A DAY OUT IN #VISITPHILLY & WHY WE WILL ALWAYS DECIDE TO START AT HOME... #LIVEANDLEARNTOUR2020🌱

“a fresh start isn’t a new place, its a new mindset ”

we started 2020 off on our channel with a precious walk down memory lane. after making our huge announcement about our #LIVEANDLEARNTOUR2020🌱 and chatting a bit about another major transition where unschool plays a big part of our homeschool journey, the time has come to begin exploring as part of our #LIVEANDLEARNTOUR2020. i created this for YOU. for my precious children who were gifted to me and also any of you who are here to follow our journey of faith and love along the way.

we are TheFALLCoFamily, a FAMILY OF FIVE HOMESCHOOL JOURNALIST & FILM-MAKERS 🎥 who believe that LifeIsFullOfLessonsSo... #WeLiveAndWeLearn🌱 We've traded in the “traditional” life for a life of FAITH & LOVE, taking the "risk" to homeschool our children (cameron, 11, kendall, 9 & savannah, 6) in hopes of fulfilling our purpose together as a family by way of THIS PURPOSE-DRIVEN UN-SCHOOL! our mission is to document our adventures in homeschool, business, vision & life, because we believe in the JOY that lies in JOURNEY!!  this year we are going on tour and telling #homeschoolstories🎬 along the way!

currently exploring 📍 philadelphia ,pa.

when we arrived in the city, we parked right next to the walnut street theatre which we learned in the oldest theatre in america!!! while we would have loved to sit in and experience the children’s theatre there weren’t any current show times so we simply took note and tucked that one away in our pockets to visit sometime in the near future.

we’ve lived minutes from #philly for years and while we’ve been here so many times before, BELIEVING THAT OUR SENSE OF ADVENTURE FIRST STARTS AT HOME, we are exploring like we came from hundreds of miles away! we’ve been to the “rocky” stairs at the bottom of the philadelphia museum of art. we’ve visited the franklin institute and spent time by the love sculpture while visiting christmas village, but all with the “destination” in mind. in order to embrace “journey” the goal was to #visitphilly with “exploration” at the forefront of our hearts and minds (if that makes any sense, lol). i want to strengthen our ability to see things with eyes of wonder and gratitude. and, of course, your friend had this very conversation with my #fallcokids just before we set off to explore. as long as its up to me, they will always hear that they are YOUNG BUT MIGHTY!! sometimes their mamas “lofty” speeches may land and they may float but they will always be delivered, lol!

we headed over to Independence Hall where we walked from one room to the next, observing and taking notes. they peeked around the corners of each room without really knowing the significance of its parts and that is ok. we don’t have to fully understand a thing to marvel in it’s presence and the lessons that it may bring. teaching them to listen/watch/observe and hide their questions in their hearts to explore at a future date… this is how we walk through the open doors in our lives.

there is a quote I came across toward the beginning of our homeschool journey that stuck with me like no other…

YOU ARE AN EXPLORER!!!

your mission is to document and observe the world around you as if you've never seen it before. take notes. collect things you find on your travels. document your findings. notice patterns. copy. trace. focus on one thing at a time. record what you are drawn to. #homeschool

“educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all -aristotle”

we took time to rest at one of the windows overlooking the liberty center. the kids read the trading cards they were given by the park ranger at the beginning of our independence hall tour. the likeness, some of which they were learning for the very first time. john adams, fredrick douglass, harriet tubman, alexander hamilton… the ones that HAD come across before, their eyes would widen with delight as they recounted the things that they had learned already.

one thing I remember thinking of in these moments was something our pastor shares with us often concerning the importance of giving others (in this case, my babies) “space, grace and room…. to grow”! thinking of that very thing made it easy for me to move in silence. silence, giving them room to “discover” facts and ideas without a teacher running through a list of facts, thoughts and ideas that I have deemed worthy enough for them to grab a hold of.

instead, i chose to focus on observations of my own. thoughts and ideas that wheeled up inside of me. sentiments that range so deep in my heart like, “they walked the same stairs”...

the same stairs located in the building known as the birthplace of America 🇺🇸. the building where independence was declared and also denied. the same stairs walked by abolitionist like fredrick douglass who spoke against slavery and fought for the freedom of all ... these are the same stairs!

after leaving independence hall we headed over to see the Liberty Bell. the frigid cold winter day brought an incredible gift in the form of a completely uncrowded liberty bell center to explore. the kids ran from one exhibit to the next, reading some and skipping past others. stopping to watch a few minutes of the films running throughout the center telling stories of freedom and faith for a better nation.

with lunch time next up on our list we stepped outside of the liberty bell center to find The Bourse Philadelphia full of options making this #foodallergymom all kinds of happy inside!! . . . one of my biggest obstacles in traveling more with my kids has been the “food” part. while I know that there are currently so many options and alternatives available to accommodate food allergy families, it has been more of a mental block. with severe allergies to peanut, milk, egg, soy, tomato, wheat and seafood, the mental block has not been without reason. however, refusing to face a fear has never conquered it. having so many options made this mama so very happy inside!

the last stop on our winter day out in philly was to the blue cross river rink at penn’s landing! we walked over to the water to get a few pictures of the bridge at the request of tiny journalist miss savannah. taking a few pictures of my baby freezing memories of her own 💕.

this spot in philladephia is home of the oversized with love chair and was such a fun spot to be on an non-crowded day out so we took full advantage. well kind of, lol. with the exception of actually ice skating as the ice was quite melted from an unusually warm day before, we walked around, played games and got cozy by the fire in between lots of photo ops.

now tell me this wooden swing doesn’t scream cold winter day perfection?!

“the most important work we will ever do is within the walls of our own homes - harold b. lee”

they are excited! excited to put to work those explorer’s hearts and minds that we’ve spent our previous years of learning at HOME and growing in faith. we came home with so many photos, so many videos and tons of questions that were quickly added to "our “big book of questions” to explore more. our day out in philadelphia, pa was the very first stop on our #LIVEANDLEARNTOUR2020 and starting at home, we wouldn’t have had it any other way.

from syreena, with love