Dad is busy at work for the first three-and-a-half months of every year - year end close, financial statements, tax preparation and extensions, and first quarter close. The weather, which was particularly brutal this year doesn't help with getting us out and about. Yet we always seem to pack a lot into the winter period and 2026 was no different. Another busy season.
We missed the Lancaster Science Factory when we spent the night in Strasburg back in September. On that September trip, Dad pulled into the parking lot for dinner, saw the Lancaster Science Factory on his right, said "ah, man, how did I forget this place?", and he made a mental note that we'd need to visit this winter. In the long, slow days after Christmas we made the return trip.
There's not much to the Lancaster Science Factory, probably not worth a drive out to Lancaster just for this attraction. We spent an hour here. The Museum is a bit of a one trick wonder but boy is it ever a one trick wonder. I'm not sure what to call the thing in the two images below, a climbing apparatus of sorts. It was at least thirty feet high and sixty feet wide. Once Charlotte entered the climbing space, she was on her own. The tight spaces and unusual angles meant that if she was stuck somewhere, there wouldn't be much that Dad could do to get to her rescue. Fortunately, Charlotte being Charlotte, navigated the structure perfectly. She reached the top and far corners with no problems. We spent a couple of minutes each at the Museum's other exhibits.
There's not much to the Lancaster Science Factory, probably not worth a drive out to Lancaster just for this attraction. We spent an hour here. The Museum is a bit of a one trick wonder but boy is it ever a one trick wonder. I'm not sure what to call the thing in the two images below, a climbing apparatus of sorts. It was at least thirty feet high and sixty feet wide. Once Charlotte entered the climbing space, she was on her own. The tight spaces and unusual angles meant that if she was stuck somewhere, there wouldn't be much that Dad could do to get to her rescue. Fortunately, Charlotte being Charlotte, navigated the structure perfectly. She reached the top and far corners with no problems. We spent a couple of minutes each at the Museum's other exhibits.
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We celebrated "Noon" Years Eve at Legoland. It was a fun time. Charlotte had a front row seat to watch the Lego-ball drop over the Philadelphia City Scape. It was a large, manageable crowd and once the ball drop was over Legoland cleared out quickly. As an added bonus, Legoland offered a discounted annual membership - effectively for another $30, which is the equivalent of one admission, you got the full year free. Basically, if we visited Legoland once more in 2026 the membership would be paid for - we visited once more by the end of February with several more trips planned.
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Dad took a solo trip to dine at Ralph's, the oldest restaurant in Philadelphia. Hard to believe but he never dined here before. Great atmosphere. Great meatballs. Great sausage and broccoli. Not sure what's going on with their bread and pasta. Charlotte will need to visit before she turns forty-five.
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Pennsylvania Farm Show - here we come! Dad needed a break from all the work so on a Friday afternoon we drove with Lola and Papa out to Harrisburg to see the largest (indoor?) farm show in the U.S. The last time dad was here was when he was maybe twelve years old and all he said he remembered was a bison standing up and going to the bathroom. The surprise with this event, if you haven't been here for thirty years, is how "active" it is - there's livestock everywhere and there's nothing stopping you from getting up close to the animals. We got a picture of Charlotte Hamill with Charlotte the Cow. Our first stop was for the famous Farm Show milkshakes.
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You can walk right up to the goats and sheep. Charlotte was very proud of the potato.
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We receive some snow this year and by some, I mean about two feet total across three snowstorms. We only enjoyed the first snowstorm - it was a nice powder for making snowballs and sledding. We headed over to Sutcliffe park, which was surprisingly empty. Where are all the Conshy kids we see on the playground? The second snowstorm was brutal. Nearly a foot of snow and frigid temperatures for the weeks that followed. That snowstorm, which hit at the end of January, still had parking lot snow piles at the first week of March. This was not a fun winter - weather wise.
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Guess who is four? Charlotte has a wide range of interests - she was just as excited to open her Rapunzel doll as she was her Spiderman figurine. It's been a fast four years.
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Part Two of Charlotte's birthday was a tea party at The Village Tea house. Dad ordered a pot of the tea they through over at the Boston Tea Party. A smoky tasting tea. He thinks the Patriots did England a favor throwing it overboard.
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Charlotte's Fourth Birtday Party
We went a little outside the box for this party - instead of booking a slot at one of the area's play zones, we broke the trend and had a ballet class party followed by a tea party. The party was held where Charlotte has been taking ballet lessons. It was a great party, a memorable one that we will talk about years from now, that would not have been possible without Lola's effort. Lola baked a lot of cookies and dipped a bunch of strawberries in chocolate. There were multiple varieties of tea sandwiches. Dad purchased two backup pizzas - no one touched them as there was too much good food from Lola.
We went a little outside the box for this party - instead of booking a slot at one of the area's play zones, we broke the trend and had a ballet class party followed by a tea party. The party was held where Charlotte has been taking ballet lessons. It was a great party, a memorable one that we will talk about years from now, that would not have been possible without Lola's effort. Lola baked a lot of cookies and dipped a bunch of strawberries in chocolate. There were multiple varieties of tea sandwiches. Dad purchased two backup pizzas - no one touched them as there was too much good food from Lola.
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The whole Goddard Gang celebrating at Play Zone in Doylestown for Evan's birthday.
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Dad's been pushing the 2026 Winter Olympics pretty hard. We watched the opening ceremony at Lola and Papa's. Dad also subscribed to Peacock so we could watch events live and in their full coverage. We got further into the Olympic spirit by ice skating at Philadelphia City Hall. Look at Charlotte go! 2038 and 2042 Olympics here she comes!
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We filled a cold, quiet weekend morning with a trip to Netflix House at the King of Prussia Mall.
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We managed to squeeze in a long weekend trip to Florida - Florida Panhandle Trip.
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The Michener Museum in Doylestown had a temporary exhibit of Erik Carle's artwork - the writer of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We couldn't miss this. It was a solid exhibition. Just enough artwork for the parents and just enough activities for the kids. We struggled but we did complete the surprisingly complicated Hungry Caterpillar puzzle.
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The next day we attended the Philadelphia Flower Show - another Philadelphia staple, major annual event, that Dad had never been to. We had a fun time checking out all the inspirational garden designs. We even made our own succulent globe.
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Beyond all the adventures, the best part of the season is spending time with Charlotte who's been getting more creative with how she spends her time indoors. A new favorite activity has been creating pillow forts and blanket houses where she can cuddle up with all her stuffed animals. Charlotte and Papa have matching Marvel pajamas.
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