For our second day in Philadelphia, both Timmy and Sarah took off work and we headed to the Sister Cities Park for a bit.

There was a cute little splash area where the kids had fun running around.

 

Then we walked across the street to Logan Square,

and enjoyed the Swann Memorial Fountain.

Then it was time to go to the Franklin Institute, an awesome, interactive children's science museum.

Going to the Franklin Institute was definitely one of the kids' favorite parts of the week.

They had a whole area on the brain, and a big section on optical illusions.

This car simulated distracted driving and showed that scientifically your brain can only focus on one thing at a time.

There was also a sport area that explained how different scientific properties worked in sports like surfing, soccer, basketball, etc.

After the Franklin Institute we walked over to this area called "The Oval" where they set up fun, free activities during the summer...

like giant chess.

 That evening Sarah's good friend Melanie came over to babysit for us while we had a little date night.

First we headed over to the Barnes Foundation which holds one of the finest collections of Post-Impressionist and early Modern paintings. The collection is amazing and worth an estimated $25 billion.

Then we met up with two of our favorite people, Dave and Brooke, for dinner. Dave and Brooke moved to the Philadelphia area from Phoenix last August so it's been a while since we've seen them. It was great reconnecting with them again.

After dinner, Sarah got this shot of us as we were walking back home.

After our busy day seeing all of the historical sights around Philly, we went back to Timmy and Sarah's house to hang out a little before our big evening plans.

 Then these four hit the road for the Phillies game! 

Joey has been excited about this for so long.

If you remember, he's had their outfits picked out since June.

They got there early so they had time to walk around the stadium and play.

Timmy got them amazing seats three rows behind the first plate dugout.

Then Chooch threw a ball into the stands that Timmy caught for Joey.

The Phillie Phanatic!

Apparently it was an amazing game to watch. The Phillies won 6-5 and Ryan Howard hit a game winning grand slam. What a special night for four big Phillies fans!

Sarah and I didn't go to the game, but don't feel badly for us. We had a birthday girls night out instead. Sarah's birthday is July 31st and mine is August 1st so we had a fun girls' night out to celebrate. First we got our nails done, and then we went to this fantastic restaurant called Continental Mid-Town. We got to sit in these fun swinging chairs, and the food was absolutely delicious. At one point, they accidentally brought us out a dish that we didn't order, and let us have it on the house. Yay!

In addition to getting to see all of my siblings, the other week this summer that we had really been looking forward to was flying to Philadelphia to visit Andy's brother and sister-in-law, Uncle Timmy and Aunt Sarah. And by "we" I mean Andy, Joey, Hannah, and me. We left Ellie at Andy's parent's house in Phoenix when we realized it didn't sound like a vacation to take a 2 1/2 year old across the country. Ellie couldn't have been happier about the arrangement.

I can't tell you how gloriously easy it was to fly with a 5 and 7-year old. We all had a great, peaceful flight.

 Timmy picked us up from the airport and Sarah made us an amazing Italian dinner. Timmy entertained us with stories from Andy and Timmy's childhood.

For our first full day in Philly, Timmy planned an educational tour of historical sights around the city.

We toured Independence Hall,

saw the Liberty Bell,

Benjamin Franklin's printing press,

Elfreth's Alley ("Our nation's oldest residential street" dating to 1702),

Betsy Ross' house,

and Benjamin Franklin's tomb in Christ Church cemetery,

The kids also rode the carousel in Franklin Square. Joey saw me writing this post and wanted to add his commentary. He said, "I really liked the carousel. The eagle went really high."

It was really great getting to see all the historical places around Philadelphia, but that was only the first part of what we had planned that day...

This past week was one of the weeks of summer I was most looking forward to because all of my family came into town! Rachel, Michael, and Ben flew in from Indiana, Benjamin and his girlfriend Christina flew in from Houston, and Timmy drove down from LA. Our week was a whirlwind of activities, but here are some of the highlights:

Swimming at our pool.

An afternoon of dodgeball, kickball, and wiffleball.

These two hung out during our "field day." Ellie actually made quite a few friends with all the dogs and dog owners that came to the park to play. She is definitely our most social child!

Hanging out at Nana's house.

Eating delicious dinners al fresco.

More lounging by the pool.

And of course, going to the beach!

My cousin Abby even flew in from Phoenix to hang out for a few days which was great!

Ben was not too bothered by the sand.

I love that Ellie is photobombing the picture.

My birthday dinner!

Matching outfits?! Okay, this requires more of an explanation. I bought this dress at the beginning of the summer. My mom liked it so much that she bought one for Rachel and Christina on their birthdays and one for herself. I don't think any of us realized that she got them for all four of us, and then she arranged it that we all wore it on my birthday. It was pretty funny. We felt like bridesmaids.

We also had a chance to visit my grandma.

Then we headed over to my aunt and uncle's house for a pool party with more of my cousins.

It turned out to be a rare rainy day in August, but we still had a great time.

There's the whole clan. What a fun group!

Unfortunately I didn't get more pictures, but we also had Ben's first birthday party, a few games of Mafia, a hike in the rain, and other fun family memories.