Statue Of Liberty & Ellis Island on NYE

The weather was fabulous today. FABULOUS!!! Our normal temperature is somewhere around 38 degrees or so & there is usually a wind chill. Today it was in the 50's. 50's!!!! So off we went to the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island. It was a good day.

We hopped on the train & went for it. Thank goodness I had the forethought to buy tickets before we got there. The line was enormous for those folks that bought them at Castle Clinton instead.

  

On our way to the the line we stopped & saw the memorial for the armed forces.

This guy was AWESOME!! He & his friend were just playing music for the line dwellers waiting to get on the boat. He was singing & making jokes. Samantha insisted on a picture. And sure enough this guy was quite fond of the Flat family.

Samantha got a hold of my computer at some point & discovered photobombing. Since then.... well.....

And just because we thought she should have at least one picture with her hostess.

And then we arrived at the statue.

  

We checked out the sights & saw the people involved in helping to make the statue. We even met Mr. Bartholdi himself! Can you imagine? I asked him what his secret to staying so young was.

When we sat down to have lunch we realized that we'd have to fend off the birds. Wow were they obnoxious!

And we saw the test torch from the last restoration that Lady Liberty went through.

Then we were off to Ellis Island.

  

We visited the wall to see our relatives that made their way to the US through Ellis Island. It was great to see where we came from.

We also saw the original wall for Fort Gibson.

  

And Samantha thought it would be fun to see if she could really feel what it would be like to have been through Ellis Island and being held in detention (jail). Not cool Samantha. You're not supposed to touch the exhibits.

Thoughts.....

Since Flat Stanley has arrived I have been having a great time just taking him around. We've gone on a few adventures and I've turned into a tourist in my own city. I'm sure the kids don't mind it either. It makes us get out of the house.

Over the weekend we met my gma at FAO Schwartz. We've been trying to get together for the longest time and it seems one of my kids is sick or it snows on the days we're supposed to meet. The 4 of us trekked it into Manhattan in the yucky rain. By the time we got there I felt like a drowned rat.



FAO has changed since the last time I was there. The little diner style cafe is no longer there. It's been replaced by a candy store look alike. There is a small cafe (read overpriced counter full of crap) in the back of the 1st floor.

We met & I was determined to have a milkshake. And that's what I had. A friggin $8 milkshake. It was good, but not that good.

Meredith & Sean hung out with their great ema (Meredith for grandma). It made me proud that Sean clearly wanted his mommy, but that he also allowed his great ema to hold him. She was happy that he seemed to be studying her as if he were committing her image to memory. That's something Meredith & Sean have in common. They both study their subjects as if to find something they have in common.



Great Ema & Meredith eventually went on a little excursion through the store and Meredith told her great ema that she'd like a purple umbrella. And great ema was all to happy to oblige. Meredith had shown her great ema that she trusted her. Then they shared a cupcake.





Even Sean got into being at FAO. The solider might have been a little uncomfy, but I don't care. We do what we have to for the shot right?




But today when we were on our way to the Statue of Liberty I started to think about the journey so many people made to get to this country. How many people risked it all to live a happy life.

When we got on the ferry I quickly realized that with ears as bad as mine maybe sitting on the top level wasn't such a great idea. I wanted Meredith to have the best experience possible and being up on top is the best. I did however make sure we sat near the child life jackets. Ya know... just in case.

As Lady Liberty grew bigger & bigger I was struck by the awesome power she holds. She truly is majestic.  She's more than a tourist attraction. She holds a magnetism about her that just makes you stop & wonder.









It was an amazing adventure that came at a great time. Today was a relatively warm day. It was 45 degrees. I made a decision about 1/2 hour before we left to cancel the GI appt for Sean and just get out and do something fun. I had been making excuses for why I couldn't go out for a big adventure for so long.... ya know.... it's right at nap time, we're potty training Meredith, it's cold out, it's raining/snowing, we won't get home in time for therapy, etc.

Guess what. It was still a little chilly, it started to drizzle on our way home, I don't think I changed Sean's diaper the whole time we were there (it just would've been a pain in the ass), Meredith went on the potty anytime I asked her if she needed to go, we got home in time for therapy, etc. Basically every excuse I could think of was busted just by my being out of the house.

We had a great time!





By the way.... I'm calling potty training a success. Meredith has been consistently potty accident free for the passed 2 days. Even outside the house. She is only wearing a diaper for naps & bed time. I'm so proud of her. There was no special trick that we used. We've been trying to get her to do it since she's 15 months. It wasn't until now that she really has entertained the idea. She even made her own potty seat. She took the bottom of her Dora potty & put her Diego toilet seat on it to make a Dora Diego potty.

I'm even getting so confident in my potty training skills (yeah right. I had nothing to do with it) that I've been joking that I'm going to train the little guy. HA!