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!
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