Sunday October 18, 2020- Church in New Jersey and the Statue of Liberty Cruise

Hello Sunday!!!  

We waited to hear details from Charlie to help with his service today, but he never gave us details.  His motorhome was gone all day Saturday and Sunday so we were a bit confused.  It all turned out OK though. We really wanted to go to church and if we would have helped him, we probably wouldn't have been able to go to church.  The ward in Jersey met at 1 PM.  Super late!!! But their meeting was very uplifting and we met some great members!!  

Braided hair girl!!

I 💓 her!!

After church our plans were to ride our bikes to Central Park and spend the day there, throwing the frisbee and enjoying a picnic.   Then, we realized that I had bought us Statue of Liberty tour passes and today was the only day they were running the tour. We were a bit torn about going.  But, in the end we felt like it was all about the family being together and so we decided to go.  It actually turned out to be a good decision.  We found out later that there was a shooting in the subway on 14th.  We were far away from it all on the boat.  

The NY Waterway ferry left out of Hoboken at pier 14 again today, so we rode our bikes to the pier to catch the ferry.   

Jersey is beautiful!!!

The workers on the NY Waterway ferries know us now.  They are so dang cool.  If you have ever watched Sully, there is a part where the NY Waterway workers says with full conviction that no one will ever die on his boat.  That is exactly how the people have been. I really appreciate the men that run these ferries.  

The Statue of Liberty tour was set to leave by 6 PM.  We jumped on the ferry to go to Manhattan at 5 PM.  We were in a huge time crunch to make it to the tour on time.  The NY Waterway ferry dropped us off at Midtown on the west side of the island.  Our other tour ferry left from 36th on the east side of the island.  They were 6 miles apart.  We knew that we were going to have to bike fast if we were to make our tour. We stepped off the ferry into Manhattan at 5:10.  We had 50 minutes to get all the kids to the tour.  The kids all understood that we had to bike fast but stay together.  The only one we were worried about was Pepper.  Taj was on the tag-a-long so Scotty could get him there.  

        When we got off the ferry in Manhattan, the whole family jumped on their bikes and started peddling fast!!! Before the first mile was done, our rush to the Liberty Tour turned into an unexpected "Team Building Exercise"!!!!  Pepper's crank on her bike broke.  Her left peddle fell completely off.  There was no way that she could ride her bike like that.  Scotty knew how to fix it, but he didn't have the right tool to do it.  We all looked at each other with the time restraint going through our heads.  What now???  I had no ideas.  Scotty looked at me and said I can't fix this. Was our tour over? 

        Then without skipping a beat, Asher stepped forward and said, "I can switch bikes with Pepper.  I can rider her bike and run it Flintstone style so we can get to the tour on time".   Ashers bike was way too big for Pepper but she was willing to give it a try.  They switched bikes and we were off again.  Hope!!!!!  Then, Asher found it really hard to keep up with us, that's when Graham stepped up.   Graham pulled up next to Asher and gave him a cord from his backpack to hold onto.  Graham towed him the entire 5 miles to the Liberty Tour.  We literally made it to the tour at the very last minute.  

My heart was so full of gratitude for my kids and their team work.  They came together when it mattered most.  They were kind and loving with each other.  I love them all so much.  

Here we are leaving with determination to make our tour!!

This was the "I can't fix it" moment.  

Asher - "I'll ride it"!

Graham - "Here, I'll pull you"

 

Pepper - she did so good riding that huge bike!!

Before we could get on our tour boat, they took our temperatures and checked our tickets.  Then they helped us take our bikes up on the boat.  It was beautiful to see the Statue of Liberty in the sunset.  She is gorgeous.  The tour lasted about an hour.  The boat drove down the East River and right up in front of the statue. We were able to see her face for the first time during this trip.  The kids loved it!!!  Our boat had maybe 15 other people on it.  Covid has its benefits!!!

I love the city!!

I love him!!

Don't tell Asher I put these pictures here.   He did a "photo shoot" with Graham to have pictures for his Insta account.  I just adore him  and I don't ever want to forget how cute he is!!!

When the tour was over, we took our time getting back to the NY Waterway ferry to take us home. The kids were so well behaved today.  We bonded as a family even more over a broken bike!!  

We had one last adventure.  Taj left his helmet on the New York side of the Hudson.  We had to stay on the ferry for a whole other round to go back and get his helmet.  Thankfully it was there when we drove up.