Labor Day weekend in Philly

Last year for Labor Day weekend we went to visit Niagara Falls and Palmyra. So we had to go somewhere fun again this year (of course!). This year we decided to spend the weekend in Philadelphia. It was between DC and Philly and a 4 1/2 hour drive verses a 2 hour drive. Well, with two 7 month olds (yes, they're already 7 months old!) we opted for the 2 hour drive. Tad thought I was a little crazy putting Dallin, Ethan and Gavin in their Mets shirts and going to Philadelphia where the Phillies play. The truth is that I don't think of stuff like that. Tad didn't mind though and wore his Mets hat to match Dallin. We had a great time seeing and learning about many of the key people and places in American History.



That is Philadelphia in the background. We are actually in Camden, New Jersey accross the Delaware river from Pennsylvania. For those of you who've heard of Camden don't worry, we just went to an aquarium right on the river.



This is Independence Hall where The Declaration of Independence was signed and the Liberty Bell at one time was hung.

This is inside Independence Hall. It was in this room that the Declaration of Independence was signed.

Here we are at the Liberty Bell. You can just make out Liberty Hall in the background. This was actually "take two" as the first person we asked to take our picture cut out Gavin and didn't do a very good job. I guess you get what you pay for. Doesn't Dallin look excited?

We went to a great aquarium called Adventure Aquarium. It was huge with a lot to see. This is a sea turtle in a giant tank. There were a few stingrays and sharks in there as well.

Gavin was just so amazed at this cylindrical tank. He would not take his eyes off of it and had the cutest look of amazement and wonder. I think he loved the bright colors and the fact that they moved so much. Ethan wasn't so interested.

You probably can't tell, but Dallin (in the blue Mets hat) was petting a shark. They would only let you touch them with two fingers. We figure it was probably so the sharks thought that your other fingers had already been bitten off and they would leave you alone. (not really) We were also able to pet stingrays, starfish and moon jellyfish.

This is Betsy Ross' home. It was very interesting, but after not paying to see any of the other historical sites, Tad wasn't happy about the whole $10 it cost the family to get in.

I was looking at a brochure for Penn's Landing, and discovered there was to be a Labor Day parade. I was so proud of myself for being so savvy. I had Tad found out where the parade route was, and here we are waiting for the parade.

There was a parade alright. It was a Union parade full of about 25 semi-trucks, a biker gang (Teamsters), and several different unions. It could have been a rally for Barack Obama for all we knew as most people had Obama t-shirts and signs. We didn't make it through the whole parade, but at least Dallin got a little bit of candy. So, if you ever hear of a Labor Day "parade", expect to see unions, teamsters, etc. Not quite what I had in mind. Oh well....

We finished our trip by heading out to Valley Forge and seeing a few sites there. It's actually quite large (about 10 miles of road round trip), so we just hit the main areas.

This an original home that George Washington lived in while the troops were encamped and training while at Valley Forge. This was one of the highlights.