After pizza and the usual period of indiscriminately tearing around the house, everyone settled down for popcorn and a movie. The evening’s feature presentation was Earth, Disney’s recent nature documentary. It didn’t have any sarcastic superheroes or talking rodents, but it managed to keep the kids’ attention nonetheless.

As usual with nature documentaries, this one eventually showed a high-tension chase, with a speedy predator going after something slower and doomed. In this case it was a cheetah and a Thompson’s gazelle.

Everyone had a different reaction to the thrilling sequence. Each, I think, demonstrates well the way our brains work at different ages.

Thirty-somethings Byron and I wondered how they managed to get these shots. How long do these people have to sit still, in the jungle or on the tundra, waiting for the chase to happen? Can they bring a book or an iPod? Wow, think of the peace and quiet. And what kind of cameras do they use? The clarity is amazing. It’s crazy how technology keeps advancing.

Elementary-school-age Mack, Kiley and Aidan were yelling, “Is the cheetah going to catch him? The gazelle is pretty fast! Is the gazelle going to get away? What is the cheetah going to do to him? He’s going to eat him, isn’t he! Gross! Is there going to be blood? Will we see the blood? How much blood?”

Three-year-old Reid said nothing through the whole chase. He seemed riveted by the action, deep in thought. Then he turned to us and said, “I wish I had a tail.”

The good news is that, when Aidan hit the “wrong answer” on the page for the Senate race, the machine actually let us back out and fix it.

Also good news, out front there were five volunteers handing out Democratic sample ballots, and only one Republican. Usually that ratio is 0:1, not 5:1. As we walked by, one of the Democrats was saying something to the Republican about how he must be cold without a jacket. The Republican responded that he was just trying to get used to the kind of austerity he would have to live under if Obama was elected. Which is a pretty funny answer (and everyone on both sides of the path laughed).

Mack hit the choice for president, Aidan for senator, Reid for the representative and all four of us hit the “Record Your Vote Now” button together.

Then we went in the hallway and I cried and they ate peanut butter cups.

After the game we drove up to Philadelphia for Saturday night and Sunday. First we headed to a Phillies-Giants game at Citizens Bank Park. We got to our seats just as Barry Bonds came up to bat in the first inning. I’d been worrying, ever since I made these plans, that he would take the night off when we came all that way to see him. So I was immensely relieved that he played, and that it didn’t rain. (The other game we considered was Sunday afternoon, and he sat that game out, so…whew.) It was a fun game, the Phillies won, and we saw Bonds hit a massive double, a single, and score. Just as fun, we saw him strike out with a runner in scoring position in the ninth, and drop a routine fly ball. The crowd went crazy heckling him, and Mack of course was immediately into that.

Mack was enraptured by the game and made close friends with the strangers sitting next to him. Aidan was more interested in lemonade, pretzels, and eating ice cream from a tiny helmet.

On Saturday we toured the historic area for about six hours. The kids weren’t too impressed by the Liberty Bell. But they liked Independence Hall. Mack tried to answer all of the tour guide’s questions, and Aidan just wanted to know if Lincoln ever came here. Once he found out that Lincoln did in fact make a historic visit, he was happy.

We walked through some of the other historic streets and buildings, and then the boys were recruited into the Continental Army for about half an hour. They got pretty good with their muskets, but Mack got a bit nervous when the Captain marched them off and told them to wave goodbye to their parents, because they wouldn’t be back for at least six months.