What Does Benjamin Franklin Know?

Benjamin Franklin said, “Fish and visitors stink in three days.” I have to respectfully disagree. The only thing that stinks about having a visitor for three days is having to say goodbye when you are just getting in the swing of things.

My mom came to visit this week. It was heavenly. We loved showing her our little old house, our quirky little neighborhood, and our favorite things to do. There is something comforting in the fact that my mom knows just where we are and has a little taste of what our new life is like. We only had three days but we did a pretty good job of packing in the adventures and “saving money.” We decided to only keep track of the money we saved rather than the money we spent.

We saved almost $3 on lunch the day we went to Longwood Gardens. Members get a 10% discount in the cafe! Longwood Gardens is an incredible estate of over 200 acres of forests, flower gardens, tree houses, fountains, and conservatories. It was absolutely beautiful. We walked and walked and walked and didn’t realize just how far we walked until we went home and were absolutely bushed. Mom is turning into quite the gardner. She could name just about every flower we passed. Now whenever we return to Longwood Gardens, I will think of my mom: “For if I love blossoms and meadows and walking, I learned how to love them, dear mother, from you.”

We saved another dollar or two the next day in the cafe at the Please Touch Museum. Kate had to show Grandma her museum. She and Jane ran from thing to thing showing grandma all of their favorite spots. It reminded me of Christmas morning as a child trying to show my mom and dad all the amazing things that were in and around my stocking. Jane showed grandma the lilly pads, the berry pie, the fruit department in the grocery store, and the giant stuffed dog. Kate showed her the balance beam, the craft room, the log slide, and the grocery store. We ended the day by going to a 15 minute puppet show/play/story time that had both girls completely engrossed.

We saved money our last day because we exercised instead of going somewhere we could spend money, we couldn’t decide what desert to buy so we went home without, and because they forgot to take our tickets on Phlash so we can use them another day. This was perhaps our busiest day and one we didn’t really plan out, it just sort of happened. We went for a bike ride along the Schuylkill River, which was absolutely beautiful. The bike ride ended at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art so we decided we should go in. We went looking for a Peter Paul Reubens painting my brother, Alan, told us was there. On the way to find it we walked into a circular room with about ten paintings displayed in it. Every painting was one you recognize right off--Sunflowers by Van Gogh, Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies by Monet--you get the idea. We were going nuts. The girls were also going nuts but not because they were loving the art. We decided to thank them for their patience by going for a ride on Phlash. Phlash is the trolley system that goes to the more touristy parts of the city. Kate loves to ride on Phlash. In fact when I asked her what she wanted to do while Grandma was here, her response was “ride Phlash” and “go to the Please Touch Museum.” We took a long ride on Phlash and then got off at Reading Terminal Market, a huge indoor market. After walking around and looking at all the different booths we had lunch and then headed home.

We also saved money by not renting movies for the evenings. Instead we played Hand and Foot, a favorite card game, with my parents. What? You didn’t think my dad was in town. Oh, well...he wasn’t. We set up Josh’s computer on the kitchen table, called my Dad on Skype, and played long distance. Half the fun was thinking how crazy it was that we could be playing a card game together when we were separated by 2,133 miles.

All in all it was a wonderful week, mostly because it was so good to have Grandma Shelly with us. She spoiled us royally and filled our home with her love. She must have read over a hundred books to the girls and played games with them the rest of the time. When Jane woke up and grandma was gone Kate reassured her over and over again, with her arm around her shoulders, that “grandma will be back tomorrow.” We certainly hope so!

Remember everyone, Ben Franklin may be the hero of this city, but he is absolutely wrong in thinking a three day visit is enough to see Philadelphia. And also, if you want things like shortbread cookies and carousel rides, it is best to bring grandma along with you. Mean old Mommy always says no to things like that.

p.s. I almost forgot the Kate quote of the week. I was doing “secrets” with Kate one night before bed. Secrets are something my dad used to do with me when he would tuck me in at night. The last part of secrets goes like this:

Mom: When you grow up you can...

Kate: Be married in the temple.

Mom: So your family can be...

Kate: Together forever.

Mom: And you can become...

Kate: A great woman like mom.

Mom: And marry...

Kate : A great man like dad.

One night this week Kate changed the last line to: “And marry a great prince like Dad!”