We arrived in Philly on Saturday afternoon to attend the Family Reunion at the CHOP Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment. This is an event for anyone who was a patient at the Fetal Center and their families. There are games, food, rides, music and fun for all ages.
We decided to fly on this trip since we have been traveling a lot lately and Ken can't miss too much more work this month. We flew out Saturday morning around 10:00 - I can't believe how crowded the airport was at that time. Luckily we were able to go through special security line since we had the twins and their big stroller as well as Karlee and Kendall. We made it to our concourse with no problem and even had breakfast while watching the planes. Ken went to double check on our seats and discovered a problem. For some reason, Delta had to switch planes - we were supposed to be on a plane that had three seats on either side of the aisle - and we were switched to one that had two on one side and three on the other. Our seats were scattered all over the plane. Remember that we had one adult per child - so Ken had to make sure that they understood we all needed to be together. It took a little bit of raising his voice to get them to understand - but finally they got the message and moved us all together. The girls did great - especially the twins and the trip was uneventful. Once we arrived, we headed to the rental car place. Ken had to call several places to find one that had a 12-passenger van that would be big enough to for all of us, our luggage and the stroller. We found one but had to pre-pay to reserve it. Well when we arrived at the store - they had given our van away!!!! They just told us they did not have one and offered no alternative plan. To make a long story short - we were in the store for almost TWO hours by the time we got our van. Needless to say I was almost in tears by the time it was over. The girls were so good - I really could not believe how good. The rest of the day was fine - we got a late lunch and checked into our hotel, did some sight seeing and then had dinner at Ruby Tuesday's (Karlee's pick).
Sunday - Reunion Day
The reunion always has a theme and this year it was an All-Star Theme since the Phillies are the reigning World Series champs. So, the day started with red and white sprinkled donuts. Once everyone arrived, we had a little assembly where the head of the center said a few words and we watched a slide show to honor the dads for Father's Day. Then the fun began - there was a blow up dinosaur slide, carousel, train, climbing wall, games, music, cotton candy, popcorn, bouncy house, spin art and more. Karlee and Kendall had a great time playing and eating. We got a chance to see the doctors and nurses - especially Dr. Bebbington - who was my main doctor while I was there. He was excited to see the twins and impress that they were doing so well. Then we had lunch and did a few more games and rides. The twins were getting tired so we decided to head out. We had promised Karlee the Children's Museum on Saturday but the rental car fiasco left no time so we promised (again) that we would do it after the reunion.
The girls loved the Please Touch Children's Museum!!! Ken had taken Karlee last summer but they had moved to a new location - a huge building that was ten times bigger than the old one. They explored the water zone, went shopping, build flying machines and played in Alice's Wonderland. Monday morning before we left we had time for a horse and carriage tour and a quick stop at Lore's Chocolates.
All that I will say about the trip home is this:
SIX HOURS ON A PLANE WITH FOUR KIDS UNDER SIX CAN NEVER BE A GOOD THING!!!!!
(We got rerouted to Birmingham, AL because of an airport closure in Atlanta and then sat on the tarmac for almost two hours. We could get up and move around - thank goodness - but we could not leave the plane. We were very close to running our of food for the babies (and the big kids) by the time we finally arrived in Atlanta. All the girls did great - considering!!)
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