The Chester County Moms Blog is a community website dedicated to providing you with more local information in five minutes than in five hours of surfing the web.
Our
Chesco Mom readers have requested a rundown on local Chester County
Easter Egg Hunts. Here is what we have found. We know there are more in
the local area so if f you know of other events that are open to the
public, please let us know so we can share. You can email us at chestercountymoms@gmail.com. Please include as much information as you can and/or web links.
Events in Downingtown:
Community Egg Hunt at Bell Tavern Park
Saturday, March 27 a 10:00am. Bring your own basket.
Breakfast with the Easter Bunny at Wegman's
Saturday, March 20th
Time: 8:30- 10:00am
Reservation Required - Register at Customer Service Desk
Cost:$7.99 per Adult and $4.99 per child
Community East Egg Hunt at Kerr Park
Saturday, March 27th at 2:30PM
Bring your own basket
Easter Egg Hunt with 76ers "Hip-Hop" for kiddos Ages 3 to 10.
Special Prizes, Sixers hats and game tickets!
Events in Thorndale/ Coatesville:
Community Egg Hunt
Saturday, March 27th (rain date 3/28)
10:00am
West Brandywine Township Community Park 198 Lafayette Road Coatesville, PA 19320
Sign Up Required.. click here to RSVP (bring your own basket)
Caln Township Community Egg Hunt
Saturday, March 27th (rain date 3/28)
1:00PM
Caln Municipal Park (across from Giant)
Valley Township
Valley Township Parks & Recreation Annual Easter Egg Hunt
Friday April 10th at 3:00pm
Westwood Fire Company
1403 Valley Rd.
Coatesville, PA 19320.
There will be games, prizes and an appearance by the Easter Bunny! This event is for all Valley Township residents ages 2 to 12.
Amerikids
will be painting faces & the Giant Bunny will pose for pictures.
The Big bunny arrives via firetruck. No East Goshen Child should miss
this event.
Events in Exton:
Whiteland Towne Center - Photos with the Easter Bunny
Rt. 100 & Rt. 30 in Exton (Kohl's Acme, TJ Maxx)
Saturday, March 27th
11:00am - 2:00PM
Photos with The Easter Bunny $5 ( near Party City)
(check in the FREE KIDS newspaper - available at grocery stores, preschools, activity centers, etc -for a free photo coupon)
All proceeds to benefit Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3 Day
Exton Square Mall - Photos with the Easter Bunny
Visits & Photos with the Easter Bunny through April 3, 2010
Breakfast with the Easter Bunny at Longwood Gardens
April 3, 8:00 & 9:30 am
Spend
the morning with the Easter Bunny at a special breakfast. After your
meal, hunt for easter eggs on the Terrace lawn. Reservations required.
For more information or to purchase tickets please visit www.longwoodgardens.org
Annual Community Egg Hunt at Anson B. Nixon Park in Kennett Square
Saturday, April 3, 10AM
Area youngsters up to age 12 are welcomed to search for the hundreds of eggs hidden in the locust grove.
Bring a container for your collection. No registration; no fee
Bunnyland at Linvilla Orchards (Media, Delaware County)
Kids will love taking a hayride through the woods to see their favorite
rabbit. There's storytelling, face painting, pony rides and free photo
ops with the Easter Bunny. Stop by Linvilla's Farm Market and Bakery to
stock up on freshly baked treats like hot cross buns, cheese babkas,
and mouth-watering pies.
Linvilla Orchards 137 West Knowlton Road, Media, PA 610-876-7116
Hayride Hours 11 am- 4 pm March 20 & 21 and March 27 thru April 3 Visit www.Linvilla.com for details
Strasburg Railroad Easter Bunny Train. April 2-4. Travel with Peter Cottontail on an authentic steam train to Paradise, PA., and back. 717-687-7522; www.strasburgrailroad.com
The Philadelphia Flower Show is a grown-up gardener’s paradise, and it can be a wonderland of discovery and delight for children as well. The larger-than-life displays offer a unique setting in which to engage youngsters in the beauty of the natural world and ignite a lifelong passion for its precious plant life. The theme for the Flower Show this year is "Passport to the World".
My daughter and I had the pleasure of visiting The Philadelphia Flower Show on opening day, Sunday, February 28th. We woke up early Sunday morning and hopped on the good old R5 and headed to the Convention Center. I love the ease of public transportation when traveling into the city. Once we arrived in Philadelphia we started the moring off with an unbelievable brunch sponsored by Fisher Price at the beautiful Loew's Hotel.
