PA to NYC

My pictures are out of order in my computer, so I found some from the game that I didn't want to miss!

 We were trying to get this family shot while the stadium people were shooing us out...

 Darling girls!!! Maddie, Amanda and Kaili

 Here we are at Steven & Hillary's house.  Jason was playing 'five' with Uncle Mike

 Abi and Emma showing me the presents Grandma and Papa brought them....

 Hillary and Jason opening his birthday present from grandparents and below Emma checking out what Amanda is doing...

 Corvin and Zac played football in the backyard...

One last family shot before we headed to Philly and the rest headed to Matt  & Alisa's house.  We missed seeing Alisa, but we also really wanted our kids to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.

 We loved the details of Independence Hall and loved seeing the courtroom as well as the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed. The above chair is original!  We had an amazing talk with our kids about how our freedoms came about and the sacrifices these men made so that we could enjoy such an amazing life.  In one of the displays, where we couldn't take pictures, they had the press release copy of the Declaration.  What they think is the original ink boat was there. There was also a sign explaining what these men went through and a quote by Ben Franklin saying, "We stick together or we hang together" or something to that effect...I'm sure I missed a word....anyway, we had a great discussion with our kids on what that meant and if they would have the courage to do something as amazing as they did.  I wouldn't have traded that experience for anything.

 But Sydney might have...this is after a sibling fight....

We ate at an Italian restaurant that had been in Philly forever...family owned place and it was delish!  

 Then, we drove into NYC!  Our GPS took us right into the city and almost into Times Square.  Mike did awesome driving and would fit in as a New Yorker.  The kids were loving the lights and crazy traffic.  After we got to the hotel and got a roll-away for Brandon (we were loving this room that was big enough for a roll away! Our last room in NYC was about the size of our closet! Not joking!), Mike and the men took the rental cars to the airport.

 We got ready for bed and then Amanda and Brandon put on a show!

 So cute!  This is the view out our hotel window! We stayed in Queens....and it was great!  We were super close to a subway and the deli and shop people by our hotel were so nice.  We ate breakfast each morning at the deli and stopped by the shop when we would get back each night.

Mike got back pretty late, but we were all asleep!  Which was good, because we needed to gear up! One thing I wanted to remember, but don't know where to list it was our drive on the toll road from the game and then into NYC.  They had service areas so you could stay on the toll road.  Not something we are familiar with as Utahns.  But, we stopped at a service stop to use the bathroom and ran into Utah fans! We were like 2 hours from Pittsburgh.  The lady lived in Virginia and had come down with her kids for the game! Go Utes! Loyal fans, I'll tell ya! It was fun to chat.  Renae made friends everywhere she went, just chatting with everyone.  I think she's ready for a mission after watching her on this trip!

The countryside was gorgeous!   We really did enjoy this drive.  More to come!!