Blog Contest!

It has been brought to my attention (by a friend who nominated this blog) that The Bump is running a blog contest in several categories, including "best local blog." This is described as "[g]roup or solo, these are the blogs that keep you up-to-date on everything happening in your area, from where to take baby on the weekends to that new boutique that just opened up. . . . "

Feel free to check it out and vote for "Philababy with Fun"!

Sprayground!

We finally tried out the new Sprayground at Second and Reed. The space is really beautiful and impressive. Part of the park is the sprayground (fountains spewing water for the kids to run through) and the other section contains high-tech playground toys. Ample street parking exists, although we walked. The children with whom we went loved the sprayground section, but not Jeremy. He only liked sitting on the toys (in his swimming gear). (Incidentially, his swimming gear came from Lands' End where I must say I have found very high quality high items for great prices, and always with free shipping. I like to look in the "Overstock" section on the Lands' End website.)

Regardless, I'm so glad we checked out the new sprayground and perhaps better luck for us next summer!!

Beach Time!

Living in Philadelphia affords easy beach access! We took Jeremy to the beach for the first time last week and we all had a blast. We went to Ocean City, NJ and stayed in the Scarborough Inn for two nights. This was a perfect place to stay -- we were about two blocks from the beach and the inn, while historic, was so well-maintained. The inn has thirty-one rooms including four "suites" (two small bedrooms connected by a bathroom). We had one of those and it was perfect. It would have cost $205 per night for the suite (including a wonderful breakfast), but we had a 20% special so only paid in the $160s per night! Excellent value!

Jeremy loved the boardwalk, sand, and ice cream. Not a big fan of the ocean yet, but that gives us much reason to return year after year!! A beach mini-vacation is really perfect - driveable, relatively inexpensive, casual, and very child-friendly.

Music Class!

This month we start music class (again) after a summer break. Jeremy has been enrolled in music class since last September when he was four months old. We really love it and highly recommend it. We do The Music Class (at the Old Pine Street Community Center, and they also have other locations throughout Philadelphia and the rest of the country). Other options in Philadelphia are Music Together and Do-Mi-Sol Kids. In the beginning, we enjoyed the class because it gave us an activity and a schedule. In the later months, especially after he could sit up, Jeremy enjoys the instruments, the other children, and learning and listening to the music at home and in class. We can't wait to start the fall class!!