My sister and her boyfriend went with us and while he was waiting watching the chef make his custom omlet he turned to me and said that the spread set out for us was the best he had ever seen. The folks at Fisher Price and The Loew's Hotel went all out! Thank You!
After brunch we headed back to the Convention Center to journey around the globe with breathtaking stops in India, Brazil, the Netherlands, South Africa, New Zealand and Singapore. We saw thousands of plant and floral design entries of local enthusiasts in hundreds of categories. My daughter and I both agreed that the South African themed display by American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD), was "really cool"...My daughter is 5 and "really cool" is tops in her book. We also loved the lion standing gaurd over the South African exhibit. Another favorite of ours was life-size elephant in the Indian wedding-inspired exhibit by Jamie Rothstein Floral Design...I don't know how they did it, but WOW!
Show organizers have arranged a specially priced $65 Family Fun Pack of discounted tickets offering two adults and two children admission to the Show and free membership in the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. Students ages 17-24 can purchase tickets for $18 for any day (must have valid student ID; proof of age). Family Fun Pack and Student tickets are available online this year!
Shoppers - find a bustling Marketplace with an array of take-home products to get the garden started, the official Flower Show Shoppe with 2010 Show merchandise, and a World Bazaar of beautiful and exotic crafts and products. Foodies will love the International Wine and Spirits Garden, presented by the PA Wine & Spirits Stores and the International Dessert and Coffee Bar.
Complementing the fabulous exhibits, shopping and great food will be live performances, provided by World Café Live that take audiences to Bollywood, Africa and South America. Children love to dance, and this year they’ll sway to the music of Bollywood. Performances by dancers and musicians from India and Brazil happen on the Explorer’s Stage in the exhibition hall.
Nourishing the soul and the stomach are two of the great joys of gardening. Kids learn how gardening can help people in the interactive Camden Children’s Garden display, inspired by "soup and salad” and the vegetable gardens that help feed Camden residents. In the PHS Village kids can learn first-hand how to create a home vegetable garden.
Attention Girl Scouts! If your child is a Girl Scout who is 17 years of age or younger and comes to the Show in her Scout uniform on Sunday, March 7, she will be admitted to the Show for $7. Girl Scouts Day at the Show is a time to celebrate the achievements of Scouts who have participated in the new Pennsylvania Horticultural Society patch program, "Planting Seeds, Growing Lives.”
Special Priced Girl Scouts Day tickets ($7) are available on Sunday, March 7 only at the Show Box Office.
Children won’t want to miss the special youth entries (18 years and younger) in the intricate pressed plants category. The theme of this competition is Garden Friends. Also, look for animal topiaries; the weird and the wonderful winners in the plant competitions; and entries by local teens including Lower Merion High School’s front porch, Abington Senior High School’s front porch, Harrington High School’s window box, and Lower Cape May Regional High School’s "succulent scene” window box.
When it’s time to play, take a break in the enjoyable Family Lounge for parents and toddlers. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Family Lounge is located just outside the Show exhibition halls in Room 203. The folks from Fisher Price ® are on hand this year to hand out goody bags, play games, and provide play areas in the Lounge. Children must be accompanied by adults.
If you plan to capture all the fun in photographs, camera batteries and disposable cameras are available for sale at the official Flower Show Shoppe in the center of the exhibition halls. There’s also a special DVD of the 2010 Show, along with keepsakes for the whole family.
Have fun at the Flower Show and THINK SPRING!
Amazing view from the 33rd floor at The Loews Hotel!
...and on the farm there was a pink cow, lonely turtle and a farm hand....E-I-E-I-O!
Hi, my name is Sarah and I am a "Farmville-aholic!". I gave into the peer pressure and just started playing al little before Chistmas and I am totally hooked! I have been a regular Facebook-er for a little over a year and for the life of me couldn't understand "Farmville". The constant updates downright irritated me. I didn't care about updates about fertilizing or harvesting. Now... well... I speak "farmville". Recently I have had full blown "farmville" conversations with people that I have not talked to in 20 years. I "friended" an old friend from ELEMENTARY school and we both farm. Over the sharing of farming gifts, stable materials and decorating tips we now chat everyday. Not just about Farmville, but about life stuff, kid stuff, mom stuff! For me .... THIS is what Social Media is all about! Farmville is a tool that I have used for entertainment and stress relief but it has given me an opportunity to reconnect and network.
For those of you not yet "on the farm", let me explain....
