Adventures in Philadelphia!

The end of March I purchased an annual family membership for $40 for a museum in Kentucky that meant we would be eligible to visit more than 200 museums for free (of which we'll visit fewer than 10). Yesterday we made use of this membership for the first time as we went to the Franklin Institute, an outstanding science museum in Philadelphia. It would have cost about $100 for the five of us to enter so we already saved $60 by purchasing the ASTC membership. The free entrance included a planetarium show. It excluded the IMAX movies and two exhibits which required an additional fee (one on Egypt and one on Pixar movies). Paul usually has Mondays and Wednesdays off, but he taught a class on Monday and Wednesday morning this week for a colleague who was attending a conference, but he only taught from 8:00-8:52 those days. We were on the road at 9:30 headed for Philadelphia, and it only took a little over 2.5 hours to get there (no traffic delays!). We were also able to park on the street right beside the museum. It cost us $7.50 in quarters to stay there for three hours whereas it would have been $18 in the parking garage for that same time span.

Three hours was definitely not enough time to explore the museum. We were constantly hurrying the kids on to another exhibit. At the end we watched a 25 minute planetarium show before we left. We only did one (very short) live program with a Tessla coil (and there were many other programs going on that day). We definitely want to return during the next year. I had packed lunches, and we had eaten them in the van on the way to Philadelphia. It was the kids first time at the museum, and Paul's first time there in more than 40 years. I have been there several times both as a child and as a teacher taking students there on a field trip. Paul remembered climbing in the 2 story heart, but most of the exhibits have changed over the past 40 years. Even though I brought my speed light (external flash), I struggled with taking pics. Taking pics indoors is not my specialty, especially in museums, but hopefully in time I will improve at this. I much prefer taking pics outdoors.
We had a little trouble driving in between the two museums, but eventually we figured it out. We didn't pass any fast food restaurants, so we ended up just eating something at the Please Touch Museum.

The first Wednesday of every month they offer $2 admission from 4-7pm (a $15 discount per ticket). They also offered discounted meals in their cafe - a slice of pizza or a hot dog with a drink for $2.50. We parked in their lot ($10) which was a mistake as we could have parked on the street for free. Oops! Live and learn. The kids had a blast. Nadia's favorite part was the bakery. In comparing Baltimore and Philly, I would say I think Baltimore tops Philly when it comes to comparing zoos and children's museums but that Philly's science museum is better than Baltimore's. Originally I had planned for us to go to the Seaport Museum yesterday instead of Franklin Institute, but when I saw they had a pirate exhibit opening soon, I decided to go to the science museum first and do the Seaport Museum next month. The trip back took MUCH longer because at one point it took us over an hour to go about 4 miles. Next time we are going to try to arrive earlier (10:00) and leave by 4:00 in the hopes our drive home will be more reasonable. I was pooped, but it was a good day. The kids loved both museums.

I'm overdue for a gratitude list so here's my thankful Thursday list:

1.Nadia was thrilled to learn on Sunday that she was assigned a speaking part (she'll be Meg) in the spring musical the kids' choir is putting on in May at church. Ian was assigned his very first solo! He has a beautiful voice. I can't wait to hear him sing his first solo, and I am sure Nadia will do a great job with her speaking part.

2. My mom was able to have her fourth chemo treatment yesterday. We are praying that the next 10 days will go more smoothly than they did the last two rounds. Thus far she does not qualify for surgery, but we are praying to that end.

3. We finished reading a biography on Gladys Alyward and then watched an old movie about her life ("Inn of the Sixth Happiness"). It took us several days to watch the movie. I was impressed that the kids were able to point out discrepancies between the movie and the book we read. Now we are enjoying The Endless Steppe and Letters from Rifka as soon we will be studying Russia.

4. Nadia and Ian are not fans of peas or rice, but they did better than expected with dinner tonight which consisted of pulao rice with peas and nuts and a small mug of garam doodh to drink. The rice dish included raisins and cashews. I actually thought it was rather tasty. I was afraid Ian and Nadia would be having it for breakfast tomorrow, but they are making progress with eating foods they aren't crazy about. Yay! We had these Hindu dishes because we are studying India this week.

5. Ian scored five goals on Saturday morning!

6. We had a great family outing to Philadelphia yesterday.

7. Oliver started to come down with a cold on Monday, and yesterday his cough sounded much worse. After his recent hospitalization, I was getting worried, but today he is doing MUCH better. I am very thankful.

8. I am attending a women's retreat with singer/speaker Kathy Troccoli tomorrow night and Saturday morning with my friend, and I am spending Friday night at her house. I can't wait!