It helps when you've got great tour guides! Friday was first spent in a Norman Rockwell painting. We walked through the park, which is a block away and the kids got to play on the playground and we had a family practice. Man, I throw like a girl. Oh wait, that's OK :).
Then we headed out to experience Philly, beginning with a Philly Cheese Steak. The kid's choose Pat's, but I have a sneaky feeling Mike wants to experience a Geno's as well. The kid's of course had hotdogs. J had the large, which turned out to be 3 dogs on a very big bun, but we ended up sharing. As it seems he has a taste for Cheese steak as well. Then Independence hall called our names. Once again I got the little goosebumps of "standing in the presence of the past". Independence Hall called our name from there. We had a great tour guide who told the story well, we also got two book reccomendations from Park Ranger who was working the West Hall, where original copies of the Declaration, Articles of Confederation, and Constitution. Another goosebump moment. The Liberty bell really interested the kids. They got a great talk from the Park Ranger about the creation of the bell and the causes of the cracks. K enjoyed the science history blended in with the history. Now an army family couldn't NOT visit the tomb of the unknown soldier. Unbeknownst to me, this tomb, actually represents about 2000 soldiers buried under the square.
During the tour of Philly, our knowledgable tour guide Elaine, offered $5 to the child who could spell the name of the "Schuylkill" river. My most spelling challanged child, K took the challange, being a phonetic speller, figured it out and won the $5.
Then to top off a full touristy day, we enjoyed a Philly's game. On the way to the game, we were passing the now familiar Schuylkill river. Richard, not having been with us, made a comment about the spelling of the river. K immediately challanged him, "will you give me $5 if I can?" Not expecting a cute 11 year old to be scamming him, he took the challange and is now $5 poorer. So if Keilah is ever in a spelling bee with the word "schuylkill" she'll be sure to win.
How cool to go to a Big League ballpark. Unfortunately the rain didn't hold off until after the game, but we had poncho's to keep us mostly dry. And when we left at the end of the 7th the Philly's had a handy lead and we'd seen several homerun's and great pitching.
The kid's seem to be nearing the end of their touring limit, but I think they may have one more trip out to the Franklin Institute and perhaps a stop at the "rocky steps". Daddy wants a picture with the moose on the fountain out front.
Blessings.
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