Dear Duck Part I

So, one of my dearest friends back in Salt Lake wrote me an email asking me to give more detail about my life here in Philly.  Honestly, at this point in our adventure, I feel like I could write about three books about all we've done, seen, learned, and experienced.  Instead, I've condensed it into three blog posts as well as I can.  For your reading pleasure -

Dear Duck,

Life here in Philly can be described in one word: busy.  Okay, make that two.  Exhausting.  Both of these words which currently describe our life can be traced back to one source: FOMO.  For those living the Wharton (that's the school Dave is attending) life, that word is familiar.  For those who may not know the lingo, it means FEAR OF MISSING OUT.  We all live in a constant state of terror that we're not going see and do and eat and smell and enjoy everything there is to do in this awesome city.  So we try to DO IT ALL.  No, DIA is not part of the lingo here, I just made it up.

Here's my typical day:

The girls come into our room at about 6:15 am (sometimes a little earlier, sometimes a little later).  The first word I hear is "boats" meaning that Emma wants Honey Bunches of Oats. I feed the little ones, try and do a little laundry and unload the dishwasher and then see Dave off to school at about 8:30 am.  Then I try and shower, get ready, get the girls ready, and pack snacks so we can go off to some adventure -

Like go to the aquarium -

Or the Please Touch Museum

Yes, you read that right.  The PLEASE TOUCH Museum.  Best.  Museum.  Ever.

(Yes, that is a hamster wheel.  I've decided I'm getting my girls one for Christmas.  They took the BEST naps that day.)

Or to the Zoo

It's a great zoo, and it was America's first zoo!  Pretty neat, huh?

Or to Sister Cities Park 

 It has streams, a small shallow pool, and a splash pad.  Great way to spend the morning.

After our morning activity we head home, and I try to keep my girls from falling asleep before we get there.  Sometimes I feed them sugar, sometimes I poke them, and sometimes I yell things from the front of the van like, "Emma!  Don't go to sleep!"

Once I've managed to keep them awake up to that point,  I then wrestle the little rascals for about an hour trying to get them to take a nap.  They do everything they can not to nap and I do everything I can to force them.  Needless to say, it's a happy hour.

While they are going to sleep I eat a lot of chocolate.  I know I will need it to help me get through the rest of the day.  For the next 2 hours, we all pass out.  Me included.  Right now I cannot survive the day without my nap.

After naps I know I'll be on my own for bedtime again, so I do anything I can to wear my girls out again.  Usually the opposite happens and they just wear me out.

We wrestle in the green space downstairs

Poor Becca, no wonder she had back problems!  

I let them hang out with their boyfriends

They each have two or three.  There are only boys around here!  When we were going to hang out with Kate's 4-yr-old buddy, Asher, the other day she kept saying, "He is going to love my hair like this."  The girls cracks me up.

On a good day, I've made dinner and we head home to eat.  On most nights we have chicken nuggets or brave eating out - 

Can you see why we picked this place???

There is a little down time here and there, where I just get to hang with my cute little girls.  Did I mention they're cute?

 After diaper changes, potty time, jammies, and teeth-brushing (also known as teeth wrestling) we read books together.  This includes me being climbed on, my earrings being pulled, and being asked 1001 questions about what is happening in the picture, and why is the princess sad, and what the dog's name is, all before I even have a chance to read the first word on the page.  But I love it.  

Stay tuned to find out what happens after the girls go to bed . . .

Love, 

Heidi

The Best, Worst, and Weirdest of Philly

Hey everyone!  Nice to see you again.  I know I've taken a little break.   Or maybe an extended vacation.  A sabbatical even.  But I'm back.

We've been in Philly now for just over a month and I thought it was time that I documented what I've learned.  Here goes!

Let's start here . . . 

The Weirdest Things About Philly:

1 - There are more dogs than children.  By a hundred kajillion.  No joke folks, lots of people have two ore three dogs and no one bats an eye, but I get weird looks walking around with my two kids.

So of course, when we walked to dinner with some friends, I had to document something that has probably never happened here before: 3 dads walking with 3 double strollers.  I'm surprised this pic hasn't been on the cover of one of the tabloids here in Philly.

2 - The outlets are all upside down.  Yeah, take a closer look.  I've even asked a bunch of other people living in different areas of the city.  All of them are upside down. 
 

3 - People ask me if I'm the nanny.  Everyone is shocked to find out I'm the mom.  I go to the park and hang out with all of the other nannies.  I know it's crazy, but where I'm from you assume the adult with the kids is the parent :)

  Maybe I need to look into this whole nanny thing . . .

And then there are these:

My Least Favorite Things About Philly

1 - Everything convenient is So.  Far.  Away.  Costco should never be more than 7 minutes from where you live.  The following image is extremely graphic, so shield your eyes if necessary.  This estimate is if there is no traffic whatsoever.

2 - There are about 300 freeways and highways and all sorts of other ways here.  Usually I have to switch on and off about 4-5 of them to get anywhere.  I miss Utah and I-15.  Singular.  One freeway.

3 - Discrimination against strollers.  Me and a friend walked to Anthropologie the other day.  Here is what we found:

Yep, stairs.  The nemesis of two moms with two strollers with two kids each.  Sad, sad day.

4 - You have to pay in order to get people to hang out with you.  Not really, but sort of.  You have to pay to park to go see them and that's pretty much the same thing.

And finally, TA-DA!!!


My Favorite Things About Philly

1 - Moss grows on the sidewalk.  That's how humid it is here.  To be clear - the humidity is not my favorite thing, just the moss on the sidewalk.  Isn't that cool?

2 - They use words like TAVERN.  Love it.  I feel like I'm living in the 1700s or something.  Not that I even go to taverns, but doesn't it just sound so much better than "bar"?  I mean, really!  Also, the street names are really cool.  Like Brandywine Street, and North York Drive.  You almost have to say them with a British accent.

3 - I'm friends with Ben.  Yep, Benjamin Franklin.  Or I would have been if I'd been born around 200 years earlier.  We're like this:

4 - I love the row houses!!!  They just have this wonderful big-city-yet-still-cozy feel.  Gorgeous, right?

5 - It's the City of Brotherly Love!  And for the most part, I'm feelin' the love.  We've made great friends, people are helpful, and I feel like Philadelphia has welcomed me with open arms.  I couldn't be happier.

I hope to be back before another year and a half goes by.  That's my goal at least!  Peace out - from the City of Brotherly Love!