The City/Cousins

I didn't realize it's been a little while since I've logged on :).
WE we have been kinda busy, still waiting for Spring, which seemed like it might get here sooner.. but now it's snowing and it's supposed to snow until tomorrow afternoon.Well at least the kids will have one more big snow to play in before Spring comes.
Thursday we decided to go to the City and just wander around. We went to see the big statue of George Washington in lower Manhattan, and found that there was a small museum right behind it up the stairs ..... The Federal Hall museum had exhibits about George Washington's life, his road to becoming the first president. It even had the exact bible he used at his inauguration. It also had various exhibits showing how life looked like back in the 1780's NYC, all in miniature figures and houses. It was really cool. They also had an exhibit about the NYC Draft riots during the Civil war. In 1863 some Irish immigrants did not want to be drafted into the army and be forced to fight to free slaves, so they started a riot, burned a police station, a colored children's orphanage among other things. They were worried abt the extra competition for work, as well as just plain racists. They had the original sign in book at the precinct that was burned down (everyone survived).
Upstairs there was an exhibit about Abraham Lincoln (A.L. in NY)with original things owned by the president as well as a lot of campaign trail material, booklets, original newspaper articles etc. F was fascinated, J was a little cranky and did not want to stay long, and A was her usual self, she walked along with us. looking at things and listening to everything I was explaining to her. She is just a doll :).
I was just happy that we were there, that it was free, and that we live in the area (30 minute train ride). I loved the opportunity to just get up and decide to go somewhere during school hours and learn things.
We walked along Wall street towards the South Street Seaport and discussed why it was named as such. The day before me and F watched one of our DVDs about how NYC was built, and why some streets were named what they are named. Well Wall street was named because there was a wall built all along the length of the street by the Dutch settlers in the 1600's, for protection.
At the Seaport the kids were amazed by the big boats and the big ship anchored there, ran around looking at the ice skaters. After a short lunch outside, we went inside to the flag store. Each kid picked out a flag of a country they liked, A picked Ethiopia, J Scotland, and F The Seychelles islands. It was a really nice day, 4 hours of walking around the city, so of course we had to stop at a playground, the kids had a great time running around for 10 minutes and then it was getting too cold so we walked back to the train station and went home.
Friday we basically did laundry, cleaned the car and hung at home. I read to the kids about Sharks and now J is fascinated with the biggest fish in the world, the Whale Shark. The kids took a tape measure and tried to see how long the shark can grow. They got from one side of the house to another and were still short about 10 feet (from the 49 feet) the shark can grow to.
Saturday we cleaned the whole apt, rearranged the kitchen, and waited for my niece to come with her 7 yo dd. She is A's Godmother as well, she finally got here around 5pm, we sat down to dinner together, talked. laughed and then got ready to leave around 7 30. The girls had a nice time with their cousin, playing hide and seek, playing with Legos etc.