On Friday, Sophia had an appointment at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). She was referred to an ENT specialist simply because she has very large tonsils and they needed to evaluate if anything needed to be done. The good news is that she is fine and her tonsils do not need to come out...it's always good when surgery is not required. Our short, little experience at CHOP was actually very pleasant. And they validated our parking ticket so it only cost $3 to park in the city for the entire day...major bonus!
So we went across the street (literally) to see Steve. Steve's chemistry building is right across the street from CHOP. We got to have lunch together...a rare treat. We also completely splurged and took the girls to a place called Naked Chocolate...doesn't the name say it all! We let them each pick out one treat...it took them a long time to pick because everything looked so wonderful! Steve and I split a peanut butter cupcake...it was AMAZING!
Then the girls and I took the subway across the city to the National Constitution Center. It was the 223rd anniversary of the signing of the Constitution and they celebrated with a free day. They had lots of activities...it was great! The building is so beautiful and the exhibits are very well done. We enjoyed a live narration of a movie-in-the-round which was a great history/civics review of all the girls and I have been studying with school. It was well done. The girls loved wandering around the museum...I love this kind of learning. A gentleman with the NCC even took some photos of them dressed up as judges at one of the Supreme Court exhibits...maybe they'll be used for a brochure or something...they were mighty cute! We participated in a Bill of Rights "gameshow" and B even got up on stage to read one of the questions to the audience...I was so proud of her...she did great! One of our favorite parts of the museum was Signer's Hall...filled with statues of the signer's of the Constitution. S even recognized Benjamin Franklin...I think it's pretty neato that she's learning big stuff too.
We took the subway back to the other side of the city and then hung out on campus while waiting for Steve to finish up his day. The girls LOVE the courtyard behind Steve's building simply because there are lots of squirrels and for whatever reason, they love to chase squirrels. I have no idea why :) Those poor squirrels...we were there for over an hour and the girls ran around almost the whole time...they both fell asleep easily that night!
It was a GREAT day!
On Saturday, we headed over to the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge for the Cradle of Birding Festival. We have been there a couple of times and have really enjoyed it. I figured the festival would be fun and that I might even be able to count it as a school field trip. It was so much more than I ever expected!
We were there for 5 hours and still didn't see everything! They had all sorts of tables and booths set up...all sorts of organizations were represented. We visited table after table and kept gathering more and more info. The girls did all sorts of things...identified animal skulls, used microscopes, learned about feathers...the list goes on and on. We also enjoyed Philly Zoo animal seminars where the handlers brought some of the zoo animals to show and talk about. The got to hold lots of exotic birds and see birds of prey up close. We went on a kid's butterfly and bird walk with some experienced birders...they brought their scopes and set them up for the kids...it was so fun! They finished an "information treasure hunt" and won a puzzle. The PA Game Commission had a booth that let the kids help build a bluebird house and they got to bring it home too. One of the highlights was an artisan woodworker. He made such beautiful things out of wood. He showed both girls how to chisel and so they each brought home their own carved piece of wood. They drew the design and he helped them carve...B was able to do most of it on her own. They are really neat!
It was another GREAT day!
Enjoy the pics~
Rachel
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