Philadelphia Part 1

Today Wayne took one of the major tests of medical school. We were really worried and he studied very hard and we prayed exceedingly fervently. We will not find out the test results for awhile, but until then we will continue praying.

We got up at 4 am. For some odd reason I still am having a bit of trouble getting to sleep at night until a very late hour (well after 12, usually). Last night was no exception and I was the designated driver. Yay!

The kids of course woke up the minute I got them into their coats with the prospect of the bitter cold (feels like 8 degrees F). S talked to me all the way to the car. Pretty much we put them in the car in their jammies. They stayed awake for about an hour and chatted with me until we got to the part of the highway where it splits and I got into the wrong lane and had to wait for about 100 cars to drive by before I could get into the right lane.

It started out with a lot of excitement but by the time we actually reached Philadelphia (about 1.5-2 hours) they wanted to go home.

We had a glorious time waiting at 7-11 until Wayne was ready for his test.
We dropped him off. T started wailing the minute W started getting ready to go. W walked up the steps and R turned and said to me, "Mom, he's done."

I acted like I totally believed him and I said, "He is?!?"
Then S said, "Yes--with the steps."

After that we went to find a place to park and ended up driving around all of the historical district. We went to breakfast at McDonalds (which I don't normally do). S had to go the bathroom immediately and at first they told me there was no way they could let us use the bathroom unless we had purchased food. I promised faithfully that we would buy food, but she didn't believe me until she saw S (she was probably dancing).

It was the dingiest Golden Arches I have ever been in. It had a sign on the wall that said something towards the effects of, "Loitering is prohibited. Paying customers may stay 20 minutes." It is almost as if they are saying, "Welcome to our restaurant. Please leave."
Please leave."

After we made a stop at the Kmart to pick up some more snack food we headed to Independence Center and Hall. R and S had a glorious time doing the ranger booklet. R was thrilled to receive a golden badge that read "National Parks Ranger" "Independence." S patiently wrote a lot of the things and then had me write a little. Normally they don't give packets to 4-year-olds so she felt pretty special.

When the lady ranger handed R the badge he was beaming, until he noticed it was plastic. To which he replied to the ranger, "I want one like yours."

She smiled disconcertingly--shocked at his supposed ingratitude (he believed from the beginning he would be a true ranger--after all he took the oath). Then she said, "You can get one like this when you grow up."

When we walked away he said, "Mom, you need to do one of those booklets, then you can get a badge."

I explained, "Would you want me to live and work here while you lived in Brooklyn?"

He looked at me perplexedly and said, "No."

I continued, "They don't give grown-ups badges unless they are going to work here. We can get more of the badges you got today at other places around Manhattan and Brooklyn. OK?"

I do not think our conversation alleviated much of his determination. I asked him if he wanted to work as a ranger when he grew up, he said, "I don't know, maybe."