Valley Forge

On our way out of town we couldn't resist adding a trip to Valley Forge to round out our American History trip.  The boys like the cabins but agreed the bunks were a little tight.

A sinking feeling

We got on the elevator tonight to head down to the pool.  It moves fast and Mr. 7 announced that it was really giving him a sinking feeling. 

"Not me." Mr. 3 quickly told us.  "I never get a sleeping feeling.  Not even when it's night and I'm in my bed.".  The older boys and I laughed and I explained to him that Mr. 7 meant a sinking feeling.  Like when something sinks down below the water.

A bit later Mr. 3, giddy with being able to touch without help, slipped and almost went under.  "You know Daddy, sometimes I really get a sinking feeling."  Sinking is okay but sleeping is right out.

Independence Hall

Mr. 1 started fussing this morning about 6:15 (his usual wake-up time) so David and I took him in the bathroom to give him a drink, change his diaper, and start him on breakfast as he always wakes up so hungry.  He was happily demolishing a piece of pear bread when Mr. 3 joined us.  Soon after getting Mr. 3 some breakfast, Mr. 7 quietly knocked on the door.  Now all of is were crammed in the little bathroom having breakfast while Mr. 9 slept.  Very funny!

When Mr. 9 finally woke up he was feeling much better so we had a little breakfast and headed down to the pool.  Our hotel is right on Penn's landing and the pool is on the 4th floor overlooking the river (the same amazing view as our room on the 16th floor).  The boys had a grand time - especially Mr. 3 who is suddenly tall enough to touch and Mr. 1 who loved being in the water with the brothers.  Mr. 7 and Mr. 9 have really gotten to be good swimmers and it's great to see them really enjoying the water as swimmers.

We dressed quickly and headed over to get tickets for Independence Hall.  We passed a coffee shop and sent David ahead with Mr. 1 to get the tickets while I got the coffee.  We had already had a small breakfast and intended to have a big brumch after the tour but one look at the pastries and Mr. 3 told me he couldn't "survive" unless I got him breakfast.  I explained the plan again but he still insisted that he wouldn't survive.  The only thing that saved us is his desire to be first and the knowledge that Daddy and Mr. 1 were ahead of us.

The boys really enjoyed Independence Hall and were excited to see the room where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed.  They have a program with trading cards with important people, places, and things and you get them by asking the park rangers for them and answering trivia questions for them.  Our boys love them and have been obsessively collecting them.  What could be better than trivia and collecting!  We've been studying this time in school and it's been rather gratifying to see them impressing the rangers with their knowledge.

After also taking the Congress Hall tour we were all hungry so headed out to find brunch.  How did people take vacations before smart phones?  Going on Yelp and finding a good nearby restaurant and then mapping our way there is an essential part of our vacation routine.  We would be lost without it.  Again, we were not disappointed.  We ended up at a little diner where everyone sat on stools and ate a huge delicious brunch.  The boys worked on their junior ranger booklets and charmed the waitress.  Then we checked out the Franklin printing office and collected more cards and chatted with more friendly park rangers.  We finished up at the Independence Hall visitors center to them in our junior ranger booklets and complete our trading card set.

We discovered that our museum of science membership is reciprocal with the Franklin Institute so, after a bit of smart phone consultation, we all hopped on a city bus to spend the remainder of the day there.  You have to hand it to our kids - they are totally unfazed by city life including the craziness of urban buses.

The museum was fun - a giant two story heart to explore, a real steam engine to pretend to drive, an exhibit where you use clues to solve a mystery exhibit, amazing machines.  It was going well until Mr. 1 and I started to get hungry.  When I am hungry, I get cranky and indecisive (not a good combo with 4 kids) and sadly Mr. 1 seems to share this trait, although he just get really grumpy - about everything.  We were starting to fall apart so I asked one of the guards if there were any good cheesesteaks nearby.  No, not that he k we of.   His favorite is Jim's but it is too far to walk.  A bit of consultation and we discovered we could take the bus there and then it would just be a short walk back to our hotel. 

