Where-To-Go Wednesday - National Constitution Center

We were not financially compensated for this post. We received free tickets to the museum for review purposes. The opinions expressed are own based on our experience visiting the museum.

What: National Constitution Center

Where: 525 Arch Street
            Philadelphia, PA

Our view: If you want to go to a museum that is both  fun and educational, try the National Constitution Center. The Museum is filled with interactive exhibits. It consists of three main parts. There is Freedom Rising a movie in the round with a live actor in the center of it narrating. The movie runs a little long and does not hold young children's interest. The second part of the museum is by far more interesting. It is called We the People. It is full of films, artifacts and hands on exhibits. Artifacts include a rare copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, Civil War artifacts,  and piles of documents related to the Supreme Court.  Even young children and others with short attention spans who may easily tire of the films and artifacts, will like the interactive exhibits. Here you can vote in an actual voting booth in a simulated election in which you are arbitrarily given two U.S. Presidents to choose between. You can try on a black robe and pretend to be a Supreme Court Justice. You can watch yourself on a big screen as you recite the Presidential oath of office. You can learn about any of 100 people important in U.S. Constitutional history. Some of them are very well known and some are not as well known. You can learn different things about your own state, such as, your state symbols. You can also see your state flag as well as the state flag of the other 49 states.These are just some of the things you can do in this part of the museum. The third part of the museum is the Signer's Hall which consists of bronze replicas of the founding fathers. Unfortunately, this part of the museum is closed for renovation until Fall of 2014. There are also changing featured exhibits. The current featured exhibit is Slavery at Jefferson's Monticello. This exhibit will be at the museum through October 19, 2014. For more information go to http://constitutioncenter.org/.

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for more about the National Constitution Center.

Tips for Tuesday - Movies

Me - Today I am recommending Maleficent. It was an amazing movie! The story was great. The special effects were great. The cast was great. I liked everything about it.

 

Mom -Today I am recommending Jersey Boys. If you want a movie with a good story and a  great soundtrack, this is the movie for you.  The familiar songs are just enjoyable here as the original versions sung by the real Frank Valli and the Four Seasons. The acting is equally as good as the singing. All of the actors fit their roles and act well in their parts. The story is entertaining and keeps on moving along at a good pace. All in all, it is a very enjoyable movie.

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for Where-To-Go Wednesday.

The Monthly Mashup for July 2014

Me- My topic for this month is Bethany Mota. I love Bethany Mota. Bethany Mota is a famous Youtuber. She does fashion, make-up and hair tutorials. She does reviews and haul videos showing  her purchases. She does D.I.Y.  videos and tag videos.  She also does other things. Bethany is very inspirational to lot of people. She is definitely not afraid to be herself which I love. Since, I have started watching her videos, it has made me more confident about myself and more comfortable in my own skin. Even if you don't wear make-up and even if you don't have money to buy the things she can buy, you will still love her videos because they are still really cool and fun to watch.

Mom-My topic for this month is Webkinz. For anyone who doesn't know Webkinz are stuffed animals that come with codes if you enter the code at the Webkinz web-site you can play with a virtual version of your toy in Webkinz World. Webkinz are not as popular as they used to be, and I can't say I am very sad about it. I mean it's not only that at one time it was the hot popular toy that children couldn't get enough of (my own daughter had something like 15 of them at one time). There is always going to be some toy that serves that function. It is the way they run their web-site that annoys me. First of all, when you enter your pets name on the Webkinz site if you accidentally enter the name wrong, there is no way to fix it. Don't they realize they are dealing with children and children make mistakes? Second of all, and more importantly if you don't go on the Webkinz site for  a certain period of time, all your pets will be eliminated and there is no way to enter them on the site again. In order to get more virtual Webkinz,  you have to buy more stuffed animals and enter their codes on the site. I never heard of any other web-site either for children or adults that does something like that. I mean maybe after you have not accessed your account on a web-site for a very long time, something like a few years, it might get eliminated, but it would not happen after only a few months like at Webkinz World. There is no reason for  it be this way either except as a ploy to get kids to want to buy more Webkinz. I for one, think that it shameful. It is bad enough toy advertising is made to convince kids that they absolutely must have this, that or the other thing, but to convince kids that they need to continuously go and repurchase products they have already purchased is even worse. As a result, the Webkinz craze was one I was more than happy to see die down.

