Today Justin turns 40.  We have been joking about this day for a few years. It’s a running joke that I am 9 months older than Justin.  So me being in my mid-30’s before him was ‘oh so funny’ to him as was each year that passed after that as it just meant I was closer to 40 than him.  Even though we have been nearing 40 the last few years, it still seemed like a distant milestone until all of a sudden it wasn’t.  We are both officially 40…both officially Yung No Mo!

In February, Justin and I decided to go to Charlottesville, VA just the two of us – we were going to stay in a cute cottage slightly off the grid.  The girls were going to stay with my parents and Justin and I were going to have some quality down time together.  We cancelled last month when we realized we were going to be celebrating his birthday in quarantine.

While it wasn’t my birthday and the plans weren’t what we originally anticipated, I think it was a great low-key birthday celebration if I do say so myself!

We kicked off the celebration on Friday when Justin woke up to a massive Happy Birthday sign in our front yard. It came courtesy of Card My Yard and since they were sold out for Saturday, I figured starting the birthday celebration on the 8^th was perfect!

It was a rainy day, but we managed a few pictures and a walk in our neighborhood in between the rain.  

Saturday morning was like Christmas morning.  Bacon in our family equates to Christmas and we had bacon!  Not only bacon, but also sausage, eggs, fruit, and lemon muffins.  We leisurely ate and enjoyed the delicious food and each other’s company.

Presents followed breakfast.  Several shirts were in order as were socks, two koozies, a Golden Girls journal, and a homemade Top 40 card with a Chinese Proverb Yung No Mo that had us hysterical all morning.

The weather was cold today…only around 50 degrees and cold, but there were pockets of sun among the winds and we still took advantage of mother nature with an hour long walk and then a short bike-ride in our neighborhood.

Since we ate a big breakfast at 10:00 a.m., we turned breakfast into brunch and skipped a real lunch.  Instead we surprised Justin with a Ben and Jerry’s ice-cream sundae bar for lunch.  The girls thought it was totally nuts.  It was delicious and fun and so wonderful not to have to make a real lunch for the first time in months!

Brophy and Donald stopped by for a few socially distant driveway beers…an event that if you indicated would be the way they would celebrate together several months ago, I would have thought bummer, but with reset expectations, it was truly wonderful to visit with them…despite the fact that they couldn’t even come in to use our bathroom and had to pee in the woods.

We were going to do dinner in two parts.  First an oaky bottle of Pinot Noir and a charcuterie board with cheeses and salamis that I got from Oakton Wine Shop and Caboose Brewing coupled with a whole wheat boule that I made!  A combination of the wine, the massive amounts of cheese that we consumed, as well as the thought of not having to clean up a bunch of dinner dishes, made us realize we should turn our charcuterie board into dinner. 

There was no need for a second part…the shrimp and New York Strip would wait until tomorrow.

With full bellies, we had family fun in our make-shift photo booth.  Look at this guy…turning 40 and all has made him turn furry!

Justin’s expression in the last picture sums up how his birthday ended!  We went on a quick after dinner walk in the brisk May cold after our photo booth session and then Justin capped off the night with a few outdoor social distance drinks with a neighbor. Yung No Mo had a great birthday and I think it is “safe” to say, it was one like no other.

The Easter Bunny managed to make an appearance despite stores being limited on items.  He/she even made the girls some pretty nice baskets filled with puffy paints, glues, stickers, bath bombs, Twix, and some books and socks. The girls played by the rules and stayed in their rooms until 9:00, a deal we made since they stayed up to 11:00 Saturday night watching The Greatest Showman.   That gave me a chance to meditate, journal, workout, shower, and even put real clothes and make-up on all before 9:00!

They eagerly crowded the stairs at 9:00 a.m!  They had made notes and pictures for the Easter Bunny Saturday, something they had never done before.  As such they weren’t sure if the Easter Bunny was going to leave the notes and pictures or take them.  We weren’t sure either!

