Kid Friendly Outings Archives - Page 3 of 3

*Disclosure: We received complimentary tickets in exchange for this post. Thoughts & opinions are 100% ours.

Andrew is obsessed with cars. OBSESSED. So when we recently had the opportunity to attend the Philly Auto Show 2015, I knew that I had to get him there. We have been to a previous Philly Auto Show, but it’s been a few years because of work schedules and such, so we were both excited for the experience. I love looking at the new models of cars that we could (hopefully very soon) be in market for our family. Andrew loves looking at the luxury cars that we will probably never be able to afford, but that we both enjoy seeing.

We arrived at the Philly Auto Show the second day it opened and quickly made our way through freezing the couple of blocks walk to the Philadelphia Convention Center. We headed upstairs to the main floor that has over 30 different car manufacturers with hundreds of models of cars available.

I always look at minivans because I love the space they seem to offer, but we both always end up agreeing that neither of us think we could be a “minivan family”. We love large sedans and we are both obsessed with the Range Rover so we were excited to be able to look around those in person. Some of the cars we were most excited to see showcased, we weren’t allowed to get in, like the Buick Avenir concept car.

Skibbles was really excited to be able to be able to test out all the cars herself and it was nice to be able to look around them while she could figure out all the buttons too.

We really wanted to test out the Jeep offroad driving experience, but unfortunately the lines were much to long to us to wait with a less than patient two year old, so we decided to pass.

Everyday you can also head outside and test drive some of Toyota’s amazing vehicles, like the Camry and Highlander, and on the weekend’s Kia also has a test drive experience.

The Philly Auto Show 2015 is much bigger than the previous show we’ve been too. There was a separate showroom specifically for Mercedes, Smart, and Lexus.

We were really excited to head downstairs for the Dub Show – a showroom full of custom cars, some even owned by NFL players like Najee Good. From custom kits to paint jobs to wraps, you are sure to see some fun down here. There’s a lot of excitement and Skibbles really enjoyed the atmosphere here.

We even contemplated that this tank type vehicle we found at the Dub Show by Harley Davidson should be the ultimate vehicle on our list for protecting our kids.

We had such an amazing time at the Philly Auto Show and now I’m even more confused about what type of vehicle we would decide to get in the next year or two, but we definitely have a list of our favorites and it was amazing to see them in person!

The Philly Auto Show is open today through February 8th, 2015. Details about show hours, tickets, manufacturers, and more can be found at the Philly Auto Show website.

Also, make sure once you are there to take an Instagram picture using #CARing2015 and the Philly Auto Show will donate $1 to the CARing for Kids Foundation – up to $50,000.

Lastly– The Philly Auto Show is giving away more than 100 FREE tickets when you enter on their Facebook page!

This is a great family experience for everyone and we truly hope you enjoy!

We absolutely love Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ. We first took Serenity when she was just a few months old and we have been many times since. Every time we have been gets more and more exciting as we watch her learn and explore and really start to get interested about the animals on exhibit there. We were recently invited to check out the newest exhibit – Hippo Haven – and happily accepted.

Once we got to Adventure Aquarium, we let Skibbles down to run free. She loved the big tank that she can walk up to and was just amazed over everything she saw. I can only imagine what something so big looks like in the eyes of such a young little one.

Of course, we let her play in the Kid’s Zone that’s filled with some awesome adventures to fuel their imaginations, and we went outside to see the penguins, but we were most anticipating to see the new exhibit…

Let me say that every time that we have gone to the aquarium, we always feel like we have horrible timing because the hippos are ALWAYS sleeping and never up moving around. I was really hoping this day would be different because after seeing the brochures, I had high expectations for Hippo Haven.

Hippo Haven features Button and Genny, two massive Nile hippos. They are actually the only aquarium in the world to have hippos on exhibit. Hippo Haven features a colorful landscape with lights and sounds. On one side of the exhibit you can see them above the water and walking around if they get out of the water and around the corner, you will be able to see them as they bounce around under the water. At Hippo Haven, there are daily activities like shows, feeds, and keeper chats.

Some fun facts about the hippos:

Genny is 13 years old and was born at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida
Button is 17 years old and was born at Parque Zoological de Leon in Mexico
Weighing in at 4,216 pounds, Genny is much larger than Button who is only 3,096 pounds
Hippos are herbivores and eat about 70,000 calories a day (about 35-40lbs of food)
Hippos can easily outrun a human

When we first went inside the exhibit, I noticed that both hippos were laying down, and I was a bit disappointed because I really thought today maybe we would see them move around. I took a look at the clock and noticed that there was a show about to start, so we decided to wait it out. Just like clockwork, as soon as the time was 2:30, the show started and both hippos immediately got up and moved. Now, they didn’t move a lot, but it’s still way more than I could have thought. The music and bright lights had Serenity absolutely in love.

Adventure Aquarium always does an amazing job at getting the education built into our fun day of play. There are lots are signs giving information about hippos, like the fact they can hold their breathe for 5 minutes, all around the exhibit. It was really nice for us to learn, but also know that once Skibbles is old enough that we can actually go for an educational trip, as well as a fun trip.

The aquarium and especially Hippo Haven, did another amazing job at keeping us entertained and in love with the aquarium all over again. The exhibit was beautifully decorated and laid out, kept us entertained the entire time we were inside and put on a fantastic theatrical performance with the lights and sounds. We highly suggest it!

Hippo Haven daily showtimes are 10:30am, 11:30am, 1:30pm, and 2:30pm

Here’s a short clip we shot of the hippos moving around!

Here are a few additional pictures from our Hippo Haven adventure. There is a water area outside the aquarium and we let Skibbles play in it and she had a blast (and was soaking wet), but hey, that’s what fun is all about right? It was the perfect ending to an awesome day. Skibbles promptly fell asleep, too!