Independence National Historical Park: Liberty Bell

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One of the most well known symbols of freedom is the Liberty Bell. This is the real thing, crack and all.
The Independence National Historical Park does a good job of making history come to life. The museum exhibits in the Liberty Bell Center told story after story of people who used the Liberty Bell as a rallying symbol.  In addition to revolutionaries, the Liberty Bell became an icon for freedom from slavery, women’s rights and democratic movements the world over.
Being there reminded me of this quote from Thomas Paine, one of the revolutionary thinkers of the time.

 
“What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.” 
― Thomas PaineThe American Crisis
It struck me that the feelings of patriotism that I felt while at the Liberty Bell Center and Independence Hall were actually gratitude for all the people who came before me and fought for the “highly rated article of freedom.” I’m grateful to them and to those who fight for it now. Thank you.
Unfortunately Big E was more concerned with riding in little g’s stroller than appreciating national history. Here he is throwing a fit with Independence Hall in the background.  Before taking this picture I had carried him, talked to him, begged, bribed and threatened him, but alas there was nothing that I could do to make him happy. At one point I even walked away, assuming he would stop pouting and follow me.  It didn’t work.
Eventually, to the relief of the other visitors annoyed with my four-year-old’s cries, I just put him in little g’s stroller, pushed with one hand and carried little g at the same time. Thankfully the Liberty Bell Center was a short walk.

 

Independence Hall: National Historical Park

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Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The highlight of taking the tots back east, aside from visiting family, was touring the Independence National Historical Park.  This National Park is unlike any other in that its purpose is to preserve the birthplace of our nation. The biggest draw for me was a tour of Independence Hall, the location of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

 

Now, I’m no historian but I did have a great US history teacher in high school. I know the founding fathers met here in the Pennsylvania state house to discuss the radical ideas of representative government. It was heart warming to tour the building where this great nation began and to consider the cost the founding fathers were willing to pay for their their idealistic democracy.
I mean, if King George had come out on top in the revolutionary war there would’ve been a lot of smart guys killed for treason. Luckily for the USA, the crazy democratic experiment continued against the odds.

 

Independence Hall has two main meeting rooms, both set up in the way it would’ve been in 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was signed. In order to tour Independence Hall you must pick up tickets at the visitors center on the day of your visit.  Tickets are free and are available starting at 8:30 in the morning. On busy days they suggest having someone in your group pick up tickets for whatever tour is available and planning your visit from there.

 

Being in the same room where our nation began gave me a powerful feeling of national pride. I couldn’t help but feel grateful for the sacrifices of those founding families and I was awed by their courage to try such a bold endeavor.
Unfortunately little g was more concerned with pushing her stroller around than staying quiet for the tour. Whenever I tried to park the stroller to the side she went over to it and cried until I undid the brake.
Big E was also upset with life and wanted to be held by me constantly, making the stroller controlling even more difficult. Thankfully my brother and his family were there to help and thankfully the tour was only about twenty minutes.

 

After the tour we had snacks outside, which was probably the tots favorite part of the experience. They ran around the garden area watching birds sneak in to steal our spilled food. It was a great tour and I was glad to have gone there, but next time I’ll make sure to have snack time BEFORE the tour.

Good Morning Baltimore!

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Our first stop on our trip back east was the great city of Baltimore, Maryland. At least we were told that Baltimore is great by our brother-in-law who attends Johns Hopkins University.  The merits of the city have been a long standing debate in our family and I was there to decide once and for all if Baltimore was all it’s been purported to be.

Our first stop was Druid Hill Park for my niece Eden’s third birthday.  We enjoyed tasty food in the sunny spring weather. The tots loved playing with their cousin and her little friends.


After the park Big E and I explored Johns Hopkins University with my brother-in-law. He took care to point out all the interesting facts about the history of the university and I have to say it was impressive. The colonial style brick buildings surround a beautiful central lawn.  Here Big E and I are standing outside the admissions building by a sign that says Johns Hopkins University. I know you can’t see it in the photo, but trust me, that’s what it says.
The weather was delightful, the city lovely, although we avoided the boarded off section of town.  I especially liked the green spaces, the parks and old world forests that we saw everywhere. Over all I have to say Baltimore was fun and worth the trip. The family naysayers (my husband included) were wrong. Baltimore was great and I’m glad I got a chance to explore it a little.
My one question is why Maryland is so obsessed with their state flag? Any thoughts?

