a knitter too and apparently have a lot of hobbies in common with your sister 😊)
She did, though not anymore! And yes. Her baked goods are amazing too. . .
Your sister sounds phenomenally talented! I think I picked up on your sister owning a yarn shop when I first started reading your blog. Then for the longest time I thought Lisa was your sister (Lisa’s Yarns)! I mean she may well be your blog-sister, but it took my poor brain many moons to figure out she and Rebecca weren’t the same person!
she is extremely talented & creative. We have like, opposite skill sets 🙂
Sounds like super fun trip! On a side note, if your parents want to visit you, encourage them to do it sooner rather than later. My parents’ health challenges hit two years ago and traveling now is out of the question. Prior to that, they traveled frequently. It’s impossible to know when they won’t be up for travel any more.
Frozen iguanas??!!! I don’t even know what to do with that…and I am from Arizona originally.
I mean do you just walk by the iguanas … ?
it’s really a thing! https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/florida-iguanas-fall-trees-cold-what-to-do-sx8dk08v2?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqceYzet5wMEFkiYyetzUBSQmdjr0Lb0pWJS4U3pMbA74TFHg9nuElsHJfFP_Vk%3D&gaa_ts=69829d36&gaa_sig=9Bgqs4SgBuejzFcz395h1v-2DmqaHFH0zDo1QWe3D6bbfKjHTaQhoRLjaZhRK2Us2SYHKdni1Cx39JALShnPAA%3D%3D
That pizza cake is amazing! I couldn’t have even guessed what the pepperoni was!
the blanket! my 14 year old is obsessed with cozy blankets and had been asking for a Lola (SO expensive) so i settled for an on sale Comfrt, but this one looks great too! Hack- she puts it in her towel warmer to get extea cozy:)
You mentioned that frequency was more important than duration on Best of Both Worlds years ago and it inspired me to go on a few short trips to see my childhood bestie that I otherwise would have so thanks for the inspiration
Your sisters cake is very impressive and it’s nice that the cousins have a good relationship
This is on major sale!
https://www.amazon.com/UGG-Euphoria-Plush-Fur-Reversible/dp/B07WRDL2VZ/?tag=yle01-p-v-22nl-20&ascsubtag=135e9e4c037911f1a08fcd50fa0c09cd&th=1
Sometimes a short trip home can be so nice. I wish I could do just a weekend trip to Germany LOL