Family Time in Connecticut!

After leaving PA, we headed up north to Connecticut to visit my extended family for almost 2 weeks.  Not only did we get to spend wonderful quality time with family, but we also had the chance to do some field trips as well.  And- Alan and I got a date while my brother and sister-in-law took care of our boys! Wahoo!  Thanks Matt and Jodi!!

Connecticut is such a beautiful state, and I love coming here! My Dad grew up in this home, estimated to have been built in 1798, and now he and his wife live here.  I can remember having such a good time coming here to visit my Grandparents as a little girl. Over the years, additions and renovations have been made to the house. The backyard is a beautiful forest full of tall trees just waiting to be explored!

Among the lush trees in the backyard is this beautiful old windmill.  The top of the windmill was damaged during a storm many years ago, but it is still a treasured family landmark, as it reminds us of so many memories from years past...

My brother and his wife live just down the hill from my Dad's house...

Matt and Jodi were high school sweethearts and they are still madly in love with each other today! I love these pictures I took of them.  Too cute:)

The kids all had a great time together during our visit. Everyone joined in a fun game of tag one night...

"Crazy" Uncle Matt joined the game too:)

During the first part of our visit, we attended a CT Tigers baseball game. It was actually a little chilly that night, which was nice.  After the game was over, we all enjoyed a fireworks show.

We also enjoyed beating the heat during the day by swimming in Matt & Jodi's pool.  Here are some action shots of some pretty cool jumps into the water...

You go Grayson!!!!!

Now it is Nate's turn!

My beautiful niece, Sydney, is such a wonderful young lady! She is always so helpful with her little cousins...

Grayson and Micah are the same age...their birthdays are just a few days apart. My sister also has a son who was born the same week as Grayson and Micah.  We like to call these three boys the "triplet cousins".  Hopefully, we can get a photo of all the cousins together someday soon!

The boys loved helping Grandpa get the firewood for the campfire.

Riding around the property in the gator was pretty fun too:)

Joshua helped Aunt Jodi in the kitchen :)

Fresh corn on the cob...cooked on the grill...yummy!

Time for s'mores...

One morning we took a trip to the local Farmer's Market. There was a hay maze and free ice cream for the kids!

These guys had so much fun together! We just wish our California cousins were there too! (Have I mentioned yet that we miss you Stewart family?!?!)

Beautiful mother and daughter!!

While we were there, Alan was so excited to help out around the property! My Dad had a few projects he needed some help with, including tearing down the porch of a cabin, cleaning up the pond, and mowing.

Some of the work required driving a tractor. Alan was just a little excited about that!!!

Working hard...and loving it!

We also enjoyed time inside playing games, visiting, and sharing lots of laughter...

Adrien's little baby boy, Sully, was crawling all over and having a good time too! He is such a cutie pie! The boys enjoyed entertaining him, and making him smile & giggle:)

Our family loves to play card games, and one of our favorites is Hand and Foot.  While we were there, my Dad and Ronnie organized and hosted the very first annual Connecticut Chapter Hand and Foot Tournament.  Alan and I, along with Micah, participated in the tournament.  It started at 10am and ended sometime after 5 o'clock! 

My Dad and brother took the competition very seriously and made sure they dressed appropriately!!! Ha! :)

There were four players a each table. After 3 rounds per game, we all switched to different tables/players for a total of four games.

After four games, the top four winners played one final round to determine the overall winner. Guess what?!?!? I actually made it to the championship table!!! (And so did Jodi, my sister-in-law!) It got pretty intense!!;)

The championship game was serious business! The winner of this one game would take home the trophy!

It was a good game, but I didn't win:( Oh well! It was a fun time anyway! Lots of laughter and good times that day!

One day, we took the boys by to visit the local library which was dedicated in memory of my late Grandmother, Janet Carlson Calvert, who we affectionately called Beste.  

The librarian does a wonderful job, and she was actually voted Librarian of the Year for the state of Connecticut!

During one of our last evening cook outs, the kids all had the chance to light up sparklers just for fun...

Then it was time for more fun...glow in the dark sticks!!! Can you read what is spelled out in the pictures?

A BIG thank you to my family for such a wonderful visit! We miss you already!!!

Blessings to you and yours,

Jill and the boys:)

The Tallest Roller Coaster In the World?!?! Check!

While we were staying in PA, we took two trips into New Jersey to visit the Six Flags park there.  Last fall, we bought our 2013 season passes back in St. Louis, which are good at any of the Six Flags parks.  So far we have been to a total of 6 Six Flags parks! Funny! (St. Louis, Arlington, San Antonio, Maryland, New Jersey and New England)

We were especially excited to visit this park in New Jersey because it has the tallest roller coaster in the world...the Kingda Ka!!!! The train accelerates to 128 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds! At the end of the track, the train reaches to a height of 456 feet!!! YIKES!

Yes...this roller coaster was on Alan's "list"! And- can you believe that my 10 year old son wanted to ride it too??? Well...they did it and they had a BLAST! (Alan took this picture after they survived the ride!)