When you begin playing Farmville you create your Farmville Avatar (mine has pig tails and wears overalls - very farmy!) and start with six plots of land. You click on the "market" and buy your first seeds to create your first harvest. You can purchase seeds and plan your harvest based on your availability. I usually farm in the evenings as a way to decompress so I always pick crops with a 12-24 harvest cycle. After your first harvest you are paid in virtual coins and receive XP (Experience Points). The basics of the game are simple. The more you plant, the more you harvest, the more you harvest the more coins and XP you have to upgrade and decorate your farm. You can decorate with fencing, ponds, houses, vehicles, animals, trees, flowers. You play with your facebook friends that also farm and your facebook friends become your "neighbors". You don't want your neighbors to pass your level or have more silos or cows than you do so the game can become rather competitive.
I know there are lots of fun Zynga facebook games, but I can only handle playing one so Farmville it is. I am currently level 30, hoping to reach level 31 by mid week. I have a pretty busy week ahead and I have planned my harvesting (cotton) around my schedule. (sick, I tell ya..it is a sickness!!), but we all need a little mindless fun, right? My whole family is pretty much "on the farm" now. My brother who fought joining Facebook for the longest time caved last week just so he could see what we were talking about. He is pretty competitive so I expect him to have the much sought after villa on his farm in no time soon.
Last weekend was my mother in laws birthday and she is as excited about her farm as I am about mine so I bought her gifts that had to do with farming. Her card sang "The Chicken Dance", my daughter painted a ceramic piggy bank, and we got her a Topsy Turvy, you know the upside down tomato planter that is "As Seen on TV". We had lots of laughs as she opened the farm-y gifts. I think I talk to her at least once a day now about the current "state of the farm". So for my family in a very silly way the mutual love of farming has really brought us all together. My mom and my mother in law are all neighbors. It is networking! To become a farmville neighbor you have to be facebook friends. When you are friends on facebook you see status updates. You get to really know your " neighbors" and you know what they are doing and what is going on in their life.
As I type this my husband is laughing at me. Laughing over the fact that I think this is post is "blog worthy"...I know this all may sound silly for those that have not been bitten by the farming bug, but those of you that play farmville.. you get it, you know what I am talking about.... Yee-haw!
In January, my family suffered from the loss of a beloved friend. This friend, "S", was a brave, strong and valiant warrior in the battle that she waged against cancer. And while I lost an amazing and dear friend, I also had to help my 5 year old daughter navigate her way through her grief. You see, my daughter's very best friend had lost her Mommy.
We knew this day may come, but we had no idea it would come as soon as it did. I'd love to say that my husband and I had a "Master Plan" about how we would talk to our daughter about death. When the moment came, we sat down and talked with her immediately. She shared her sadness, her concern for her friend, and also her questions on what Heaven must be like. Over the next few days, she really seemed to be processing well. She was asking questions when she thought of them and acknowledging her sadness when she felt it. I had no idea at that time that a Christmas gift that was purchased just a few weeks prior would become a critically important coping tool for us both.
For Christmas, my daughter had picked out the perfect gift for "S". At that point, "S" was in a skilled nursing facility, and quite frankly, not in need of many traditional material gifts. But, when I discussed the need to find the perfect holiday gift for "S" with my daughter, she immediately knew what it should be. We soon found exactly what we were looking for... a nice warm, comfy blanket. My daughter and "S" had both shared a love for the color purple. When we spotted a beautiful cable knit purple blanket at the store, we knew we had found the winner!
When I delivered the gift to "S" at Christmas, she adored the blanket and immediately appreciated the purple reference. When I returned home from my visit that day, I told my daughter how much "S" loved the gift and she beamed. We were so pleased to have gotten "S" a useful gift that also brought her a smile and reminded her of us!
In the weeks after "S" passed, The Blanket made its way back to our house. When I told our daughter that we would now have The Blanket to help us remember "S", she was teary yet thrilled to have such a tangible memento.
Since then, there have been times I've found my daughter on our couch snuggled up with The Blanket. Except, she now calls it Miss "S". She will often tell me "Mom, I love getting snuggles from Miss "S"" or "Mom, Miss "S" is keeping me warm tonight". I am thrilled that she is using this blanket to remember and honor Miss "S" (who could give world-renown snuggles to the kiddies) and also to process her hurt.
Yesterday I got under The Blanket with my daughter and we snuggled for a while on the couch and we talked about what Miss "S" must have been doing at that moment. I told her I thought that "S" was smiling wide and happy to be "hugging" us via The Blanket. She told me she thought "S" was out bouncing on the clouds with her friends in Heaven. What a smile that gave me.
