October 2012

Josh loves books and reading.  He was so happy one afternoon to just sit in our glider and look through his books for a long time!  So fun!

Another October evening spent with his beloved books. :)

The first weekend in October David flew to Utah for a J. Reuben Clark Law Society conference.  David is the midAtlantic regional representative for the Society.  The conference was held at Aspen Grove, David took this picture on a hike to Stuart Falls during the conference.

While David was out of town, Josh and I had a fun visit to the Please Touch Museum.  Josh looked so cute in a little white coat in the play hospital exhibit.

When David got back from his conference we went out to eat at the Shake Shack which had opened its Philadelphia location during the summer while we were in Utah.  Josh loved the crinkle fries and thought it was fun to feed them to me and Dave!

I took Josh to the Boo At the Zoo.  Josh still fit the dog costume he wore the previous year!  He makes a darling little puppy!

He looked so cute riding the carousel...

...and so cute riding the draft horse too! 

Another fun day at the zoo!  We just can't get enough! :)

It was a beautiful autumn day at the zoo.

Fall on the Schuylkill River.

I took Josh to Linvilla Orchards for some fresh apple cider and a cider donut.  I was disappointed by how commercial Linvilla Orchard seemed.  We were spoiled with such lovely and authentic orchards in Connecticut!  Hopefully we will find a better orchard to visit next fall!

The pumpkin patch at LIinvilla Orchard.

Their pumpkin display was cute.

Josh was sick and had a rough night sleeping one weekend.  We stayed home from church and snuggled in mine and David's bed.  He looked so sweet sleeping, poor boy needed the rest. 

Hurricane Sandy that wreaked havoc on the New Jersey shore and flooded the subway in NYC was little more than a few strong gusts of wind and some rain here in Philly.  David's classes were cancelled for two days nonetheless.  It was fun to have David home but kind of a bummer to be cooped up in our row home the entire time.

Josh and David with our Halloween pumpkin before we carved it.

Josh directed what shape the eyes and nose of our jack o'lantern should be.  It was fun to have Josh be more interested and involved in celebrating Halloween!

On Halloween we went as a family to the Wharton Kids Club party on UPenn's campus.  It was a great party with pizza, treats, a balloon artist, and face painting.

We took Josh trick or treating to just a few homes in our neighborhood.  It was fun and Josh did a great job saying "trick or treat" for his candy!

Back at home surveying his candy stash.

September 2012

In September I wasn't feeling too great during my first trimester.  David was a saint and took Josh to the zoo one day so I could rest at home alone.

David and Josh on the carousel at the zoo.

Our ward had a picnic on Labor Day.  It ended up being a rainy afternoon.  Josh loved playing in the dirt and mud with some of the older kids.

We had a blast meeting some new members who had moved into our ward while we were away during the summer.  It was also really great to see our friends who we had been away from during the summer months.

Labor Day evening we went out for a special ice cream treat from Franklin Fountain.

Yum!  The Mount Vesuvius sundae is AMAZING!

Before David went back to school we had a fun day together as a family riding our bikes to Reading Terminal Market to try the recently dubbed "Best Sandwich in America" by the Travel Channel.  Dinic's Pulled Pork Sandwich is delicious!

We then rode our bikes to the Franklin Institute.  David took a spin on the SkyBike and Josh was absolutely enthralled watching his Daddy ride it!

Josh tried his hand at the surfboard in the Franklin Institute's Sports Challenge room. :)

For Josh's second birthday I took him to the zoo for a really fun day together.  Josh loved watching the polar bears take a dip in their pool and play with their ball.

Cute.

Riding the carousel is always a favorite part of our trips to the zoo!

The birthday boy got his own big bowl of soft serve ice cream.  He was nice enough to share a few bites with me! ;)

He also went on a pony ride.  We love our zoo!  I think Josh had a great birthday!

I made him a little cake and we invited some friends over to sing "Happy Birthday" to Josh and enjoy the cake with us.

Our friend Natalia is from Peru.  She shared that Peruvians have a tradition of letting the birthday child take a big bite of the cake as soon as they candles are blown out!  Josh loved the idea and went in for a big bite!

There were so many beautiful days in September, Josh and I took advantage of our zoo membership several times.  The Philadelphia Zoo has a tethered hot air balloon that we can go up in with our membership.  Josh and I took a ride in it and this was the fabulous view we had at the top!

Josh and me in the balloon...

The zoo has a really great Avian Center and the birds are so beautiful.  It's fun getting to be so close to these animals!

Josh on a ride in the Philadelphia Zoo Express.  It's just a little train that goes around in circles, but Josh loves it!

Our Relief Society made a trip to the DC temple together.   What a great experience for all of us!  I love these women!

Our law school friends gave Josh this tricycle for his 2nd birthday.  He loves exploring the neighborhood on it!

We shared our good news about our pregnancy with our friends and family!  

Another beautiful day at the zoo.  Josh was so brave and looked so cute riding the camel by himself (they don't let you ride the animals when you are pregnant otherwise I would have ridden with him).

Josh helping groom a goat in the children's zoo.

Baby Galapagos tortoises.   They were so cute!

One weekend we went as a family to an event sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society out on the Navy Shipyard.  We bought a yummy lunch there and enjoyed lovely afternoon.

Josh loved the simple games and art crafts they had set out for kids.  

David and Josh with the Queen Mum (promoting the 2013 Philadelphia Flower Show which had a British theme).

It was fun driving around the naval shipyard a bit, we had never been there.

The J. Reuben Clark Law Society had a family picnic that we went to. Josh really enjoyed some chocolate treats there.

For Smithsonian Museum Day we registered for free tickets to the Academy of Natural Sciences.  It's always fun exploring a new museum!

The Academy of Natural Sciences has a beautiful butterfly exhibit.

We had a great visit.

Just wanted to show that we weren't always so active and out and about.  Some days I felt pretty good and other days...not so much.  Josh and I would bring a ton of books in bed and read those together when I didn't feel so well.  We also watched a lot of PBS kid's shows. :)