Three Times a Charm

I flew in to spend Thanksgiving with my sister Sarah and her family. I flew in on the 18th but got to Vegas really late. I stayed there for the night and headed up to Sarah's on Friday. It was Briana's birthday on the 18th but she wanted me to be able to be there so she asked her mom if she could have her birthday on Friday instead. She  didn't seem to be very excited about any of her presents that she opened but she seemed to have a good time with everyone. We did get a few smiles out of her. 

Briana and her cake!

Princesses games and puzzles. 

Kaden was excited about Briana's gifts. 

Briana got a fun little outfit and a princess hat. 

The Gang Steve, Carson, and Sierra

Paityn sure enjoyed the party as well.

 This is such a cute picture of her laughing!

Happy Birthday Briana!

The Big 6!

On Sunday the 21st of November was Sierra's birthday. We didn't have any of Sierra's gifts wrapped and she was ready to have her party. We told her we couldn't yet because we didn't have her gifts wrapped. We said well we could just give them to you without wrapping them because you are just going to unwrap them anyways. She said no I need to unwrap them for the "effect." She said you can even just put them in the gift bags but you have to have tissue paper for the "effect."

This picture is Sierra and her "effect"unwrapping her gifts. She was pretty entertaining to watch. 

Pet shop pets cat and mouse. 

5000 Beads for Sierra to make jewelry with. 

Sierra didn't want a cake so she asked for Chocolate covered popcorn. It was a nice change up from the cake just a few days earlier. 

Sierra and her chocolate and peanut butter covered popcorn. It was quite tasty. Sarah also threw in some Fritos and M&M's. 

Happy Birthday Sierra!

The Big 11!

Sunday when we were having Sierra's birthday Kaden asked about his and so Sarah told him we would have his birthday on Tuesday. He was so cute and ever since Briana's birthday he would sing the happy birthday song while he was playing. 

We had a Cars birthday for Kaden because he loves Lightning McQueen. 

Sarah and I decorated his cake. Sarah did most of it and I finished it up because she had a meeting to attend. 

Kaden was so excited for his gifts. We were able to get everything Cars for him. 

He got a Lightning McQueen and Mater puzzle. He has loved putting it together. The first few times he needed help to put it together to understand how the pieces fit together but after a few times of help he can now do it all on his own. Such a smart little guy for just under 3. 

He also got a Lightning McQueen and King race cars. 

He got some Lightning McQueen slippers and PJ's. 

He was the funniest thing to watch when he was waiting for Steve to take the cars out of their packages. He jumped up and down and clapped his hands and he was so excited to start playing with them. 

Waiting on Steve to give him the other car. 

Look at that cute boy with his cake. After I finished up the cake he just wanted to sit there and stare at it. I finally had to take him downstairs because I was worried if I left him unsupervised to long in front of the cake it might not be there without a few fingers getting into it. Boy he was not happy when I took him away from his cake. 

Blowing out his candles. He wasn't sure at first if he could blow them out till Sarah asked him if he could blow and he said yes and then he understood he could blow them out. 

He was so proud of his cake and his good job of blowing out the candles. He had so much fun and loved his unbirthday. It was fun to throw him a party so he could partake in all the fun festivities as well. 

Kaden and I. 

I had to add this one too because he is so cute in this picture and you can see his entire Cars outfit. 

After the party Kaden entertained himself by playing with his cars and singing Happy Birthday to himself. It was so cute. He wanted to take his cars to bed with him. I think he had a fun filled unbirthday. 

Happy UnBirthday Kaden!

The big 2 3/4!

King Tutankhamon and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs

Before I headed home I wanted to stop in at the King Tut exhibit that is being held in NewYork before it returns to Egypt to never leave there again. It is becoming to fragile and it will no longer be moved around from museum to museum. 

Unfortunately pictures in the exhibit were not permitted. But I was able to find some pictures online of some of the artifacts that I saw in the museum. Most of these pictures came from the National Geographic. King Tut is short for Tutankhamun. He was 9 years old when we became king. He ruled for 10 years and died at the age of 19. He married his half-sister and they had two still-born daughters. 

Buried in the Royal Jewels. I can't remember what this is called. 

Statue of King Tut in solid Wood / 18th Dynasty , reign of Tutankhamun 1332–1322 BCE

Carved of wood and then covered in gesso and painted, this bust of Tutankhamun portrays the young king much more as a youthful figure than a divine being. Although wearing a royal crown with a cobra deity projecting at his brow, he has on a simple linen shirt through which the upper part of his rib cage shows. He has pleasant smile, and his earlobes are pierced, a custom for both males and females during this period. The excavators suggested that the enigmatic statue may have served as a clothes dummy on which garments of the king could be draped or his jewelry displayed.

Chariot where some believe was where he fell off of during a battle which broke his legs before his death. 

Mummy Mask of Queen Tuyu
This gilded-pasteboard mask found in her tomb immortalizes Queen Tuyu, King Tutankhamun's great-grandmother.

Throne of Princess Satamun
Embellished with gold and silver foil, this wooden throne comes from the tomb of Yuya and Tuyu, great-grandparents of King Tutankhamun.

This is an alabaster sculpture of King Tutankhamun (1332 to 1323 B.C.)

Coffin for Tutankhamun's Viscera
Rendered in gilded wood and faience, this coffin was specifically designed to hold King Tutankhamun's mummified internal organs, which were believed to be essential equipment for the afterlife.

I was curious to what they did with the mummified internal organs because this coffin was open and you could see inside of it and there was nothing there. 

