Liberty bell, liberty bell, liberty bell, liberty bell (repeat)

The most recent obsession for our more obsessive child is the liberty bell, and other things revolutionary. I don't know exactly how or why this started, perhaps with a Magic Treehouse book and/or research guide. No matter, it caught her fancy, and we've been all stars and stripes and liberty bell ever since.

So, this weekend was the first without swim lessons or anything else planned, so we decided to go to Philadelphia to visit the Liberty Bell.

Once there the first thing we did was visit the bell itself:





Then what to do? After the long car ride the girls needed a little stretch time so they played in a nearby park, scraped in the gravel, walked on stairs and walls, and generally ran around until we were ready to go to the next exhibit. Mostly we were pretty goofy. You can see my attempting to keep their hands down in this series of photos (and out of noses, mouths, eyes ... )










Next stop: Independence Hall



Under construction, as you can see. Renovations. You have to go through security to get into the hall, and then take a formal tour, so while waiting we visited the side courthouses. By the doors, of coures, are boot scrapers. I asked the girls what they were, and this is the answer: "A chair"





And we had time to explore the grounds and play some hide and seek before the tour





After the tour (which was very good, and I'd recommend to visitors) we had lunch. C6 REALLY wanted to visit the gift shop (we got books) and Q5 REALLy wanted a carriage ride. We took one. They read their new books during the ride.





C6 had promised to stop repeating liberty bell, liberty bell, liberty bell, liberty bell over and over again once she saw the liberty bell, however, she verily and truly lied. Sigh.