The Christmas Carol at the Walnut Street Theatre

'Tis the season to see a holiday show in the city! We were so excited to see The Christmas Carol musical at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philly this weekend. The show is just perfect for kids since it's only 1 hour, offers late morning show times, moves pretty quickly and has a few fun songs and surprises in it. Thanks to the Walnut Street Theatre for providing our family of 4 with tickets to the show.

Grandma was kind enough to watch baby sister since a quiet theater is no place for a squirmy 8 month old. Plus, it was fun to be able to enjoy a musical with the two older kiddos. 

So the 4 of us piled in our minivan (yes, I said minivan, we succumbed to the stereotypical parenting vehicle for our new family of 5!), and drove to Philly for the 11am show!

We each got a playbill and talked about The Christmas Carol story (Little Gal wasn't too familiar with it. Little Guy remembered seeing it on TV I think).

The stage was decorated for their other, longer running show, Matilda, with part of it decorated for The Christmas Carol.  The Christmas Carol is obviously has a shorter season since it specifically runs around Christmas!

The lobby of the theater was decorated so festively. Little Gal gave it a thumbs up.

I have to say, Little Gal was a little scared by the ghost of Marley and the ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, but the play was so lighthearted, quick moving, and had a happy ending, so she said she just loved it at the end.

We had to get home to baby sister, but if we could have stayed in the city longer, we definitely would have gone to see the Christmas "show" at the Comcast building and at Macy's.  We've done that in previous years, and it's really helped us get in the Christmas spirit!

Hoping you have some holiday fun in the next few weeks and wishing you a wonderful holiday season!

OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT LIKE:

Chocolate Pretzel Peppermint Bark

SunButter Chocolate Crescent Rolls for the holidays

Countdown Checklist to Holiday Hosting with Food Allergies

Win 4 Tickets to The Academy of Natural Sciences

Have you been to The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University yet?  If not, it's time that you go! It's one of our family's top picks for kids' activities in Philadelphia. We find it to be a perfectly sized museum for our two kids under 6. 

AND if you're interested in going to this fun museum, it's your lucky day!  The Academy of Natural Sciences is graciously giving away 4 free tickets to one lucky winner! It's easy to enter at the bottom of the post!

The museum regularly has fun special events for kids and adults alike. In fact, two fun events are coming up in the next few months:

• Totally Turtles Weekend sounds like it would be great for Ninja Turtle loving little ones. I know my Little Guy would love it!

• We also can't wait for the Dinosaurs Unearthed exhibit with life-sized animatronic dinosaurs and brand new interactive dinosaur activities!

If you'd like a closer look at the fun the museum offers, here are some photos from our family's trip there. We had a GREAT time!

So many fun dinosaurs - and yes, one of these dinosaurs moves!

We spent a LONG time here at this activity because the kids loved it so much. Can you spot the kiddos walking with dinosaurs!? They LOVED seeing themselves on screen and pretending to run away every time a new dino walked up!

And how cute is this? They completely enjoyed digging for dinosaur bones and exploring at The Big Dig.

There are also many exotic animals to see at the museum too which the kids fully enjoyed!

And the butterfly room was great too! We especially liked watching the butterflies land on and eat oranges and bananas!

The kids area is so spacious and has so many great things to play with, explore and even read!

There are also fun opportunities to see live animals in action - like this turtle!

Or this crazy reptile that's NOT a snake amazingly! Little Gal was VERY brave to touch it!

Thanks to The Academy of Natural Sciences for offering tickets for our family visit and tickets for this giveaway! What an awesome museum.

Enter this giveaway today for 4 free tickets to The Academy of Natural Sciences and HAVE FUN!

Entry-Form

Win 2 Tickets to Sleepover at The Franklin Institute

I have a fun GIVEAWAY for you! If you live near the Philadelphia area, you've most likely been to or heard of The Franklin Institute. They have fun Camp-In nights going on right now with live science shows, movies, stargazing at the rooftop observatory, and time to explore all 11 permanent exhibits.

And guess what? 

The Franklin Institute is offering Mamacado readers two free tickets to their camp-in on Friday, February 26! 

Two tickets would cost $97 normally, so winning this giveaway is a great savings. Tickets can be used for kids, adults, etc. (parent must be present with child).

Keep reading for how to enter!

Photo courtesy of The Franklin Institute

Enter HERE today! The sleep-in is next week so good luck and hope you win!!

Entry-Form

The Franklin Institute is also graciously offering Mamacado readers a special reduced price to the Camp-In if you want to purchase additional tickets. Just call 215-448-1200 (option 4) and mention promo code MOMCAMP to receive the member’s price – only $45.50 per person!

5 Tips When Visiting the Hippos at Adventure Aquarium

We had a fun day trip this weekend at Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ. It was our first time at the aquarium, and we were VERY excited to see the newest exhibit, HippoHaven!

Adventure Aquarium is the only aquarium in the world to exhibit hippos. They've created a habitat to mimic the African river for the hippos, Button and Genny. They even allow guests to adopt a hippo through the Turgwe Hippo Trust, a non-profit organization in Zimbabwe.  

