Philadelphia.......

Last week my mom and I drove to Philadelphia with all the kids.......yes, we did.........It was A LONG drive, to say the least, but we made it there.....and home! It was a great trip, we did A LOT.  The kids really enjoyed learning about the history of our country.  We also went to the zoo and saw a mummy museum and a 200 year old prison.

Olivia had three castings while we were there.  

I am beginning to see a difference in her feet.  

They are definitely straighter, still sideways, but you can now feel her heel bone!   

 This is her feet before any treatment......

The next two pics are after her first set of casts.......

These two are after the second set of casts.......

 And these were after the third set.....

Notice how her feet our open, they don't bend in the middle anymore and her toes are pointing down instead of a 90 degree angle!

The doctor seems to be pretty pleased with the results so far.  After her first set he decided she should have the Achille's tendon lengthening surgery sooner rather than later.  I was very happy to hear that, thinking the castings would be over sooner rather than later......Well, later when he was casting her for the 4th time, he said she would need more weekly castings after the surgery and probably another lengthening at the end of the castings.......:-(  So it looks like these casts will be on through out most of the summer. :-(  Hoping she's not too miserable in the heat......

When Dr VB does the surgery on the Achilles, he will also loosen some of the tendons in her hips to hopefully give her a little more movement in her hips.  Because of this we she will have to spend the night in the hospital......AND this will happen on her dear eldest brother's birthday.......May 8th.  Again :-(

Olivia and I will leave in the morning for her last casting until the surgery.  It will be a quick one night trip up and back.  

Here are some more pictures from our trip.

 Our horse and carriage ride around town.

 The historical part of Philadelphia is beautiful!

At the zoo.

 Love this, she was sound asleep!

 These were the casts Chase picked........not surprised....:-)

 Touring the first penitentiary in the world. 

 Easter State Penitentiary

 Al Capone's cell.....Nice huh?

 Independence Hall

This is the actual room (below) that the Decleration of Independence 

and the Constitution were both signed in!

 Where the House of Representatives met.

 Where the Senate met.

 At the Liberty Bell.

Eating lunch at a the City Tavern. Yes, we're as tired as we look, it was a long walk.....

Ice Cream at the famous Franklin's Fountain.

The Museum at The University of Pennsylvania.

This is limestone from Olivia's province, Shandong, from 536 AD.

These casts were chosen by Taylor! Teddy Bears!

The kids were each allowed to pick out her cast colors and stay with her, if they wanted, during the casting, however she screams the entire time.  My mom asked Taylor if he wanted to go back to the waiting room because he HATES to hear her cry....

He said,

 "No, she might need me...."

Reading Terminal market is such a neat place to get any kind of food you could imagine.

The kids plating at the Ronald McDonald House

Of course we had to climb the infamous Rocky steps......

These colors were chosen by Ella!  Pink and Blue!  

Hair done by Olivia!