The girls were super excited about their Easter baskets.

Breakfast was pancakes, sausage, and fruit for the girls while Justin and I had some eggs and yogurt respectively.  (We’ve been temporarily moving furniture around during this quarantine…today our breakfast table is in our “living room”).

At 10:10, the girls got on their IPADS and attended Sunday school while Justin and I watched the Church Service while drinking our coffee.

The girls were eager for their Easter Egg Hunt and thrilled that I was able to find some Swedish Fish and chocolate candy online. This was the first year without jelly beans; however, the girls understood and were just as excited about the Swedish Fish as a replacement.

The girls cooperated with the obligatory Easter pictures knowing that those must happen before the Easter Egg hunt could begin.

And of course some family pictures were necessary as well.

It was chilly out today causing a last minute wardrobe change for me….my cute jumpsuit turned into jeans last minute, the first time I haven’t worn a dress for Easter in at least five years.

And then finally they were off! 

The girls had their own egg colors for which they were hunting, a tradition we started last year and is liked by all the girls.  Twenty-seven eggs for each girl.

Some candy was enjoyed after the hunt.

A second hunt, a free for all hunt, occurred in the afternoon….about 40 eggs, none of which are color designated per kid.

Claws and tears came out this time!

Whether it was a friendly competition or not was debatable.  They all agreed they like having their own eggs better; yet, I did witness quite a bit of sharing, playing together, and a joyous day by all!

My dad (papa) is 70!  Tuesday was his 70^th birthday!  It doesn’t seem possible, nor does it seem possible that I am 40!  My days have always gone by quick and the months and years even quicker!  In some respects a lot has happened since the days I was a teenager and my dad was in his 40’s.  At the same time, those days still remain vivid memories.  His hair, what is left anyway, is all gray and thin.  Yet in my head, my dad still has a full head of black hair.  My perspective may not be reality; however, it is my reality.

My dad is not a huge partier and originally didn’t want to do anything special for his 70^th other than a simple dinner with family.  However, I think he realized that not only do you turn 70 only once, but that turning 70 is a gift…a gift worth celebrating!  He became excited about the prospect of a celebration and so we decided on dinner at The Palm.  It was supposed to be him, my mom, Justin, myself, the girls, Russell and Mary, and Mike and Susan.  A few weeks ago, we realized that dinner was not going to happen.  We are in midst of a pandemic….schools closed, restaurants closed, workers teleworking, the world social isolating and quarantining.  Even as I type it, this situation seems unreal.

Hugging and kissing are out of the question as is entering my parents house and vice versa.  Sunday we paid a driveway visit to my parents as a way to say hello from afar.  We also dropped off my dad’s present giving it a few days to sit and rid itself of any potential germs.While I am sure my dad was disappointed that we couldn’t celebrate as we originally planned or truly even together, I still wanted to make the day special.  And I think we did.  For surely, it was a unique birthday and one in which I am sure he will never forget!

We started the day with some birthday videos and a FaceTime call.  I ordered crab cakes over the weekend from G&M along with some She-crab soup.  Late afternoon, I made mashed potatoes and garlic green beans and a delicious healthy coconut cake with lemon buttercream.  I cut it in half and we kept half! 

We piled in the van at 5:30 and headed to their house.  We stood at one end of the driveway and them the other.

He opened his presents which included some homemade crafts from the girls and a “vintage 1950’s t-shirt.

He enjoyed the poster that I put together over the weekend that documented his life in pictures from the time he was a little boy!

We “shared” a bottle of wine by bringing our own wine glasses and having a no-touch pour in the middle of the driveway.  The girls decorated the driveway.

My parents enjoyed their dinner together and when it was time for cake, they Facetimed us so we could sing happy birthday again!

We took a break from eating our dinner, which looked identical to theirs! 

We will celebrate at The Palm in time when this all passes.  Until then, I hope he enjoyed the thoughtfulness behind this year’s celebration.

