HELLOween in the MUSEUM!

Having watched "The Night in the Museum" a zillion times so far, the kids were extremely excited to be visiting New York's Natural History Museum for the very first time!!

That day was Halloween, and the museum only opened from 2-5pm. An estimated 17,000 people arrived, many dressed in superhero, princess, and cute animal outfits! We tried to push and shove our way through the stampede, which was no easy task! And by then (day 3.5 of our stay), we were starting to acclimate to mass transportation (either subway or on foot), and started to walk fast too.... like a New Yorker!

The kids trick-or-treated at various candy stations on each floor of the museum, stopping briefly to skim the exhibits. I think I felt lightheaded from the competition for oxygen with the bizillion people in the museum that day. It was fun, and we walked around looking for the main characters in "Night in the Museum". We were disappointed we didn't see Theodore Roosevelt or Sagajaweea, but we were thrilled to find "DUM DUM"!

The kids also had a lot of fun taking pictures with characters that came out of their PBS TV Shows! Clifford, Curious George, and many characters whom I have no idea who they are.....were there! Abbie insisted on taking pictures with EVERY character she saw on EVERY floor, thus it took a VERY long time to get to the last floor!

Auntie Julie was working in the museum as the crafts-table girl the whole time, and lost her voice by the time we found her. Luckily we also found her sweetheart, Uncle George (who will turn into Superman that night! Stay tuned!), who had visited from Buffalo, NY to join the festivites! I am so excited for them and I know that they will enjoy their new adventure together next year!

That night, Julie took us all to a special restaurant which delighted the kids! Before we could be seated, we had to embark on a "Star Tour-like" adventure and sit in a 3-D ride that made me....again...dizzy. But the kids loved it and had a blast! It was auntie Julie's first time on the ride, and I was sure she will enjoy making this cyber-restaurant her kid's 1st birthday party place!

Aliens greeted us and led us to our tables! It was dark and we basically ate in a cave with aliens serving food and dancing around us. After dinner, our hosts had turned into Superman, Sexy Nurse, and "Good" Wizard! The kids were taken aback and weren't sure who the wizard was, and we reassured them that it was still, indeed, Uncle Wayne (JuJu's brother).

Superman was quite muscular, and very proud of his new look. Sexy nurse was beautiful, and sadly (we heard the next morning)....she got sick and had a fever after the party. Apparently the outfit was....too sexy. The New Yorkers were really into Halloween festivities, and on the subway station we saw some really interesting outfits!



It poured as we walked from the subway station to the gas station (2 blocks) to await our shuttle. We were drenched! As soon as we entered the gas station, the rain stopped! It was as if a cloud parked above our heads and pulled a big "trick" on us on this halloween night! But it was memorable for sure! Julie and friends partied in the "adult ball", and we were glad her fever eventually subsided the day after.

We had dim sum at a very yummy (and packed!) chinese restaurant on Sunday morning! We were sad to see Mr.G go, but he needed to fly back to Buffalo that afternoon.

Julie treated us to all our entertainment and eateries....I think I'll be her indentured servant until I'm 80 years old! We were touched by her love and generosity! That afternoon we went to see "Gazillion Bubble Show" (while Ju took Mr.G to the airport). The bubble artist has several Guiness Book of World Record titles already! It was amazing and we loved the show!

On Monday Julie took us to the airport and we said our good-byes.... It was so hard to leave and I am so thankful we got this chance to visit a place where my good buddy had resided for 12 years! She studied, worked, struggled, and achieved so much here, and it was great to witness her transformation here! Thank you again, dear, for a memorable trip!