Getting our "fill" of Philadelphia- the payoff

Last Saturday we made our third trip to Historic Philadelphia. We were anxious to see the sights before the story benches and children's programs close for the winter. We have loved the story bench program and it has really brought the history of this area alive for all of us. The kids finally earned the final star on their flag and when we turned them in each of them received a coupon good for a free icecream and a ride on the historic Philadelphia carousel (as well as the nifty certificates displayed below).I find it amusing how much you can tell about a person/child from how they ride a merry-go-round.... Ben chose the flashy dragon (of course) and he doesn't just ride it he "flies" itKind hearted Dallin wanted to ride the dragon, but allowed Ben to take it and settled for the mild mannered seal instead- he raises both hands to make the most of his ride on an animal that may not be as flashy but suits him well. Katie was all about the beautiful horse with the pink flowers- She wanted to sit side saddle and was offended to sit in a manner other than that of a princess. And here is Lauren on the inspiring eagle. She is embracing new ideas and thoughts and ready to soar to great heights.

If you can't tell already icecream is a favorite family pastime so this was the perfect reward. Since this is already so long I will create a separate entry for the sights we enjoyed.

Homeschool Fun- Colonial Hat Day

Enjoy It!

There is a song on one of our Disney CD's that ran through my head during our entire outing last Thursday.  As a preview I'll quote it

"Why cry about bad weather, Enjoy it

Each moment is a treasure, Enjoy it..

We're travelers on life's highway, Enjoy the trip

Each lovely twist and byway, Each bump and dip...

If there's a complication, Enjoy it

You've got imagination, Employ it..."

With that anthem playing in my head I really did enjoy our second day in Historic Philadelphia, inspite of a few "complications."

Rusty traded days with someone at work so he had Thursday off and worked Saturday.  We decided to capitalize on the opportunity and do some serious sight-seeing.  Since we were going to spend the whole day away we fed the kids a big breakfast and got an early start.  Just as we were hitting heavy traffic in downtown Philly Dallin announced that he was going to throw-up.  Yikes!  I scrambled for the trash bags, but it was too late. I'll spare you all the graphic details, but when I turned around next I saw Lauren glued to her window gagging- she is our most sensitive tummy and I was worried she was next.  Ben was yelling excitedly and Katie was crying.  She took it personal that Dallin threw up all over her window, door, and chair.  I couldn't stop laughing, which didn't help matters much.  There wasn't a lot we could do but roll down the windows and give Dallin some wet wipes and a trash bag. 

Unfortunately in all the distraction we missed our turn and ended up crossing over the Delaware River on the Franklin Bridge.  We stopped at a McDonalds in Camden, New Jersey (not the most pleasant part of town, but we were desperate).  Dallin and I walked a block to the Walgreens in search of cleaning supplies and clothes.  I found some cleaning supplies, but there was no clothing.   I really didn't want to wander around Camden so I asked a lady who was shopping if she knew of somewhere nearby I could find some clothing. I was humbled when she began to tell me of the local churches that provided free clothing.  Wow!  Talk about a reminder of how blessed we are- throw up and all.  Luckily I found a discount clothing shop nearby and Dallin was well equipped with new clothing for less than $7.  

Since Rusty was still scraping the car clean I decided we should get a little something to eat.  As we were going in a homeless man asked if we would get him something to eat- so we had the opportunity to share some lunch with him while we waited. It took us a while to find our way through Camden and we got another glimpse of the humble circumstances of the people in this area.  Philadelphia is filled with so much luxury and wealth it is hard to believe that right across the bridge it is so poor.  I'm sure that there are plenty of areas in Philadelphia that are just as poor, but we haven't encountered them yet.

After paying a toll to cross back over the bridge we finally found parking and began the part of our day we planned.  A little later than we hoped, but much more grateful.  

We saw  the "real Liberty Bell" (as Ben informed everyone we met).  We also began to hit some of the story benches- which is by far my favorite thing to do with kids.  About half way through our first story it began to rain, and rain, and rain.  It rained pretty much all afternoon, but that didn't stop us.  We had a great time!  

I love the little treasures you discover when you take time to explore and everyone else is gone.  We came across a great little museum where the guide gave the kids a hands-on display of the life of a soldier during the American Revolution.  She even dressed Ben up in the full attire- or at least those things that fit.  He was in heaven, especially when she let him use the spy glass.

When we took shelter in an out of the way visitors center we found a few colonial characters who gave us their undivided attention in displaying rope making, Jacob's Ladder tricks, sewing, etc.  In fact we even ran into Betsy Ross.  She was so cute with the kids and played her character very well. I loved it when Benny told her we were reading a book about her -  what better way to bring history to life.  Read about someones life and then "visit" with them.

