Give Me Liberty!

Originally, Michael had a meeting in Massachusetts and we were going to tag along and turn that opportunity into a 10 day vacation. The plan was to drive to New York for Labor Day then spend 4 days in New Hampshire, where we would meet up with Michael's parents who were driving down from Maine, and then finally catch the Day Out With Thomas in Pennsylvania on our way home. A week before our trip, the meeting was cancelled but we decided to proceed with our plans anyway; and I'm so glad that we did! I love adventures (I know you're all shocked!) and the boys enjoyed spending so much time with their Daddy. In fact, Daddy was the parent of choice for the entire vacation which made my bathroom visits much more pleasant without extra hands to wash and dry. Zachary really turned into a Daddy's boy and very rarely allowed me to carry him at all. Towards the end of the trip, I was feeling very deprived of my "baby" hugs and kisses and couldn't help but wonder if this was God's way of telling me it was time to have another child. But, when we got home I realized that NO WAY is it time to add another screaming/crying mouth to our house filled with overly dramatic emotional outbursts!!! My ears couldn't handle it!





We did drive to NY on Sunday afternoon while the children slept most of the way and the DVD player filled in the remaining hour or two. The next day (Labor Day) we spent the morning at the Liberty Science Center and then rode the ferry over to see The Statue of Liberty. The science center received one of the top 10 awards from Parents Magazine, but I have to disagree and actually rank it as one of the lowest on my list. There were two areas of the museum that the boys enjoyed: The children's discovery area with a ball maze, vacuum, and launcher that could have entertained them all day.

This device launches the ball into the air and hits a target on the other side of the room.

Snakes.

This was a really fun science display with bubbles. You can see how it worked in the two videos below:

Mikie sees how long he can hang on. I think the clock got to 14 seconds before he let go.

The angle that this picture was taken makes Zachary look so tall.

The only other area that was intriguing at this museum was the outdoor wildlife walk which was basically like an educational playground. The kids had to find their way through a maze while moving through obstacles just like the animals do.

The Squirrel Scurry

The Egret Alley was an area filled with reeds, squishy rubber tire shreds on the ground, and mist spraying down. Even though the next picture is actually of Zachary in the squirrel scurry, you can see the egret alley better in the background.

The Worm Wiggle was Mikie's favorite because he got to crawl through tunnels filled with balls (dirt) covered by the camouflage tarp.

The Rat Ramble was also a lot of fun and a little scary, because you had to crawl through very dark tunnels with sounds of squeaking rats and running water. I was actually surprised that both my boys went through it.

I mean...all three of my boys :)

I didn't get a picture of Mikie next to this sign but it was the Spider 'something?'

The Whitetail Walk was a tunnel through the thicket and a great end to the maze.

During the five minute ride from the museum to the ferry that takes you to The Statue of Liberty, Zachary fell asleep. He transferred easily to the stroller and got a good hour+ nap before we arrived at the statue.

We had to go through a security line in the old railway station.

Mikie and Daddy at Tidmouth Sheds.

On Liberty Island with the New York skyline in the background.

The highlight for Mikie was climbing (by that I mean counting) the 184 steps to the pedestal lookout because the elevator was broken. This was one of those times I was actually glad Zachary only wanted Daddy to carry him.

The weather looks a little ominous in this picture, but it was incredibly nice: mostly cloudy skies high in the low 70's. Perfect especially since we just drove out of 80-90 degree weather the day before. This was our "first day of fall" and I loved every minute of it.