Ellis Island!

My daughter is on an east coast trip with her school over the break. She is now on Ellis Island in New York. She has called us all excited and bubbly because she found one of Mary's relatives on the wall. Mary's mother had contributed to the memorial and one of the perks was to get your relative's name on the wall.

She is usually not a fan of history, or architecture, or anything not involving shopping or boys (she almost cried when she found out the Capitol Mall in DC did not have an Abercrombie- or any other stores at all). Imagine our excitement when we got the call, and her glee at this new look at history. The trip was expensive, and it is not a comfortable feeling to send your daughter off for 9 days, but I think in the long run she will be a much better person for having done it. She is exposed to history and culture in a way she never would in school. She has all her friends ( the trip has a good grade requirement, which means not a lot of boys go. Mostly girls), she has close supervision, and she has an itinerary that would not be possible with just our family. Plus, she is getting out into the world and seeing things while still being sheltered. Many kids just leap out into the world after high school and they succumb to all the distractions available- some good, some bad. Overall, I am really pleased. Score one for the 'rents.