Mom and Dad - Visit #2

This weekend, Mom and Dad made their second visit to the City of Brotherly Love (picture above in front of Independence Hall).
Saturday morning, Rachel had to work. Mom, Dad and I went to the Rohm and Haas Research Campus at Spring House and walked around the campus trail for a morning workout. After cleaning up, we took the train into the city for lunch. We quickly passed through Reading Terminal (the chaos was a bit much for my parents) and headed to Sonny's for a proper Philadelphia Cheese-steak. After lunch, we walked through Independence Mall. This is a picture of Mom and Dad with the Constitution Center in the background.
Dad and I posed for this shot in Washington Square, near Independence Mall. Philadelphia is built around 5 squares - Washington Square (originally Southeast Square), Logan Square (originally Northwest Square), Rittenhouse Square (originally Southwest Square), Franklin Square (originally Northeast Square) and Centre Square, which is now the Courtyard of City Hall.

We walked by Independence Hall, which is where Washington was appointed Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, the Declaration of Independence was ratified and signed, the first American flag design was agreed upon, the Confederation of States was formed and the Constitution of the United States was ratified. Walking through Independence Mall, we took this picture of the building that houses the Liberty Bell with Rohm and Haas headquarters in the background.

We headed back to the train station, where this picture was taken. After our 40 minute train ride, we picked up Rachel, cleaned up, and headed to dinner.



Sunday morning, the entire family headed to Valley Forge National Park for our morning exercise. Valley Forge is where Washington kept the Continental Army during the winter of 1777-1778. The park has replica barracks like Washington's army slept in (it is amazing), and several war memorials showing where the various state divisions encamped. The old colonial houses, where the various generals stayed, are still there. This picture of Mom and Dad is in front of George Washington's quarters. The historian there told us that Martha actually traveled up from Virginia and spent the winter there with George. Apparently, she traveled each winter to stay with Washington at his winter quarters. Washington spent only 3-4 weeks at home in Mount Vernon during 8 years of conflict and nation building. Can you imagine not going home for 8 years?

I think Valley Forge was the highlight of the trip for mom. It is a beautiful place.

Sunday afternoon, we went to Doylestown, which is a cute little town about 20-30 minutes from home. It has lots of quaint stores and restaurants. It is best known for being the hometown of rocker - Pink.







In Doylestown, the family took in some frozen custard and flavor ice at Rita's. They have a blended mix that has flavored ice on the bottom and frozen custard on the top. It is FABULOUS!!!














Reflections - Wii is Family Fun For All Ages
On Sunday evening, Rachel challenged my dad to a game of golf on the Wii. Dad caught on quickly. Although he eventually lost, his score was respectible for a first-timer.

Following his defeat, we popped in the sports game and let dad test his "Wii fitness". He did really well with the tennis, was fair at bowling, and had some timing problems with the Home-run Derby. The below video is of Dad striking out on the home run derby.

Shortly after dad completed his Wii fitness (which was much younger than his real age by the way), mom gave it a try. For someone who had never played a video game in her life, Rachel and I were both impressed how quickly she picked it up. She, too, struggled with the baseball, but she did really well with tennis and was a respectable bowler.

We had a great time "Wiing" as a family.