It was Labor Day weekend, Sarah was away on her retreat and the rest of us decided we had to do something that was a fun celebration of the end of summer. Jane finished calling Els and started to get ready as Suzanne started down the stairs where Benjamin was finishing his book so we could head to the Olive Garden where the menu looked more or less like usual. Benjamin was laughing, Suzanne was pensive, Els was camera shy, Jane and David were happy to engage the waitress in conversation as the old lady cooked. We began with their famous salad David had ravioli with portobella mushrooms Els had fettucinni and Jane had chicken fettucinni and Benjamin had the famous mack and chack which Suzanne had bruschetta My water tasted like soap, I just hope they didn't add any of this stuff to it.

With lunch under our belts, we were ready to move on. We passed this massive limo as we dropped Jane and Els off to see Bubble Boy. Then we continued on to the Liberty Science Center to see their exhibit on Grossology. As we started to walk there we paused for the obligatory phone booth picture before speaking to this gentleman who was happy to pose after selling us a membership. This made Benjamin happy as we met up with the Huberman sphere and looked down on the exhibits.

We walked through the nose to see the mucus which looked quite gross up close, but no worse than the snot or the lady telling us about it. Then it was on to burps and belches where we stopped at the Burp-O-Meter where this guy told us how they're done and told us about pop pressure. Next is was barf then zits before Benjamin climbed the face wall we heard the gurgle, gurgle and read about boogers before shooting a few at the nostrils. Benjamin played virtual soccer moving very fast but his virtuality wasn't captured by the camera. We checked out the water factoid did the bacteria thing and had a discussion with this guy about why our noses drip. Benjamin was shorter than this guy and so could pretend he was poop as he emerged from the anus. We paused on the rooftop to record the NYC skyline and the lady and then a focus on the World Trade towers. In the ecology section, we met this fish and on the way out, we saw this racing car which remined us to get gasoline on the way home.

On the way home we stop at Kwik-Fill where they sell drinks in this building and we got this much gas because we had gone this far. On the way home, we stopped at Bloomingdale's furniture clearance center. The less said about the experience the better!

Sunday started by going to Els' house ringing the bell and waiting for Jane to emerge so that we could head to Philadelphia and the ball game. We stopped here to get subs to bring but they couldn't get the order straight. We were surprised to see these regulations limiting tail gating. This gentleman wanted to buy tickets so that he could sell them again and this was the slowest parking guy in the world. We parked in section 27 as everyone got in position for the picture of their backs heading to the stadium. Then we did the skyline background picture and were ready to enter the gate and see the field where Jane showed off her new ink. Everyone was excited to taste their subs as Jane got ready for the Italian Benjamin munched on the turkey and Suzanne had the vegetarian. The scoreboard warned us about doing anything bad and then we took the traditional 3rd inning picture. In the 4th inning the Phillie Phanatic came to visit to relieve the tedium of the game as the pitcher tried to get the runner off second and we posed in a group and then in Benjamin's new hat (Thank you Peco). The gang above didn't seem interested in our peanuts but when the shells emerged that got them up for the 7th inning stretch where it was 1, 2, 3 strikes and we were out. Jane posed her braids as the Phanatic danced on the dugout and we measured the ingredients in the peanut bag. The salt content caused a huddle on the mound but none of this helped the Phillies win the game.

So we drove to Old City and got out of the car en masse because the signs said we could park here near the Morningside Farms Fan Van. The group gathered to check out the fringe before we walked down the narrowest (and oldest) street to the dedicated garden at the end. Next we went to see DrLen's Diver friend who had just suffered a fall and was hoping that Superman could help him recover. We paused to see Joel's soap box car before admiring some remarkable lamps from toys, the suit with the buttons the pictures of the dead presidents and the button collection. The phone lamp was great as Jane pondered whether to take the elevator down. We met this guy as we checked out of the fringe festival and found a menu we could abide for dinner. While waiting, Benjamin Suzanne, Jane, DrLen, and Judy saw no need for an umbrella even if it came with free rain. The waiter brought us bread and beer and Jane, Suzanne, Len, Benjamin, David and Judy sprung back to life and ordered water con gas. Benjamin had this pizza which he traded with Judy for this pizza. Suzanne had this salad DrLen had the polenta because the waiter couldn't get the chef to make the risotto. Jane had the chicken Caesar After a few final umbrella pictures we packed up our leftovers and took a picture of Lucy's restaurant before calling it a day.