I headed out early Tuesday morning for Philadelphia to attend the Independent Educational Consultant Association’s Summer Institute with 100 other consultants. The trip was incredibly worthwhile, as I learned a TON of information, made some great connections and even managed to squeeze in 4 campus visits!
I stayed in a college (Swarthmore) dorm for 4 days, showered in the communal showers, and attended “class” in the school’s lecture halls…I slid right back into the college life, except for the fact that I was sleeping each night by 10PM…I actually slept quite peacefully without the baby monitor next to my head!
Swarthmore had this giant lawn chair in the middle of campus. I finally climbed up on it on my last day there for a photo op!
Here we are on our “official” campus tour. Swarthmore, a small (1500 students) liberal arts college, is about 10 miles outside Philly.
We made sure to get off campus to see some of the surrounding schools as well. On Thursday night we went to University of Pennsylvania for a tour and had dinner on campus. U Penn had a ton of beautiful outdoor sculptures all over, definitely a site to be seen!
On Friday night we skipped dinner so we could check out Villanova and Bryn Mawr, both beautiful!
There was a ton of construction going on at Villanova, which made the tour a bit of a challenge but it was wonderful to see so more much being put into an already beautiful campus! I had to get a shot with the crane for Joey…
Bryn Mawr, an all-girls liberal arts college, was just a few minutes away from Villanova. There were such beautiful, historical buildings and we were able to talk to a few students staying on campus for the summer who just raved about their experience.
While I was away, the kids did great! Breanna and Greg covered Tuesday and Wednesday night. Here’s a photo Breanna sent to me of Joey doing a letter-matching activity she created!
Visiting the firehouse in our neighborhood (just last week he was afraid of the truck)!
When I found out the date for the Institute, I was so bummed to see it landed on the same weekend as Sidewalk Sale, one of my favorite sales of the year! Fortunately, Bubbie and Auntie Michy more than took care the boys!
Nanny & Poppy had Thursday to Friday and Bubbie & Zeyde had Friday to Saturday.
Poppy reported he even changed Joey’s poopy diaper, going above and beyond the call of duty!
Uncle Billy showing Joey the Point Drive demo (I can’t wait to begin using it!)…
The kids loved their adventure, so much so that Joey was too busy to say “hi” when I would call to FaceTime.
All in all the trip was great. I’m so excited to be back home with my family and to apply all I learned!
