MLKJ Day

Because Alan had Sunday AND Monday (!) off, we decided that we should take advantage of our two-day vacation. There is an exhibit at the Milwaukee Public Museum about the Titanic. I have always been fascinated by the Titanic and was really excited to see this exhibit. We left yesterday and spent the night at a hotel in Brookfield. The kids were super excited to go swimming and Alan was really excited to take them. I worked out in the exercise room next door while they swam. Then today we went to the museum. The exhibit was neat. There were a lot of artifacts that had been retrieved from the bottom of the ocean. There were recreations of some of the rooms on the Titanic, an actual mini-iceberg to touch and lots of quotes/information about passengers on the ship. Upon entering the exhibit, each person is given a boarding pass for the ship. At the end, there is a memorial wall and you find out if you lived of died. Nate and I survived, but Alan and Abbie perished. We also saw an Imax about the Titanic. It had amazing footage of some of the explorations of the ship and a lot of information. I was really surprised at how emotional it was. I teared up several times walking through the exhibit and during the movie too. I don't know that I really thought about being on the ship before. But seeing things that people lost--Jackets with names on them, hats found in specific state rooms, etc--Actually knowing that those people died. The water was so cold--Below the freezing point of regular water because of the salt. So many women boarded the boats without their husbands. I can't imagine. I honestly cannot fathom that. More than two-thirds of the passengers died. It's unbelievable. What really got to me, and I'm not sure why, was what happened right before the boat actually went under. The band members actually sat on the deck and played until the end. They played "Nearer My God to Thee." I know that song. I can hear it in my head. All 4 (5?) band members died when the ship went down. It was just really sad. I'm glad that we went, though, because I think it's one of the events in history that will never be forgotten and that we all need to know about. It was fascinating. Here are some pictures from our "trip"--

Abbie is now able to be by herself in the water Here's Nate swimming on his own too. So cute Here she is once she got a little more confident in the water And a picture for those of you who think her hair never grows. It's actually very long. It just grows bigger when it's dry instead of longer. :)

The exhibit we went to see

Taken by Abbie

Here I am with Nate and Abbie

Another picture by Abbie. Nate jumped in at the last minute (just to be a stinker).