Chest of Tutankhamun 
In the shape of a cartouche, this gilded wood chest from King Tutankhamun's tomb is inlaid with ivory, ebony, and various colored pastes. A cartouche is an oval figure enclosing a sovereign's name.

Tuyu's Box With Vaulted Lid
Decorated with ivory, ebony, blue faience, and gilding, this wooden chest was found in the tomb of Yuya and Tuyu, great-grandparents of King Tutankhamun.

Winged Snake Deity
With wings and a human head, this wooden snake-deity figurine is from the tomb of Pharaoh Amenhotep II 

(1427 to 1400 B.C.).

Head of a Cow
From the tomb of Amenhotep II, this wooden sculpture is evidence of the importance of cattle to the ancient Egyptians. The animals served as beasts of burden and food sources and even lent their features to several gods.

Diadem of Tutankhamun
Studded with semiprecious stones, this crown was found on the head of King Tutankhamun's mummified body and was probably worn by the pharaoh in life. 

Tutankhamun's scarab

There are no surviving records of Tutankhamun's final days. What caused Tutankhamun's death has been the subject of considerable debate. Major studies have been conducted in an effort to establish the cause of death.

Although there is some speculation that Tutankhamun was assassinated, the general consensus is that his death was accidental. A CT scan taken in 2005 shows that he had badly broken his leg shortly before his death, and that the leg had become infected. DNA analysis conducted in 2010 showed the presence of malaria in his system. It is believed that these two conditions combined led to his death

I had to add a picture of the city lights. On my way back to my car I had to take the Train and then walk down some streets that were not widely used. Jesse and I parked down here because we could park for free. As I was walking down the street in the dark it was a little nerve racking. Then I walked past a little park where there were people playing with their children. About a block from the park I was trying to hurry to my car and I passed a person dressed up like a woman, but looked like a man dressed in a hooker outfit and bad makeup. She said to me in a woman voice "Hun can you help me out a minute" I said no and walked even faster to my car. I think I was officially hit on by a hooker. 

I really enjoyed my trip to New York. The Exhibit was very interesting to learn about the life of King Tut. I had heard about him but until I went to this exhibit I don't think I really knew much about his life or why he was so famous. I thought it very interesting that he was King and began his reign at only 9 years old. 

Ellis Island Immigration Museum

Ellis Island in the New York Harbor was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States as the site of the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 to 1954. Prior to that, the much smaller original island was the site of Fort Gibson and later a naval magazine. The island was greatly expanded with landfill between 1892 and 1934.

 It was interesting to be able to go to the immigration Museum and learn about the process that took place for immigrants to be able to enter the United States. 

When the ship would come to port it would go to the main land and they would inspect the 1st and 2nd class passengers. If they had a clean check from any diseases they would then de-board there and the passengers who stayed below would have to go over to Ellis Island on smaller boats to be checked for diseases there. That is also where their luggage would be inspected for and unwanted things such as lice.   

The luggage center where their things would be sifted through and they would have to pay to get their luggage back. 

This is the Great Room

The United States Public Health Service operated an extensive medical service at the immigrant station, called U.S. Marine Hospital Number 43, more widely known as the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital. It was the largest marine hospital in the nation. The station was staffed by uniformed military surgeons. They are best known for the role they played during the line inspection, in which they employed unusual techniques such as the use of the buttonhook to examine aliens for signs of eye diseases (particularly, trachoma) and the use of a chalk mark code. Symbols were chalked on the clothing of potentially sick immigrants following the six-second medical examination. The doctors would look at the immigrants as they climbed the stairs from the baggage area to the Great Hall. Immigrants' behavior would be studied for difficulties in getting up the staircase. Some immigrants entered the country only by surreptitiously wiping the chalk marks off, or by turning their clothes inside out.

People could be detained here for a day or they could end up staying up to a few months. If they were sick or had any signs of disease they would have an opportunity to recover to have a chance to get healthy enough to be able to work to earn an income. If people didn't seem like they would not be able to work they were not allowed in. The ship who brought them would then have to take them back at their own expense. 

Here is the area where the men and boys would stay. Here are their sings and just to the side is the beds. (Below picture)

They had three bed cots hanging above each other and two right next to each other. These cots were not very long. I wouldn't have been able to stretch out and I am not that tall. I would have needed to sleep curled up. I could only imagine how uncomfortable it would have been for really tall people. 

Yup that is a window. I actually took this picture because I thought it was really interesting the contraption they had set up to open the window because they were so far up. On the left hand side if you can see there is a wheel like contraction that you can turn that will open up all the windows up above.  

Here are some of the clothing that people wore when they came here. 

These are some of the thing they brought with them. 

Here are some of the original things that were found here during the time this was used as an immigration center. 

This is the piano they would play music on to sing patriotic songs in being grateful to be here in this country. 

Some of the kitchen items. 

Medical items. 

I thought this was a really cool wall. As you can see it is a bunch of pictures of people from all over the world. 

As you walk past this wall of pictures it slowly transforms into a flag of the United States, indicating that the United States is made up of immigrates from all over the world. 

As you get past it and look in just the right place it is the entire flag. If you stand just off a little from where I took this picture you can see a single face or two in one of the squares. It was really neat.

I really liked the structure of the building of the museum.

It was most interesting to come here to Ellis Island and to learn about the history that is here.  Sad to say but I don't think I knew much about Ellis Island before I came and learned about it. It will be interesting to see if I have family who passed through Ellis Island.