Third child syndrome.  It’s a real thing!  I am fairly certain that we taught Avery and Emerson how to spell and write their middle names as early as pre-school.  Can’t say we did the same for Harper…we somehow forgot to teach her how to spell her middle name!  We only realized it when halfway through the year of first grade, she showed us the daily free art/writing that made at school that day.  It took us a solid few minutes to figure out that Paga was Paige!  Shame on Mommy and Daddy for forgetting to teach Harper how to spell her middle name!  Kuddos to Harper for taking matters into her own hands!

Proudly displayed in our closet, where Harper regularly tapes up her artwork while Mommy and Daddy aren’t looking!

We needed a great weekend and after a really long week work (as in more hours than I have worked since prior to having kids and having to put work ahead of the girls in the evenings), when 5:00 p.m. came Friday, I made up my mind that I was going to be intentional, loving, and slow down.

Emerson received a kid’s baking cookbook for Christmas.  She had showed me a few of the recipes she flagged.  I thought to myself what good was giving her a cookbook if I never had the time to make anything with her!  I set out four eggs before she came home from school…once they got to room temperature, I called her downstairs so we could spend time together in the kitchen making a cake.  She made the zebra cake from scratch….I was so proud of her and she cherished the quality one-on-one time.

The cake was done just in time for me to put dinner in the oven.  We had a great meal (southwestern chicken balls with roasted red pepper sauce) and dinner conversation.  In fact, we had “homerun” dinners four nights last week…food was superb and conversation great, which was pretty amazing considering I worked late hours all last week.  A lot of prep work on Sunday and Justin’s help during the week still made it possible.

Fast forward to dessert time, the girls were so excited to eat Emerson’s creation!

Saturday morning was Harper and Daddy’s one-on-one date.  She had filled her marble jar the week prior and picked her “best bud” for their date.  She had known she wanted to go mini golfing when the time came since her first date night which was intended to be mini golfing in the summer got cut short on the fourth hole due to severe thunderstorms.  Saturday was bitter cold and windy…and I mean bone chilling winds and temperatures.  They golfed anyway in the frigid temperatures.  Their date also included breakfast at the Vienna Inn, a pit-stop at home to warm-up after golf which included some T.V watching and candy eating, and lunch at CAVA.  Harper loved her date with her “best bud”.

Meanwhile, Saturday morning, I got to spend some time with Avery and Emerson.  My nails were in desperate need of getting done.  I took them with me to the salon but didn’t make appointments for them.  They were disappointed at first but used the time wisely and did their reading and multiplication tables.  They knew that if they completed their work, we would have time to buy some quick drying nail polish and stop at Michaels for some clay.  We did both and even ran into Papa in the shopping center….he may have been stalking us as he knew where we were from a phone call earlier!

I then treated the girls to lunch out…something we do not do frequently on the weekends.  It felt amazing to be able to go to SweetLeaf and have the girls both be able to find something to order on the menu which they actually liked!  A mouthwatering brussel and pear salad for me that also included bacon, goat cheese, kale, lime pepitas, and sweet potato. 

A quesadilla with a side of bacon for Emerson and a turkey and bacon sandwich for Avery.

All five of us met at home at 1:00, just in time to make our way to our 2:00 home renovation related appointment.  We took the girls with us and they each had workbooks and spelling words to complete. Imagine their delight when we were told they had a theatre room for kids.  A deal was made to work for 25 minutes and then it could be theatre time.  Our appointment was close to two hours, so these girls were in heaven watching Sam and Kat on the big screen in the middle of the day.

When we got home, all five of us spent an hour cleaning and organizing piles of our own papers, schoolwork, bins, desk, etc.  It is amazing how staying on top of organizing and doing a little bit here and there keeps the situation from becoming overwhelming.  The girls were very cooperative despite not being too into it.

