Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty is a 'must see' while in New York. Although, we had not made plans far enough in advance to enter the statue, we were able to take a boat ride to Liberty Island and walk around the base, impressive and quite satisfying. The boys augmented their previous knowledge by listening to an audio guide and we stopped every few minutes to get 'just one more' picture of the lady. 

Noah fixed Mama's sun glasses while waiting in the security line before boarding the ferry to Liberty Island. 

Birthday celebration

Since the birthday boy had been up since 3:30 am, and had walked over five miles, he was content to celebrate in the apartment rather than heading out for dinner. Aunt Lisa, cousins Laura and Scott and Grammy added to the festivities. Bob decorated the tiny living room for the occasion.

NewYork Cheesecake - can it get any better?

Intrepid

The boys and Mama visited the USS Intrepid while Bob kindly handled the details around the accommodations. Noah was delighted to find the 'real' Lego version of the ship on display, one he had only seen in books before.

Although we were on a ship, they boys spent most of the time on deck looking at airplanes - it is in their blood. 

New York City Sightseeing

We spent six exciting days in New York City. A lot of our time was devoted to sight seeing, there are so many things to see, so many places to discover, we barely scratch the surface. Taking a boat tour gave us a great view of the skyline.

Lukas is 13

One way to extend your birthday is to get up really, really early. Lukas opened his blue eyes and greeted 13 at 3:30 am so that we could catch the early morning plane to New York City and a fun filled fall vacation celebration.
While we waited to store our luggage, Lukas had breakfast in style at CakeBoss Bakery in Manhattan.

Second Class

The boys are actively pursuing rank advancement in Boys Scouts and this is how happy they were when the came home a freshly minted Second Class Scouts. Noah caught up with his brother and they can now work on rank advancement together. Noah was happy as the crocked rank patch would now come off.

And off they go

This weekend the boys joined their new Boys Scout Troop for a weekend camp out. Bob and the boys loaded up the Honda and set out for some fun adventure. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating, the had to take cover from hail while preparing lunch! The calendar says October, but the thermometer is indicating winter like conditions... They were pretty wet and cold when they finally arrived back home on Sunday. Fortunately, hot showers, cozy blankets, Sunday comics and a nap can fix most things.

 Lukas is already planning for next month's camp out, he wants to be in charge of the food!

Sunny Sunday

There is no question that fall has arrived. There are yellow, red, orange and bright purple leaves swirling in the air and leisurely descending on to the roads, sidewalk and cars. From a distance it is not hard to image a pot of gold at the end of the street, only to realize it is a pile of leaves....
Sunday presented us with amazing fall weather, clear blue sky, scarcely a breeze and mid 70s temperatures. We packed a picnic dinner, loaded the cars and set off for a local park - it was too perfect of a day to be inside.
Before the rest came exercise, a nice bike ride. The boys are getting really fast it did not take us long to circumvent the lake in the park. Noah kept his hands on the handle bar while we were on the road, he was only showing off in the parking lot.
Lukas set up his ham radio, Noah tried his hand at fishing, although the local store was out of worms, and Mama and Dad spent some time napping and reading the paper.

Sunset

Although there are few things as spectacular as a sun setting into the Pacific Ocean, we have had several gorgeous colorful sun sets right here in Michigan. Noah was excited to see the rainbow in this sunset, which did not translate as well to digital - but it is certainly a sweet memory of standing outside watching the sun set with our youngest son.