Philadelphia

We left Hershey Park at 10 and drove to Philadelphia. We got a hotel right by Reading Market. On the way, the girls slept and Matt and I talked, and when we got there we were all super tired and crashed in our beds. 

The next morning Matt and I woke up early and walked the .8 miles to the temple to get cards for the 1:15 session. Cherissa received her endowment and everyone was nervous  there wouldn’t be space since philly doesn’t allow reservations and the last time the ward went on a Saturday there wasn’t enough spots for everyone. We stayed in Chinatown - so cute! And we rolled out of bed and threw on our church clothes.  Frankie had requested our favorite Beiler donuts from reading market, and since we were walking right past it, we grabbed 1/2 a dozen. We figured the girls would rather spend more time at the Franklin Institue than shopping at the market. 

The girls stayed asleep and we got our cards from the temple, and some extras, and all was well. We headed down for our hotel breakfast with minutes to spare. As we were chatting about our day, this couple heard us talking about the temple and asked if we were LDS. We chatted and found out that they know the Schoeny’s! Small world in the church. We took this picture and sent it to Joni and David. 

We got all packed and I dropped the crew at the Franklin Institue. We renewed our annual membership - it’s walking distance from the temple, and the girls love it. 

Cherissa asked me to be her temple escort and I was so thrilled. I never served a mission, but working with her has felt like it, and it’s been a joy in my life. I’ve been by her side through her year of investiagting, spoke at her baptism, worked with her as she prepared for the temple, and to be there for the culmination was such a blessing. I got to the temple early and made lunch for the crew and got all of our gear together. I was going to leave everything at the front desk at the temple, but  Colleen offered to take our food across to the church where the Tripp’s had generously offered to babysit. Then I borrowed someone’s cell phone to let him know the new plan. So many moving parts!

Cherissa, Noreen, Nanci, and I were able to sit down with the temple matron and ask questions and get guidance. And Matt made it to the session and everything went really well. We had like 20+ ward members in the session and I just love our ward so much. 

We picked the girls up and headed to Franklin Institute till they closed at 5. 

Then we sat on a bench and talked about our options. We had planned on staying another night in Philadelphia and doing Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell Sunday, but Matt was on the fence. And then weirdly all the hotels were crazy expensive. 

So we decided to let the girls get their swimsuits on and play in the fountain to appease the no hotel swimming and then head home.

They loved it!

And so did we. 💕

It wasn’t super hot so they didn’t swim long. I spy a temple past the fountain. 

Who gets to climb and play on city fountains? So much fun. 

In spite of the “No swimming” signs painted on the bottom of the fountain, this place was happening. 

“Take my picture, mommy!”

And sometimes we take breaks. 

They love each other. 

We played till they were done, walked back to our free parking at the temple, got changed and cleaned up, and headed home. 

It was a super easy drive. We grabbed Wendy’s and listened to our new audio book that Addie recommended “39 Clues,” which is v good and interesting. It was a fun, bonding, spiritually growing weekend and I’m so grateful we were able to do it.