Philadelphia Trip

Okay, here we go.

Saturday 9/9
This was a travel day. Travelling with the kids wasn't too bad. Getting through security is the biggest hassle we have to deal with. Then, we just hope that Eva can get a seat. Otherwise, we have to hold her. This is probably the last trip we'll take with her where we won't have to buy her a seat. The kids were pretty content on the airplane listening to the airline radio on the headsets. Once we got to Philadelphia we had to try and find a grocery store between the hotel and the airport. People in Philly don't buy groceries. They can't. We had the hardest time finding a grocery store. We finally did and then we didn't get checked into our hotel until 2 hours after our flight landed. I told the people at the store that I was from Nebraska (because they asked me if I had a frequent shopper card). I could have said Mars and I probably would have received the same reaction...like, people actually live in Nebraska?

Sunday 9/10
We had this whole day free to spend with Eric and Connie. We took a walk in the early morning before they met us for the day and spent it at Logan Square. They have a really nice fountain and the kids found some birds and dogs to torment.We also saw the "Rocky" steps.
Observation: I've never seen so many homeless people in my whole life than I did on this trip. We met them at the Aquarium in Camden, NJ (just across the Delaware River from PHL). It was my first time in NJ. The aquarium was pretty good. I must admit, that the Omaha Zoo has a much better area for sharks and penguins but this place had a hippo exhibit where you could see them underwater. That was really neat. We drove around PHL after that for a bit and decided to head to Lansdale, PA to Eric and Connie's house. It was so nice and clean--it's on the market. We tried really hard to keep the mess to a minimum.

Monday 9/11 and Tuesday 9/12
This morning I was going to take the kids to IKEA. I had a few hours to spare before we were meeting our friend from Indiana for lunch (Deanne). As soon as we got to IKEA, Caleb had a meltdown. A big one. Not cute at all. We left as soon as I could get us all out of there. I sat in the parking lot and called Connie to see if she had any suggestions on what I could do with crazy kids in 2 hours. I asked how far it was to Delaware. No problem. I could get there and back in no time. Our rental van had a dvd player (LIVESAVER!) and the kids were content to be in there most of the time. So, I drove to Delaware and Maryland. Include NJ, and I added 3 more states to my list that I have visited. I made it back just in time for lunch with Deanne. I spent the rest of the day shopping with the kids waiting for Connie to be done with a dr. appt. They were a little better in the afternoon. I rewarded them with a trip to Petco to see the fish. We went to a park that evening (the most awesome park I've ever been to in my whole life) and ate dinner. We spent the night out there while Carl was at his conference. We didn't see him again until Wednesday when his stuff was all over.
We spent the next day chilling and playing. I got a Rita's shake (slush/custard). It was delicioso. I also got to go to a yarn store. It was really great and I bought some stuff. I'll do a knitting post about it in a day or two. I gotta get this travelogue out of the way first.
I tried to get to bed early because Connie and I were going to have a little adventure ourselves the next day in the Big Apple! Eric was going to fend for himself with the kiddos. NYC deserves its own post so I'll end this one here.

Philadelphia Trip

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2006/09/philadelphia-trip.html