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.