After visiting on a busy Saturday, we came up with 5 tips when visiting these awesome hippos. I hope you'll find them useful if you get to visit someday soon!

1. Get there early
Even though the aquarium opens at 10am, we got there at 9:30am just because traffic was lighter than we thought. It gave us a little time to take some fun photos (of excitement and anticipation!) before getting into the aquarium. It also allowed us to explore the waterfront area.

Daddy and Little Guy are excited for the aquarium!

Little Guy spots a big ship on the water.

2. See the hippos first (or right before their feeding time)!
We got to the hippos at about 10:15am. Their feeding time was at 10:30, so we waited to see them eat their fresh lettuce (did you know hippos are herbivores?). They seemed very active before and during their feeding. Later in the afternoon, we went back to say goodbye to the hippos before we left, and they were sleeping. So, visiting before/during the feeding might be the best time to see them!

Little Gal is amazed at Button and Genny moving through the water.

Genny (or Button!?) eating lettuce during feeding time.

3. Bring a stroller (if your kids still fit in one)
Thankfully Adventure Aquarium allows strollers inside. We used the stroller at different times to carry each kid when they got tired of walking, or just for all our bags and 'stuff'! Even though it started to get crowded later in the morning, we could still navigate among the crowd and other strollers.

You can see the stroller even worked okay here in the awesome shark tunnel.

4. Reference the visitor guide for animal feedings and talks
Everyone gets a visitor guide upon entering the aquarium. It includes a map and a great list of activities like penguin and stingray feedings and an opportunity to meet the divers (as you watch them swimming with sharks!). Try to catch some of these fun events. 

5. Save time for the KidZone on Level 2

It's easy to spend all your time on the first floor seeing all the great exhibits. Make sure you save a little time (especially if you have young kiddos) to play at the KidZone upstairs. Little Guy and Little Gal loved the interactive exhibits. Little Guy even got to touch multiple starfish, a rare blue lobster, horseshoe crabs and other sea creatures!

Both Little Guy and Little Gal loved playing in the KidZone.

And finally, how can I go without mentioning what we ATE on our adventure? We packed our own lunches and snacks since we can't depend on finding lunch that's food allergy friendly. Thankfully the aquarium allows small coolers and bags, so we had no trouble bringing in food.  

I packed turkey, ham and avocado wraps for everyone, and we had lots of safe and yummy snacks like apple slices, applesauce, granola bars, tortilla chips and lollipops (bribery for  difficult end of trip moments like getting in the car! :)

Ready for some Hippo Fun Facts?

• Behind elephants and the White Rhino, hippos are the third-largest land mammal.
• Hippos can run up to 19 mph on land!
• The word hippopotamus is derived from the ancient Greek word for “river horse.”
• Adventure Aquarium's hippos, Button and Genny, consume 70,000 calories per day. That’s nearly 40 pounds of food, or 115 Philly Cheesteaks!
• At 13 and 17, Button and Genny are teenagers! Hippos can live in captivity up to 60 years old.
• Hippos are able to sleep underwater, instinctively rising to breathe every few minutes. 

Have you been to Adventure Aquarium to see Hippo Haven? If so, how did you like it?

Disclosure: We were delighted to receive tickets to visit the Adventure Aquarium. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own.

Food Allergy Day at CHOP

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending Food Allergy Day sponsored by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).  It was a free event that anyone could attend who has an interest in food allergies.  I feel like there's always at least ONE new thing you can learn or be reminded of when you attend an event like this. So, I thought I'd share a few things with you from my day there!

Food Allergy Day was held at the Abramson Research Center at CHOP, what looked to be an impressive facility!

These two wonderful ladies both had tables at the event to promote their food allergy related organizations. Recognize them?  

On the left is Linda Mitchell, the Founder of Kids with Food Allergies, and now ‎Vice President, Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Kids With Food Allergies Division. On the right is Jenine Lawton, leader of one of our local parent groups, and part of FARE's Executive Council for Support Group leaders. She also wrote the VERY helpful preparing for preschool post on this blog a few months ago if you haven't checked it out already.

We heard from the doctors/researchers conducting food allergy research like oral immunotherapy studies. We learned more about nutrition and food allergies, and managing food allergies in school. A pediatric psychologist spoke about how to deal with the psychological and emotional effects of food allergies. We also heard from two parents of children with food allergies and learned about how they've managed allergies in their daily lives.

Here are a few tidbits of information I thought were especially interesting AND helpful reminders. Even if you're the most well-informed and up-to-date parent of a child with food allergies, it's still great to review what we know and help teach others!

Food Allergy Reactions

• No antihistamine (like Benadryl) can take away the large amount of histamine that occurs during a serious reaction. Epinephrine should be used as directed by your doctor.
• Epinephrine (EpiPen, AuviQ, etc.) is most effective when used early in the reaction. If you wait too long, it may not work as well and may not be able to stop the reaction.

Psychological Aspects of Food Allergies

• It's normal for a child or adult to have SOME anxiety about food allergies. You can use this anxiety to make sure you're prepared and safe. However, if you or your child experience out of CONTROL worry, then it's problematic and time to seek help from a psychologist or other mental health professional.