A quick dinner was in order Saturday night and we made do with what we had in the house so that we could be in and out of the kitchen in a reasonable time. It was movie night and that was the priority.  Often the girls fight about which movie to watch.  Emerson would like to watch adult movies all day long and Avery would like a cartoon or pretend movie.  I intervened and found a mermaid movie that I thought would suit all….Scales was the name.  It was rated PG and there were definitely some references to a period and a girl coming of age!  It was weird, and had some scary parts, but it was also good.  I know they liked it as they have already spent their 30 minutes of Netflix time a day that they earn watching portions of it and even last night watched it at my parents’ house (they slept over last night since no school today for Super Tuesday).

Sunday morning, we were planning on going to Church.  I knew it was critical for me to go since I haven’t been going much recently.  Kids learn by actions.  I also knew it was important for me to have my me time before Church.  So rise and shine 6:15 a.m. on a Sunday….something I never thought I would do in a million years.  I woke up, did my affirmations, gratitude journal, 15-minute jog, and yoga.  I even showered and put on some make-up before leaving for church at 8:45.  I even sat through church…well all but the last three minutes!  I dressed down so that the second hour when their girls were in the 10:00 class, I could go for a walk to finish my workout.  I had a great walk exploring some new streets around Vienna that I hadn’t been on before listening to a combination of the book Languages of Love and some country music during my 40-minute walk.  I ended my walk at Whole Foods so I could get a jump start on the grocery shopping.  I moved quickly around the perimeter of the store and only had about five minutes of shopping left when Justin and the girls arrived at 11:15!  A quick trip home to drop off the groceries and then we were back out.

Lunch at home is our norm, but we end up spending so much time in the kitchen so I decided we would eat lunch out again before heading to some open houses. I wanted to check out a few open houses, so we were really thinking through the right approach with our home reno process…do we truly want to do a home reno?  Is it better to move?  So much to think about!  Anyway, lunch was so good at SweetLeaf that we went back Sunday.  The girls thought I was crazy!  I had the same delicious salad, Justin had the same, and the girls all were very satisfied with their choices!

Then it was open house time.  The girls had a blast and love sharing their opinions of what they think we should do and shouldn’t do to our house.  We had to cut the last open house short as we had promised the girls that with good behavior, we would take them ice-skating.  Skatequest in Reston had public skating for two hours from 3:10 to 5:10.  We made it on the ice about 3:45 and after the first five minutes, I thought to myself this is going to be a long 90 minutes!  The girls had a great time.  Emerson and Harper grateful for us finally taking them (it was their first time) and Avery grateful for going again (it was her third time).  There were some falls but they all had a great time and were very appreciative of us taking them. They were all pretty impressed with their skills too!

Dinner….I had quickly prepped some boneless pork loin chops earlier in the day and Justin grilled them along with orange cauliflower and brussels.  I even made mashed potatoes as Emerson has been asking for awhile.  A basil avocado sauce to top it all off…and wowzers…it was phenomenal.

A truly bitterly cold glorious weekend.

Presenting Ms. Eleanor Roosevelt….

and Ms. Nadia Comaneci…

These two worked really hard this past month on identifying their famous historical figure to research and become.  They read books, researched facts, and made a report.  On the day of the actual museum, parents and students came and the kids presented their three facts.  Avery and Emerson memorized their facts…Emerson even changed hers up when she was getting bored of repeating the same ones over and over.

They spoke clearly and confidently.  I am so proud of my old Eleanor and young Nadia.

Since starting this blog, I have committed to this space at least twice a month. Yet here it is February 22 and I have yet to visit this month.  Life has been busy and stressful.  Avery and Harper have still had some sick days, Justin and I have many appointments related to our home renovation, we’ve have had quarterly teacher meetings, we sold and distributed Girl Scout Cookies, Justin has been busy trying to figure out care for his dad relating to his dementia, my dad had surgery for early stage kidney cancer, the girls have had a few weekend play dates, and on top of that Justin and I have been working very demanding full time jobs and somehow juggling the girls extra-curricular activities.

