Playing Tourist

It is hard to believe that two weeks have passed since we first walked through the door to the new home and we already had our first visitor this week - Aunt Amy!  The girls and I were thrilled to play host and have her with us as we took in some more Philadelphia firsts this past week.   Nothing like family to make you feel a little more at home and keep us company while Hubby works the day away at Sidecar.

Our neighbors recommended taking the girls to Dutch Wonderland - an amusement park about 45 minutes away in Lancaster (heart of Amish Country).   There they can ride everything and most without an adult even!  It was perfect for their ages and even had a small waterpark attached.   Amy and I rode rides that would normally make us sick just to please the girls, but we had to draw the line after riding the Whirly Turtles three times in a row after lunch.  This momma is getting too old for spinning rides.   It was a great time and even more exciting, we saw our first horse and buggy, fully equipped with blinkers!

Since the amusement park failed to wear the girls out, we took the train into the city the following day.  You just can't escape a Duck Boat tour with little kids - so we hopped on the boat with other non-locals to see some historic sites.   Our Duck Boat captain played a few rounds of trivia about Philadelphia and it made me realize just how little I really know about this city and its history!  However, he confided that most people who live in Philly don't know the history either, so I was in good company.   While Amy and I love seeing the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, the girls were most excited about riding the train.  I could have saved a lot of money and just rode the train around Philly all day!

We visited Valley Forge on Amy's last morning, which is just six miles away from our home.  It is beautiful and I cannot wait to run through the park this fall while the leaves are changing colors.   I tried to explain to the girls the history of Valley Forge and I know very little.  Avery's take-away of my history lesson - "So this is the place where George Washington and his soldiers forgot to wear shoes in the snow".  Yeah, pretty much :)

We were sad to see Amy leave and we were all fighting off tears at the train station, but I know she will be back soon to visit - it is just too pretty up here not to come and stay for a few days!

Here is a video of their favorite ride - the Frog Hopper!

Madeline and Lucy in Valley Forge Park

More of beautiful Valley Forge

Independence Hall