Fifteen to forever: Thanksgiving Part 1

My family drove up to visit for Thanksgiving, including Emma! It was so nice to have them up here and the apartment felt a little empty and lonely after they left. I'm so glad Christmas break is soon, it makes the homesickness a little easier...3 weeks until we come home!

Anyway, the week was full of stuff to do. Ben had only been to NYC once before, so we wanted to make sure we did the things he really wanted to do. On Tuesday the family arrived in New York around 9 AM, after driving 16ish hours straight. Mom and Jessie took a nap in the hotel, so Ben, Dad, and I decided to go to Ellis Island while we waited for them.

This is a picture of Ben's namesake - Benjamin Endick. He is my Dad's grandfather and he came into the US through Ellis Island, as did his wife, Rose Barr Endick (though they didn't meet until they were in the US). Their names are on the wall of names on Ellis Island.

Here is Ben with his face by his namesake...I forced him to do this...

More pictures I forced them to take...

Ben holding the State of Liberty

He is a giant compared to me

Me and Daddy

Daddy and Ben

After we left Ellis Island, we walked up to Chinatown to eat.

Ben and I touching the Wall St. Bull's balls...its suppose to be good luck!

Dad and Ben with the horns

We met up with Mom and Jessie and then ate dinner with my Mom's friend from high school. Everyone was ready to crash after that.

On Wednesday we were a little late getting into Manhattan, so we ate lunch, waited on Derek and then walked a good 25ish blocks over to the Museum of Natural History. Every year they blow up the balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade outside the Museum, so it was cool to see that. We got there early before the crowd was too big and managed to get a few pictures. When we came out of the Museum it was packed and raining, so we didn't get to see much. We ate dinner at a Korean BBQ place then headed home.

The balloons