So while I have been MIA some from this space and we have been running around like crazy people, we are trying to start each day right by being grateful, positive, and mindful!

January 1 Avery came down with the flu.  It’s January 24 and this is what our January has looked like to date:

• Flu – Avery, Mommy, Emerson, Harper
• Ear infection and throat infection – Mommy
• Stomach Bug – Avery and Emerson

The girls have missed school, I have missed work.  We have stayed in doors and been taking it easy.  We have ordered a lot of takeout and done a lot of laundry.

Truly, it could be a lot worse though…so we’ll get through this long four day weekend and keep our fingers crossed that we go into next school week healthy and renewed!

We chose Philly for our surprise winter break vacation due to it being a city in close proximity to D.C. with a ton of our nation’s history coupled with great food.

Thursday:

With the drive being only three hours in comparison to the eight hour drive we had to Charleston two years prior, three hours seemed like a breeze.  It also allowed us to not leave first thing in the morning since our check-in time wasn’t until 3:00 p.m.  Our goal to leave was 11:00 and we made it out of Vienna at 12:30…pretty typical for us.

We arrived just before 4:00 in our Airbnb located in Society Hill (the intersection of 2^nd and South Street).  We leisurely unpacked and went to The Twisted Tail, across the street for dinner.

The Twisted Tail – The food and the service were absolutely superb.  Our waiter honestly was one of the best that I have had to date…very personable and in tune with expectations of good customer service.  While they didn’t have a kid’s menu, they said they could make chicken tenders and fries, mac and cheese, and a burger.  The portions were big so at the suggestion of the waiter, Avery and Harper split the chicken and fries….a wise decision considering not only was it huge, but also Avery didn’t like it.  Justin and I decided to get a mix of small plates and one entrée to share.  We assumed the small plates were on the smaller side…..they were NOT and as soon as we received the first one (the heirloom beets in a yogurt sauce), I knew we had overordered. They were mouthwatering.  Next came the crispy cauliflower flatbread and the spicy big eye tuna tacos).  Both were excellent as well, although I had thought the flatbread was made from cauliflower and it was actually the flatbread heaping topping.  Justin and I were stuffed by then so we didn’t mention that our entrée (the beef short ribs) and the last small plate (the spareribs) were taking significantly longer to come out of the kitchen than the other meals….so much so that our waiter actually started clearing our plates thinking we were done with everything.  I think he was pretty embarrassed when we told him that they hadn’t come out, so he ended up bringing us this huge delicious Bibb lettuce and parmesan salad.  More food was the last thing we needed but the salad was so amazing, we devoured it. We weren’t even hungry by the time the rest of the food came out, but we ate it anyway.  While both were excellent, we promised ourselves we would never order short ribs out again, as I make the most amazing short ribs and we don’t feel like we are eating something special when we order them when we go out.  We had actually ordered the seabass entrée but switched to the short ribs when they were out of the seabass.  Overall though, it was a great start to our culinary experience.

Friday

Friday morning, we got a little bit of a later start than we anticipated not getting out of the apartment until close to 11:00.  Justin had somehow slammed his foot into the bedroom railing Christmas Eve and destroyed his foot.  It was all black and blue and he was in a lot of pain.  Realizing he should probably get it checked out, I found an urgent care a half mile away, and Justin walked there (yes, he walked) to get it X-rayed.  Good news is that it wasn’t broken so they wrapped it and told him to rest.  I am guessing that the 28,000 steps we ended up walking that day in total wasn’t exactly what the doctor meant by rest.  While Justin was at urgent care, I managed to burn a waffle, make oatmeal that crystalized to the point that I wasn’t sure if the pan coating was coming off, and then almost start a fire in the microwave when I microwaved a non-microwavable safe dish for two minutes.  Ironically, I had asked Justin how to open the apartment windows the night before and had every one of them open to air out the apartment.

