East Coast Trip- Philadelphia- Day 5

Sunday we drove into downtown Philadelphia to see Independence Hall.

As we waited for our tour Bryson was in a funny mood and wouldn't open his eyes to take a picture. Even when I went to take a picture of his brothers, he had to photo bomb, but with his eyes closed, of course.

The first room they showed us on the tour was the Supreme Court room.  There was a gated platform were the defendants stood to plead their case.

Across the hall was the Assembly Room where the Declaration of Independence was signed. It was so neat to be there, and definitely a highlight of the trip.

They had some things on display in another room. This is thought to be the inkwell that was used to sign the declaration.

Next we went over to the Congress Hall. It served as the seat of the United States Congress from December 6, 1790 to May 14, 1800.

We started in the House Chamber. It was awesome until Porter's red gatorade fell out of his backpack and spilled all over the floor. I could have died. Thank goodness that it wasn't the original carpet. 

Next we went upstairs to see the Senate chamber. It was so neat to be in places with so much history!

Next we went across the street to see the Liberty Bell. I loved that they had it displayed with Independence Hall behind it.

We also went to the cemetery where Benjamin Franklin is buried. 

Several others that signed the Declaration of Independence were also buried there.

A man that worked at he cemetery explained to us that they used to bury people with headstones and foot stones to show their height. Some of them were pretty short. Porter found one that he was almost as tall as.

On our way to find the church for sacrament meeting we passed by the new temple under construction. It's right in the city and is going to be awesome.

As we made our way through the city we passed by city hall,

and this old church, both were quite impressive.

We found the church building and had to park in an underground parking structure. It was very different going to church in the city. We didn't bring any church clothes, so we planned to sit in the foyer and leave after taking the sacrament. Even though we were early, there was no where to sit in the foyer, so we went and sat in the chapel. The longer I sat there and waited for church to start, I noticed that there wasn't anyone there with kids and thought that was weird. As the meeting started on me it finally dawned on me that we were at a single adult ward. I was so embarrassed. It was bad enough that we were under dressed, but now all these young adults are looking at us wondering what we are doing there with our kids. It was sooo quiet in the chapel. I was just praying that my boys wouldn't have some loud outburst as they were passing the sacrament. We dodged that bullet, but Lincoln did have the loudest yawn ever. 

We left right after Sacrament and went to the coolest park ever! Smith Memorial Playground has a 16,000 sf house that was designed solely as a play space for children, and 6 acres of open playground. It has been open free to the public since 1899! The house is designed for younger kids. In the basement they had a racetrack with a bunch of tricycles and ride on toys, so cute! 

We looked around the house, but the boys wanted to play outside. They had an awesome wooden slide that you ride down on a big potato sack. We spent a lot of time there.

They had so many cool things to play on that I haven't seen anywhere else. This climbing structure spun too. A couple of the dads around got it going pretty fast. The boys were loving it.

After we left the park we went over to get a true Philly cheese steak. Poor Ethan had spun around so much at the park that as soon as we parked he got our of the car and threw up. So I stayed with the kids in the car while Rob went and grabbed dinner. Geno's did not disappoint.

East Coast Trip- Harper's Ferry- Day 4

We left D.C. Saturday morning. We took a detour on our way to Philadelphia and went to Harper's Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia. The drive there was beautiful! We took a bus up to Bolivar Heights, a civil war battle site, to see a cannon demonstration. Bryson was so excited to ride a bus. The whole time we were on the bus he was singing his own little song, "We're going on a trip, on a bus. We're going on a trip, on a bus." over and over. I was pretty darn adorable. Luckily those sitting near us thought it was cute too. We all had it stuck in our heads the rest of the day. We got up to the site and they had a few cannons along the walk. The boys loved climbing on them. 

 First they told us about the roll of each person that worked with the cannons. 

Then they fired it. It was so loud, and you could feel the boom in your chest. The boys were pretty impressed.

The view form up on the ridge was pretty spectacular.

After the demonstration we went down into the town and stopped by the rivers edge for a picnic lunch. After lunch Rob gave the boys a lesson in skipping rocks. 

Then we went and walked through the town. They have a bunch of shops,

and an old church you can walk through.

Another great day!

East Coast Trip- D.C.- Day 3

Friday we drove down to Mount Vernon to George Washington's Estate. When we got there we were lucky to see the torchbearer for the Special Olympics run by. We had no idea that was taking place, but it was pretty neat to see.

We took the National Treasure tour when we first got there. The kids loved it, especially when we got to go down below the house where they filmed the tunnel scene.

 Mount Vernon is pretty impressive. Washington's mansion sits on a 500 acre estate . We spent most of the day wandering around the property.

 They still have a working farm, and have recreated the 16 sided barn that Washington invented. 

 They had a sheep shearing demonstration too.

The paths through the property were so pretty!

We found some cute little piglets on the farm.

 And the boys fed the bulls some leaves.

George Washington's tomb is on the property. 

 It was neat to see his coaches he rode in.

While Rob and I waited in line for our mansion tour, the boys took advantage of the giant front lawn for a game of tag. 

Lincoln found this huge leaf and thought it was awesome that it was bigger than his head.

We weren't allowed to take pictures in the mansion. The inside was so cool. All the walls were painted vibrant colors. Apparently that was a sign of wealth then. It was neat to be in there and imagine the president living there.

 They also have a museum on site with some great exhibits and artifacts from the president. We watched a movie about the revolutionary war that had some cool special effects. The boys learned a lot.

A pair of his dentures were on display. He didn't have wooden teeth, like everyone thinks. These dentures were made of a combination of horse, cow, and human teeth.

After Mount Vernon we went to the Air and Space Smithsonian. We got to see so many neat things like the Apollo 11 command module...

the plane that Amelia Earheart made two of her record breaking flights in...

and we got to touch a moon rock!

 Bryson loved that they had planes that he could climb in.

When we were done at the museum, we went over to Arlington National Cemetery. 

 We saw JFK's grave.

And the tomb of the unknown soldier. We got to see the changing of the guard. It was interesting to notice that both of the soldiers steps were so precise that they walked in the exact same spots and that the runner they walk on is worn only in those spots.

I had no idea how big the cemetery was. You could see the grave markers lined up so far.

It was a very memorable day. We learned a lot and gained great appreciation for our soldiers past and present.