June 21: Philadelphia!

It was a different kind of Father's Day.  Normally, we would make breakfast in bed for Jay and the kids would give him gifts they made.  Instead, we did our usual hotel breakfast and just relaxed in the room for a little while before it was time to get ready for church.  This is also our wedding anniversary (13 years!)

We picked Rachel up for church and went to a family ward for Sacrament Meeting.  Everyone was very friendly and happy to see us.  We all even got hugs from our "African Grandfather"!  Jay was given a paper corsage and a candy bar, so he felt properly honored as a father.

After church, we went back to Rachel's for pizza.  We decided to take everyone out to run around for awhile since they'd been cooped up in the car for several days.  It was hot and humid, but the kids were glad to get to play for awhile.

We were going to go down by the river near Rachel's apartment, but the road we needed was closed.  She knew of another park, so we drove there instead.  It turned out to be perfect-- in addition to a great playground, there was a little creek.  The kids spent over an hour splashing in the water and building dams in the water.

Blocking the creek.

Jonathan and Rachel just chilling out.

Water! Rocks! What more do you
need?

Pretty girls in nature.

One dirty Jonathan.

Rachel gives this activity two thumbs up.

Engineering success.

Or we could just play in the mud....

Eventually they had enough water and mud and rocks and we went back to Rachel's for supper.  Then back to the hotel for baths and bed so we could be ready for more Philly adventure!