Family Trip to Philadelphia and New York 2014

We've been planning a trip to see Emily & Dan up in New York for a long time and Jonathan's fall break ended up being the perfect time since it's also beautiful up north this time of year!  And, since Philadelphia isn't far from Emily & Dan's (relatively speaking) it was a perfect time to check out where Jonathan served his mission.

Sunday, October 5, 2014
We left at 6:05 in the morning and drove the scenic route (in other words, NOT through DC) to Philadelphia.  Our first stop was to see a family, the Ormston's, who Jonathan helped teach and baptize/reactivate on his mission.  They were very nice and had 2 girls who loved playing with Rylee & Corben in their back yard.  We left there around 7:00 and drove the 20 minutes to our hotel in Phoenixville.  It was actually very close to Valley Forge, but it didn't work out for us to visit there.

Plugger luggage rack.  Wish I had gotten a closer picture...it as being held on by bungee cords,

Jonathan was excited to see a Wawa store (think QT).  He took Rylee to the bathroom and left me and Corben in the car.

Corben REALLY wanted to go in!

We stayed at a Hampton Inn (I used swagbucks and got $50 off. Awesome!). This was what Rylee did when she climbed in her bed...I think she was just a little excited to have that big bed all to herself!

All tuckered out.  They were all softly snoring and though it was hard, I resisted the urge to take a video.

Monday, October 6, 2014

Due to a series of events (i.e. not getting done with breakfast fast enough, the GPS taking us to the wrong place, and the train coming 10 minutes early)...we had a little later start than planned.  We missed the train we were planning to get, but it all worked out okay;  Just had to wait 30 minutes for the next train, but since we still hadn't parked that wasn't a problem.  We got two Independence Day passes (the kids were free) so that we would could ride unlimited all day on the buses, trains, subway, etc).  We parked at the Norristown Transportation Center (only $3 for the whole day!) and rode the regional rail train into Center City in Philadelphia.  Walked around a little bit, got our tickets for the Independence Hall tour, ate lunch on the lawn and let the kids run around (we carried both of them in our Pognaes all day, so they were always ready for a chance to run!).  We had to be there for our tour at 12:15.  I was so hoping Corben would fall asleep before the tour, but he didn't and he didn't much care for the history, so we stayed most of the time in the hallway, but I still got to see the rooms.  Very cool! 

Riding the regional train to Center City

Independence Hall

Court room

Room Declaration of Independence was signed in

Recognize this from National Treasure? ; )

After lunch and Independence Hall, we rode a bus and train a ways to visit another sister (Brenda) that Jonathan helped teach and baptize.  She was super sweet and nice!  She also had her grandkid's toys around, so Rylee and Corben really enjoyed visiting her house, too.  After visiting Brenda we caught the bus/train back to Center City.  We visited the temple site where they are building the Philadelphia Temple.

Reminiscing about a night he spent there on his mission

After the temple we got an authentic Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich before getting on another train and bus to go visit the Tep family who he helped teach/baptize on his mission.  They were awesome and made us the YUMMIEST egg rolls!  They were gone in like 10 minutes.  They also had an awesome little front yard that was fenced in and perfect for Corben to run around in.  

After we visited there it was time to head back to Center City to get the regional rail back to our car in Norristown.  We left for the ~3 hour drive to Emily & Dan's house in Cornwall, New York.  Got there about 11:15ish maybe? I can't remember now it was late.  Would have been a little earlier, but we had set the gps to 'no tolls' and ended up on backroads half the drive there.  And we stopped for gas in New Jersey where it was much cheaper and apparently illegal to pump your own gas. Weird.  

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

So Emily's oldest three kids were in school this week and Dan was working, so Emily and her youngest son Eric were our tour guides/entertainers/hosts (you get it, right) for the week.  First stop today we went to West Point where Dan works and he showed us around a little bit.  It was a beautiful campus! 

