AAO Convention in Philadelphia!

I took the train down to Philly early Friday morning to meet up with Mark, who took the redeye from Sacramento.

His flight was delayed so he arrived just in time for us to catch up the Historic Philadelphia walking tour.

First stop, Benjamin Franklin's burial spot.

Next stop on the tour, the Betsy Ross house.

It was a gorgeous day, not a cloud in the sky 

so it felt so good to get out and walk and see the city.

 Next stop, the home of Betsy Ross.

The view of the cute and quaint homes on Quince Street,

a narrow cobblestone road as seen from Locust Street.

 This view is very representative of many of the small side streets in this area.

We toured Christ Church, known as "The Nations Church"

 because it is where many of the Founding Father's worshiped.

 The baptismal font where William Penn was baptized is still in use at Christ Church.

The Carpenter's Hall, where the First Continental Congress met.

I love all the old red brick buildings!

 Fidel Castro's niece was in town and just happened to be visiting the Liberty Bell 

at the same time as we were so the security was a little nutty.

And she must have stood in front of the Liberty Bell for 20 minutes 

chatting it up with the Park Ranger. Seriously!  

I mean, how many questions can you ask about the Liberty Bell?

They tried to keep everyone back away from her 

so we had a hard time getting photos but this is the best we could do.

 Actually, Mark wanted to get a photo with her in the background.  That wasn't hard to manage.

The Liberty Bell. 

 Independance Hall, where George Washington was appointed commander in chief of the Continental Army in 1775

 and the Declaration of Independance was adopted on July 4, 1776. 

A panoramic view of Independence Hall.

 In this room, the design of the American flag was agreed upon in 1777, 

the Articles of Confederation were adopted in 1781,

 and the U.S. Constitution was drafted in  1787.

 That night we caught up with friends like, OU chairman, Dr. Frans Currier, 
and past PCSO President and fellow OU resident, Rob Merrill, at the Oklahoma University Ortho reunion.

We meet up at the Reading Terminal Market for lunch.

 We were told that Carmen's Cheesesteaks are the best!

Luckily, we were really early so there wasn't a line.

About 20 minutes later, the line wrapped around the corner and back.

And yes, Dad says it was possibly the very best cheesesteak that he has ever tasted!

I had to take a picture of the bronze pig for Brooke!

 After enjoying a yummy lunch, Dad headed back to the convention

 to attend a few more orthodontic classes that day.

We got a text from our dear friends, Bill and Mary Ann Osborn during lunch.

We thought they weren't coming to the convention, and they weren't planning on coming,

but changed their minds in the last minute and surprised us!

We were so excited!  Mary Ann and I met up at the Macy's Center City department store, 

which is located in the historic Wanamaker building 

and home to the Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, the largest playable instrument in the world.

 The gorgeous view of the organ.

  The organ recitals are held twice a day, at 12 noon and 5:30 pm. 
If you ever find yourself in Philly, you won't want to miss this!

 We walked around the City Center and took in the sights.

 That evening, Mark and I walked to Penn's Landing to see the river.

Then we enjoyed a romantic dinner at Dante & Luigi's, 

the oldest Italian restaurant in Philadelphia, celebrating our anniversary.
31 years and still going strong!!  Love that guy!  

The next morning, Allie and Justin came into town, checking out the city and UPenn medical school.

We hadn't planned it, but it was so fun that our trips overlapped and we were able to hang out together!

I took them to the Reading Teminal Market and they treated me to lunch.  Yum!

Justin got in line for a Carmen's Cheesesteak sandwich.

So much fun catching up with these two, enjoying lunch together!

What a fun morning we spent together!

    Invisalign hosted a party for the premier providers that evening 

at the National Constitution Center, located in historic Philly.

Here is the beautiful view of Independence Hall from the second floor.

We hung out with Bill and Mary Ann in the Signer's Hall, 

which is home to 42 life-size bronze statues of the Founding Fathers.

This is one of my favorite photo with Bill and Mary Ann!

It truly was such a great surprise to have them join us at the convention!

We shared some of the most difficult and also the best experiences together

during our time orthodontic residency years in Oklahoma!

We love these two more than anything and our friendship is so strong 

because of the challenges that we went through together.

My heart is heavy right now, thinking of Tyler and Sonya (our Oklahomans) and all our dear friends in OKC

and what they are going through in the midst of the terrible tornado that hit the city of Moore.

We are praying for all that were effected and who's lives will never be the same because of the destruction of this storm. 

The entertainment for the night, the Temptations.

Actually, there is only one of the original "Temptation" in the group,

but they sounded great, and we enjoyed listening to them perform.

 We met up with Allie and Justin after the party and got some frozen yogurt!

The beautiful tulips that some homeless guy "gave" us!

Actually, Bill gave him $5, not for the tulips but to be on his way:)!

Pretty sure that he ripped them off the grounds at the Independence Hall.

It was fun for Mary Ann and Bill to catch up with Allie, our Oklahoman!

Bill and Mary Ann were probably the first friends to meet Allie 

or I should say Allison, as we called her as a baby when she was born!

It was the perfect way to end our stay in Philly!

My dear friend, Rhonda's son, Scotty, played football at UPenn 

so we had to take a walk over to the campus on our last day.

It is a beautiful campus and we enjoyed looking at all the buildings.

We thought of Scotty when we saw the stadium.

Although we went to three of his football games while he was at UPenn,

(we went to his game at Harvard in Boston, and in San Diego when they played  University of San Diego,

 and at Yale, when he squared off with Brett's team their senior year,) 

we never got to see him play in Philly so it was really fun to actually see the stadium on the UPenn campus.

Gorgeous, isn't it!

I love the stone work and detail of all the old buildings on campus!

We didn't even plan it but we ended up on the same train with Allie and Justin, 

who were returning from a quick trip to Baltimore that morning!

What a fun time we had catching up with these two on the train!

Allie and Justin are so happy that they get to see baby Cheri 

for a few minutes before they head to the airport!

Baby Cheri loves her Uncle Justin!

And her grandpa, who has been missing his Cheri pie!!

We had such a good time in Philly but we are definitely ready to play

 in the city with this sweet little thing... and her mama... and Brooke and Ash too!

That's right, Ashley arrives the very next day!