Day 27

I woke up with the sunrise to be sure not to miss Grammie leaving. It was a nice little sunrise on the top floor of the apartment over the roof tops.

Once Grammie was ready and struggling to get her suitcase closed, I woke up the girls as she protested. They sleepily came up the stairs to give hugs and just a minute later Brayden slunk in too. I had to get one more picture and Brayden suggested I use the timer and get one for everyone. I wasn't expecting a picture with my bedhead, just theirs!

Once we walked her out for final hugs I started up and down the stairs for our packing process. While I do enjoy having the cargo space of a minivan for a short time, I still don't enjoy packing!  We tried to eat all the leftover breakfast food from the fridge and I cooked up some pancakes for quick reheating in the excessive temps we were having.

The day before at Constitution Hall the kids mentioned wanting to go to a hands-on elections exhibit they had that I decided not to buy tickets for. They weren't open until noon so we had a snack and learned more about the Underground Railroad at the visitors center until it was time. I wasn't sure they would let me buy these add-on tickets only, but it turns out he let us in for free! Since it was just opening everyone buying tickets was heading to the live show so we had the "Headed to the White House" exhibit to ourselves for awhile.






They were to learn about the election process and first up was campaign speeches. The read from a teleprompter a speech they selected from either Ronald Reagan or John F. Kennedy. They were all pretty convincing!

They decorated campaign buttons and learned about debates. Then I gave them a topic and they debated! They were not very convincing at all. When asked how they would pay for different programs, two of them were hopeful that donations from taxpayers could cover billions of dollars. If only we could solve our country's problems that easily!







They worked on campaign commercials and emailed them to themselves. They weren't thrilled I made them only do positive ads.











Next they shook hands with a lot of people and pretended to kiss a baby. What fun training for politics!

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present to you, three presidents of the United States!






Ryan had to stop back by to play the politics game again. I'm not sure who won as I was booking a hotel at the time. Temperatures were only to get down to 90 for the night so I was not thrilled about sleeping in the tent for three days. I got us a place pretty close to where we would have been staying so we could still do the same activities but sleep in the cool. I'm all for camping in a tent, but not when I can't sleep!


We made a quick stop at Walmart for photos for journals and made our way to the hotel. The kids were super excited to swim in a pool in the 115 degree day.  Luckily I had remembered from a deep sleep at 2am that the swimming bag was in my getting-fixed-car at the dealership so we could grab it before we left town.

The pool was refreshing and even a little too cold for me! While the kids goofed around I was on the phone a good portion of the time because there was a glitch that was making a reservation in my name at the hotel every 30 minutes. By the time we got it fixed I had 12 rooms reserved in my name!


Once we got back to the room we at sandwiches, relaxed watching Olympics and I planned our next two days. We were all pretty sleepy and the alarm clock just happened to be an hour fast so I tricked talked the kids into going to bed at 9:30 (really 8:30) and we were all snoring within seconds.

Day 26

For our last full day in Philadelphia we decided to tackle a few more museums. After a filling breakfast of Grammie's french toast we drove to Independence Center and headed toward the museums. On the way we stopped by the beautiful cemetery where Ben Franklin is buried and dropped our pennies of respect.

  

This was the day of no photography as two of the museums didn't allow much if at all.  It seems we are destined to not see the U.S. Mint in action as they had shut down due to the heat earlier this morning. We still walked through and learned the way coins are made again. The girls didn't really remember much so they had a good refresher.

We then walked next door to Constitution Hall for a wonderful interactive experience. After doing the kids' presidential portraits (Ryan's looks more like a mugshot!), an inspiring live presentation first about the history of the country. Upstairs there was a beautiful display of the articles of the Bill of Rights above us etched in glass. There were tons of artifacts and videos about different important events in history below them.


The kids' favorite part was the presidential trivia game Ryan wanted to play. Ryan and Brayden teamed up against me and Laney for a Jeopardy-like game. I let Laney try if she thought she knew them and to give the other team a fair shot. There were some I didn't even know though! Laney and I still did manage to eek out a win 140-110. We all learned a little bit in the process!

I was finally allowed to pull out my camera in signer's hall among bronze statues of the signers of the Constitution. We walked around the room looking at the brilliant men who created and signed one of the documents that shaped our nation. Ryan sat in Ben Franklin's lap, Laney played London Bridge with two man, and Brayden thumb-wrestled Nicholas Gilman of New Hampshire.

The kids really enjoyed being able to sign the Constitution and email it to themselves!















While I was refereeing and argument, Grammie found us a little cafe for a snack as we were all a little hungry with plans for dinner far away at 6pm. On our way back to the car we stopped by the visitor's center for a photo Laney had been asking for of another sculpture.  We write "xoxo" to each other all the time so this one she especially loved.


Our next stop was the Philadephia Museum of Art for a children's art program the owner of our apartment let us know about. The kids had a blast making their own stamps to make repeating prints. They got ink everywhere, but had so much fun creating. They also enjoyed completing many, many drawings using architect tools and learning how many buildings are made in Africa.


The highlight though was definitely the interactive art strings they could walk through.



We checked out a few more of the art rooms then headed out to meet up with old friends for dinner. It just so happened our Boffin friends from Italy were in town the few days we were so we made a date to meet for dinner!  The kids had a blast playing after we ate and we closed the place down!

