great day in philly!

philadelphia was awesome!  i liked it better than d.c.  i'm not real sure why, but i did.  today i learned that if a house had more steps, back in the day that meant you had more money! in this picture, one house has 2 steps while the house next door has 4.  the foundation isn't uneven, just different numbers of steps.  so the people who own the house on the right was wealthier than the owner on the left.
the liberty bell was exciting to see. the line for the security check was extremely long, but it was worth it.  i just wish i could have touched it!
after the liberty bell we got to see independence hall.  at first i wasn't all that thrilled with the guided tour because the park ranger kept talking too much.  when we finally stepped into the room where the declaration of independence was signed, i literally got goosebumps!  it was so weird to feel that way.  it was just a room, but there was something magical about it.  i just kept thinking that this is where it all began!  they even had the chair that george washington sat in during the signing!
we had a quick lunch in the reading market hall, which was VERY cool!  i wish we would have had a lot more time to walk around in the market.  i've never been in a place like that.  i also got my first real philly steak sandwich!  it was sooooooo good and messy!

photo of the day #154

our family

after lunch we played for a couple of hours at the please touch children's museum.  at first the museum seemed like it was going to be a bit too young for the varmints, but after a while they really got in to playing with everything from running in a big hamster wheel to constructing airplanes.

but to me the best part of the day was after supper tonight.  spencer had been begging us to find this sweet treat called water ice because his p.e. teacher, mr. black, told him he should try it.  we drove around trying to find this place called rita's water ice.  we were just about to give up, when daryl shouted, "rita's!" and crossed 3 lanes of traffic to make a right turn into the parking lot!

of course i had my camera with me, so i took a picture of the sign as we were walking up to the window.  the guy inside asked me if were from out of town because i was taking pictures.  we got to talking and he said he liked my accent, so i immediately thought he was awesome!  anyone who likes a texas accent is ok in my book!  

anyway, since we'd  never had rita's water ice, he just started sending out sample after sample for us to try!  he was so friendly and funny!  let me introduce you to kevin:

after trying many samples of water ice, which by the way is awesome, i settled for a strawberry water ice.  daryl and colby both got water ice, and spencer got........frozen custard!!!!  he's been whining all day about not getting water ice, and when we finally found a place that had it, he didn't want it!!!  oh well, he missed out!

quote of the day:  "Proclaim liberty throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants thereof."  ~Leviticus 25:10 {inscribed on the Liberty Bell}