We went to Philadelphia.
Levi had an NCTM conference, so Emily and the kids tagged along for some sight-seeing.
We got there Wednesday afternoon, and had an hour to burn. We found the art museum. Or rather, we found the basement entrance walkway, and...
... the park out back. The kids were so excited to get out of the car after a 5 hour drive.
After all that culture, we checked in to our hotel. One thing Andy always remembers about staying at hotels: he gets to watch TV.
Addie found out the chair might be stylish, but it's not a very good baby sitter (the hard way).
Thursday, the kids and I (Emily) found the ...
There were SO many fun things for Andy to do.... there was a shopping center, with kid size shopping carts, a rocket room with little foam air rockets, Alice's Wonderland, a hospital, a train station, and so much more. Of all the things, here was Andy's favorite. We came back to this in between every. other. exhibit.
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| Andy's favorite Luckily, this truck didn't have buttons to push or bells to ring, it's wheels couldn't come off, and it didn't have doors to open and close, so Andy pretty much had the truck to himself. He kept saying, "C'mon Mom." So I had, no got, to sit on that little bench with him. They had so many things for the kids to do. I only managed a few pictures while juggling our bag, jackets and Addie. |
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| Hanging up the kittens' mittens |
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| Trains |
The next day (yes, we only have one activity per day...Mom and both kids are worn out after just a few hours of play, and so naptime was not negotiable), we went to the nations first zoo: the Philadelphia Zoo.
We saw elephants (we actually never made it to the real ones, but Andy was just as fascinated), ...
snakes, ...
tractors (I had to drag Andy away from this fence...can you see the tractor behind the netting?), ...
lions, ...
tigers, ...
and giraffes!
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| Andy showing me what the giraffe did |
Andy even got to milk a cow, ...
drive a tractor, ...
and feed some sheep, but I don't have a picture of that.
I realize I don't have a picture of Addie in here. She rode in the stroller most of the time. Have you tried to get a picture of your kid looking at animals from the stroller? It's very difficult. You either get a lot of cheek, and very little animal, or more animal and the stroller bars, or a lot of stroller and very little anything else. But for the record...Addie came along.
That evening, we visited the hotel pool.
This picture is more telling of how Andy felt most of the time. He was not fond of leaving the steps, and especially going under water.
Here's Addie (I can't think any clever comment about what she's doing, maybe you could fill in the blank.)
Addie ________________ while Andy and dad were swimming.
Last minute, Addie decided to jump in for a minute (literally, it was only a minute). Here's the trio in their towels.
Our final day there, Levi got to spend with us, so I got take my eyes off Andy long enough for this picture.
We made it to Independence Hall early, and had some time to kill.
We toured Independence Hall.
This is about how the tour went: we stood in back and tried to keep the kids quiet.
Then after everyone has moved on, we got to snap a picture. This is the actual room where the Declaration of Independence was signed.
Afterwards, we took a minute to see the Liberty Bell. Andy refused to smile, so Levi had to help him out on that one.
Next was a short drive to Valley Forge.
Here are the homes the soldiers stayed in over the winter.
Here's the inside. Twelve men lived together in here...can you imagine?
Andy tried out the beds. He does not recommend them. Especially if you have back problems.
Addie recommends you have your daddy bundle you up and carry you around. Nothing is as comfortable as that.
I'm thought we did more at Valley Forge, but apparently we didn't take pictures...I'm sure it was great.
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By the end of the trip, we were all SO ready to be home. Both kids caught a cold on the last day, so getting home was a real blessing. As you can see, we're all recovering from the trip. Onto our next big adventures, potty training and crawling!