I did not know what an important role this simple blanket would play in our family, but I am so honored to have it and will absolutely cherish it always for the love and support it provides to my daughter and I.
In celebration of National Wear Red Day on Friday, February 5th, over 100 Chester County employees participated in a Wear Red Day dance video choreographed to the Black Eyed Peas song "I Gotta Feeling". Initiated by the Chester County Employee Wellness team and the Chester County Health Department, the video was produced to inspire other businesses, as well as family, friends and co-workers to wear red and raise awareness about heart disease on National Wear Red Day.
According to the Chester County Health Department, more women die of cardiovascular disease than the next five causes of death combined, including cancer. "One in three women has some form of cardiovascular disease and many of us know at least one of these women," said Margaret Rivello, Director of the Chester County Health Department. "We want to remind women – and men – to make small, simple choices that will help them live longer, healthier lives."
Chester County’s Employee Wellness Committee and the Health Department encourage all businesses and organizations to support Go Red Day. Fundraising, hosting heart-healthy luncheons, coordinating a lunchtime group walk or scheduling a heart disease workshop for employees are all great ways to raise awareness and join the fight in the number-one killer for women – as well as men. On Friday, all Chester County employees will be encouraged to "dress down" in red and make a donation to the Go Red Day effort.
The County Health Department reminds everyone that heart disease can affect anyone, and if you take care of your heart, it will take care of you. Although February 5th is Go Red Day for Women, make every day count as a Heart Healthy Day.
Posted By Sarah Freymoyer,
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Updated: Thursday, February 04, 2010
My ipod is one of my very favorite things in there whole entire world. I have it on a docking station in the kitchen and my kids and I rock out every morning before school to get the day started, I sing my little heart out while the kids are napping and I am working around the house or playing facey-book, and then every night at while I am making dinner...evening concert.
Music is such an important part of my life. I have playlists for just about everything and any mood. Ones that energize me, relax me, take me back to my childhood, teens, early 20's (although that wasn't too long ago, sing I am 29 and holding- wink, wink). I used to have hundreds of CD's..hundreds! Pre- kids, I spent a lot of time in the car for work and music got me through the day. My CD's were in CD binders, but somehow always ended up under my seats, in the glove box, side door pocket, they were everywhere. I always thought it was silly that I was carting around my entire music library in the car, but I was in sales and never knew what the day would bring, what kind of mood I would be in or when I would need a little pick me up or a little Dave Matthews to relax after a stressful meeting. I loved my CD's. If I liked a song I would buy the CD. Doing that is how I fell in love with DMB. I liked "Crash", bought the CD and 14 years and 10 concerts later. Dave Matthews is my all time favorite.
When I met my husband I had a teeny, tiny, cute little 2 seater. Throw in my work stuff, CD collection and other random stuff (shoes, shopping bags, camera bag, etc) and there wasn't much for him, or if I drove he had to hold a big old CD binder on his lap. Not so comfy. The first present he ever bought me was my ipod. He had the majority of my CD's downloaded and that began my love affair with my ipod...oh, and yeah, my husband.
Anyway... long story short, the reason that I started this whole ode to my ipod post..... my husband would like his own ipod for Valentine's Day. He and I have WAY different taste in music. While I am crunchy 90's Rock, Old School Hip- Hop with a punch of modern pop. He is 80's pop with a touch of modern pop & hip hop.
He has a playlist on my ipod, but he rarely gets a chance to listen to it. He borrows my ipod when he goes to the gym, but I am always nervous he is going to lose it or break it. ( he has a track record for losing & breaking stuff) The minute he walks in the door, I ask for it right away and make sure it is okay. Silly, I know, but that is how much I love my ipod.. can you imagine what a freak I must be about my kids? um, yeah!
So.. I am thinking it is time for hubs to get his own ipod... it will be a "come full circle gift". He bought me my first ipod, I bought him his.
I was searching ipod prices today and looked on Amazon today and found a pretty Awesome Ipod Deal and wanted to share it with you. I scored an ipod Nano for $139. I saved $43!!!!
So.. hopefully my husband won't read this post before Valentine's Day and know what I got him, but just incase he does... Happy Valentine's Day.. Enjoy your ipod!....and don't lose it!
So...The other day I had an itch on my CHIN. Not a normal spot for an itch, I know but, it was there so... I scratched. While deep in scratch I felt a wirey stubble of a hair. I immediately ran to the mirror. Yep, there it was.Front and center. A chin hair. Ugh! You think chin hair,Grandma. I am only 29(and holding) how is this happening? I got the tweezers and since it was so small I had to break out the magnifier mirror. After nicking away skin I finally clamped onto it and pulled it out. I am glad to report that I am chin hair free now. I know because I am totally obsessed now and look for it every day.
