This year was the first time with the kids that Hanukkah ended up being observed all in Philadelphia. Because of how it moves around on the Gregorian calendar, there is always a chance that we’ll be spending part or all of Hanukkah in Philadelphia over the winter school break. It presented an interesting challenge, how […]
Archive for the ‘food’ Category
A castle, dinosaurs, and snow in Philly
January 22nd, 2025 by pleia2
I wouldn’t recommend flying across the country 12 days after an appendectomy, it’s painful, but we had holiday plans in Philadelphia and our flights wouldn’t wait! On December 18th, with a lot of luggage help from our au pair, we made our way out to Philadelphia for two and a half weeks. We were greeted […]
Aaron is 4 years old!
December 31st, 2024 by pleia2
At the end of November we flew home from Florida, which meant we had a little recovery time on Sunday after taking the boys to swim class, and then on Monday, December 2nd, Aaron turned 4 years old! Given the timing of holidays and travel plans of our own and friends, we decided to decorate […]
Thanksgiving in Florida: Part 2
December 31st, 2024 by pleia2
We spent the first half of our Florida trip in the south, and on Tuesday we drove almost 3 hours north to visit my family in Melbourne. On the drive up I received a call from my Aunt Mary Ellen who we had planned on spending Thanksgiving dinner with, only to learn she had contracted […]
Birthday and Rosh Hashanah
October 18th, 2024 by pleia2
On September 29th I turned 43 years old. It was actually kind of a bummer, because the boys and I were dreadfully sick with a cold that included fevers. In the days around it, they missed school and everyone slept poorly. We couldn’t go out to swim class, a movie at the theater with Adam’s […]
Library fun, critters, and a final Philly train ride
August 5th, 2024 by pleia2
Over all we had a good summer in Philadelphia, but a round of COVID, canceled Florida trip, a sunburn, and a few days of MJ coping with an injury definitely made for some challenges. I joked with a friend that “we had a phenomenal Instagram summer!” because of all the activities and fun we had […]
Philly summer begins! Settling in, trains, and dinosaurs
June 10th, 2024 by pleia2
We’re in Philadelphia for 8 weeks this summer! I know it’s going to fly by. Indeed, a week has already gone. But it was a bit of a settling in week, and our au pair took the traveling opportunity to take a vacation and MJ spent the week in NYC for work, so I was […]
Solo time at baseball and RSA 2024
May 29th, 2024 by pleia2
I’ve always known I was an introvert, but my need for alone time to recharge was always a rather casual thing. Sure, I’d miss some parties and maybe I don’t go out as much as other people, but that’s OK. Having kids has changed that. I get very little time to myself, and ultimately it […]
Loss, Passover, and our anniversary
May 24th, 2024 by pleia2
The day before I left for my trip that took me to Austin and Seattle, MJ’s aunt Sherry died. It was unexpected, and in addition to the shock and grief, left us all in a troubled state about what to do logistically. Should I cancel my trip? Should we all drop everything and immediately fly […]
Hamantaschen and flight delays
March 26th, 2024 by pleia2
Following my trip down to Pasadena for the Southern California Linux Expo, I had three days of work and then a couple days off which I spent with the kids while we prepared for a visit to Philadelphia. Having worked through the weekend, taking a couple days off the following week was the most logical […]