Philadelphia! (Day 1)

On Tuesday, Cameron was post-call, so he came home and slept for a few hours, and then we all piled into the car and headed to Philadelphia! We were able to stay in the heart of the city (thanks to Cameron's dad and uncle!!!!), and we had such a great afternoon and evening. We walked to Reading Terminal Market and got some lunch, and then continued walking over to see the Liberty Bell. It's hard to convey the significance of something like that to a four year old, but both Samuel and Caleb were quite fascinated with the bell, and Samuel was wondering if we could ring it (we told him no, of course). We walked around quite a bit in that area and saw the visitor's center, and then we got to see Independence Hall.

We got a lot of funny looks as we were walking around, though, because our turkey Caleb kept taking his shoes and socks off!! It wasn't freezing, but it wasn't warm, either, and he had bare feet! I kept trying to cover him up with my jacket, but he would pull it up so his feet would be exposed! We really were trying hard to be good parents, but I was a little nervous that one of the security guards were going to call CPS on us... ;0)

Anyways, when we got to Independence Hall, it wasn't super crowded which was nice, and our tour guide, Ranger Mike, was really great. He loved kids, so he was very patient with Caleb wanting to run around a lot and he was playful with Samuel. After the tour he pulled Samuel aside and gave him some fun cards talking about Washington, Madison, the Declaration of Independence, etc. So that was really awesome.

Then we walked over and saw Benjamin Franklin's grave, and just walked around those historical sites for a little while. It was very awe-inspiring getting to be where such impressive and admirable men spent their time creating such important and historical documents. Even though we were chasing Caleb around and trying to keep him quite, we could still feel the aura of significance that resides in Independence Hall. I can't wait to get to DC sometime and see the actual Constitution and Declaration of Independence!!

By then it was starting to get dark and the boys were getting hungry. We walked to China Town and went to a little noodle restaurant that my friend told me about, and enjoyed excellent Chinese noodle soups. We got back to the hotel, put the kids to bed, and hid out in the bathroom reading books until they went to sleep so we could, too. So far the only thing that didn't go perfectly was my own fault - I forgot the camera... It was sad to be seeing such amazing things without being able to document it, but at the same time I think sometimes I worry so much about getting good pictures that I forget to really take in what I'm seeing. I really wish we had something to document our trip, but it was a really wonderful and special day.