Lilia's 7th Birthday Party

 Lilia turned 7 on March 7th - her golden birthday. I wonder where that came from anyway...
Aunt Karen came in to town for the party. The kids were so happy to see her. It was a girls only party so we sent Dave, Alex, my dad, and Jesse (Karen's birthday) off to the Franklin Institute.

 Lilia got an adorable pink, monogrammed, bathrobe from Aunt Karen.

 The girls were welcome to come dressed in their prettiest dress and favorite shoes. We did their nails and make up. I put Katy Manni in charge of eye shadow. Ava, her daughter, is pretty good too. Below she is doing Lilia's eye shadow.

Top Row: Eliza, Jarah
Bottom Row: Cindy, Ava, Lilia, Esther, & Rena

Aunt x2

 On February 4th, Naomi and Claire were born to my sister-in-law AnnMarie and my brother. They were born full-term, which is amazing.
Naomi is on the left, Claire is on the left.

It was such a sweet priviledge to FINALLY meet them. Snow storms and schedules filling up prevented my from getting there sooner. In this picture they are exactly 1 month old.

I couldn't stop thinking about them the whole drive back to Philly. I love being an aunt!

Fighting against winter

 In this picture Alex was shoveling snow off our porch out back because it was so frozen solid that we couldn't open the door. I was able to get the door open enough for him to squeeze through. He dug a shovel out of the snow and was doing the hard work of digging us out. He was so happy to do it! Thanks Alex!

He posed like this and asked me to take a picture.

 Some time last month when we had that warm-ish rainy Friday, Alex and I went to the zoo with friends. The reptile house was hopping, I mean slithering with excitement at the change in climate. The king cobra had climbed up to the top of his enclosure and was checking out the florescent lighting. I would say it was about 2 1/5-3 feet high. It was really cool.
The tigers were pacing right past the window. Our friend Avery is in the polka-dot rain coat, Hudson is crouched down in green, and Alex is in the blue coat.
We came around to the mountain lions and they were snuggled together with their heads touching. Then one of them came right up to the fence and was starring down Hudson like he was lunch. It was cool and creepy at the same time.

Wissahickon in the Raw

 Last Friday afternoon Dave and I stopped at the Wissahickon trail, Valley Green Inn, to go for a hike. The kids were at my parents and it was another Kate and Dave adventure!
As we walked along the snowy path we can across a pile of feathers - a kill scene. It must not have been too long that a bird of prey attacked and ate what looks to be the feathers of a robin. It was so cool to actually get to see the remains of something's lunch.

 We walked about a mile and a half to the covered bridge. As we stopped to hang out for a bit and rest a broad-winged hawk flew over head and landed on a branch nearby.
Thankfully I had my camera with me and not just my phone. I got some incredible shots of this regal and fearsome bird.
Our roundtrip 3 mile hike in the snow turned out to be not just a fun, impromptu date, but a close up of nature at it's finest.

I'm a walker and that's ok.

I'll never be a runner and that's ok.
Even in high school I couldn't run the full mile in gym class - Ugh - what torture!
I ran the half mile in track. Yeah, that didn't even last a full semester. ( You practically have to run as fast as you can 2 times around the track. Cruel. Just cruel.)
I quit lacrosse because you had to run 3 miles in practice. No Thank You!

Along Kelly Drive

I bet you're asking how I get exercise.
I walk, like speed walk walk.
I'm moving my core when I walk and I choose to walk places with intervals, you know lots of hills.
That's my thing. But the thing I hate is when I'm out walking and a runner passes me. My pride is hurt because running is hard and I hate running. I feel like walking is a cop-out. In a way it is, BUT you don't see old ladies in their 70's looking good because they are runners. You see old ladies out there looking good because they are walkers!
However I don't go out for walks primarily to get exercise.
I go out for walks for fresh air, to be in nature, and to enjoy the scenery. As a runner you are too focused on running to notice incredible vistas, animal tracks in the snow, the perfect photo opp, or a bird flying overhead.
So even if I could be a runner I wouldn't want to be. As a walker I can stop and look at flowers or throw a snowball in the river. I can stop to take that perfect photo.
I'm a walker and that's ok.

Snowy escape

 So this past weekend was the most snow we've gotten in a long time.
Dave heard the news that we were getting a big storm Wednesday night into Thursday the 13th. So we escaped Philly and headed to my parent's. We knew Lilia wouldn't have school Thursday and so we were crossing our fingers and hoping she would be off Friday the 14th as well. We got lucky and school was canceled.
My parents already had a good 8" on the ground to begin with. Then we got dumped with about 10" of snow Thursday. Another inch or so Friday morning and another 2-4" on Saturday. It was crazy!
The kids played outside so much! It was such a great idea to go somewhere they could play and really enjoy all the fresh falling snow.

My dad had built a snow fort for the kids before they even came. It was my moms idea to set up beach chairs and drink hot chocolate inside the fort. Only she would think of such a fun and awesome idea!

A big digger was going through the whole development and pushing snow off the streets. Well he made this huge mound on the back corner of my parents/the neighbors yard. It made for a fun sledding hill for the kids.

Make the best of it

 This has been an unforgettable winter. Snow, snow, and then more snow. Oh and it's only mid-February.
A couple of weeks ago I pulled into the parking lot to Alex's school only to find out his school started late. It was either wait around for 45 minutes, only to come back in less than two hours or bring him along on my adventure. I chose the later.
It was cold and snowy, but we went a little ways together along the Wissahickon just off of Lincoln Drive. He really enjoyed and appreciated my "secret spot."