Please tell me I am not the only one with chin hair. Do you think chin hair is like grey hair. Once you pluck it 2 will grow back? Am I going to be a bearded lady? Should I just sign up for the carny now?
Looking for something free and fun to do with the kid's? How about heading to Ryerss Farm for Aged Equines, a retirement facility for aged and/or abused horses. Founded in 1888, it is the country’s oldest, non-profit organization, 501(c)(3) dedicated to the care of these majestic animals.
Located on 383 beautiful acres of rolling hills in Northern Chester County. Ryerss Farm provides a wonderful setting for horses to graze and play, living their golden years in comfort and dignity. (about 15-20 minutes from Exton)
The Farm is open to visitors daily between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. If you’d like, you may bring treats to feed the horses. But, please limit your food donations to apples (quartered) and carrots only.
A group tour may be scheduled in advance by calling the farm office at (866) 469-0507. There is no cost to visit the farm, but donations are appreciated.
Directions: From the Pennsylvania Turnpike Downingtown Exit (312), bare right onto Route 100 North. Travel 9 miles to the 8th traffic light at Route 23 (Ridge Rd.). Turn left onto Route 23 West. Travel approximately 2 ½ miles to the farm on your right. Not coming from the Exton, West Chester area -For more directions, click here
Once you say hello to all of the horses in the barn and fields, follow the drive way past the silo to the Draft horse barn and visit with "Stanley".
Stanley is my sons favorite. Stanley is HUGE! He stands 18.1 hands.
He is super sweet and really likes apples!
Stanley worked for a pharmaceutical company aiding in creating snakebite anti-venom before retiring to Ryerss in October 2004. Stanley is smart, a good mover and "King of the Drafts.”
Since no public funds are received, Ryerss Farm relies on the generous support of caring individuals and groups. Every donation is gratefully accepted. Want to help by donating an item from the wish list? Click here to see what the farm needs. Remember, Ryerss Farm is a non-profit, charitable organization. All donations are tax-deductible
Did you know that when MP3 players are purchased as gifts, the majority of purchasers are moms? That finding emerged at the Mommy Tech summit at the recently concluded Consumer Electronics Show. But do you know about the potential risks?
Kids often don't know how to use audio technology safely and they can harm their hearing as a result. In fact, hearing loss among young people is reported to be on the rise and there are strong concerns that a generation of young people could end up with prevalent hearing loss.
"For some time, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) has warned that hearing loss in the United States could rise significantly due to the misuse of personal audio technology," ASHA President Tommie L. Robinson, Jr. explains. "Unfortunately, a report released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation cites some alarming trends about excessive entertainment media consumption among our nation's children, indirectly supporting ASHA's concerns. This should be a warning to parents that they must regulate children's exposure and fully understand the potential health threats associated with misuse and over exposure to such technologies."
"ASHA will continue to bring these issues to the forefront and appreciates the Kaiser Family Foundation's contributions to the national dialogue," Robinson adds.
According to a 2004 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, children were reported as being exposed to 6 hours and 21 minutes of media (TV, music, internet, etc) per day. By 2009, this statistic had increased dramatically to 7 hours and 38 minutes per day. When media multitasking is taken into account, this leaps to 10 hours and 45 minutes per day. This massive consumption of media has led to decreased grades in school and ASHA contends it puts kids at an increased risk of hearing loss. One thing that is clear from the study is that parents can be very positive influencers on how their children use entertainment media.
How You Can Help
Spread the Message....
Whether your child received an MP3 player, gaming device, cell phone, laptop, or any other device with headphones, don't overlook the important health threat of hearing loss. Now is the time to reach out to other parents about the importance of hearing loss prevention, the damaging effects of excessive media consumption, and the resources available to them through ASHA.
Here are two simple ways to protect your children's - and your own - hearing.·
1.) Keep the volume down. A good guide is half volume. ·
2.) Limit listening time. Give your hearing 'quiet breaks'.
Find more information and statistics at ASHA's website. You can also follow their Twitter feed or fan them on Facebook to get real time updates on their work.
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is one of my very favorite things in there whole entire world. I have it on a docking station in the kitchen and my kids and I rock out every morning before school to get the day started, I sing my little heart out while the kids are napping and I am working around the house or playing facey-book, and then every night at while I am making dinner...evening concert. 