After a quick dinner and another story bench story that left us all laughing we headed to the National Constitution Center.  I read reviews that said this museum is usually overflowing with school kids, so we decided to take advantage of a special family night event held a couple of Thursdays this month.  Besides tickets being more than 1/3 the cost they had a bounce house, face painter, craft table, games and other fun things for the kids.  I was surprised how few people there were.  We  had free reign of all the displays and shows and activities.

We watched the featured show Freedom Rising in which the actor invites all of us as "We the People" to sign a copy of the Constitution in a pledge to uphold the principles established there-in.   This was my favorite part.  As each of us signed our name Katie asked for a turn.  She has not be interested in anything really academic, so I've never made a serious effort to teach her to write her name.  I was surprised when she took the pen and wrote a fairly legible version of her name.  I guess she's been doing more learning than I thought.  

Rusty joins George in inviting all to "sign" the Constitution.

Frankly, there is not a lot of Franklin here

Last Wednesday I took the kids to the Franklin Institute of Science.  I was hoping there would be at least a small display about Franklin's scientific contributions and inventions, but the closest thing they had was a giant statue in the foyer.  I guess it's too hard to blend science and history :)  Well at least it was a good starting point for our explorations.
Luckily this museum is one of our participating free ones so we didn't have to pay to get in, just for parking.  I'm getting better at anticipating when and where the field trip groups will hit so we only had a brief encounter with the craziness of hordes of unsupervised children mauling the displays.  

There is a lot to see at the museum and we didn't get to everything, but here are some of our favorites...

Kid Science was a room set aside for 5-9 year old exploration of science favorites.  Ben's favorite part was using air tubes to shoot balls across the room.  Always a winner if it involves projectiles and shooting.

Dallin and Ben also spent a good deal of time figuring out this interesting ball maze wall.The train room is basically filled with (you guessed it) a huge train. Evidently as steam engines were replaced by diesel engines one of the local railroad companies sold the museum an old engine for $1.  I have no idea how they got it into the museum, but it has a wee bit of track and you can ride it forward about 2 feet and then back 2 feet very slowly if you are willing to wait in a fairly long line.  Although the ride itself is unimpressive, the fun part for my kids was sliding down the walls in the coal chute.
I guess the train was such a hit the invested in a small jet for the flight room.  This room also had a bunch of cool experiments with air and wings and even a model of the Wright Brothers plane.  Here is Dallin preparing for take off.

My favorite room was the heart room.  Having just studied the human body in great depth last year this was a good review.  They had replicas of hearts from various animals that displayed the different sizes and features.  They also had an exploration table with brains to look at. Lauren liked the benches. 

Of course the highlight was following the bloods path through the giant heart. 

We topped the day off by watching a fun video at the planetarium called Cosmic Collisions.  I am always in awe when I consider the complex and intricate workings of our universe.  I am equally awed by the complex and intricate workings of our bodies.  We live in such an amazing world.  I can't imagine that anyone who has truly pondered the workings of our world could doubt the hand of a supreme being in it's construction.

The kids were sad that we didn't get to see the rest of the museum, but I promised them we would return.

Homeschool Fun- Homemade Quills and Koolaid Ink

Quacking Up

Today we took our first excursion into Philadelphia.  We decided to start our experience here with the famous (or possibly infamous) Philly Duck Tour.  This tour makes use of retired military vehicles called DUKW's that drive on land and water.  

Of course being a touristy attraction each passenger is equipped with duck bills that quack- which, unfortunately, we got to keep. So after driving through the streets of historic Philadelphia quacking at random unsuspecting passersby we drove into the Delaware River to check out the Philly coast line.  The kids had a great time, although Katie was a bit nervous about driving into the water- she was sure we would sink....

As we drove into the river she had her nose plugged- just in case.  

After the Duck Tour we watched a movie at the visitors center and began visiting with various colonial characters.  

The kids used a bamboo pen and ink well to sign their name and added the flourish found under the patriots signatures which means independence forever (it is basically an 8 turned sideways which is the symbol for infinity- with two back slashes on top meaning independence). 

We saw a quilling demonstration- which is making a picture using small pieces of curled paper 

We started gathering stars for our colonial flags by visiting the story benches through out the area.

We checked out the Archeology display at the visitors center.

We spent way too much for dinner/lunch at a small Italian restraunt on Market Street (and way too much on parking)

We also spent some time at Franklin Square, checking out the sand sculpture, playground and other entertainment options.

Being somewhat unfamiliar with the area and not super organized we did a lot of walking!  Now that we've been there and have a plan our visits will be more productive and less exhausting. We also found some less expensive options for parking and eating so hopefully we won't spend our entire entertainment budget in the first month. :)