Yep...we're the life of the party. lol

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Emily took us to Bear Mountain State Park.  They had a bunch of nice paved walking trails and the leaves were beautiful!  There is also a free 'zoo' with rehabilitated animals that was pretty cool. 

Fox

Two bears

Rylee was marching up the hill (like the ants in the song)

Random museum.  Jonathan was actually the only one who got to go in here. 

Bench under the bridge

Bald Eagle

After Bear Mountain we went to a lookout.  The name eludes me.  There is a tower there, but we just went out on the rocks.  Not sure you can see it in the picture, but you could see the New York City skyline from here...on the horizon just to the right of that tree. 

On the drive back.  Scenery over load here.  You've been warned. ; )

Rylee (who doesn't usually nap) fell asleep on every car ride we went on.  They were all dropping like flies on this trip.
One

Two

Three

Later that evening playing in the back yard.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

I took coordinating outfits so that Emily could take some family pictures since I kept hearing about how scenic it was.  It was indeed scenic, but Corben only saw wide open spaces to run.  The pictures were a disaster, but here's what we got.  Well...a select few of what we got.

This was the very first one and of course probably the best one of the day.   We should have stopped while we were ahead.  How dare we try to do better than this. lol  Definitely the closest thing to a smile that Corben and.  And if Corben's eyes had just been open it would be great.  

*sigh* oh how I miss having a camera that I can manually turn on the flash

 Tried to lighten this cazebo one up a little bit on Picasa.  

This was one was semi-decent except for the shadows. 

Break time.

But it was really all down hill from here.

After pictures we went to the Walkway Over the Hudson.  This was one of my favorite things the whole trip...a flat, contained walkway over a mile long.  Corben could run to his heart's content.  It.was.AWESOME!!!!  

I love how the orange in his jacket matches the trees!

The bridge is 212 feet above the surface of the water and just 9 weeks earlier they had opened this cool elevator that you could ride to the park below.

Late at Emily's house...the gates were great for keeping Corben downstairs.  He wasn't really a fan, though.

Friday, October 10, 2014

Friday Emily took us to New York City!  All out for the count on the drive in.

Our first stop was to see the temple and visit the stake center next door for a potty break and to let the kids run.  Then Emily took us across the street where we got waffles from a food truck.  They were incredibly overpriced, but incredibly delicious!

Next we took a walk through a tiny section of Central Park

Trump Tower

Then we walked down Broadway to Times Square.  Wicked! 

We stopped in the M&M store and the Hershey stores.  Rylee wasn't a fan of the big M&M. ; )

In Times Square

And yes...Rylee is digging for gold.  Lovely.

Then we rode the Subway south to see the 9/11 Memorial

Freedom Tower

Then we headed to the Staten Island Ferry.  Along the way we saw Trinity Church (think National Treasure) 

And the Wall Street bull

 Riding the ferry.  Great views! 

lol...I didn't realize the first picture had turned out decent, so I was trying to get him to look at the camera for the second picture instead of the view. 

Then we rode the subway back to the temple and one more stop by the stake center before heading home.  Loved the experience of visiting the city, but very happy to return to Greenville. : )

Saturday, October 11, 2014

 We left around 7:30 on Saturday morning to drive home.  As if the drive wasn't long enough by itself, we decided to make a small (2 hour) detour to Hershey Pennsylvania.  We did the free tour/ride, got some samples, at lunch at the food court (and a yummy milkshake!), and headed home.  It is unfortunate it was so rainy and overcast because the leaves were BEAUTIFUL!!

At a rest area.  That rock would have been the perfect place for a family picture. lol

It had a fabulous enclosed area for Corben to run around.  And Rylee to clean.  She kept saying "This broom is perfect for me!"  (She's getting one for her birthday in a few weeks)

We got home at 11:20 that night.  It had been a very long and busy trip! We had a great time and appreciate Emily and Dan for hosting us! : )