Tune in tomorrow for Where-To-Go Wednesday.

Saturday Special - Updates on iLuminate and Franklin Square

OFF-BROADWAY’S SMASH HIT

i L U M I N A T E

PUTS NEW BLOCK OF SEATS ON

SALE THROUGH JANUARY 4, 2015! 

Music, art, dance, and the technological magic of iLuminate brings this extraordinary spectacle to the New York stage, combining mythical elements with adventure and romance, told through dance styles which include contemporary, hip-hop, Latin, and breaking, all using the power of light.

The current performance schedule for iLUMINATE is Monday & Wednesday evenings at 7pm, Thursday through Saturday evenings at 8pm, with matinees Wednesday at 2pm, Saturday at 2:30pm and Sunday at 3pm at New World Stages, 340 West 50^th Street. Tickets are available through Telecharge.com 212-239-6200. 

For more information about iLuminate see our

previous posts Where-To-Go Wednesday iLuminate and iLuminate and/or go to www.iLuminate.com

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Franklin Square is Center City’s playground and a favorite for kids of all ages. New this summer, Franklin Square will host Things On Thursdays each Thursday evening in August.

July Special Events:

·        National Carousel Day – July 25, 10 am – 5 pm

Buy-one-get-one-free tickets for the Parx Liberty Carousel.

·        Franklin Square’s 8^th Birthday Party – July 31, 11 am

Commemorate the Square’s 8^th birthday with cake, cut by Ben Franklin himself. FREE.

August Special Events:

·        Twilight Yoga presented by Pop Up Yoga Philly – August 13 & August 27, 7 - 8 pm

Get excited about yoga, health, and wellness! All body types and skill levels are welcome for this Vinyasa Yoga class. $10 per person; tickets required [historicphiladelphia.org] Participants are encouraged to bring their own mat.

Things On Thursdays, August in Franklin Square (August 7 – August 28):

·        Quizzo in the Square – August 7, 6 - 9 pm

Bring your friends and get your game on with Philadelphia’s famous trivia game in the Pavilion! Tickets required and include beer, wine, soft drinks, and snacks.

·        Hot Night, Cool Jazz – August 14, 6 - 9 pm

Live jazz performances, dancing, beer and wine, and cool crafts for the entire family in the Pavilion. FREE.

·        Throwback Thursday Movie Night – August 21, 6 - 9 pm

Movie night comes to the Franklin Square indoor and air conditioned Pavilion! Tickets required and include beer, wine, soft drinks, and snacks.

·        Food Truck Festivus – August 28, 6- 9 pm

Take part in volleyball, horseshoes, and summer games and enjoy the beer garden, as Philly’s finest food trucks converge on Franklin Square. Games are FREE.

Fun family entertainment and a beautiful park are just steps away from the Liberty Bell, in one of William Penn’s original five squares, and the only one dedicated to fun.  Award-winning Franklin Square is a family-friendly play place located in the heart of Historic Philadelphia, featuring Philly Mini Golf, a renovated vintage  fountain, playgrounds, the Parx Liberty Carousel, and the acclaimed SquareBurger. 

We will be featuring more about Franklin Square in future posts.

Funny Friday - Hugs and Kisses

Me -

When I was little my brother,  Jack asked "Melia, can I have a hug?"

"I'm in my pajamas!" I replied.

Mom -

When Melia was little she got the dolls Barbie and Krissy for her birthday except she called them Barbie and Kiss Me so whenever we wanted to give her a kiss we would say "What's the doll's name?"

When she replied  "Kiss Me." We would kiss her.


We welcome you to share your funny stories with us.

