The Visit!

Mom and Dad flew into PA on Friday night. I was so excited to see them! It seemed like it had been FOREVER since I had seen them last (even though it had only been since July). We spent a part of the evening just catching up and finally went to bed. Jarred had to work that night, so he didn't get to see them until the morning.

Saturday morning, we all got up; Jarred had been a busy guy from the time he came home until we were all awake. He had cinnamon rolls baking in the oven and a coffee pot just begging to have its "on" switch flipped! We spent a good hour and half just sitting around the dining room table chatting and hanging out. At several points throughout, my dad would look at me and say, "Well, bud? What're you waiting for?" We of course knew this was said in a joking manner as there was nothing I can do to "help" the kid come out...

We took Mom and Dad out and about through the big ol' town of Reading, PA. (P.S. For those of you who are not familiar with Reading, it is actually on the board in the game of Monopoly. We live minutes from the Reading Railroad...lol!) After checking it all out, we decided to get some lunch and then find somewhere for us to walk this baby out of me! Mom has only been to the Northeast a couple of times (literally, this is her second, thus making it a couple!) and hasn't seen much beyond Hershey PA. So, Jarred suggested that since Philly was only an hour away, we could go see Philly and "Have Lindsey run up and down the 'Rocky Steps' at the Art Museum a bunch of times." Wow. Really Jarred! Sigh...

Mom was all kinds of excited, and I don't blame her. It was about an hour to get over to Philly and we found a place to park. We then went wandering the streets to find the historical sites and see what all we could see. The Liberty Bell had a line about a mile long wrapped around the building where it was housed and so we opted to press our noses against the glass where you could look through and see the bell hanging out. We continued walking around and sightseeing until we had our fill, then made our way back to the car and drove to the "Rocky Steps".

At the Art Museum, there were quite a few people milling around. We checked out this statue of George Washington surrounded by random half naked people and animals. There was a statue of Rocky near the steps that people were lined up at to take their picture. And then we made the climb. I've got to be really honest here... the climb up those steps is really not bad, until you get a break in between every 12 steps... those landings between steps are killer! They tease you into thinking you are done. Then you reach the next section and lifting your foot up the 4 inches (give or take...) to make it from the landing to that next step is rough! Had the steps been continuous, I think it would have been easier. But then again, what do I know!

I'm pretty sure that most of the people we saw there weren't going into the Art Museum to gain cultural perspective. They were mostly there just to run/walk the steps and take random photos of them jumping into the air with victorious grins on their faces. It's amazing to me that pop culture has completely over taken this Art Museum. Yes, the Rocky movie has drawn a lot of attention for a long time to this place. But I can't help wondering if this has actually caused the museum to become more profitable, or if it has become just a place for people to run to and head home.

We decided that after all that walking and stair climbing it was time to head back. Once we made it back home, Jarred just about crashed onto the sofa. He stays up for so many hours in a row that he just ends up dead tired. So much for encouraging him to go to bed when he gets home from work. Oh well, he's a grown man and will do what he wants...We finally got a bit hungry, so we ordered pizza and ate some supper. Dad and I then headed to the Wally World to see if we couldn't encourage some "tummy cramps" to help my uterus along with "sympathy cramps" and hopefully cause some contractions.

We got back from our trip to find Mom playing on her iPhone and Jarred and Prince completely knocked out. I was able to "encourage" (read, drag!) Jarred off the sofa and guide him to the bed. Mom, Dad and I stayed up a bit longer and then I finally retired to bed. We were really hoping that there would have been some action last night... but alas, there was not. So we shall see what today brings as far as baby is concerned.

Until next time,

Lindsey