After Alan and Micah accomplished this mighty and daring adventure, I actually considered going on the Kingda Ka too.  I had finally talked myself into it, and was heading to the ride, when it shut down for the rest of the day! Oh well! It was then that Alan decided to tell me that he saw an interesting sign posted by the ride.  It mentioned that sometimes the train does not make it all the way up and over the hill, but don't be alarmed...it will just come back down, reset and then launch again. Ummm...yeah...I am kind of glad I didn't ride it after all:)

Blessings to you and yours,

Jill and the boys:)

New York City!!!

During our stay in PA, we took a day trip into New York City. I have to be honest, I always get nervous taking our four young boys into a big, crowded city.  I used to be a lot more paranoid about certain things, but after traveling and taking our boys to so many new and unfamiliar places, I have had to overcome a lot of my fears.  I have learned to just be prepared, seek advice from local people who have been there/done that, and do a whole lot of prayin' and trustin' that God is in control!  

We always hold the little boys' hands and stay close to each other in large crowds of course, but we also want to make sure to prepare them just in case they got lost somehow. We often go over the basics on what to do if they get lost in a crowd (just stay in the area) and give them cards with our contact information on it just in case.  If they can't see us at all, try to find a police officer or a nice, sweet grandma and ask for help.  For our trip to NYC, I also decided it would be a good idea to wear matching bright colored shirts from last year's children's camp from our church in St. Louis.  I thought it would really help because I could always see where the boys were and they could find us easily.   Well... as the day went on, I did end up feeling a little silly as I noticed lots of people staring at us as we walked around the city.  One guy even asked me if we were part of some camp visiting the city or something.  It's funny...New York City is known for being full of all kinds of interesting people wearing all kinds of interesting clothing...and here we were in our orange shirts...and we really stood out! HA!  Well- no one got lost that day and I can laugh at myself now:)  We really had a great time!

Our main goal in NYC was to see the Statue of Liberty.  We drove about 2 hours from our campground, parked the van and headed over to the city on the Staten Island Ferry...which is free!

We stopped by to visit the 9/11 Memorial Plaza first.  Although the line was fairly long, we got in after only 15-20 minutes.

In the location of where the original World Trade Center Towers stood, there are two beautiful Memorial pools...

The names of the victims are engraved on the walls of the memorial.  It was heartbreaking to see. One name stood out to me the most though.  It was a woman's name along with "her unborn child."  So tragic...

There is a "Survivor Tree" there which was salvaged by rescue workers after the 9/11 attack.  The tree was planted at another location and given lots of care to help it survive.  The tree was then later re-planted here at the Memorial site.  It stands as a symbol of those who survived the horrible attacks on that day in 2001.

The new One World Trade Center is near the Memorial Plaza...

Next, we walked a few blocks to catch the boat to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty...

There she is!

Caleb was especially excited to see the Statue of Liberty! It was first on his list for our RV trip destinations...

Inside the Statue's pedestal, on the bottom floor, you can see the original torch.  At first, it actually had no light and was covered completely in copper. It was decided that it was too dark, and so changes were made by cutting out holes and adding lights on the inside to make it appear like a real flame.  Over the years, exposure to the elements caused parts of the torch to weaken and deteriorate.  The torch was eventually taken down in 1984, and a newer torch was put in its place.

We also took an audio tour of the history of the construction of the Statue.  Inside the museum, there are casts and models of the actual size of parts of the Statue of Liberty.  Here we are doing our impressions of Lady Liberty's face...

WOW! Look at the size of her foot!!!

This exhibit explained how they cast the parts of the statue...

That's an earful...

Then we traveled up several flights of stairs to reach the top of the pedestal.  You can pay more to climb up to the crown, but younger children are not allowed because it would be difficult and unsafe.  We were OK not going all the way up with four young boys.  Well, I should say, I just didn't want to do it anyway... too high! YIKES!

The view outside was amazing!

Looking up!

We thought this was a neat view with her shadow below us on the ground. Too cool!!

The view of Manhattan from the pedestal...

The Statue of Liberty is part of the National Park Service, so the boys participated in their Junior Ranger Program while we were visiting Liberty Island.  Another badge earned...way to go Haigood boys!

After a full day of walking and being in the hot sun, we were all very hungry and thirsty!!! It was time for some New York Style Pizza! We found a restaurant a few blocks away.  Nate was just a little excited!

On our walk back to the Staten Ferry, we stopped by to see the Wall Street Bull!

We had to get a silly picture of course:)

We also met a very nice New York Police Officer with the NYPD! The boys got a kick out of her accent:)

During our RV trip, we asked the boys what is something, one thing, that they want to do in every state just to say we did it.  Well...the boys talked us into getting one ice cream treat in every state, so since we were only in New York City for the day, we stopped by an ice cream truck before getting on the ferry.  There were several food trucks around the city, so we just picked one. Well...we should have asked for the prices first, but of course, we were all so hot & tired, we just ordered.  For 5 out of 6 of us to get ice cream it cost us $40!!!!!! YIKES! Micah later asked if we were supposed to tip the guy.  Alan said, "I think that was our tip!!!!" 

After looking at these pictures below though....we can say...it was well worth it:) It is fun to surprise and give our boys fun treats every once in awhile.

Micah chose a root beer float...

Time to start our journey back on the Staten Island Ferry...

Can you tell we had a few tired boys?!?!?

What a fun and adventurous day in NYC!!!! 

Blessings to you and yours,

Jill and the boys:)