Happy 4th of July!

What a wonderful weekend we had!

The best part:  spending three whole days with Steve...no school, no chemistry, no thesis writing...just family time :)  It was wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!

And we packed a lot into our three days.  I do have to say that the 4th of July is one time that I am extra thankful for where we live...they just do the 4th right around here...from hometown parades to big city events :)  The 4th in the Philly area is really great!

We spent Saturday at the Franklin Institute.  The girls love this museum...there is so much to learn and enjoy.  We enjoyed a special July 4th demonstration called The Science of Fireworks and also saw the Mummies of the World exhibit...it was fascinating.  (No photography allowed in the mummy exhibit, so no pictures.)  We also happened to run into some of our friends from church...bonus!

F.I.  Heart Exhibit~

The girls love climbing through this giant heart!

I love the architecture...another beautiful building in Philly~

Ben Franklin at the Franklin Institute~

Gracia loved the museum too~

The Science of Fireworks...cool photo taken by Steve~

Goofy friends...lunch at F.I~

We walked to our little downtown after church on Sunday and enjoyed an ice cream at a local bakery.  Our Sunday evening was spent at Rose Tree Park (just a few miles from our house).  We enjoyed a night of patriotic music and Sousa marches performed by the Upper Darby Sousa Band.  They were really good and the conductor was great...he gave us little snippets of info about the songs...it was a mini musical history lesson.

Monument climbing while on our family walk~

The Upper Darby Sousa Band in Rose Tree Park~

Old Glory flying proudly at Rose Tree Park...this is the largest flag in Delaware County, PA~

Gracia loved the music too~

For the 4th, we headed to Valley Forge.  Spending part of our day at Valley Forge was way neato.  I mean, really, the 4th of July, Valley Forge...how awesome is that!  We enjoyed a picnic, different activities, a reading of the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson himself (who was looking pretty good for such an old guy!).  It was a lot of fun!  

Colonial Army training~

Bella was a bit more serious than Sophia~

Sweet love~

Thomas Jefferson reading the Declaration of Independence~

Picnic in the park~

Yummy!

Cute little colonial girl~

Pretty colonial young lady~

She barely missed...so close!

Little drummer girl~

And we topped off our July 4th evening by joining our friends for fireworks...what a great weekend.  Hope you enjoyed your holiday too~

Cuddles~

The fireworks were great!

God bless~
Rach