3 years!

Celebrated our 3 year anniversary yesterday! Made some last minute plans for my BIL and SIL to babysit so we could grab a quick dinner! Had heard a lot of people talk about Emily's in Mohnton and we drive past it just about everyday, so we decided to give it a try.

Very cute inside, but we decided since it was finally not 100 degrees out, we would sit outside on their patio to eat.  Since live right down the road and know how bad the bugs are at our house. we probably should have known better.  It wasn't too bad out there great little view, very relaxing. quiet, and FILLED with flies! They were everywhere.  Of course there wasn't anything Emily's could do about it, it just goes along with the territory!

Relaxing (with the wrong glass of wine), but relaxing none the less! 

We started our meal with drinks (they brought me the wrong wine, but quickly fixed it for me) and a really yummy appetizer. This was the best part of our meal!
 

Crab and Fontina Cheese Dip

I ordered Lobster Pasta and my husband ordered Beef Tenderloin topped with crab for dinner.  They were both good, but for the price they weren't fabulous.  The pasta was a little under seasoned and the peas weren't cooked enough.  My husband had tons of crab shells in his meal.  They looked gorgeous though! 

We decided not to have any dessert.  We had a nice evening though.  The food, like I said, wasn't terrible, but was pretty expensive for it to not be perfect! The atmosphere was great (minus the flies). We were expecting it to be more like an upscale bar and grill than a fine dining restaurant.  I would say we'd give it 3 1/2 out of 5 stars! We are probably more likely to visit our Anniversary spot from last year Bistro 614 in West Reading the next time we go out.  We love it there and usually go there for our fancy dinner celebrations!

My hubby also surprised me with this awesome lounge chair for our new deck for my anniversary gift! It has a cushion with it too, but due to the rain I don't have it out! 

And well since my husband buys everything he wants, when he wants it, all he got for our Anniversary was a new coffee cup, new sneakers, and a Happy Birthday card since apparently I can't read! :) LOL

Children's Place vs. Gymboree

Spent Monday morning at the Coventry Mall in Pottstown.  Went specifically to find an anniversary gift for my husband, but of course had to visit at the children's stores too! Started at the Children's Place because I had an email coupon.  Found some great bargains and just some great buys!

Terrible picture, but I got all of this for $40! 

I also had a coupon from the mail for Gymboree, so I decided to venture in to see what kind of sales they had.  Found a few things on the sale rack, a little summer dress and a pant outift.  (sorry I don't have a picture of them).  Of course go to pay for them, use my coupon, and my total is $32!!!! And I also didn't realize until I get home that the pant outfit I bought is one piece (looks like it should be two).  That usually doesn't work well for Alissa cause I often have to roll her pants cause she's so tiny! 

Children's place is the winner!!! (My opinion of course) I do think the Gymboree clothes are a little better quality, but when the kid wears them twice and then you pack them away in a box, who cares!!! The Children's Place clothing also runs smaller and is more petite which is perfect for my baby girl! Will probably end up returning at least one of the Gymboree outfits if not both of them.  If you haven't already, sign up for Children's place emails to get some great coupons! 

Family Getaway Part 4

My sister and her family decided to spend Thursday and Friday of their vacation at our house! I was happy to have them over, and found that it was a little easier to have all the kids at our house with all the toys, Wii, and bouncey house! We had a great steak dinner Thursday night, and Friday we decided to visit Weaver's Orchard (see previous blogs for more info on Weaver's) to pick some blueberries and raspberries.  

We had a great time, although by the time we got there it was a bit hot! So we filled our bucket as quickly as we could.  I also learned how much cheaper berries are when you pick them yourself! :) We also spent some time in their market buying some baked goodies! 

When we got home we waited for our lunch delivery from Cali Burrito in Allentown (thanks to my awesome niece Mindy).  Then we headed to French Creek State Park to swim and Kayak.  