Tune in Monday for another Talking Topic.

photo credit: Chapendra via photopin cc

The Philadelphia Zoo

Me - The Philadelphia Zoo, wow! The Philadelphia Zoo was fun even though they don't have as many animals as some other zoos.  My favorite part was the giraffes. There was a baby monkey that  had just recently been born. It was riding around on its mother's back. It was so cute. There were some cute monkeys called Aye Ayes. They were completely in the dark. They had really big eyes and were cute. They looked like Beanie Boo stuffed animals.  I wish they had elephants at the zoo. They had a statute of an elephant, but they didn't have real ones. That upset Aurella because she loves elephants. They had a lot of monkeys which is good because I love monkeys. They had monkeys literally all over. Even when they weren't in an exhibit, they had tunnels all over the zoo where the monkeys could climb around so we saw them everywhere. The tunnels were completely enclosed though so the monkeys couldn't get out. There was a big orangatang who had his back to the people all the time. He never turned around. There was a big gorilla. He was sitting down facing the people. Later, he lay down and put his food or water bowl over his head. It was funny. I didn't like the elephant shrews. They looked like rats. I did like that were called giant elephant shrews even though they were reallly small. Over all, I like the Philadelphia Zoo a lot.

Mom- We had fun at the Philadelphia Zoo. There was a gorilla sitting in a window and an orangtang who didn't want to show his face. There were Aye Ayes in the dark. There were goats crossing a bridge that made me think of the story The Three Billy Goats Gruff. There was a polar bear taking a nap. There was a black bear pacing back and forth. There was a monkey tunnel and a big cat tunnel. We saw plenty of monkeys in the monkey tunnel, but we never saw any big cats in the big cat tunnel. There was a tiny baby monkey traveling around securely attached to its mother's back. There was a lone peacock wandering around all over the place. There were flamingos so full of color that they almost didn't look real. There were alligators and crocodiles in the water and turtles and tortoises on the land. There were tiny baby chicks. There were rhinos and hippos and giraffes but not elephants. There was a playground for big kids, and an indoor playroom for little ones. There were interactive areas including one where you could write a note about why you think it is important to save big cats and another where you could  learn about conservation. That is only a small fraction of what there was to see and do at the zoo.

And that's our view. What do you like to see and do at the zoo?

Tune in tomorrow for Funny Friday.

Where-To-Go Wednesday - The Philadelphia Zoo

We were not financially compensated for this post. We received free tickets to the zoo for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are our own based on our experience at the zoo.

 

 What: Philadelphia Zoo

Where: 3400 W. Girard Avenue

            Philadelphia, PA

Who: All Ages

Our view: The Philadelphia Zoo is the oldest zoo in the U.S. It opened with approximately 1000 animals. There are not much more than that there now. There are, however, a wide variety of different animals. It is a good zoo for small children or people who are easily overwhelmed. There are enough animals to see at the zoo to spend a few hours but not so many as to not know which way to look first when viewing one of the exhibits. Instead of having many of  each animal at the zoo, here you will not find more than a handful of each animal. That is not, however, a bad thing because it is possible for a zoo to have too many animals and be too overwhelming. Besides, there are a lot of different kinds of animals at the zoo even if there are not so many of each kind. The zoo involves quite a lot of walking and even with the signs it is not always easy to tell which way to go to get where you want. The zoo employes are friendly and helpful, however. The zoo is large in area and to cover the whole thing you will need to do quite a bit of walking so we would recommend bringing strollers for young children. While there are food and souvenirs available at the zoo, you will not find yourself as bombarded with places to buy food and souvenirs as you may at other places which can be a good thing. One especially nice feature of the zoo is that you can bring in your own water bottles, and there are water bottle filing stations throughout the zoo. Another nice feature is that there are signs throughout the zoo telling you when the trainers will be in particular areas in case you are interested in learning about a specific animal. The zoo is open every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Day, New Years Eve and Day. Hours are 9:30 to 5:00 March through October and 9:30 to 4:00 November through February.Tickets are $20.00 for 12 and up, $18.00 for 2-11 March through October. Tickets are $16.00 for 2 and up November through February. Children under 2 are free at all times. With proper I.D., active military can get a $2.00 per ticket discount. Parking is $15.00. For more information go to http://www.philadelphiazoo.org/.

And that's our view. Tune in to tomorrow's Talking Topics post for more about the Philadelphia Zoo.