July 4th in Philly

On the 4th of July we headed down to Philadelphia—what better place to be on our country’s birthday.  Aunt Anita, Uncle Mark, cousin Julia (who lives in downtown Philly), and her boyfriend Brian took us to the Independence Day Parade and then took us on a walking tour of the historical district.  It was awesome.  The city was incredible and the company was even better.  Plus, I think it really hit home with the kids all the history we were surrounded by—and I’m sure Ella and Jack could easily tell you how many years ago the Declaration of Independence was signed, 200 years + Mommy’s age.  :)


{the view from our hotel room and ella and uncle mark on their way to the parade.}






{thomas jefferson and ben franklin}





{surprisingly, we didn’t wait in any line to speak of the see the liberty bell that day.  those are wa wa geese the kids are holding.}





{“the signer” (on left) and (on right) ella rings the bell the start the story.  there were these awesome shady benches throughout the historic district of downtown philly where actors would tell a historical story—with quite a bit of flair—about a nearby statue or building.  you just had to look for the ‘Once Upon a Nation’ sign.  it was great because, of course, the stories were so interesting to us and the kids, but also because it gave the kids a reason to walk the miles and miles all over the city.  there were 13 storytellers and each one would give you a star sticker if you listened to a story and, if you filled your revolutionary flag with all 13 stars, you got a free carousel ride at franklin square.}



{story #2}



{a stop for lunch.  julia and brian knew all the amazing little gastropubs.  we had some great beer and great food on this trip.}


{another story.}


{the kids wrote postcards for the troops.  it was a lot of “thank you”’s and “you are the best”.  very sweet.}


{christ church—the birthplace of the american episcopal church.  the congregation included 15 signers of the declaration of independence.}


{(on right) after the declaration of independence, the priest crossed out the parts of the litany that referred to the king of england—quite a coup d'état at this church of england.}


{at betsy ross’s house.}





{the country’s oldest continuously inhabited street.}


{in the evening, we headed down toward the art museum (walking by the capital building  here) to check out the 4th of july festivities.  we decided not to stay for the fireworks, though, because they weren’t even going to start until close to 11pm, and the place was packed.  so we stopped at another cool gastropub for dinner and then went back to our hotel to watch the fireworks on t.v. (and listen to them outside—you could kind of see reflections bouncing off buildings, too, from our window), saying goodbye to our fantastic tour guides (aunt anita, uncle mark, julia, and brian) for the trip.}