That night my sister, her husband, and my nephew went back to my moms, but one nephew and one niece decided to spend the night with me. (My hubby was away taking his National Fire Certification Test, and he passed woohooo!) Saturday I took them all back to Emmaus and spent the day at my moms house with them.  

We went shopping at the The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley (love it there).  Had some icecream, Dede bought all the kids a toy, and then we headed to Saturday night church at LifeChurch West (love it there too).  Tried to leave Alissa in the Nursery for the first time in a long time and it didn't go so well.  She spent most of the time screaming and when they paged me she was so upset and so sweaty, I felt so bad about leaving her.  Still working on the separation anxiety (for both of us).  She does great when I leave her at home with anyone, and she doesn't cry when I leave her in the nursery until she realizes that I'm gone.  I'm so used to seeing kids clinging to their parents and crying cause they don't want to stay in the nursery, but Alissa isn't like that.  She walks in as independent as can be, starts playing, I sneak out and then she comes looking for me to show me something and I'm gone.  Then she freaks out! Any suggestions on what to do??

Sorry went off on a tangent there! After church we ordered Thai food (my favorite) from Thai Thai House in Emmaus.  Very yummy and I could not believe how much Alissa loved it!  Anyone know any good Thai places in the Tri County area??

Was very sad to leave Saturday night, but was happy to go home to see my hubby who I hadn't seen all week.  Can't wait until the next Family Getaway, maybe in Florida next time :) 

Family Getaway Part 3

Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom: Allentown, PA 

Spent last Wednesday afternoon at Dorney Park with the family! Grew up right down the road from Dorney and spent MANY hours with friends there and made many great memories! I was excited to take Alissa.  We got discount tickets through the company my mom works for which was another plus! And kids under 2 are free! 

Seeing that it was a hot summer day, I expected the place to be crowded! We were pleasantly surprised when we saw many empty parking lots as we pulled in! Before we even entered the park Alissa saw the "horsies" also known as the carousel.  So that was the first ride we went on. 

We spent a few hours in Planet Snoopy, the kiddie area at Dorney, and it was great entertainment for a 2 year old (ahh can't believe she's almost 2) and a 4 1/2 year old.  They have a great Snoopy Show and many more rides than they had the last time I was there.  My niece who is 8, of course wanted to go on the bigger rides so we had to split up for a little bit.  

I was sooo surprised at all their safety precautions/regulations though.  I guess it is a good thing they are very strict about the rules, but it was definitely almost a  little over the top as far as height requirements, safety restraints, etc. Someone had to come around and open our seatbelt on every ride we went on.  Defintely think the safety belts are a good thing, but it took a lot of time for the attendant to open every seatbelt at the end of the ride! (Seeing that we were riding rides such as the kiddie cars that go around in a slow circle).  But I guess better safe than sorry! It was very different from the experience we had at Hershey Park.  

We then decided to spend our last hour or so at Wildwater Kingdom, hoping that most people would be heading over to Dorney Park at that time, and we would have to worry about changing to go back on the rides.  First thing we saw when we walked in was the wave pool. My sisters kids (who are excellent swimmers) wanted to run right in! That was until they saw the sign that said "If you are under 48" you need to wear a life vest".  Well needless to say that didn't go over well with my nephew, which then led to meltdowns from very tired kids. We did put life vests on and try the wave pool for a little, then decided to check out the rest of the park.  We found some great kiddie pools with cute slides (which

Alissa hated of course).  But she loved the fountains! 

However, after a few meltdowns and injuries we decided it was time to head home! We had a great afternoon, probably should have tried to get there a little earlier so the kids didn't get so tired by the end of the afternoon.  But all in all, I would recommend this park to anyone with kids! I suggest a weekday visit, as we barely had to wait in line for any rides (and really wouldn't have had too if it didn't take so long to unbuckle seatbelts).  Check into local businesses to see if they offer any discount tickets also! Otherwise, just like any other amusement park it gets a little expensive!