March Philadelphia Trip

 Adam had a national library conference in Philadelphia the last week of March to the second of April.  Could there be a more boring sounding conference??  Don't worry, it doesn't offend Adam to say so, he agrees that it SOUNDS boring, but it was really a nice and interesting conference.  I would have loved to attend some of the classes based on their descriptions, or listen to some of the keynote speakers.  Adam had a great time.

Adam: The Sexy Librarian

As an a bonus, the conference was completely paid for- Adam's hotel (Marriott right in the middle of everything in Center City Philadelphia!), his food, and travel.  How could we pass up the opportunity for a trip to such a historic place, only two hours away, when it was paid for?  Well, we almost did!  Technically, I was still not supposed to be around large groups of people and still had the problem with fatigue.  So, we came up with a possible solution.  Papa Skip had been wanting to come out in April for Mykelle's birthday so we thought we could ask him to join us a little earlier to go to Philadelphia with us.  He was wonderful and agreed to come out to help me during the day when Adam had his classes.

Our first stop was at the visitor's center and Independence Hall.  I was excited to finally see the places I'd been learning and teaching about for years!  Unfortunately, with our two kids in tow we were not able to make any of the guided tours, but it was still fun walking around the historic area.

Scaffolding on Independence Hall :(

At ages 2 and 3 this is what my kids want to do, rather than experience the history surrounding them!

Awesome view from our hotel!

Of course, the very next day, our kids came down with colds- mostly stuffy noses and sneezing.  We were worried it would get worse, but it never did!  Because Mykelle and Evan were only slightly snotty, went out anyway to the Academy of Natural Sciences.  It was a short walk from our hotel so we strapped the kids in a double stroller and took off, stopping at a Walgreens along the way to pick up some medicine.  We had a good time at the museum though the kids only lasted about an hour and a half before they got whiny.

On our second full day there we went to the Please Touch Museum without Adam.   This place was so cool!  The kids enjoyed it for a full 4 hours and could have stayed longer if Mom and Skip weren't ready for their naps  :)  The Alice in Wonderland exhibit was by far Mykelle's favorite.  Evan really liked the construction exhibit where he spent about fifteen minutes loading foam blocks onto a conveyor belt.

Water play with full bibs.  Both kids loved it! 

Down the rabbit hole with Alice, one of Mykee and Evan's favorite games now.

Mykee played at the Tea Party for 15 minutes.  I thought the bunny was very creepy!

Painting the roses red

I love this picture- doesn't it look like Mykee just made Evan cry?

This was Evan's favorite part. 

Evan's second favorite was the grocery store, until he had to put everything back!

This was so cute!  Mykelle at McDonalds:  She put a cup and a burger on every table in the
store then sat down with her brother and Papa to eat lunch.  

Evan vacuuming the porch in the toddler area

The third day was really rainy and cold, and I was pretty wiped out.  Skip and I decided to hang around the hotel that day and relax.  We ate Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast while watching cartoons, went exploring around the hotel (Mykee and Evan loved the workout room), ate lunch, napped, and went swimming in the evening.  It was a good day even if we didn't do anything too exciting!

The last day of the conference Adam finished up in the morning.  We had one last stop that wasn't technically in Philadelphia- the Adventure Aquarium just across the bridge in Camden, NJ.  We all had a good time here.  We went first up to the touch and see area where Mykee and Evan were able to touch sea stars, anemones, coral, sharks, jellyfish, and stingrays.  I was pleasantly surprised that both kids wanted to touch all of the fun things.  The rest of the aquarium was entertaining, but very packed with people.  We spent a good day there and headed back home afterward.

Touching the sharks

Looking into the shark tank

Battleship New Jersey- Skip has some experience with this ship- pretty cool to see in person!