Philadelphia Moms

Yum, TastyBabies

Do you have a Philadelphia friend who is having a baby?  Then I've found the perfect (albeit quirky) gift.  I stumbled upon the BabyKake Collection on Facebook.  It's available in both in both pink and blue.  How cute is that?

Everyone in Philly knows it doesn't get much more "Philadelphia" than TastyKake. And as someone who survived the first couple of weeks of parenthood on Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes, I can say with some degree of certainty that this care package would be most welcome.

Happy 4th of July! Plus Fireworks!

Okay, it's a bit early, but with the the BBQs and the whole celebrating liberty thing and what-not, I'm not sure when I'll post again.  So I'm wishing you a Happy 4th now.

There are lots of family-friendly activities planned for Independence Day.  There's a parade around the historic district that begins at 11a.m.  And then, on the other side of the city, there is a July 4th Festival on the Parkway that begins at 1p.m.

If you've never been, the fireworks on the Parkway are totally and completely worth it.  This year Sheryl Crow and The Roots are performing and I find that totally awesome.    Fireworks don't begin until about 10:30p.m. and yes, that is awfully late if you have small children, but...it's only one night, right?  If you're okay with not being able to "see" the performers, pick out a spot further away (and that might mean blocks and blocks away) from the stage area where it's less crowded.  Spread out a blanket and let the kids rest.  You'll still be able to see the fireworks with no problem.

Personally, I'm going to try to catch some of the concert, but I can't see my almost-two year old making it much past 9:30 p.m.  Plus, while I think he'd love looking at the fireworks, I'm not sure he'd enjoy hearing them, as he's currently going through a phase where everything is "loud."

Click here for the entire 4th of July itinerary (including tips on where to watch the fireworks). Have fun!

I Scream, You Scream

So, many folks are off this Friday for a long holiday weekend, and day care centers are closed.  For those of us stuck (and I do mean that affectionately) in the city for the weekend, there's lots of family-friendly activities courtesy of Welcome America as mentioned in my last post.

This Friday, July 3rd is the Ice Cream Festival, which starts at 12p.m. at Penn's Landing.  Count me in.  That evening at the same location is Peter Nero and the Philly Pops giving a free concert.

I love me a long weekend.

Taste of Philadelphia

We're approaching one of my favorite times of year in Philadelphia: 4th of July.  Because where better to be than Philly on the nation's birthday?  They do it right here and have over a week of fun, free, family-friendly events to celebrate.

Sunoco's Welcome America begins tomorrow with a weekend-long event: Taste of Philadelphia.  Restaurants from all over the Philadelphiaarea will be at Penn's Landing selling delectable goodies for, rumor has it, no more than $5 a pop.  Taste of Philadelphia begins tomorrow, Friday, June 26th at 5pm and starts back up again Saturday and Sunday at 11a.m.  Admission is free, you just pay for whatever food you'd like!

In addition, Angie Stone is performing at Penn's Landing at 7:30p.m., Saturday, June 27th and there is a fireworks display following the concert.  Again, it's all free.  Do I expect it to be crowded?  Of course.  But at least those of us who live in Center City  don't have to sit in traffic trying to  get to  these events.

Also, next week brings a series of educational events for kids.  The "Go 4th and Learn" events (as well as the entire roster for Welcome America)  can be found here.

So get out there, people, and go ahead, don your red, white and blue!

Ted's Montana Grill

I know, I know, it's like I dropped off the face of the earth, right?  Sorry about that.  Life, it just gets in the way of all this blogging. 

One of the places we've dared venture with a toddler recently:  Ted's Montana Grill, located at Spruce and Broad Streets  And yes, that's as in, Ted Turner, media mogul and environmentalist (you can read about some of the steps Ted's takes to be eco-friendly here).  Clearly, this is not the place for vegetarians, but if you're a meat-eater, this ain't bad. 

At any rate, we wound up at Ted's by accident almost: the restaurant we were planning to go to had a 45 minute wait and someone was having a complete meltdown that he wasn't getting his promised "humburger" immediately.  So...off to Ted's we went, having no idea what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised.  Access with a stroller was easy and they have room to store a stroller (helping matters is that the restaurant was not overly-crowded).  The restaurante supplies high chairs--clean high chairs--and they have a kid's menu with 5-6 items on it, including mini-sliders, pot roast and mac-n-cheese.

