My Amazing Husband!

I wanted to take a minute to brag about how amazing and wonderful my husband is! Gift giving has never been one of his love languages, but it is probably my biggest love language. Each year as my birthday approaches, Marshall stresses over what he's going to give me. So much so that he ends up not getting me anything. This year, however, was quite different. When I woke up on March 24th, I had no idea that it would be the best birthday I have ever had. It all began with an amazing breakfast of German pancakes, my favorite cereal - Kix, and yummy orange juice - which we never buy. After I got ready, we headed out the door.

Our first destination was Longwood Gardens - where I got my first gift - a year pass to go whenever I wanted! Marshall had never been before, so we enjoyed the beautiful morning walking around the grounds and enjoying the gardens.

After that, we headed home for some delicious hoagies. I thought at this point that my birthday was complete, but there was more. After lunch, we headed to the Philadelphia Zoo, where Marshall gave me my second gift - a family pass to the zoo!

We strolled around the Zoo for a couple hours and then Marshall had another surprise for me - a shopping spree to Ann Taylor Loft. He watched the kids while I shopped to my heart's content! I ended up with a really cute sweater and a pair of capris. And it keeps going... On the way home, we stopped by this pizza place called Double Decker - home of the most amazing Inside-Out pizza - picture a calzone deep-fried. It is by far my favorite treat! There we picked up dinner and headed home. After eating and getting the kids to bed, Marshall made me a cake from scratch. But it wasn't your traditional cake - it was a block of my favorite kind of ice cream with my favorite cookies stuck all around it.

After cake, he brought out the presents (more? WOW!). In addition to the Longwood Gardens pass, a zoo pass, and clothes; I got a tent, a camping stove, a promise to go camping, and a gift certificate to get a pedicure!! Boy did I feel spoiled. To top it all off, Marshall rented "New Moon" (which I hadn't seen yet) and watched it with me. See what I mean...he's pretty amazing!!!

The Philadelphia Flower Show

A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to have Grandma Leslie visit for a few days. While she was here, we went to the amazing Philadelphia Flower Show. I have never seen such beautiful and incredible flower arrangements and displays in my life. We were there for about four hours, but could have easily spent two days enjoying the festivities. There were exhibits, booths, shops, presentations, classes, and food. It was so cool. The theme for this year was Passport to the World and the major exhibits included Brazil, India, Africa, and Asia. Here are some pictures from our fun adventure.

Everything in the exhibits were constructed using flowers, twigs, seeds, etc. Aside from the feathers and legs, this peacock is made entirely from flowers.

One of the exhibits was a bamboo forest that you could walk through with a flashlight - this was Isaac's favorite exhibit.

This was a display inside a metal container (the kind used to transport goods from seaport to seaport).

This is outside another container. This one was covered in graffiti and orchids. The colors were amazing.

This giraffe is from the Africa exhibit. It is made of stick and orange orchids (suspended with copper wire).

This is one of my favorites. All kinds of flowers each in a vase suspended at different levels.

This is also from the Africa exhibit. These are statues decorated with various dried flowers and grasses.

Here's a Meili pose.

This is Philly's Chinatown - located right next to the Convention Center.