On Vacation!!!

We checked out of our hotel and made our way to Love Park. It was pretty awesome that our hotel was willing to hold our luggage for the day so we didn't have to take it with us. We briefly stopped here on Friday, but the line for photos was way too long so we decided to come back today for the photo op!  Then, we made our way to the Franklin Institute!  We grabbed a bite to eat at the cafe and then made our way to the old city with our first stop being at Betsy Ross's house- Clearly, the houses were built much smaller back then! (Definitely not made for the height of my boys!) I love that there are so many parks and statues all around the city. So much history to soak up wherever you are!  Our next and "final" stop of the trip was the National Constitution Center- We could have spent the entire day there, but had to go through pretty quickly in order to take in as much of it as possible before leaving for the airport.  We caught the 6pm flight to Chicago, our connect...

Last night. We decided to wander down the street to check out Independence Park and the Liberty Bell. Today was an adventure... to say the least.  Allan and I started off at the Market while Dane slept in. Then... we decided to Hop on the On/off bus tour.  Due to a festival, we new that a big chunk of the tour was not running.  The wait at the first stop was crazy, so we walked to the Chinese Friendship Gate to Hop On. This proved to be a smart move, because when we arrived at the other stop, the line was still crazy.  About half way through, we decided to Hop Off to check out some sites. With the detours and the traffic, we just missed the ferry tour.. so we opted to skip it and check out some gaming shops in town.  We had lunch at one of them. Dane was completely in his element :).  Getting back on the bus proved to be a challenge... We ended up wal...

So.... way back when, before we had a global pandemic to deal with.... I was supposed to fly to Bend, Oregon to speak/train/consult with an early childhood program. Unfortunately, our world changed and that trip/event was cancelled. We attempted to use trip credit once before, but that trip ended up being cancelled too... fast forward to this morning.... and well..... we hopped on a plane in Green Bay in the wee morning hours and made it to Philadlephia before noon!!! This is going to be a whirlwind of a couple of days!!! Our first stop after the airport was the Academy of Natural Sciences.  Of course, we had to check out the dinosaur hall! The butterfly exhibit was closed, but we did enjoy all of the other parts of the museum.  We still had quite a bit of time before we were able to check into our hotel.... so we took a walk to Readin...

Well... our trip today is not what we planned. Our overnight in Madison, Alabama was supposed to be followed by a trip to the US Space and Rocket Center. However, a positive covid-19 test made for a rapid change of plans. We decided to power on through a few states... we left Alabama-drove through Tennessee- drove through Kentucky- and into Indiana where we will rest for the night.  With the long days of driving.... we should make it home sometime tomorrow. The good news is, Dane is only exhibiting mild symptoms and so far Allan and I have tested negative. The second half of our trip will be waiting for us for next time........

Today was a day of exploration at 2 different museums in/around Atlanta. The first place we visited was the Fernbank Museum. We added it to our list because they have an Argentinasaurus and Giganatosaurus!  The second museum we visited was the Tellus Science Museum.  In addition to dinosaurs, they had a large section of rocks and minerals.  Then we drove out of Atlanta and into Alabama.  We crossed the Tennessee River and there were trees everywhere. It kind of reminded us of driving at home.