Anyway, we finally left the apartment walking via Second Street through Washington Square and then to the Liberty Bell.  It was a beautiful sunny day and the weather was nearly 50 degrees.  Avery took the time to read some of the signs and seemed to truly be interested in the history.  I can’t believe this was the first time Justin and I actually saw The Liberty Bell. 

We decided to hit up Franklin Square next only to realize that it really was a nighttime place to visit.  With two hours before we were meeting our friends, the McBrides, we decided to check out the The Redding Terminal Market as we figured we could do some browsing and eat lunch there.  It was so insanely busy there…WAY busier than I was expecting and much more hot ready-made food than purchase and make/eat at home type food.  I saw a sign for a dollar hot dogs and asked the girls if they wanted hot dogs, which they did. They ended up eating two each while Justin and I settled on a middle eastern place…Greek salad with gyro meat for me.  It did the job…was healthy and good, but I hated settling on that option without being able to explore the hundreds of other food counters.

After lunch we were scheduled to meet the McBrides at Franklin Fountain, an ice cream soda shop.  Since they were running a little late, we ended up going to The Betsy Ross House for a tour.  It was great.  We splurged and bought the girls the kids audio device, which was the way to go…it really kept their interest.  While I knew Betsy Ross made the Star-Spangled Banner, I didn’t know how that came to be or anything else about her life.  A quick fun education tour.

Then it was back to Franklin Fountain, the ice cream shops of ice cream shops.  Justin and the girls splurged on milkshakes and me on the chocolate cake cone.  It was worth every calorie!

We walked towards the waterfront and the kids got a kick out of watching people ice-skate.  Avery had a crush on Winslow just like she did when we saw him earlier in April.

It was a little after 5:00 when we said our goodbyes and since we weren’t terribly far from Franklin Square, we headed back.  We all rode the merry-go-round, enjoyed the lights show, and playing on the playground.  The walk home was about a half hour so by the time we had walked home, Justin and I had both walked over 12 miles, 28,000 steps that day.

For dinner we went to Pizzeria Stella , right outside our apartment.

Pizzeria Stella – Justin and I shared the spinach pizza and the crab and apple salad.  The salad had way more dressing on it than I would have preferred, but it was excellent as was the pizza.  The girls each had their own bowl of pasta…Emerson with tomato sauce, Avery plain, and Harper with parmesan cheese. We also shared the calamari for appetizer, which was delicious.

After dinner, we fake lit the menorah as we did every night in Philly.  By fake lighting it, Harper actually participated.

Saturday

Saturday morning, we headed to Independence Hall.  We were hopeful that arriving by 11:00 there would still be tickets available for the day. There were not to the girl’s disappointment. Buying the tickets online in advance would have been the route to go.  We were still able to go into two other buildings and see many compasses, maps, pendulums, constellations, globes, and copies of the Declaration of Independence.

It was another beautiful day and we headed towards City Hall.  The architecture of the building was absolutely amazing.

Next we headed to LOVE Park, the original.

Lunch was next on our agenda and we headed to Monk Café.   The place was small, so we were told we had about a 45-minute wait.  Justin and I ordered an IPA at the bar and then we got lucky and got seated after about 20 minutes.  We got seated in a bright spot by the window and we were giddy (probably the beer). Justin welcomed sitting as his foot was in severe pain.

Monk Café – Another excellent find!  Justin had a burger.  I had the pork sandwich with a side salad.  The girls shared mac and cheese, chicken fingers, and fries.  And the beer selection was excellent.  Justin and I may have had several beers each!

The Philadelphia Magic Gardens were next on our list. To our surprise, we weren’t able to walk right in due to it being so busy and since it was 3:00, we didn’t want to wait another two hours until the time we could get tickets.  We changed our plans and found a nearby park where we let the girls play for about 20 minutes before heading to The Italian Market section.  We roamed the streets, browsed the vendors and shops, and purchased salamis, cheeses, and fruits so I could make a charcuterie board at home that evening.

