Family Visit Day 5

On Monday we headed downtown to do a little sight-seeing around the great city of Philadelphia! I was definitely feeling more confident in my skills as a tour guide in Philly vs. New York. It took us a while to find parking, usually we always park on the street, but we ended up having to park in a lot which ended up being more expensive, but was probably good because we didn’t have to keep running back to put money in a meter.

Our first stop was the Independence Visitor’s Center to browse through some of the neat things and get information about tickets for some of the other sites. Our next stop was at the liberty bell, which was great as always, even considering how busy it was. Everyone enjoyed reading all the information and facts about he bell, and then of course, posing for a picture. From the Liberty Bell site, we walked over to tour Old City Hall, Independence Hall, and Congress Hall. We missed the tickets for Independence Hall so we weren’t able to go inside until 5 when it opened up for more visitors. These places are amazing and so full of history. We spent a lot of time going through the buildings, taking tours, listening to stories, and of course having fun during all of it. It’s quick to write about everything, but actually going through everything takes up quite a bit of time. In fact, I wish we would have had a lot more time because we didn’t even come close to seeing everything that we would have like to.

Once again, the boys did great with everything. We all took turns pushing the stroller and walking with Jacob and Caleb, who were having a blast! They loved walking around and looking at everything- at one point there was a woman selling real live little turtles. I definitely was not bringing home a turtle- but they were sure fun to watch.

Our next stop was at Washington Square and the Tomb of the Unknown Solider. It was a neat place as well, but I spent most of my time trying to keep Jacob and Caleb from falling into the nearby fountain- so although I enjoyed it, I was also happy when it was time to leave.

One place that I had really wanted to take the family was the US Mint. It has actually been one of my favorite places to tour - very interesting and also entertaining even for the younger ones. (The air conditioning doesn’t hurt either) When we got over to the building, I was so disappointed to see that they had closed at 3 that day, we just missed it. It was alright though, plus I had forgotten that you’re not allowed to bring cameras, video cameras, or even cell phones with cameras into the building- and you have to have your photo ID’s –it’s pretty controlled; so one of us (me) would’ve had to stay outside with all the baggage anyway.

We still had a little time before Independence Hall opened up for tours, so we headed back to the visitor’s center and watched a great documentary film on the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. I was actually glad we had been able to see it because it really gives some extra details that you might miss during some of the tours. We also met another nice LDS family from Utah who was out touring with four of their ten children. Even though we didn’t know each other, we spent about a half an hour visiting together. During this time, Cole also entertained us with his huge jaw breaker sucker- at one point we didn’t think it was going to come out of his mouth! Grandma spoiled the boys, they each got a Sprite- which they were feeling pretty cool about, and a couple suckers.

We finally headed over to Independence Hall and waited in line for a tour. We met a very friendly lady from Boston and had fun chatting with her while we waited in line. Jacob and Caleb also entertained themselves by chasing the birds & squirrels.

We finally made it into Independence Hall and really enjoyed the brief tour, especially Dad- he loved hearing all the stories and the great history.

At the end of the day we were all pretty tired and grateful it was time to head home. We decided to finish off with a fun Philly experience so we stopped for cheesesteaks on the way home. Then we decided it might be nice to have a variety so Lacey and I went out to pick up a pizza and a few other things, including more water ice- yum! We all had dinner together, then put the boys to bed and stayed up to watch a movie together.