The Richards come to Pennsylvania

On Saturday June 30, Bruce's dad called to tell us that they wanted to come out and see us.  They were going to leave within a couple of hours, drive 36 hours straight and arrive sometime Monday afternoon.  We couldn't refuse a visit from family even though we were getting ready to close on our house.  To our surprise, the Richards' clan arrived earlier than we expected.  At 8:30 am on Monday, July 2, an exhausted clan of 8 Richards rang our apartment doorbell. 

Bruce's parents and his 3 of his sisters stayed in a hotel close by, while 3 of his brothers stayed the night at our place. 

Although I should have taken advantage of the extra people by making them help us prepare to move, we boycotted the moving boxes and set out for some fun. 

Monday, July 2

After a big pancake breakfast, we headed out for a tour of DVC and a picnic lunch.  We decided to take it easy since our guests were weary from their three long days of travel. 

Tuesday, July 3
However, the next morning, we set out early for a train to Philadelphia.   

Eliza had a great time riding the train

 

It's too bad we accidentally sat in the designated quiet car.  As you can see from this video, Eliza wasn't exactly quiet.  Oh Well!!  I hope all of those serious business people still had an enjoyable ride home.  Who wouldn't appreciate such a cute girl. 

When we got to old town Philadelphia, we started right away by watching the informative videos at the visitors center.  Then we headed over for a tour of Independence Hall.

Ironic that a year ago to the date, Bruce and I stood in front of this same building -  me wearing the exact same shirt, but Eliza was not yet born. (She came 11 days later)  See...

 

After Independence Hall, we took a lunch break to enjoy a tasty Philadelphia Cheese steak.  You simply can't visit Philly without eating one.  Although difficult to tell, Eliza's cheeks are bursting with yummy cheese steaks. 

Then... it was on to the Liberty Bell.

Eliza was very excited to see the famous bell. 

When we stepped outside the museum, music was playing from Independence Hall lawn.  Too bad I was the last one out, and only caught the last 10 seconds or so of Eliza's dancing - she was having a ball.



We hopped on the Phlash bus and headed to the other end of town.  We saw the Pennsylvania State Penitentiary where Paul found himself on the wrong side of the door.

He doesn't seem too shaken up by it.  The Pennsylvania State Penitentiary operated from 1829-1971, and had a unique wagon wheel design.  It was one of the first prisons to practice separate incarceration.  Prisoners were escorted to their cells with a black bag over the head so they wouldn't be familiar with the prisons layout.  Each inmate had their own cell with advanced facilities and fixtures for its time.  However, every inmate was held in solitary confinement and prison conditions were harsh.  That is....for every except for the famous Al Capone who served some time here.  In 1924, the most bizarre inmate was a dog named Pep.  Pennsylvania's governor sentenced Pep to life imprisonment for murdering his wife's favorite cat.   Weird!!  Despite it's castle like design, the Penitentiary's facade was less than inviting thus hoping to discourage criminals from committing crimes.  Interesting place to visit, but not a place I would want to call home. 

 The heat and excitement of the day tuckered poor Eliza completely out.  She zonked (in Uncle Luke's arms) on the Phlash bus right in the middle of the story she told. 

 

To "cool off" from the blaring heat, we stopped by the LOVE statue to play in the water.

I had to laugh when Paul said he couldn't get in because he didn't want to get his pants wet.  I spent some time rolling them up for him to find him 10 minutes later back floating in the water - so much for not wanting to get your pants wet! :)

 Eliza sitting on Grandpa's lap when she got tired of the fountain of water. 

 

We took a ride on the Subway just so the kids could have the experience.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Then we headed home.  A fun day in Philadelphia. 

 

 

Wednesday July 4:

 

To celebrate Independence Day, we headed to Valley Forge.  We had a picnic lunch in the woods close by Washington's Headquarters.  We watched a video depicting the events at Valley Forge.  We took a driving tour of the grounds, and stopped to listen to a few stories told by History experts. 

 

Ironically, this is the only picture I took of Valley Forge - Eliza sitting on grandma's lap.  Eliza was supposed to ring the bell in order to start the story, but she was a bit scared of the story teller who gave it to her. 

Although we tried to be patriotic by visiting some important sites during the Revolutionary War, Eliza crashed for the night before we left for a fireworks show.  We didn't even wave around sparklers.  Poor Eliza's first 4th of July was parade and firework free.  I'm sure she won't remember it, but I still feel unpatriotic by not watching fireworks. 

 

Unfortunately the Richards' clan left the next afternoon to drive all the way back to Utah.  It's sad to see family go, but we are glad that they were able to make the long journey out to see us.