More family fun

Tuesday was Point Pleasant Beach -- playing in the ocean and riding the rides on the boardwalk. As you may have seen in the "Cousins!" post, the kids had a blast. So did the grandparents! It is not often that they do not get to spend time with all four of their grandkids together.

On Wednesday, we all went to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. We drove to Liberty State Park in Jersey City and rode the ferry from there. Like the previous day down the shore, the weather was perfect -- dry and temperate. It was nothing like you'd expect in August! The ferry rides were great, too.

Ellis Island is fascinating for adults with an interest in history and whose ancestors passed through. I'd like to go back and take the audio tour and see some of hte exhibits we didn't get to see. It's not too exciting for young kids, though, and we didn't want to use up their patience and energy too early in the day. (Especially after our LATE night on the boardwalk!) We got lunch and ate it outside so we could enjoy the glorious day. The grounds are beautiful and the view of NYC is excellent.

So back on the ferry we went. The kids were a bit more excited this time as we were disembarking. Grandpa had made reservations in advance so that we could go inside the Statue and climb up to the observation deck.

It was not as cool as when we got to climb all the way up to the torch when we were kids, but it's as good as it gets in this post 9/11 world.

Note: if you are taking the monument tour like we did, prepare to put your larger bags and ANY food/drink you are carrying into the lockers before you line up for security. It only costs $1.00 and will save you time (and possibly embarassment). We stashed our cooler and water bottles and joined the line, which despite warnings in everything we read were not bad at all. I asked the woman at the door to the security tent where the nearest restroom was because Will had to go. She asked if it were an emergency and then, looking at his face, decided it was. She told me to hand my bag, keys, everything to my family and brought us to the front of the line for security screening. The set-up there is very high-tech. After the typical airport style x-ray screening, you stand under an arch where a recorded voice announces "air puffers on" and you are blown every which way by bursts of air (which apparently detect explosive powders and other dangerous substances). You might want to avoid wearing a skirt if you go! ;) Will thought it was pretty cool.

As we walked out of the tent towards the statue itself (and the much-needed restroom), I realized that my bag contained two large wrapped chocolate chip cookies we'd purchased at lunch to save for a kid-emergency and a couple of baggies of cereal and nuts. Oops! I'd left Emma holding the bag -- literally. It ended up taking the rest of my family a few extra minutes to get through the screening. If you ever hear me called "Contraband" or overhear someone say "Check Lisa's bag!," you'll know why!

This is the original torch, which was replaced when they did major renovations in 1986. The windowed design of it allowed water to seep in over the years, so when they replaced it, they used a solid surface.