Crayola Factory

The Crayola Factory was a blast!!! We had never gone and it is only about an hour away from our house. So I gathered up some friends and we went on Wed. It was so worth the drive and the $10. I figured I was in the right spot when I saw the Crayons coming off of a building. Kenna is so cute she wanted to color with the big yellow one.

When you walk in they have a wall with all of the colors on it. I ask Kenna to pick which one was her favorite and point to it. All of the colors are her favorite but pink is her favorite and her best.

She wanted me to take her picture in front of this sign while we waited to get our tickets. She was so excited I am surprised that she stood still long enough for the camera and its wonderful delay.

After you get your tickets you ride the elevator up to the second floor of the building when you get off they have this red crayon welcoming you. Also note the sticker on her shirt, that is the "ticket" that allows you to be in. To know what kid goes with what parent they gave me the same sticker and put a small yellow one on both of ours. That made her day because then we MATCHED!!! I couldn't get her to put her skirt down, sorry, but the purple underwear is her favorite and at least it matches.

If Crayola makes it they have it at the factory to play with, color with, glue, mold etc. So she got to try all of the things they make. She was in heaven! She loves to do art projects. This is her using the color wonder paper.

With the sticker tickets they also receive gold tokens that can be redeemed for markers, crayons, and mold clay. Here is her hold her token waiting to get her box of crayons.

I absolutely love this picture. This is her and her friend Amity using the computer to color and dress a horse. Look at how good they are sharing. Amity controls the mouse a lot better so she moved and clicked, while Kenna did what she does best, bosses on what needs done.

And this one with Kenna's arm on Amity shoulder made me smile as well. They are such little buddies. Amity is only 2 weeks older than Kenna so they are on the same page.

So you walk into the sculpting room and they have these hanging from the ceiling. The kids then are able to use a token to purchase some molding clay and mold something. They spent at lest 45 min using the clay. We took some extra home.

They then did an art project using melted crayons and Q tips. The annoyed look on her face comes from me telling her for the millionth time to NOT get any on her clothes because it will stain. With this look came a sigh of annoyance.

So you totally can't see the finished product but she did a good job and didn't get any on her clothes. It was the best Caterpillar.

This is the chalk walk. They have chalkboards on the floor and sidewalk chalk. Kenna liked this smooth surface to use the chalk on. She asked if we could make our sidewalk not bumpy like this one. So cute! In the picture with her are friends Amity and Taybree.

This is the color center. They have binds in a circle full of crayons. Coloring is never this fun at home.

So you can't tell but on the screen behind her she shows up inferred. They had music playing so they could dance and see there image on the screen. This was good because it used up a ton of her energy.

This was the watercolor station. She did three watercolor pages. She has started to understand the concept of birthday and Christmas. She wants watercolors in her Christmas sock.

We spent 3 hours at the factory. It is a definite do again. When you all come to visit next we will put this on the list of stuff to do. It also allowed for a 3 hour nap later that afternoon. Now I realize that I could just buy this stuff and do it all of the time at my house, but then I would have to clean up the mess. I don't like cleaning.

9 o'clock and all is well

This is a first, both of my children are in bed and sleeping at the exact same time!!! It will most likely never happen again I am counting it as a blessing as I have a raging headache and need to go to bed. Kenna has a few new phases that she is using that we find funny and would like to share. 1. If she likes some thing it is her "Favorite," if she really likes something it is her "favorite and my best" I will use it in a sentence (actually sentence spoken by her) "Mom, Aunt Tiffany is my favorite." I reply with I am so glad. "Mom, Jessica is my favorite and my best." Sorry Tiff. 2. "It wasn't an accident." She doesn't understand purpose I guess we will have to start using that word instead of asking if it was accident when she did something we are going to need to start saying was it done on purpose. She is very honest though if you catch her doing something she will tell you right away that it wasn't an accident. Brad's first day of school is tomarrow and we are all a bit nervouse. This is will be a bit of an asjustment for us. We have completely enjoyed having him arround all summer. It will be different having him studdying all of the time and having to do most of the stuff with the kids by myself. I am not so sure who is more nervous him about school or me about him startin school and doing this alone? It could be tricky! I am now in charge of mini enrichments in my ward. I have no ideas so if you have any good ones pass them my way. I was not blessed with any sort of creativity I have less than the short stick on that one it is more like no stick at all. I am off to bed so I can get rid of this head ache.