Sunday

The forecast was calling for a rainy day, so we intentionally saved The Franklin Institute for Sunday.  We purchased our tickets online the night prior and arrived at 9:15, before the museum even opened…a first for us!  The exhibits were interactive and great. We did The Brain, Worst Case Survival Experience, The Giant Heart, The Train Factory, Live Science Show, The Planetarium, Electricity, The Sports Zone, and The Amazing Machine.  It was a pricey museum, but it was well worth the cost and going on a rainy day made it that much better.

Since we drove to the museum and 5:30, we thought we may have a chance of getting into a popular Mexican restaurant El Vez, in the heart of downtown. It was a 45-minute wait, so we waited in an Irish pub next door, and Justin and I had a drink. Our waitress was very personable and talked us into getting the kids virgin margaritas.  We figured why not!  Dinner was delicious and a great time with our little family of five.

El Vez – El Vez was a great restaurant.  Even on Sunday at 5:45, it was packed.  The chips and guac were extra; however, they were well worth it.  While they didn’t have a kid’s menu, they were accommodating – Emerson had a chicken quesadilla and Avery had a plain steak taco.  Harper had some of both.  I had the sea bass tacos – they had a sweet potato puree and were scrumptious.  Justin had the steak tacos and they were equally good.

The girls watched a movie that evening, and we did face masks that we got from Santa. Since we didn’t carve out a meal for a cheesesteak and time was ticking, Justin went to Jim’s Steaks South Street, which was one block over.  Since it was 10:00 p.m. and raining out, there was no line.

Jim Steaks South Street – While I don’t know that I have ever had a whole cheesesteak anywhere, I have certainly tried one before…not sure where, but I know I have.  And I know I have heard people over the years say that there is nothing like a Philly cheesesteak.  Well I took a bite of Justin’s cheesesteak (maybe two) and let me tell you if I never had another bite of a Philly cheesesteak again in my life, I would be quite okay.  It’s just not the type of food that I enjoy eating.

Monday

Our last morning.  Check-out was at 11:00 so we figured we would have a good brunch before heading off.  I found Sabrinas in The Italian Market section; being a 20-minute walk there and back was perfect as it gave us some exercise before sitting in the car for three hours.  Not only was it raining, but also it was so windy the umbrella was hard to control. It was the cutest little café and a great pick!

Sabrinas – Sabrinas was our fifth and final restaurant that we went to in Philly.  Every restaurant we went to was a stellar pick.  And our menu selections were equally on par….that is until I went to Sabrina’s.  Somehow I overlooked their specialities and ordered the omelette.  It was good, but when have I ever walked out of a restaurant saying an omelette was too die for!  I even forgot to substitute the potatoes with fresh fruit.  Justin had one of the specials and it was mouth watering.  Avery got the buttermilk pancakes, which were fluffy and delicious and Emerson and Harper both had a bagel with cream cheese.  Great place, rookie ordering mistake on my part though!

All in all, we had a great trip.  Excellent eats.  A ton of walking.  Great weather.  Fun family time!

Sidenote:  While we didn’t take a ton of pictures, many of the pictures we did take won’t upload properly to this site for some reason…oh well!

This year Hanukkah started the Sunday before Christmas so the holidays overlapped.  Not my preference, but clearly I have no say in the matter.  For the first night of Hanukkah, we went to my parents where we celebrated and ate latkes.Harper is still deathly afraid of fire so she goes in another room when we are lighting the menorah.

