#VisitBucksCounty

Hello everyone! Need a fun, frugal day trip idea for the weekend? If you live in the Bucks County area, consider doing this scavenger hunt. Last weekend, our family went to all the locations to find the answers to each of the clue questions. It was a blast! 

We discovered so many new playgrounds and community parks we never knew existed!

You can pick up a scavenger hunt sheet at the Bucks County Visitor Center or download it online. On top of all the exploring you will be enjoying, there is a chance to win some great prizes as well! Besides the scavenger hunt submissions, you can document all your #BucksCountyMoments on Instagram or Twitter. 

Go see our #BucksCountyMoments on my Instagram feed!

Here is a list of all the places we visited: 

1. Warwick Community Park
2. Northampton Municipal Park
3. Middletown Community Park
4. Lookout Park in Upper Makefield 
5. Warminster Community Park
6. Bensalem Central Park
7. Lenape Park in Perkasie Borough
8. Laurel Park in Solebury Township
9. Churchville Nature Center
10. Veterans Park in Newtown
11. Visitor Center in Bensalem
12. Visitor Center in New Hope

This was a wonderful trip! It took a little bit of planning (Thanks, Dad!) to see what was the best route to travel so we would not have to back track. 

Many of the places we visited also had restrooms, picnic areas, fields to run through, and playgrounds. Our girls looked forward to each new destination. They were involved in finding the answers to the clues and knew they had a new playground to explore! 

It was one of our "best days ever"!

Happy Exploring!

Seashells on the Seashore

We spent Sunday on a family trip to the seashore! Our sandy day was spent on the beach of Stone Harbor, NJ. We invited Aunt Tessa, Grandma Coral, Uncle Steve and cousin Selina! I am sure everyone would agree it was a super fun day!

Gracie charming her Mama

Stone Harbor was where my husband and I would stay when we were dating! It is a smaller, quieter beach with no boardwalk (gasp!) but there is a town with little shops and places to eat just a few blocks from the beach.

It was nice to visit again since we seemed to have traded in Stone Harbor for Ocean City when the little ones came along.

Isabella drinks from her Foogo stainless steel sippy cup

After I had just about enough of the sun and wondering how I became affixed to the blanket; the uncool Mom that won't go in the ocean to play anymore, we left to have dinner in Ocean City at the busiest pizza place on the boardwalk, Mack and Manco's!

Sophia loving the sand a bit too much

Oh, and it's official now. Lana has proclaimed that she collects seashells. She counted 57 and wrote it down on a piece of paper for me so that she "will never, ever forget."

I truly hope she will remember, but not only that number of shells in her collection.

I hope all my girls remember the sand castles built, those ocean waves their Dad carried them a bit too far into, the giggles and the warm sun on their skin, and their bellies full to bursting with pizza and cotton candy at the end of "the best day ever"!

How are you enjoying these last lazy days of summer?

Fantastic Friday Finds

Grace

Isabella

Here are the twins enjoying their organic Pluots, courtesy of Grandma, on our trip to the park this past Wednesday! Pluots are a complex cross hybrid of plums and apricots and are simply delicious!

Speaking of summer and its many fruits...check out these adorable free bookmarks from JinJerup! What a perfect little hostess gift to bring if you are attending a summer book club!


Also, you can check out your walk score! This site will rank how walkable your neighborhood is!

Unfortunately, my neighborhood only ranks a 45 out of 100 and is considered a car dependent neighborhood.

Hopefully your neighborhood scores better!

Plus, if you are wondering how to spend your weekend full of fun but not so much cash, discover a new park in your area at the National Park Service website! We had a blast at Valley Forge!

A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken. ~James Dent

Day Trip to Valley Forge - Part 2

All is quiet here so I have a few moments to post the remaining pictures from our day trip to Valley Forge National Historical Park.

General George Washington's Headquarters

Valley Forge Train Station



Artillery Park

Here, under the command of Brig. Gen. Henry Knox, artillery was stored and repaired, and gun crews were trained and drilled.

It was a great day learning and exploring in Valley Forge Historical National Park! Beside the cost of the gas it took us to drive there, our whole adventure was FREE!

If you are interested in seeking out a National Park in your own area, visit U.S. National Park Service and discover someplace new this weekend!

Day Trip to Valley Forge

How did we arrive on the downside of yet another week? I should have posted these earlier but we were busy enjoying the outdoors (with the exception of our lazy rainy day Tuesday).

Here are some pictures of our day trip that we took to Valley Forge National Historical Park this past Sunday.

This 3,500-acre park has 28 miles of authorized trails to hike, bike or horseback ride! We packed a picnic and a Frisbee and headed out for a day of fun!

National Memorial Arch

Commemorates the "patience and fidelity" of the soldiers who wintered at Valley Forge in 1777-78.

Reconstructed army huts
Laid out along military streets, over 2,000 huts were ultimately built for General George Washington's 12,000 men.

Isabella (sporting the glasses) and Gracie



Playing Frisbee!

And impossible blue skies... Oh, and the man holding the sippy cup isn't so hard on the eyes either! ;)

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our Day Trip to Valley Forge including pictures of Washington's Headquarters and Artillery Park!