Big Cities

John 15:3 "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing."

Apart from Jesus I can do nothing.

I cannot be the wife and mother He has called me to be without Him.

He is changing our family dynamics on this trip. Molding and shaping the way we interact and work together. We are constantly challenged by new experiences...learning how to explore this path the Lord has blessed us with.

The past few weeks were no exception as we spent most of our time vising "Big Cities". One's where you have to navigate through toll roads, subway lines, security checks and crowds. Big ones like DC, Philadelphia and New York.

So much History.

On our way to our campsite in New Jersey we stopped to visit Philadelphia.

You can't visit Philly without trying a cheese steak and that's just what we did when we got there.

On the way to lunch we passed by the spot where Benjamin Franklin's house used to be.

We visited Independence Hall.

It was amazing to be standing in the same room that the Declaration of Independence was written.

Here is the Liberty Bell.

After Philadelphia we set up camp an hour south of NY in NJ. The rain started to kick in that night making our planned two day trip into NY cold and dreary. That didn't stop us from exploring.

We took the Lady Liberty ferry to our first stop, Ellis Island.

So many people passed through the Great Hall, including my Great Great Grandfather from Hungary.

Layne loved the audio tour, she was quiet the entire time listening to the voice inside her earphones.

Lady Liberty was our next stop. We climbed the stairs to the pedestal and looked out over the harbor.

This is the inside of the Statue of Liberty looking up. Interestingly we learned that Gustave Eiffel designed the interior framework of this statue as a sort of proving grounds for his later creation, the Eiffel Tower.

After, we took another ferry to Battery Park, Manhattan and walked around the lower end of the city. We saw the New York Stock Exchange...

and visited the 9-11 Memorial. It was surreal being at the spot where the terrorist attacks happened. I remember that day so vividly.

The new Liberty Tower, stretching high up into the sky. We couldn't see the end of it.

Finishing up our day we took a ferry back to our car and drove to Hoboken, NJ. Our kids were so excited to see Carlos Bakery. We parked right by the ally where they filmed parts of Cake Boss.

Day 2 of NY looked promising...the weather was warmer.

To get into Manhattan that day was exhausting. First we spent an hour driving the toll roads to park at Liberty Park. Then we took the water taxi which dropped us off on Manhattan. After that we took the subway and landed ourselves right at Times Square. I'm tired just remembering, but the picture below was totally worth the pain of getting there.

Haha...so much fun. They bombarded us, and in typical tourist fashion we gave in.

The rest of the day we took the subway to visit the many NY landmarks...

Times Square

Radio City Music Hall

Rockefeller Center

M & M's candy store...Birthday Cake flavor was our favorite.

We ended our day with a stroll through Central Park. It amazes me how something so beautiful and peaceful can be in the center of such a fast paced city. It was by far my favorite part.

One last mention about the toll roads...don't take them if you don't have to. That's all I'm going to say about that.

New York was big, exciting, and fast paced. I am ready to slow things down a bit. Currently we are spending the week in Cape Cod, enjoying the beautiful 80 degree weather. Our plans are to relax tomorrow, get some school done, and enjoy this journey the Lord has given us.