After a lot of catching up, we headed home and started pre-packing to be ready for the next day. Grammie would be leaving early in the morning so the kids said goodbye just in case they missed her, but secretly two of them were adamant that I wake them up no matter what. I stayed up checking the weather and updating the blog as I wouldn't have wifi for about a week. I also started some laundry in hopes it would hold us for another week. Laundry takes a while when you can't do 3 loads at once!

Day 25

We we are officially halfway through our trip. It seems like 3 months ago that we left and stayed in Alabama so long ago!

Today we were headed on a history whirlwind which started at the Visitors Center. After checking in and grabbing our tickets, we got junior ranger books and some trading cards. Brayden loved this idea and couldn't wait to answer more questions from park rangers for more!

Our first stop was the Declaration House. We saw the rooms where all three branches of government for Pennsylvania once resided. It also just happened to be where the Declaration of Independence as well as the Constitution were signed.  Our guide was fantastic and engaging and an obvious teacher.

  

We walked next over to Franklin Court where we first enjoyed the Ben Franklin Museum. The girls wanted to do a scavenger hunt of sorts so I was paired up with Ryan for most of our exploration. Brayden explored on his own and worked on his Junior Ranger book.

We were all surprised by just how many things Ben Franklin invented or founded like the first public hospital, the fireplace damper, swim fins, the odometer, and the first public library! Ryan and I are thinking about inventing fart glasses so we can see who the culprit is of our family stink bombs.

 

We were buying post cards in the gift shop when we heard about the first post office that hand-stamps the cancellation of Ben Franklin's signature. The kids grabbed a few more postcards when they heard this! So everyone pay attention to your stamps if you get a post card from Philadelphia!

We learned about his time working a printing press and visited there next to watch 1776-style printing of the Declaration of Independence.  By the end of this spot the kids were up to about 10 cards already!

     

Next we visited the uncovered section of Ben Franklin's tenant house that held all kinds of fun artifacts of the time. We also met up with our park ranger again who gave the kids more trading cards and shared a bunch more knowledge with us. If only all the park rangers could be this much fun!

  

Our next stop was the Liberty Bell since it is a very popular attraction in the area. The last time we'd been here the line was wrapped around the building so we just peeked in through the glass windows. This time the line wasn't terribly long so as the kids worked on their books we snaked around through security. The exhibit was lengthy so full of information but the kids had one goal in mind so we walked straight through to the bell. I half wished the line would have snaked around the informational displays so I could have read them while we were waiting! Next time.

The kids studied the bell intently trying to find the hairline crack the ranger had told us about that had actually decommissioned it. They also had a few things to complete in their books so we circled it and imagined how loud it would be if we rang it.

  

There was a fun kids stop Brayden spotted so we enjoyed the air conditioning a little while longer while the kids played. Ryan rang the virtual Liberty Bell to see how it sounded before and after the crack. Brayden played with the toy he tries every time we see it that is just about impossible but he knows he going to get some day. And of course after trying some of the activities, Laney dressed up.






















They had a wall where the kids could post what "Liberty" means to them - I like Laney's answer!



Our next stop was a place we all wanted to take Grammie - Reading Terminal Market. We'd been there last time and it was about time for lunch so we walked the 8 blocks sweating away. It felt like Florida this day!  We found her a cheese steak and we returned to get By George pizza the kids had enjoyed before. The ranger told us not to miss getting an ice cream at Bassett's so we made sure to stop there as well. This ice cream rivaled all the delicious tastes we'd had in Michigan last year! My raspberry truffle was outstanding!

Rumor had it there was a museum that had the most trading cards so the kids could finish their Philadelphia collection.  Brayden asked me 142 times if we could go there.  We headed to the Second Bank and had a great tour by one of the rangers who pointed out things to the kids they really enjoyed. It was, as you would imagine, the second bank in America. There was an extensive portrait gallery inside which the ranger told us about and pointed us in the direction to finish a page in the kids' junior ranger books.  They asked him for some trading cards and he was surprised they had most of what he had!

Our last stop was the visitor's center to check back in with our favorite ranger and turn in their books. We were supposed to bring her chocolate, but we sacrificed Ryan and told her she'd eaten it. It was obvious with the chocolate drip down the front of her shirt!

She loved to see how many trading cards they had which meant they'd been learning and answering questions all day. After looking through their books and talking to them about their answers, they were sworn in as Independence National Park junior rangers. They were thrilled to get the nice wooden badges this time as well as a Happy Birthday badge for the national park centennial.

We walked through the kids area at the visitors center and of course the kids had to dress up again. While Laney was again a colonial lady, the other two decided to be park rangers.

One of the statues Ryan remembered from our last trip was the Rocky statue outside the art museum. I'm not sure if we did this picture before, but she was excited to see a painted version this time and get a picture! 

We hopped in an uber car with Ox who had just returned from living in Orlando so we had a nice conversation about the weather. This was our earliest return to the apartment yet so we relaxed and watched the Olympics as the kids ate through the leftovers in the refrigerator. Ryan and I tried out a new game in the closet that she instantly loved called Labryinth because of the mazes and strategy. We have been so fortunate to be able to relax and spread out in such a wonderful place.