We loved Jim's - and cheesesteaks.  The tables are on the second floor and the boys liked watching the bustle below us and the guys behind the counter joked that he would trade me the sandwiches for the baby.  We even went back for more sandwiches and left with much higher blood sugar.  Mr. 1 ate is weight in egg and cheese and was giddy on the walk back.  We walked along the water front, admiring the submarine and World War I cruiser that Mr. 7 had hoped we could tour (just not time for everything and we do have Battleship Cove near us).  We made it back to the hotel for a night swim with the lights of city around us.  Then it was bath and shower time and off to bed.  If you really wear your kids out, everyone goes to sleep pretty fast.  Unfortunately then you're stuck hanging out in the bathroom.  Which is okay if there's good WiFi - and someone you love to share it with.

Tomorrow it's on to Indy.  We're excited to see everyone but it will be a long day in the car!

Liberty Bell

We decided to make a quick trip to Philadelphia on our way to Indianapolis for Thanksgiving.  After a crazy week we decided we needed Saturday to catch up and planned to head out Sunday morning.  Our early start was a bit later than planned due to a much later bedtime than planned (someday we will start a vacation after a good night's sleep) so headed out around 5am.  Mr. 1 went right back to sleep bit everyone else just dozed so we were a tired bunch.  Despite this we had a great day and had everyone asleep by 8pm!

We started with noodles in Chinatown.  Everyone picked something unique and even gave chopsticks a try.  There is something so fun about watching kids slurp up noodles.  The food was great - even Mr. 1 loved it!

After our delicious noodle lunch we checked into our hotel and headed out to explore.  I love priceline - being flexible has allowed us some great deals and this hotel is perfect for us. 

We walked over to Independence Hall and discovered you need tickets for the tour.  Since it was late on the day (we took over time walking from the hotel - coffee to buy, trees to find, paths to explore), we decided to wait on that and checked out the Liberty Bell.  There is a wonderful picture of David at 12 with his dad and siblings and we knew we needed to recreate it.  The boys are also collecting these trading cards and I loved watching them ask the park ranger for them and answering questions before being rewarded with a Liberty Bell trading card! 

Mr. 9 wanted to take a carriage ride so we all piled in and Napoleon took us through the streets of historic Philly.  We finished up our day by asking one of the doormen at a hotel we passed what his favorite pizza place was and taking it back to the room.  Everyone enjoyed relaxing and no one protested when we declared it time for pajamas at 7pm.

Mr. 9 was looking especially tired so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a good night sleep.

Starting our vacation right

The ups and downs

I wanted to do it

This morning Mr. 3 and I were chatting about school while I helped him get dressed.  He told me there were some boys on the playground who were being "really, really, really mean" by trying to fight him with a corn stalk.  As I was helping with his socks at the end he suddenly realized that he had not put on his clothes all by himself and grabbed the sock away.  "I wanted to get dressed all by myself." he told me.  I told him I was sorry but that he looked very nice.  I left him to put on his socks and chased after Mr. 1.  Suddenly I realized he was in the living room totally naked.  He had stripped down in order to put it all on himself.  Sigh.

Halloween continued

Halloween

After the craziness of Monday's storm, Halloween was a beautiful fall evening here in New England.  We rushed back from swimming lessons to get into costumes for the annual Magnolia Halloween Parade (not really an organized parade - the kids are stopped to parade up Magnolia Street before starting their trick-or-treating but every year it dissolves somewhere around house 3-5 - last year I totally unintentionally derailed it simply by having the bowl of candy next to me as the kids started going past).

We had Mario and Luigi and two dinosaurs.  One dinosaur agreed to be called a Yoshi (he can't really argue yet) but the other was emphatically a T. rex and roared for anyone who would ask.  Our good friends came by the help in the trick-or-treating so we added Toad, an ice cream cone, and a dog to our group.

In our neighborhood everyone is out sitting on their porches, smiling at the costumes, chatting with the parents, and giving out candy.  Natural disasters and Halloween - these are the things that bring the neighborhood together.  We'll have to try an add some happier events to that list!