Air Travel with the Tots

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The tots and I just returned from a week out east, visiting family in Baltimore, Philedelphia and College Park, Maryland.  Now, I don’t know about you but flying with two young children is not on my top ten favorite things to do list. Here’s how it went.

PLANNING
Before I stepped foot in the airport, I put a lot of thought into my travel choices.  First, I chose a direct flight to avoid dragging the tots around multiple airports.  Second, the flights I chose were in the afternoon, away from the morning business travel craziness.  Finally, I booked an extra seat for little g even though at eighteen months she is technically a lap child.  G and I both knew that she would never willingly stay on my lap for the four to five hours it would take to get to our destination.

IN THE AIRPORT
Thanks to my preplanning, I felt pretty good.  I was confident in my super mother abilities to entertain my children with games, stickers, toys and treats for the duration of our flight to Baltimore. We checked our bag (the fee is worth the lowered stress of not having to wrangle a carry on in addition to two kids, a stroller and overloaded diaper bag) and made it through security without too much stress. Thank you, TSA for allowing children under twelve to keep their shoes on.

When we arrived in our terminal little g decided she no longer wanted to ride in the stroller.  Instead, she wanted to push the stroller into the oncoming traffic of strangers’ legs and luggage. I gently redirected her and she loudly disagreed. By the time we got to our gate, I had little g under one arm, the stroller bumping around behind us, Big E wandering in front of people and the wailing of my baby to contend with. Hello fellow passengers, this is what you have to look forward to! I thought.

THE FLIGHT
Once we settled into our seats and the plane took off I thought all would be easy.  I had loaded my Kindle Fire with games, books and videos for Big E and he was content the whole time…at least until he had to use the bathroom.  On the drive to the airport, Mountain Dad had enthusiastically told Big E about the vacuum toilets in the airplane. “They’re really cool, bud.  You’ll love ’em,” he said. Big E was terrified. He refused to use one, choosing instead to squirm in his seat for the last forty minutes of the flight. Luckily we had a pit stop just before boarding.

While Big E was content to watch videos and play games, little g would have nothing to do with it. All she wanted to do was walk up and down the aisle, lean against random strangers and get in the way of the flight attendants. I wrangled her back to our seat several times, distracted her with toys and food, and even sang her favorite songs, but unfortunately she had her own opinions of what constituted proper airplane etiquette. She yelled, and cried and wriggled away from me. I had chosen a late afternoon flight with the hope that she would fall asleep halfway through it, at her normal bedtime.  Alas, instead of calmly dozing off in my arms, she got more and more hyper and refused to do anything except walk around in the aisle and run into people.

ARRIVAL
At 11:15 pm, we arrived in Baltimore and my phone was completely dead. My brother-in-law was waiting for us but there was no way to let me know we had arrived. I couldn’t even use a pay phone since I didn’t know his phone number without looking it up on my phone.

I did the only thing I could think to do. I took my over tired kids to baggage claim, left them by the wall while I retrieved my huge bag and their two car seats, rummaged around for my charger and plugged into the wall. I now had a diaper bag, stroller, large luggage bag and two cumbersome car seats to carry. Not to mention I had two young children to keep safe and happy while trying to locate my ride.

There’s a moment in every day where the chaos of young tots threatens to drown me. It’s an out of control feeling that I hate. Normally it’s a moment when both kids are crying, something has spilled all over me, and me and the tots are in an embarrassing heap in the middle of a store. Staring at my stuff and kids in that moment I realized I had reached my limit. They luckily weren’t crying, but I still felt out of control. Any semblance of calm confidence I started the day with was obliterated after the hours of little g’s crying and the stress of trying to keep her contained.

In those daily chaotic moments my brain stops working. I become super focused on what options I have since it feels like everything is out of my control.  Usually the only option I have is to change the environment. That’s what I did that night at the baggage claim. I tied one car seat to the luggage and had Big E wheel it around.  I strapped little g into the stroller, put the diaper bag over my shoulder and grabbed the other car seat. I had gotten a hold of my brother-in-law and knew he was waiting right outside, I just had to make it fifty feet or so. Thankfully Big E is a strong little four-year-old, and little g was too distracted by the pouring rain, and my one armed stroller steering to make much of a fuss.

We made it to the car, loaded everything in and gratefully left the airport behind.

The whole adventure was more stressful than I had anticipated. As an independant woman I try to do everything I can on my own, but there comes a point where it’s just so much easier to have another adult’s help. Was I able to fly across the country alone with my tots? Yes. Do I ever want to do that again? No.