That's Mr. Franklin to you.

My friend and I took our combined 5 kids (2 for me, 3 for her) and hit the road earlier this week for two nights and two very full days of sightseeing.  Our destination?  Philadelphia, PA.

We know how to pack it in!  Here was our itinerary:

TUESDAY:

• Franklin Institute - we were there for 5 hours!

• Liberty Bell

• Betsy Ross' House

I can't believe I didn't take one picture of the Betsy Ross' house visit!

• Took a ride on the top, open-air deck of the trolley back to our hotel.

WEDNESDAY:

• Please Touch Museum

• National Constitution Center

• Adventure Aquarium in Camden

The fun officially started on Monday at 5:00pm, when we arrived in the City of Brotherly Love.  We picked up our City Passes (What an amazing value!!  The only way to see so much and not spend a fortune) and then headed to the hotel to check-in. 

We had adjoining rooms, but only one was ready when we arrived.  Not a problem!  We'll put all our luggage in one room, grab some dinner and then get access to our 2nd room.  By the time we made it to the restaurant, which was recommended as a kid-friendly place to go by the concierge desk, the kids were melting down.  We are now approaching 7:30pm, and it is getting seriously late for dinner.  The restaurant was ANYTHING BUT kid-friendly.  It was pretty empty and yet it took them 10 minutes to notice our crowd of 7 was standing there to give us a table.  There was no kid menu and the prices were on the high side ($18 for a burger).  Then after waiting another 10 minutes or so for our drinks to arrive (we still aren't sure how much longer they actually took to come), we decided to leave the scene and head elsewhere.  At our next stop, things moved more quickly and the kid menu rocked for our little ones.  Still, it was 8:15pm by the time food hit the table.  Oh my! 

Upon getting back to the hotel, we tried to get the kids down to bed as soon as possible.  I think we were successful in this task by 10:30pm.  Oy!  At 3:00am, a gentleman tried to come in our room.  By the 5th try of the key, I told him the room was taken.  It turns out the front desk never officially checked us into the 2nd room when I went to get the key after dinner.  Oh no!  

By the time Tuesday afternoon rolled around, Susanne and I vowed to get the kids dinner on the early side and make sure they were in bed by 8:00pm.  It was a long day and having my two kids be cranky from being over-tired wasn't my idea of fun.  We were at a Mexican restaurant by 4:45pm and I had a margarita in my hands by 5:05pm.  :)   We even made it back to the hotel pool for a swim before bedtime.  As you can imagine, no one had trouble falling asleep Tuesday night.

I've come to realize that Philadelphia has a well-established spot on my list of top 5 favorite cities.  I love this city!   It is a wonderful place to take the kids, or you know, run a marathon. 

Other than one MAJOR temper tantrum from Sam (I'm sure the staff and fellow moms are still talking about the craziness and out-of-control display we had going on) at the aquarium on Wednesday afternoon, the kids were mostly rockstars.  Sure, they had their moments of being hungry and tired, but once we took steps to remedy that, all was good. 

When I look back on our trip with my friend and our kids, I am always amazed at how much we do and how fearless we are traveling on our own.  I am mommy, hear me roar!