Our first visitors!

We've only been in Philly for a little over 3 months now, and we already had our first visitors! My mom and Aunt Nancy were here last Monday through Friday, and we had a blast! We were very busy doing lots of cool, Philly things.

After driving the 20+ hours from Minnesota, they arrived on Monday evening. We only had time to grab a quick dinner, but it was so great to see them upon their arrival!

Since Tuesday was supposed to be the warmest day of the week, we decided to do all the outdoor, walking, touristy things. We walked to the Reading Terminal Market, which is a HUGE, indoor farmers market. They sell everything from fresh meat and produce to chocolates to grilled cheese sandwiches. It's one of my Philly favs! After that we walked over to the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Definitely major tourist attractions, but it's always surreal to see those things and contemplate our American history. Then we walked around Old City a bit, which is a part of Philly that still looks like the 1800s. There are old row houses, cobblestone streets, and horse drawn carriages. It's beautiful and I love thinking about what that part of town looked like hundreds of years ago. We trekked home for naps, and then ate at Honey's Sit and Eat for dinner, a delicious diner a couple of blocks from our apartment.

 Grandma Susan and Kylie.

So happy to be together!

 Kylie and the Liberty Bell.

 Walking around Old City.

 Dolley Todd (Madison) House.

I don't know who she was, but the description said, "Home of the woman who would become First Lady."

I'm assuming it was President Madison's wife...

 One of many old cemeteries. 

The flags on the graves are the old American flag with 13 stars.

They are on the graves of men who fought in the Revolutionary War.

A cool, old sign in Honey's.

We heard there was going to be rain on Wednesday, so we decided that would be our shopping day. We made our way over to the King of Prussia Mall, which is the second largest mall in America (after the MOA). We actually didn't spend too much time there because there is an outlet mall about 15 minutes from there, and it's hard to pay full price when discounts are so close! :) We hung out at the outlet mall for a couple of hours (and got some GREAT deals), and decided to take a driving tour through Valley Forge on the way home. We were well into nap time, so we hoped the kids would crash while we drove. Of course, Kylie was too excited to sleep, but thankfully, Brooks snoozed for 45 minutes or so. Valley Forge was beautiful with the changing leaves, and interesting with the Revolutionary War history! We got back to our apartment around dinner time, so we ordered a pizza and hung out.

 My little shoppers!

 Of course, we had to stop and play for a bit! :)

 A monument at Valley Forge.

Notice the beautiful, red tree on the right!

Fall happens a little later out here!

 Old homes at Valley Forge.

When we were living in Collingswood, NJ with Joe and Catherine, Jon and I discovered a cute little town near there called Haddonfield. It has a bunch of little shops and big, historic houses. I knew I had to take my mom and Nancy there! So Thursday morning we headed over to Haddonfield, NJ to explore the shops. It was a little chilly, but very charming!

A dinosaur statue in Haddonfield that Kylie just had to get her picture taken with!

Since mom and Nancy were leaving on Friday afternoon, we just stayed near our area of the city, Center City, on Friday morning. It was cool, but we took a walk through the neighborhood, and ate lunch nearby. When it was time to put the kids down for nap, they took off on their long drive home.

The time went way too fast, but we had so much fun! We loved having visitors, and I welcome any and all to come out here for some Philadelphia fun!