Philadelphia Trip

WARNING: Long post ahead.

We just got back from a great week in Philadelphia. It turned out to be a great place to go for all of us. They had lots of things to do for Addy and we also got to get in some good history and siteseeing for us.

DAY 1: We left Houston last Saturday. Addy was so excited to fly on the airplane, but the poor thing was so tired from being woke up early and she was asleep before we took off. After we arrived in Philadelphia, we got lunch, took a nap, and then headed off to Citizens Bank Park to see the Phillies crush the St. Louis Cardinals. It was a really great game -- we got to see a grand slam with an immediate home run after. It was an exciting game and Addy did extremely well - considering she was tired and pretty much sat all day.

DAY 2: After much needed sleep, we got up and headed to the Philadelphia zoo (the oldest zoo in the U.S.). It was a pretty good zoo, better than the Houston zoo. That afternoon, we caught the Phillie Phlash (a tourist bus) and headed to the Old City to see the Liberty Bell and take a tour Independence Hall - the building where the Declaration of Independence was signed. We were really lucky because the line for the Liberty Bell was farely short and you normally have to reserve a time to see Independence Hall - but we walked right in. On our way back to the hotel, we went to Franklin Square which had a really nice playground area. One side was for children over 5 and the other side was for 2 to 5 year olds. Addy had a blast.

Day 3: We started off the morning going to see Betsy Ross's house, Christ's Church - where Benjamin Franklin worshipped, the burial ground where Benjamin Franklin is buried, the site where Benjamin Franklin's house stood and a few other sites. We wanted to go into the U.S. Mint, but they wouldn't let us come in because we had cameras. For lunch we had our first Philly Cheesesteak. Then we headed to the National Constitution Center. After the Constitution Center we went back to Franklin Square and played putt putt golf.

Day 4: Today we rented a car and drove to Langhorne, PA to go to an amusement park for young kids -- Sesame Place. It is a Sesame Street themed amusement park that has rides and a water park designed for young children. Addison was able to do most of the things in the park -- I think there were only 2 rides she wasn't allowed to go on. They also had character shows and a parade. It was a really fun day and Addy still talks about going to Elmo's house and seeing Big Bird and Zoe.

Day 5: We drove to Lancaster County -- one of the Amish communities here in the U.S. It was beautiful land. Also, it was really neat to see farm after farm. We saw the Amish riding in their buggies along the road -- it was definitely a difference world. We ate lunch at a traditional Amish place -- family-style dining -- and shared a table and food with an older couple from South Carolina and a family from the Canadian side of Niagra Falls. It was an interesting experience. The food was also really good (especially the mashed potatoes and the dessert). We also took a buggy ride through the Amish farmlands.

Day 6: This morning we went to the Children's Museum. I've not been to many children's museums, but this was one was really neat (they say they are one of the best in the nation). Addy's favorite part was a water play area. They also had a music room, a transportation room, a space room, a hospital where they could pretend to be doctors, a little house with a garden and kitchen, a grocery store, a McDonalds, a shoe store, a construction site, and an Alice in Wonderland play area. We were only there a couple of hours, but Addy wore herself out playing so hard. That afternoon, we went back over to the Old City to see a few history shows they were showing at the Visitor Center.

Day 7: This morning we caught a bus across the Delaware River to Camden, New Jersey to see the Adventure Aquarium. This aquarium was really pretty neat. They had lots of fish, seals, penguins, sharks, and hippos. We also saw a 4-D show. Addy loved the fish and hippos. She wasn't too sure about the 4-D show. She was fine until a man on the screen spit water and she got wet. We spent the majority of the day there and were going to go back to Philadelphia and go to a park to let Addy play, but it started raining so we just headed back to the hotel and ordered pizza and called it a night.

We had a really great time, and Addy once again showed us what a good traveler she is. She slept well at night, took naps in her stroller, let us tour the boring things and played hard. We think she had a good time too.

Here's a long slideshow of our week:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Here's a couple of cute videos from the week: