Halloween

K is a 50's girl. "poodle skirt"


B is a Gothic Vampiress.


R is Scream.


Wallace family grandchildren(11).

Today is Halloween and the kids have had a long day. We had soccer games earlier and then we were having all of my family over to go Trick-Or-Treating. Also, my brother and his family are coming in from Washington and staying with us for a day or two. The kids were excited to dress up and see their cousins. We meet up at our church Halloween party before going. We ate pizza and found out Todd was "in charge" of the cake walk, oops!! We thought he was just running it for the party. So no cupcakes equals no cake walk. We felt bad. We had more family coming so we left the party early and went back to our house. All the cousins went out, R had a couple friends come over, so he went out ahead of the little ones. He is growing up so fast, he said this might be his last year. B also had a friend come too, so we had a great time. We came back and visited and the adults ate a yummy dessert. The kids looked at their candy, traded with each other and ate some. It was a fun night!!

Halloween Carnival - Girl Scouts

We went to our Girl Scout Halloween Carnival tonight. We had a lot of fun!! B dressed up as a Vampiress, K as a 50's girl with "poodle skirt" and the moms(leaders) as 50's girls too!! The girls went around to different booths and made crafts, ate donuts off a string, ate caramel apples & popcorn, pin the nose on the pumpkin and had to reach in a bowl to get their prize (gooey things inside). We had a good time and then afterwards we went to Starbucks for hot cocoa and apple cider.

Ryan - Scouts

Ryan's self portrait.

Ryan's drawing of a bird.

Ryan and Conner doing wheel-barrel races.

Ryan receiving his awards.

Ryan as a military person.

Tonight we went to Pack Meeting and the scouts were supposed to dress up as a Hero. Ryan wanted to be a military person. He received a lot (7 or 8) of awards and several belt loops. He only needs 2 more to complete them all. He has been working real hard to finish up his Webelos badge. His birthday is in December and then he'll be a Boy Scout. He can't wait to move up and be with his "older"(6 months) friends. I can't believe it, I have a boy scout - almost!!

Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

Before we left we went to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Thankfully a friend said we needed to get tickets before we came to NY. We got to skip the long line, but there was still a line for ticket holders and then security and more security. We had to take almost everything off (belts, shoes, watches, jewelry, phones, coins, wallets, cameras, purses, etc). It was funny to watch everyone "redress". That was just to get on the ferry boat. Then we had to do it again before we went up into the statue. This time we had to go through a trace portal machine, it "sniffs" for explosives. It blows air at you. Afterwards Todd said "the terrorists won" look at what we have to go through now. It was unbelievable. OK, we did enjoy the sights after all of that. Lady liberty was so tall and we got to climb 168 steps to reach her feet. There was a nice view of the city. We had to hurry back so we had time to go to Ellis Island, the museum of immigration. The lines for the ferry were long, so we only had a couple minutes at Ellis Island. I would have liked to stay longer, so much to learn. We had a flight to catch back in Newark. We hope to bring the kids back when K is older.

World Trade Center

This morning we went to see where the World Trade Center Towers were. It was very sad to read all the memorials and plaques that are there. They are slowly rebuilding things here. They are building 2 reflecting pools where the twin towers used to be. They will inscribe 2,981 names of the people that died. You can check out this website to see the progress. World Trade Center Progress. There was a fire station right across the street, I can't imagine how many fire fighters they lost. So many brave men and women died and helped others that day. I was so thankful that we could go there to see it. I will NEVER forget.

Time Square at Night

This is our last night in NY, so we went to see Time Square at night. The lights are amazing and we enjoyed a nice dinner. This weekend went too fast, but we are very THANKFUL for all of our family that helped with the kids so we could get away for our 13th Anniversary.

Empire State Building

We caught a taxi from the Intrepid and went to the Empire State Building. We stopped at a deli down the street to eat lunch first. It was yummy! The Empire State building was very tall(102 floors), we were able to go up to the observation deck on the 86th floor. It was very windy and cold. We probably would have stayed longer if it wasn't so windy, they even closed one side from the wind. We walked all around to take in all the sights. The view was amazing!

Intrepid Museum

We went into the Intrepid Museum. If you saw the movie "National Treasure", this is the boat he jumps from into the Hudson River to escape the FBI. It was huge and amazing. Todd was in Heaven, he liked sitting in the captains chair. He liked the guns too, wish Ryan was here, he'd love it! It was raining today, so it was not fun being outside looking at the planes! I'm sure he wanted to get in a plane and fly away. The helicopters propellers folded up, I didn't know that. Also, the planes wings. We had a great time!

Growler Submarine

We went in the Growler Submarine at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space museum. It was neat to see how they lived, slept and cooked. I would definitely want to be in authority, so I could have a larger room and bed to sleep in. Some of the beds were right on top of each other. I wouldn't want to be on the bottom or the very top. I have more respect for those that served. We liked their torpedo room. Todd liked looking at all the control panels.