Pennsylvania Quick Trip

So it has been a long time since I have updated our blog and I want to try and "catch up" over the next week because spring is upon us and I know we will have many more blog worthy events in the coming months.
In January we headed to Pennsylvania. I (Alissa) have been struggling with some different health issues since having mono in 2005 and Dave found a clinic outside of Philadelphia that specializes in treating my symptoms. It has been a long road, but my trip to this clinic has made a difference and I feel hopeful about my treatments. (I may write more about this health "adventure" at a later date.) Since we were heading to Pennsylvania anyway, we decided to make a long weekend out of it and have some fun too. We made a detour to Lancaster County and feasted on a traditional Smörgåsbord. We witnessed the charm of farm life and Amish living though many of the touristy establishments were closed for the winter. The boys were reminded of our time reading Farmer Boy (the story of Almanzo Wilder) and how hard people worked on farms (and the Amish still do)! We then headed to King of Prussia, PA for a couple of nights as that is where the clinic is located. The boys spent time at the King of Prussia Mall (second in size only to the Mall of America in MN) while I visited the doctors and had some tests done. Our hotel was only a couple of miles from Valley Forge, so we had to stop by there and see the place where Washington's troops held out for the winter during the Revolutionary War. We also discovered Maggiano's Little Italy and feasted on the traditional family style cuisine while a blanket of white began to cover the surrounding area.
On to Philadelphia! Thanks to the GPS that we purchased on our way out of VA, we were able to drive right to some of the hot spots in Philly. We were limited on time but we had a couple of goals as we entered the city of brotherly love: eat a real Philly Cheese steak at Pat's, see the Liberty Bell, tour Independence Hall. We were able to do all three as well as a visit to Benjamin Franklin's grave (1 day after the celebration of his 302 birthday), experience the Money in Motion exhibit at the Federal Reserve Bank where we each walked away with one hundred dollars...shredded in a baggie :( and a carriage ride touring the streets of Philadelphia. We had recently watched the movie National Treasure so the boys were very excited about seeing Independence Park where part of the movie was filmed (many other scenes were staged around D.C. as well). Anyway, the carriage ride tour gave us a condensed overview of the buildings and history of the park. It was perfect considering our time constraints. The Independence Hall tour guide was very informative and showed us what it would have been like if Matt Foley were a park ranger and not a motivational speaker. At all of these historical sights, we have tried to help the boys understand the importance of knowing our country's history. On our way out of town we drove by the Franklin Institute and the Philadelphia Museum of Art (we hope to tour both of these on our next visit).
On to Mechanicsburg to visit family. Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Cathleen Lauer graciously opened their home to us and we so enjoyed spending time with them. We were able to see their pictures from a recent visit to Japan to see their son Benno. We also visited the campus of Messiah College where Uncle Jonathan serves as the head librarian. From there we headed home with a brief detour through Gettysburg. Phew! It was a whirlwind trip and we made the most of our time. We do hope to make it back to PA before our time here in VA is through!