Snow fun

While we were in Philadelphia a few weeks ago 8 inches of snow fell here at home whereas we only saw an inch up north. We picked the right weekend to go to Philly though as the next weekend was when they got 20+ inches and we only got an inch or so here. Snow is a not a common occurrence around here, let alone 8 inches, so it translated into Whitney getting 2 snow days on top of the 2 inservice days they were already scheduled to be off. Luckily for ue there was still plenty of snow to play with when we returned so the next morning we decided to go sledding. Living on the coastal plain means there are very few hills so our options were limited. We tried sledding on the one little hill at a nearby park but between the stickiness of the snow and the lack of incline you didn't go very far without someone pushing you down the hill. However, the girls still enjoyed their first sledding adventure.




We also enjoyed building a snowman and making snow angels.

Fort McHenry

On our return from Philadelphia, we decided to make a stop at Fort McHenry. The fort was built to protect the Baltimore harbor. This fort is most well known for the fact that it is the scene that provided the inspiration for the writing on the Star Spangled Banner. Francis Scott Key was being held on one of the British ships that sailing up the bay to make an attack on Baltimore. For reference the ships were sitting out in the water near the present day bridge in the background of the picture above. They would take turns sailing up closer and firing on the fort. We got to see replicas of the "bombs that burst in the air" and the "rockets with their red glare". The fort is really interesting as the inner wall is the shape of a star.

(Photo courtesy of umaryland.edu)

Whitney got the awesome opportunity to raise the large flag over the fort that morning (they fly a small one at night and in poor conditions). The original flag is now on display in DC at the American History museum.

Maren wasn't so sure about being put in jail. The fort had some cool bunkers and storage areas built into the walls that were fun to check out.

First steps...

Our little guy just turned 10 months and is on the move. Jonas has been standing on his own for the last two weeks but he would always try diving for what he wanted just out of his reach or get down and crawl to it. Tonight he took his first steps on his own on a couple different occasions. I'll post some video later. For now here is a picture of him enjoying his Valentine treat. The girls enjoyed making Japanese kimono dolls for their valentines this year.

Philadelphia

Whitney had a four day weekend from school last week so we decided to take advantage of it and go on a little road trip. Usually not the smartest decision to head north in the winter but the weather actually was better there than here at home. It was chilly but there weren't any crowds to have to wade through. We just dressed warm and it worked out well. The first day we headed to see the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Congress Hall, Ben Franklin's home and print shop, and the National Constitution Center. We enjoyed touring Independence Hall and seeing where both the Constitution and Declaration of Independence were written. We also got to see early copies of these documents.

You understand the distinction of Upper House and Lower House once you visit Congress Hall as the Senate met upstairs and the House of Representatives met downstairs. We enjoyed watching how they printed documents in the early printing presses with a visit to the print shop. The final stop of the day was the National Constitution Center which is fairly new and has many great exhibits. The final room you visit is called Signer's Hall where there are bronze statues of all the original signers and you're invited to sign your name to a copy of the constitution and add your voice as one of "We the people".

It was a day that helped us to really appreciate what it took to gain our independence and the sacrifices of many of the early citizens. We gained a greater appreciation for our country and the founding documents that our laws are based on.

The next day we headed to the Franklin Science Institute which had numerous hands on displays. They also had Body World there as a special exhibit which we went to see. It gives you a great appreciation for just how amazing the human body is. The dissections were incredible and allowed you to view the structures of the body from many interesting angles. The girls favorite part was the giant heart that you could walk/climb through to follow the path of blood through the heart. Afterwards we headed to the Museum of Art steps to recreate "Rocky". The girls were all excited about going until we stepped out of the car and it was 16 degrees and blowing snow. They had fun for a few minutes but got cold very quickly.

The next day we headed to the Adventure Aquarium across the river in Camden, New Jersey. This was a great aquarium. Our two favorite parts were the large tank that had sharks, large manta rays, sea turtles, and various fish. We could have sat for an hour at that tank alone. I loved seeing the Shark Ray which are not commonly found at aquariums. It's not the best picture below but it's a mix between a ray and a shark. The other fun area was seeing the hippos swimming in the water.

The kids also loved all the touch pools. It was a lot less scary to touch starfish though than the little sharks or rays. We had a great time on our adventure and got to travel through 5 states on the journey.

Philadelphia skyline and Ben Franklin bridge in the background

Name the movie

Bonus: Can you name the city and location?

9 months...

My, oh my, where has the time gone. It seems with each successive child that they grow up faster than the last. This little guy has been so fun and is such a great kid except for the little bit about sleeping through the night. He loves playing with his sisters and tolerates all of their smothering and toting him around the house (or using him as a horse).

The other day I was downstairs working and the girls had headed upstairs to play when I realized it was too quiet. I started searching for Jonas who is very good about playing independently and exploring on his own. I couldn't find him anywhere downstairs so I head upstairs and find him playing with the girls. I asked Whitney if she had brought him up and she said that "No, he just came crawling in the room two minutes after we came up." He had just decided to follow them up. Needless to say we got the Christmas decorations in the attic that night and the gates down and installed. He wasn't very happy about the gates after having found a fun place to climb. In fact he spent 10 minutes trying to figure out a way to crawl through the gate after I put it up. You should see the pure joy on his face when he finds the gate accidently left open. He makes a beeline for the stairs and is up them in a jiffy. He just hasn't learned how to come down them yet. He's a natural climber and as you can see above his dad has started him on rock climbing already.

He's cruising all over the place and finding he can get into more things like what Mom has sitting on the edge of her desk. He's still timid about standing on his own without holding onto something. He has two bottom teeth so far and loves to feed himself Cheerios or whatever he finds on the floor. We love you sweet boy!

Do you believe in ghosts?

This is a conversation that Whitney had today with a Jewish boy at the gym.
Boy: Do you believe in ghosts?
W: Just one, the Holy Ghost.
Boy: I don't believe in the Holy Ghost.
W: The Holy Ghost is up in heaven.

Whitney was telling me about this conversation on the ride home and I was struck first by her initial response to the question but secondly that she took the opportunity to share what she knew and believed. What an example she is to me to not be ashamed to share what I know and believe!