We visited the Moravian Tile Works last weekend, where the potters showed Lilia how they press the clay to make tiles, and even let her put the signature stamp on the back. They also had a tile mosaic activity where you had to put together this squirrel tile:
The other day, Lilia and I went to the Morris Arboretum, and we noticed the same squirrel tile in the Oak Allee.
And I was reminded that we were here when Lilia was a baby!
About two months ago, Joe, Lilia, and I helped out with the Roxborough Toad Detour. The toads, and some frogs, live in the woods around the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, but they mate and lay their eggs in the old Roxborough Reservoir… which is across several busy roads. After realizing that the toads were being squished on their journey, someone started the Toad Detour last spring. I found out about it by picking up a free local newspaper, and told Joe about it. He got involved right away. Lilia and I visited, but since it’s at night, and they are trying to stop cars, we weren’t much help. This year, we were able to help a little more, but since Lilia sucks her thumb, I didn’t want her to pick up any toads. We just spotted them and alerted the others– who would put them in a bucket to be transported safely across the road.
We received word last week that the babies were now toadlets, and they were ready to leave the reservoir and cross the street to the woods. We stopped by and didn’t see a road closure, so we started to walk up to the reservoir. As we were about half-way up, we realized we were surrounded by itty-bitty toadlets, and we feared we had already trampled some. They were soooo tiny! We were ill-equipped to help (no road detour had been set up and they weren’t in the road yet anyway) so we tip-toed back to our car and left. Joe went back a few nights later to help out– he collected toadlets in a paper cup and ferried them across the road.
On our way home from our toadlet adventure, Joe spotted a pileated woodpecker on a tree on Henry Avenue– a major road in Philadelphia. We turned around and parked at Philadelphia University so we could spot him. He was tapping (banging?) away on a tree stump that was just inches from the road. Amazing. I snapped a terrible picture, but it’s proof he was there.
Itty-bitty toadlet
Roxborough Reservoir, taken through a chain-link fence
Blurry, low-light Pileated Woodpecker on Henry Avenue
I haven’t been posting much. I’m not even that busy. Honestly, since Lilia started school, I’ve been trying to figure out a routine– but something (colds, appointments, etc) usually disrupts it, so I haven’t worked one out. She only has a few weeks left to this school year, so hopefully I will figure it out in the fall. We only have two plans for summer, but they are good ones! First, in mid-June, we hope to go to the 2010 Great Hudson River Revival in Croton-on-Hudson, NY– just for a weekend. And second, in July, we’re going to Maine for a little less than a week– first to a little town called Stonington, and then on to Portland, to visit the E family, who relocated from Philadelphia over a year ago.
The rest of the summer, I’m not sure what we’ll do. We still have a membership to the Please Touch Museum, for too hot or rainy days. Last year, when I used a trip to Sesame Place as potty-training bribery, I ended up buying us all memberships, because they had a deal that got us in last year and all of this year too. I bought the memberships before we had ever been there, and when we got there, I realized I don’t love it. I don’t know if I really even like it. But we only went the one time last year, and Lilia did like it. They have a lot of water activities… which would mean I’d have to wear my bathing suit in public. Even if we only go once or twice, the price was still worth it. Maybe we’ll check that out on a weekday after school is over, and if we like it enough, we could go weekly.
And then I’m thinking that we should go explore Philadelphia. Since I started working every other weekend, Joe and Lilia have been exploring and having grand adventures. I need to have some grand adventures with her in center city while he is at work. She’s four, she doesn’t need the stroller, I don’t need to carry a diaper bag anymore… we’ll pack a lunch, take the train, and explore. I have a feeling it won’t be as easy as that.
I regret that I didn’t pull my camera out when we visited with my Grandmother on Saturday. We had a nice visit with her, my uncle, aunt, and cousin.
After the visit, we drove to Lancaster County to take the Easter Bunny Train at Strasburg Rail Road. Lilia really enjoyed the train and seeing the Easter Bunny engineer.
Yesterday, we dyed eggs at home (again, regret that I didn’t take pics of that!) and then we went to Cloverly Park to hold our own Easter Egg Hunt. Joe hid one dozen eggs throughout the park and playground while Lilia and I waited. She managed to find every one. And then it was her turn to hide the eggs. I convinced her to let me go with her, and I tried to remember where she put them all, but we ended up giving up after we found eleven. We are thinking about putting up a “Lost: Easter Egg” sign in the park, but we aren’t sure what color it was.
A few weeks ago, we tried to go to the Philadelphia Art Museum on a Sunday, thinking it was “Pay what you Wish” day. It turned out that they only have that day on the first Sunday of the month– otherwise it is $20 admission. We left. Yesterday was “Pay what you Wish” day, and we paid less than we planned to the previous visit, for our trouble. Lilia was tired from her egg hunt, but was still a pretty good sport about the museum. We checked out the arms and armor section first– she really liked that, especially since Joe’s parents had explained all about castles when they visited last month. We then went to the section with the Spanish cloister, Chinese Palace, and Japanese Tea House. She started to fade at some points– she did not like any rooms that were too dark– but she enjoyed the video installations that were around– I really liked seeing how they conserved the Chinese Palace– amazing! Then we visited the 19th-20th century European Art, which included many by Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, and Mary Cassatt. She had already learned about Monet, Renoir, and Cezanne at the Barnes Museum last month, and we also recently watched Linnea in Monet’s Garden
Heading back to our car, we visited with a Phanatic statue near Boathouse Row, and watched drummers and roller skaters dance.
I only have pictures of some of the events described.
Oops, I forgot I have to post something else today to make it 2 for 2 in November…
Well… let’s see…
What has been occupying most of the space in my brain since early October has been…
Playoff Baseball!
Tonight, the Philadelphia Phillies, 2008′s World Champions of Baseball, face the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the World Series. The Phillies are down 3-1… please please please… we need a WIN tonight!
Let’s Go Phillies!!!
Phil and Phillis at Storybook Land in New Jersey