Melins on the Move! - Part 6

I love when I give God my plans and He makes them even better.  Our next day was like that.  We got an early start in our room (like I mentioned before) so we were up and out pretty quickly.  Our goal was to make it to D.C.  Somewhere along the way I had the thought that our lunch stop could be in Philadelphia so we could see the Liberty Bell.  Well, that stop turned into a whole day of fun surprises!

First, we made our obligatory circles to find parking.  While making the rounds I saw that the Federal Reserve Bank was open for free tours!  The kids loved the $100 of shredded money they each received and seeing all the stacks of cold hard cash!

Inside the Visitors Center we were able to meet some actors who pretended they were actually living in the past.  It was a little confusing for the kids but they enjoyed the activities that were offered. One had pens of the day to use to write their names!  An added bonus: whenever we saw a park ranger the kids could answer questions to earn trading cards of historical sites and figures.  This teaching mama was thrilled with all the facts we were learning!

On our walk to the Liberty Bell we had to wait for a Juneteenth parade to pass.  This holiday was new to me, but we celebrated just the same!  The music was peppy.  We were all dancing, and they threw out beads!

Longest line of the whole trip, but we got to see the Liberty Bell!

Isn't she just so cute?!?!  Just thought I would throw that out there.

On our way back to our van we ran into another fun surprise!  A Chinese Lantern Festival!  This was a colorful display of lanterns in all shapes and sizes.  We walked through a giant shark's mouth, saw little pandas, and danced beside a huge dragon.

Our time in Philly was short but we packed it full.  We did finally make it to D.C.  We stayed at Andrews AFB.  We were even able to walk and see Air Force One (from afar) on the way to get groceries! Score!