Monday night we took our annual family pajama pictures in front of the tree, which were the girls Hanukkah presents from the prior night.I had just come home from a haircut after having gone 10 months without one. I had intended to go darker in color for a change…the cut was not meant to be so layered!  I’m not the biggest fan…but it will grow back.  Granted it is hard to notice my hair color when I have a triangle reflecting in the middle of my forehead! Someone whose name starts with E decided she wasn’t in the mood for silly family pictures.  We told her we would do a serious one next, but she had quickly escaped as she was not feeling our crazy antics. Tuesday was Christmas Eve. We captured pictures in front of the tree in less than a rushed fashion than usual.  I can’t believe how old and grown up they are becoming! Not sure what was so funny, but apparently something had these girls giggling! The self timer normally does the trick, not this year…Justin was scalped! We somehow made it to the 5:00 VPC Church service at 4:30, a record for us for sure!  We indulged at PF Chang’s for dinner for the 5^th year in a row!  We debated switching it up due to the not so great experience we had last year, but the $25 gift card we had (from the less than stellar customer service) coupled with the fact that it really is a special night out since we only go there on Christmas Eve led us back to try one more time before we were ready to call it quits.  Fortunately, dinner and service were good so we will likely be back next year.

Tuesday night we all stayed up a little too late before getting to bed.  Let’s be funny. No, let’s be serious. Emerson was the first to get up at 7:20 the following morning and wanted nothing more to wake her sisters up.  She patiently waited…a little Netflix time helped her patience!  By 8:05, both Avery and Harper had woken up and we made our way downstairs!Santa was especially generous this year with his stockings!  At least for the girls….Mommy and Daddy’s stockings could have been a little plumper, but I guess Santa had priorities.

Santa also brought the girls some great presents.  Nothing too extravagant, but a combination of things that were on their list and things he thought they would enjoy. Breakfast was healthy chocolate muffins, healthy lemon muffins, scrambled eggs, fresh berries, and lots of bacon!   Justin and I prepared some of the food Christmas Eve after the girls went to bed so we could enjoy Christmas morning with the girls over spending tons of time in the kitchen.  Breakfast was delicious.  It was small though in terms of people.  This is the first year since we have been in our new house where Christmas has been just the five of us.  Karolin joined our family before Harper even turned one and since then we have had Mila and Larissa join our family and spend multiple Christmases with us.  It was weird truthfully in a way….kind of realizing that we are truly in the next phase our journey.

After breakfast, we sat around the tree and opened family presents.  The absolute best part of family presents were the girls gifts to me and Justin and to one another.  Justin and I debated taking the girls to get presents for one another; we decided not to primarily because Justin and I would need to carve out the time to do so, and sadly it wasn’t something we wanted to add to our plate.  We didn’t tell the girls we weren’t going to not do this, we just didn’t do it.  THEY took it upon themselves to make their own gifts by regifting, making coupon books, making cards, and giving their own money.  I could not have been prouder of them.  They made individual gifts and teamed up to make joint gifts. They fight more often than I like and sometimes I wonder if they really love one another.  Their gifts to one another were so caring and filled with love.  Emerson made coupon books for both Avery and Harper which consisted of helping them with their homework, taking their dishes over to the sink, and making their beds. Avery gave everyone in the family $5 cash. Avery also bought a stuffed animal for Harper and Emerson the day before Christmas, when she happened to be the only kid home and have the opportunity to go to the drugstore with Justin.  She knew Emerson and Harper may not have had the opportunity to do the same, and she was okay with that.  Avery and Harper regifted some of their toys, bracelets, and made some new bracelets for one another.  Harper made a card demonstrating her love to the entire family. Honestly, my heart was so happy that they secretly took it upon themselves to be creative and make gifts for one another for Christmas because they cared!

The girls big Christmas present from Justin and I was a trip to Philadelphia. We gave the girls a card that said “pack your bags, we are going to Philly” tomorrow!

The afternoon was spent going for a family walk in the neighborhood, playing with gifts, preparing a delicious dinner of pork chimichurri where Grandma and Grandpa joined us, and packing for our trip.  It really was a great Christmas…M-unit was small this year, but our love big.