Ellis Island

While my parents were here we thought it was only right that we do something fun! We had worked long and hard and wanted to indulge of something "local". We decided we all wanted to go the the Statue of Liberty. Well, I guess when we say "all" I mean the adults. Ethan wasn't overly thrilled and kept getting Lady Liberty and the Eiffel Tower mixed up. Who wouldn't :) I realized that like many other times with parenting you just have to go with it and hope the kids later in life realize how awesome you were to take them to do and see cool things. I'm too tired tonight to write under all the pics so I will just explain. We drove to the place to get on the ferry first. We kept getting lost and were so worried we weren't going to be able to get on. We finally made it though and that must happen a lot because the ticket time is actually for 30 minutes past when you are told to be there, thankfully this time. You had to go through airport like security to get on the ferry to go out to the island. Most of the pictures are on the ferry on the way over. In the back ground you can see New York city. It was really a neat experience and the kids thought it was neat to be on a boat. The weather was beautiful and for the most part not overly hot. Our first stop was to Ellis Island. There we saw a 40 minute movie narrated by Gene Hackman and included many many original pictures and stories of people who came from Europe and all over to come to America. I had no idea the sacrifice it was to come. The boat conditions across the Atlantic were horrific and yet they still wanted to come for the opportunity of America, even knowing once they got here they could actually be sent back and be separated from their family and their hope for a better future. The people were completely packed onto the boat like sardines. Many were horribly sick. I can't even imagine what the sanitation was like and what the people must have smelled like when they arrived here... It certainly was a good reminder for me how good we have it. The man who introduced the film said his parents were both immigrants, his mother from Trinidad and his Father from Hong Kong. They met here and married and raised 4 children starting out with nothing. The man grew up in a 12x14 studio apartment as one of 4 kids. What a huge sacrifice. I was hoping that Ethan was able to get something out of it. The other kids probably not so much. They had other displays and things too that were interesting to look at it. They had a display from "Barbie" for whatever reason too with a Barbie dressed in ethnic costume from many, many countries. Of course the girls and myself admittedly like that. We also enjoyed some lunch outdoors there too. It was such a beautiful view of the Hudson river and the city. The kids had a great time chasing seagulls. It was a fun time to spend with my parents while we were here. Next post I will finish up with the Statue of Liberty.