We did end up going to the zoo this morning it was a great day for the zoo! We got to see the new tiger cubs (3 of them) and that was the highlight for Kenna. We took lunches with us and had a picnic. Kenna did surprisingly well minding and staying close to us. It did help that we had one of those backpacks that doubles as a harness/leash and she could only go 2 ft away. Bryn slept through the zoo experience. We also went golfing this afternoon. Kenna was in Heaven. The course was crowded so we let her hit the ball while we waited for the slow people ahead of us to get off of the green and Brad let her help drive the golf cart. She asked for her own set of pink golf clubs as we were loading up to go home. I am the only voice of reason and the mean mommy I say no, Brad is a bit of a pushover and will most likely eventually say yes.

Rain, Rain go away come again

during school not the last week of the last ever summer vacation until retirement! Today Brad and some friends went golfing anyway in the rain. Kenna cried for awhile after we dropped him. She likes golf or anything really that involves a ball and something to hit the ball with. Bottom line anything sports = time with dad. I told her today that I love her and she didn't say anything back so I said don't you love momma? No, she said, I love Daddy. Monday is going to be a hard day for that little girl. While Brad hit a ball in the rain with a metal object (sound brilliant to anyone else?) Kenna and I watched a video we rented for her, Sleeping Beauty she has already watched it 5 to many times. It stopped raining for 1 hour so I sent her outside and she played her little heart out. The small break was much needed and I am sure it only happened because 50 million moms in Pennsylvania were praying for it . Tomorrow is going to be a nice day so they say do we are going to the zoo. Rain comes again Friday.

Thank you Hurricane Dean

for all of the RAIN!!! Yesterday was all we could handle being indoors. Playdough and coloring is fun for only so long. So this morning when we awoke to find it still raining we were a little less than impressed. So Jenny and I took our kids and the Clayton's to Chucky E Cheeses. It is amazing how excited a kid can get over a large pizza and those little rides (like the ones they have outside of walmart). Brad came with us and helped keep track of everyone and taught the kids all about winning the tickets at the games so they could get a prize (for kids a tootsie roll is amazing).

Bryn got her shots this morning and has been fussy most of the day. Poor kid I feel bad for her. Lots of crying going on at our house. Hopefully she will be able to sleep well tonight since she hasn't slept at all during the day. I have a feeling however that it might be a bit of a rough night. Tylenol hasn't worked for her yet today.

Sunday and Smiles

I love Sundays, it is so quiet and peaceful complete with afternoon naps, coloring with Kenna, and having a yummy dinner. Today was just that. Kenna and Brad took a nice long nap, from 2-5 to be exact). I made an amazing ham and funeral potato's. We originally were having people over but that fell through courtesy of a flu bug and I have a nice 4lb ham and tons of potato's left over. I can already taste the ham sandwiches on roles for lunch tomorrow. We usually miss family the most on Sundays because that is who we use to spend our time with on Sundays. We missed them more so today as my dad was set apart as the Stake President for the Iona Stake today. We did however think if them often through out the day. A phone call home also helped with the homesick feeling.

The long nap also allowed me to snuggle my baby who just wanted me to hold her today so the long nap from the Kenna Mags was greatly appreciated. Even though all Bryn wanted was to be held I was able to get her to lay down and smile at me for a few photos.

I think she is absolutely adorable. Now that we are all stuffed full and rested it is time for the wonderful Sunday tradition of ICE CREAM and a movie!!!! We are having vanilla ice cream with Strawberries, Bananas and chocolate syrup!!! Tomorrow we will be back to the real world and our busy schedules!

Oh that is how you do pictures

Okay so I figured out how to add pictures to a post so these go with the previous post. Here is the football game and Me, Brad, and Bryn at the game. We got a babysitter for Kenna so that we wouldn't have to worry about her and enjoy the game. Bryn was so good she stayed awake the whole time and didn't cry once. The game was during her normal fussy time so we were a little worried. Brad saw it as a good sign that she would like football and it would keep her calm.

We have joined with you

Everyone's blogs are so fun to see that we decided to do one as well. Here is what we have been up to this past week. Brad has been getting ready for his 2nd year of Dental School wich starts in a week. Kenna, Bryn and I went to the park, went swimming at a friends house, and went to the toy store to pick a toy out for a birthday party and in general enjoying the summer sun and low humitity that we have had this past week. We Scalped some cheep tickets (craigslist ofcourse) and ended the week with an Eagles pre-season game with our friends the Christiansen's. It was so fun! A small lighting storm and flash showers caused us to get down from our nosebleed seats and go into the concourse during halftime. After each touchdown fireworks went off and they sing a fun little fight song. It was so much fun to go and see them play. We are continuing to have a blast here in Phillie and growing closer together as a family.