Local Food Allergy Statistics

• About 650,000 children are seen in the whole CHOP system in 1 year
• About 42,000 of those children have food allergies
• About 20 - 30 of those children are seen in the ER every month for a food allergy reaction

This event at CHOP was a great lead-in to the month of May which is National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month and Food Allergy Action Month. In fact, next week is Food Allergy Awareness Week. I'm hoping to post more than once next week to observe this important awareness week!  In the meantime, I encourage you to take action in some respect - here are some great ideas!

Please read my disclaimer.

Eating Out with Food Allergies: Our Experience at Bertucci's

I'm excited that I have a new great review to add to my restaurant review page. We went to Bertucci's this weekend with our good friends who also have toddler and pre-schooler.  Four kids at a restaurants makes for a crazy lunchtime, but we had a positive experience in general and thankfully a great food allergy friendly experience.

So what can you order at Bertucci's that's dairy-free, egg-free, peanut-free, tree-nut free and sesame-free?

Here's the tasty array of food that Little Guy, Little Gal and I shared between the 3 of us (with a little leftover). Little Guy is now eating wheat (more on that in another post), so this is not gluten-free pizza or pasta.  BUT Bertucci's does offer gluten free options which is great for those who need it.

We enjoyed this cheese-free pizza, pasta and sauce, and grilled chicken and broccoli. From our table I could conveniently see the chef cooking this pizza on a special pizza pan. All the other pizzas in the stone oven were cooked right on the oven bottom. It definitely made me feel better to see our pizza on its own pan.

Food?
Bertucci's has great pasta and pizza options for everyone. As you see in the photo above, there was also a nice variety of allergy-friendly foods. It's not everyday that I can order a dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free and sesame-free pizza for Little Guy at a restaurant.

Allergy-friendly?
Bertucci's does offer gluten-free menus. I heard through the grapevine that this location was allergy-friendly. When I called the day before to speak with the manager, she told me she has a shellfish allergy so she is especially strict about the kitchen.  However, I do wish the manager would have come over immediately to speak with us at the table as I've experienced at other restaurants. I used my trusty chefs card as usual which always helps.

Atmosphere?
It's a great family friendly place. Especially at 11:30am when we arrived! Lots of other kids were there too.

So what's the most ridiculous part about all this?

I ordered all of this for Little Guy, and he hardly ate any of it.  

His appetite as a 3.5 year old has REALLY slowed down. His little 1 year old sister eats MORE than he does. I guess Little Gal is just at a growth spurt period right now as a 15 mo old!

See her little hand in there all ready to eat this pizza?  She was ravenous, just as she is at about every meal. At least she loves a variety of healthy food that we can all enjoy together!

Ever tried Bertucci's for an allergy-friendly meal? What are your favorite food-allergy friendly restaurants?

Eat, Write Retreat...at Williams Sonoma!

Last week I posted about a fun MomMixer event I went to in Philadelphia where I met other mama bloggers, found out about new holiday products and got some wonderful swag!  I also attended another blogging event that was the launch party for the Eat, Write, Retreat 2014 conference.  The launch party was at Williams Sonoma in Center City Philadelphia and again, oh what fun I had!

This time I met a number of food bloggers who were wonderful to meet and talk with about their cool projects. We not only had a chance to socialize in the fun Williams Sonoma atmosphere, but we also got to EAT some tasty food and WIN some great prizes!

First there was some tasty Jarlsberg cheese and grapes to munch on....

Then Linda from Giggles, Gobbles and Gulps showed us how to make balsamic mushroom bruschetta on PretzelCrisps. Very tasty!

PretzelCrisps even has an awesome appetizer recipe book - a great idea for holiday apps!

Now this obviously wasn't a food allergy focused event, but I of course always think about food allergies even if Little Guy isn't with me at the event.  I love that PretzelCrisps are clearly labeled with the "made in a facility" with statement.  Even though Little Guy can't eat these, I appreciate that they clearly label them for allergens. You can even see the "made in a facility" statement on the PretzelCrips website.

As for the other tasty food, we also got to try a few different kinds of yummy pizza made with Williams Sonoma pizza crust mix.


And we had fun tasting gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches and pesto bruschetta from Philly's gourmet grilled cheese truck, Say Cheese.

To satisfy a sweet tooth, the baker from South Avenue Sweets baked a variety of YUMMY cupcakes with PretzelCrisp topping - a very creative way to use them! She also displayed her cute cookies, decorated perfectly for any occasion.

One of my favorite companies for fun, useful and qualify kitchen tools was also there...Oxo.  I learned that the OXO Peeler I use SO much in my kitchen was actually their first product ever! It's the peeler I use for my butternut squash secret and for just about anything else that needs peeled like carrots, potatoes, etc.

Look at all these awesome Oxo products!

And look at this great swag! Checkout that cute Mini Measuring Beaker Set from Oxo right in the middle of the photo. Can't wait to use these when cooking with Little Guy.

Thanks to Casey and Robyn for hosting a great event!

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