Places to Go (Vacation) - End of Summer at Coney Island (NYC, NY) and the Please Touch Museum (Philly, PA)

We finished out summer vacation with two final excursions, then we camped out in the house, read books, road bikes, helped Dan cook, and waited for school to start. Part of me is sad that summer is over and the other part can't wait for fall and a quiet(er) house.




Excursion 1 - NYC Aquarium and Coney Island

So the NYC Aquarium is a pretty wonderful place, especially the walrus, who likes to swim up to the glass and show you his tummy over and over again. T squealed with delight each time he circled back around.

After the aquarium, I wanted to check out Coney Island's infamous beach, which was so empty that I kept forgetting we were in NYC. I didn't bring suits, just because I was lazy and I didn't know if the kids would want to even go in the water. So everyone (especially P) swam in their clothes. Even the baby tried to surf the waves, laughing every time one came close to her. Of all the vacations we've taken this summer, this was our first trip to the beach and I think we really needed that. Nothing relieves stress like the sound of surf and sandy toes.




Excursion 2 - The Please Touch Museum

On the drive home from NYC, we decided to stop and spend an afternoon at Philly's large, beautiful children's museum (plus, I had a groupon that was about to expire). The last time we visited the Please Touch Museum was two years ago (just me and the girls) on our way to Jenny's wedding in upperstate NY. The girls had loved everything about it, so much so that I had to beg them to leave. So this recent trip was somewhat bittersweet, as they seem to have outgrown it somewhat. P still adored the Alice and Wonderland exhibit (which is pretty much impossible to outgrow) and all three kids were excited about the carousel and music room, but only T seemed truly mesmerized by it all - running from car to car, "driving" everything with a steering wheel attached, saying over and over again "this is the best day ever, mom!" I guess the years really are flying by, faster than even I (with all my meticulous journal keeping and picture taking) realize.

HAPPY END OF SUMMER EVERYONE!! After this post, we'll be keeping it local for awhile.

RANDOM LINKS:

*Poetic Cosmos of the Breath.

*For local folks, Not-So-SAHM has the lowdown on the new American Trails exhibit at the zoo. Click here to check it out (we went on Monday and LOVED it). And Kidfriendly DC has a lot of great info on the Maryland Renaissance Festival, click here to check it out.