To boot, they also have these very interesting kid's toys.  Unlike most restaurants that hand out crayons, Ted's has these unique twisty sticks (somewhat similar to a pipe cleaner) and diagrams on how to bend the sticks into different shapes. Probably not ideal to give to a baby, but my son is tactile enough that he enjoyed trying to make some simple shapes. 

The food is good--the burgers are ginormous.  Actually, everything might be a little on the large side.  We got a side of onion rings too, and they were like a small mountain o' onion.

Service, it seems, is a little hit or miss.  Everyone was very nice.  The manager went out of his way to get the stroller stored for us, get us the kid's toy, make sure my son's food came out first.  But there were mistakes on the meal orders.  Nothing major, but it seemed a little disorganized. 

Overall, though, I'll take it.  Another baby/kid friendly restaurant in the city?  Yeah, I'll definitely take it.

Main Line Mama: Post Natal Yoga

I love playing with my baby girl, but after about a dozen rounds of peek-a-boo things can get a little boring. Right now she’s mostly laying on her back and cooing so I don’t think she’s ready for a trip to the Please Touch Museum, but I’m always looking for new things to do and places to take her.

One of my favorite outings has become the PostNatal yoga class at the Yoga Life Institute in Wayne. The class focuses on strengthening your core, hips and lower back, three areas that really need work post pregnancy. While moving into our poses our babies lay on the floor in front of us, cooing and giggling at each other and their silly Mommies. My daughter cracks up when I do sun salutations over her.

I’ve learned a few poses from class and now I do them at home when she’s had her fill of peek-of-boo. I love that I’m doing something good for my body, and entertaining my baby at the same time. The class is also a great way to meet other new mommies, and my daughter loves looking at all the babies.

Do you have a favorite outing that you do with your child?

Fireworks!

Well, it's Memorial Day weekend, and that means grilling, fruit salads...and hopefully fireworks!  There are the couple of locations I've found.

Longwood Gardens

Sesame Place

Usually, there are fireworks around Penn's Landing too, but I can't find anything online about that this year.

Fireworks too late, or too loud for the kids?  Might be a great weekend to check out Franklin Square!

Got Milk?

The fine folks at Got Milk? Mobile Milk Moustache Tour got in touch with me to let me know they are rolling into town this week.  The area's kick-off event is this Wednesday, May 20th from 11am until 2pm at the Please Touch Museum. 

The event is featuring free health screenings from a registered dietician, free milk samples, smoothies, free five-minute chair massages and a chance to strike a pose with your own milk moustache.  All in all, it sounds like a great event at a great location!  Personally, I want to get my hands on one of those smoothies they mention.

In addition the tour is also stopping at the following locations in the 'burbs:

Thursday, May 21^st (5 – 7p.m.)

Henning’s Supermarket

290 Main St

Harleysville, PA 19438

 

Friday, May 22^nd (5 – 7p.m.)

Giant Food Store

315 York Road

Willow Grove, PA 19090

 

Saturday, May 23^rd (11 a.m.-1p.m.)

Turkey Hill Minit Market

3501 E. High Street

Pottstown, PA 19464

Italian Market Festival

Looking for something to do this weekend?  Hopefully, the weather will hold out for the 9th Street Italian Market Festival.  For the sixth straight year, Italian Market merchants will have food, games, and lots of other family-friendly fun.  There will be music from three stages and the Chickie and Pete's Homerun Derby, where $10 buys you five swings and a chance to win a trip for two anywhere in the continental U.S.

So, pack up the baby, put on some sunscreen (I'm trying to be optimistic about the weather here) and head on down to the Italian Market.  10am until 5pm both Saturday and Sunday.

Last Minute Mother's Day Gift Ideas

So make you need to buy something for the mom in your life.  Orrr...maybe you'd just like to snag something for yourself.  Check out the Mighty Goods Mother's Day Gift Guide. I personally love the Envirosax Flor Pouch. 

Or if you're just wandering around the city, stop into Open House,107 S. 13th Street, which is just chock full of wonderful gifts for virtually every occasion.