The Peine Family

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Easter 2012

Since we were out of town the week before Easter, we had to condense the usual Easter week activities to just that weekend.

First, Rosemary and I went on a hunt for shoes to wear with her Easter dress. I thought it would be quick but four hours later we were finally on our way home. After dinner that night, we dyed Easter eggs. This was Ben’s first year that he was interested in being a part of things. (I don’t think we dyed eggs last year).

The kids’ finished project

We read the Easter story that night then the kids headed to bed.

Next morning, we got ready then the kids hunted for their Easter baskets. Rosemary found The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe DVD, Ben found a Cars 2 soundtrack, and Charlotte found Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton. We snapped some photos before heading to breakfast at church.

We sat in front of Ms Esther. Rosemary loves Ms Esther and searches for her every Sunday.

Taking pics of the three kids is always interesting

Who knows what is happening here?

Rosemary decided she wanted to be held too and we all almost fell over

While I finished getting lunch together, the kids had an egg hunt out in the front.

Ready to enjoy our food.22

Saturday, April 07, 2012

Philadelphia Spring Break Trip-Day 5

We had a few things left to wrap up on our last day in Philadelphia.

Jonathan once again had early sessions so I finished up getting ready and packing then watched Becoming Jane. When he was done, we met up then took the subway a few stops south on Broad so that we could go to Pat’s King of Steaks where the Philly Cheesesteak was created.

I completely blew how I was supposed to order my steak and only because Jonathan said something quickly was I spared the onions. You’ve got to order fast and you don’t need to be polite at Pat’s. And you’ve got to have cash. Thank goodness Jonathan was there.

I got mine Wit-out, Whiz. (That’s without onions, with cheese whiz…doesn’t that sound awful?)

Jonathan’s was Wit, provolone, peppers, and mushrooms.

Thoroughly enjoying his Philly Cheesesteak…finally!

There’s Pat’s in the background, just a little place on the corner with only outdoor seating. We were there after the lunch rush and it was still very busy.

When we got back into Center City, we walked down Market to Declaration House. It’s a reconstruction of the house that Jefferson rented some rooms in when he wrote the Declaration.

From there, we stopped by a Philadelphia Museum. I had hoped to get to the Dream Garden mural, but we just ran out of time and I didn’t have the address with me the day I was over in that area. Otherwise, we pretty much packed as much of Philadelphia into those few days as we possibly could and saw all that we wanted to see.

We took a taxi back to the airport and were flying home right on time that night. Our kids were asleep when we got in, but it was great to see them in the morning! We were so thankful for Janice and Richard watching them so that we could go. We had such a fun time.

Philadelphia Spring Break Trip–Day 4 – The Long Walk(s)

Jonathan once again had early sessions on Tuesday, but after the first one he had a break until after lunch. We took advantage of that time and decided to walk to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We figured we’d walked that far on Sunday just in the opposite direction so we might as well do it again and head west this time.

City Hall. If we’d had more time, we would have liked to have toured this building as well.

We cut through LOVE Park (or JFK Plaza)

It was pretty much a straight shot from LOVE Park to the museum. Not sure if you can see it here, but the museum was about a mile straight down that road.

We walked past the Free Library and stopped in for a second. It’s hard to read, but the sign reads DICKENS, which was fun since Jonathan and I were both reading Our Mutual Friend on the trip.

We also walked past the Rodin Museum

We finally made it to the museum

Outside, there’s a statue of George Washington…

…and Sylvester Stallone, of course. He ran up the steps of the museum in Rocky.

Jonathan ran up them too. I did not.

There was a beautiful view of the city from the top of the steps.

We arrived just a few minutes before the museum opened. Once we were in, we headed to the second floor to explore some of the medieval and early Renaissance European art and Asian art. One thing that we both really enjoyed were the reconstructed period rooms.

Before heading to lunch, we walked over to check out the Schuylkill River.

From this vantage point we could see Boathouse Row.

Jonathan found another great local place, Little Pete’s, a local diner just a short walk from the museum.

I got the gyro, which I had started to de-onion before took the picture.

Jonathan got a Reuben. We ended up switching meals halfway through.

After lunch, Jonathan headed back for sessions and I headed back to the museum. This time I snapped a few photos. Not many at all compared to just how much was here. We saw works by Rubens, Monet, Degas, Renoir, Van Gogh, Duchamp, Picasso, Cassatt, Eakins and so many more.

Afternoon Sunshine by Camille Pissarro

One of Degas’ bronze castings of the Little Dancer

The Ballet Class by Degas

The only reason I took a picture of this chair is because it was purchased for use in Chateau-sur-Mer, one of the Newport Mansions. I visited it as a kid with my family. It brought back memories of that trip and of the tour we took of that house.

Picasso’s Man with a Guitar

After almost 3 (maybe 4) hours at the museum, I decided it was time to head back.

Logan Square

Got back to the hotel and rested a bit before getting ready for dinner. We were meeting up with Registrar folks again.

I left a little early so that I could grab some souvenirs for the kids at the Visitors Center. It didn’t take as long as I expected, so I found a bench on Independence Square, read some Dickens, and thoroughly enjoyed the moment.