mom & shay visit: philadelphia!

In our years of summer sales, this is the first time that we have had family come out to visit and obviously I was really excited! My momma lived in Pennsylvania when she was younger, I don't know if that helped convince her. Or that it was Mckai's first birthday. Or that Shay loves a good adventure (and let's be real, my mom would do anything for Shay, we all would!) Whatever the convincing factor, thank you thank you!

"Today was such a good day!"

That was what my mom kept repeating about our first day of their trip.

And she was so right. In spite of all the driving and having to find a million different parking spots in downtown Philadelphia, it really was the perfect day!

They took a red eye Friday night so after breakfast on Saturday morning, we all took a nap when Mckai took his. By the time we were ready to explore, Tristan was almost done with work so he left an hour early and came with us :) First stop, the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.

 last time we were at the Liberty Bell (three years ago), you weren't allowed to go behind it. we were so disappointed that people were allowed behind this time. Tristan and I have a philosophy that people ruin pictures and so the fact that you literally could not get a picture without a million people behind it was extremely disappointing.

We had to wait a good amount of time before we could get in to see Independence Hall. It was so hot and so humid, we tried to occupy our time by taking pictures. That really only lasted a few minutes... But hence the excessive amount of pictures of our cute baby! Don't worry, I spared you the majority of them!

I'm not sure why but I can't even handle how much I love this picture. It just makes me smile every time I see it :)

One of the best parts of the day was after our tour of Independence Hall, it was down pouring! We ran from the hall (because they wouldn't let people stick around) to an overhang to wait it out. We were all soaked and it just added so much fun to the day. It was the first east coast rainstorm I've experienced this year and I love them so much!

Next stop, cheesesteaks for dinner because of course you can't come to Philadelphia and not try a cheesesteak! Tristan has tried all the places that are most famous for their cheesesteaks and has come to the conclusion that Pat's is the best so that is where we went. It was also my first taste (surprising I know, I'm not a huge fan of meat so they kind of freak me out...) and it was actually better than I anticipated. Even better though, their french fries! So good!

 I spy, more rain!

 these two have my whole heart.

Next stop, the Rocky Steps. I was sad because we had planned on hanging out at Eakins Oval for a bit but they closed it for the day due to the rain even though it had cleared up by that point. Another time :)

Last stop, the Love Statue. Tristan and I have the worst luck, things are always under construction when we are there. The Washington Monument while we were living in Maryland, The Pantheon when we were visiting Paris, The Gateway Arch park while Tristan was in St. Louis, really the list goes on. So of course it came as no surprise that Love Park is currently under construction so they have moved the Love Statue to Dilworth Park for now. It was a good move though because Mckai got to play in the splash pad there and gave us some of the cutest pictures!

Before heading home, we had to get ice cream. I don't have any pictures because they are on Tristan's phone rather than the camera but we went to the infamous Sweet Charlies. It is unreal! They do the rolled ice cream and it's so good that the line is always so long. We stood in line for just less than an hour and it was totally worth it. I got s'mores (graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate and caramel with strawberries on top) and Tristan got nutella and bananas in a donut. They cut a long donut like a sandwich and place the rolled ice cream in it to eat like a sandwich. He loved it!

Thanks for the great day, Philadelphia!