New York! #5

Everyone was feeling better this morning!

Start off with our morning swim

Then off to Central Park, starting with the Zoo

Sea Lion

Polar Bear

Aggressive swans

And a couple of goofy turtles

"I'm picking his NOSE!!!"

The petting zoo was a favorite

You know we are on vacation when I spring the 50 cents for the animal food. :)

Then we had lunch and ventured into the rest of the park.

The first playground had potential, but looked run down.

This slide looked like it could be so much fun!

Laura's doing a great job acting here. She is actually sitting still, not moving an inch. It was the slowest slide ever. Perhaps on a less humid day, it would have been slipperier?

Did you know there are huge rocks sticking out of the ground all over Central Park? I had no idea? That was probably the kids' favorite thing. Bouldering around on them was so much fun.

The next playground we came to (there are many), was better.

Hans Christian Anderson

The Ugly Duckling (statue, not kid)

Alice in Wonderland

The pigeons were also a big hit.

On a whim, I had the kids sit for a charcoal artist. It turned out to be a picture of very cute kids that don't necessarily look exactly like my kids. 

Jim's going to bring it back from his NY office next time he goes, so I will share it with you then.

But both kids did a great job sitting still for it.

Told you I bought them silly souvenirs

Oh! Hey, there's our hotel room. Very standard, and in good shape.

Just across the street was the neighborhood park. It was in very nice condition and had a splash pad. In fact, there were splash pads all over Central Park too. The park had a tall fence that was locked at night, but otherwise, looked just like a park in the 'burbs.

And that night, Laura and I went to a Broadway play. Does anyone remember my obsession with the movie Newsies as a preteen? Maybe even a teenager. I think I was in the minority that recognized its genius. Anyway, it has been made into a play that is very true to the movie and thoroughly exciting for both of us girls. I'm still giddy :)

Our seats were up in the balcony, but again, they were a pretty serious discount from the full price, so what can you expect. Its a small theater, so we could still see very well. 

Adding to the coolness factor is that this is the same theater I saw my first Broadway play 15 years ago. When I was on a college engineering trip, a renegade professor offered to take a few of us into New York City while the rest of the class was doing something else, can't remember what but I'm sure it was nerdy. But I do remember vividly the Staten Island Ferry, walking through Times Square, and taking a chance on some Standing Room Only tickets to see Rent. Holy cow, how could we be so lucky? Jessica and I stood in the back for the first half, then sat in some empty seats about 10 rows back on the floor for the second half. It was incredible. Just incredible.

Anyway, after the show, Laura and I walked back to the hotel via Times Square so we could see it at night. Crazy!

New York! #4

As I mentioned, Adam came down with something yucky at Jeff's and was still feeling sick on Monday. So in an attempt to meet everyone's needs, Adam and I read books poolside while Laura swam. Then we borrowed a stroller from the hotel (how cool is that?) and went to stand in line for Rush tickets to see Kinky Boots. I hadn't heard of this musical until I started looking to see what was playing, but apparently it won a bunch of Tony's this year. Anyway, I got super lucky and got the last ticket. The people working the booth said the last ticket usually goes to someone waiting in line since 6:15am, but we got there at 9:40am and waited 20 minutes. What luck!

Did I mention there was terrible rain showers while we were waiting in line, but we were protected by an overhang? As soon as we got the tickets, the rain stopped!

We were halfway there already, with no real plans for the day, and Adam seemed to be doing fairly well, so we strolled up to Times Square [that's a lot of commas]. We looked around a bit, then went into  Toys r Us. We rode the ferris wheel and picked up a few souvenirs. I felt like they chose very wisely. Laura was fixated on one of those little worms attached to a string that you can do tricks with. There was someone there demonstrating them and that is what she is straining to watch in the above ferris wheel picture. So, they both picked one of those, a small snow globe of NYC (which they have both always wanted), and 2 small pieces of candy each. Pretty good choices, huh? Nothing big and pricey or too junky. Not that I am biased. :)

We walked in a sprinkle to the Main Branch of the New York Public Library.

You know, the one with the lions?

We walked in, and the kids said, "where are the books?" Apparently, they are on the 3rd floor in a football field sized room, but we never made it that far. There was a very cool exhibit on children's books on the first floor, and then we spent a good 20 minutes in the bookstore. 

Then, we were HANGRY!

(Hungry + Angry)

So we went across the street to a deli Jim recommended, Pret a Manger. I was so impressed that we found a huge, quiet, lonely spot in the back and made it our own. There's poor Adam feeling puny, but hanging in there.

Then, we took 2 subways and walked back to the hotel because I couldn't catch a taxi.

While Adam vegged and recuperated, Laura played with her worm. 

That night, we met Jim for dinner at Shake Shack, which was good, but not necessarily worth the wait and standing up to eat since there weren't any tables available

Then we parted ways. Jim and the kids went back to the hotel and I wandered for an hour before my show.

I found Roxy's Cheesecakes, which made my mouth water. Danielle said this is a favorite stop of hers, but I just didn't have room in my belly.

I bought more silly souvenirs for the kids: some "I *heart* NY" shirts and Statue of Liberty hats.

And just enjoyed the evening.

Then, I went to my play, which was a blast. 

The seats had an obstructed view, but as you can see, they were very close. Close enough that the actors made lots of eye contact with those of us sitting up there. The musical was great and it really made it feel like a trip to New York City should feel.

New York! #3

The next two days, Saturday & Sunday, Jim was off work. We all travelled via train up to Jeff's about an hour north of New York City. Not too many pictures from this weekend. Adam woke up sick on Sunday, so that put a damper on things a bit. But it was neat to see the cousins hang out together and we loved seeing everyone. 

Grand Central Station

I wish I had prepped them for this more. They thought it was cool, but not enough to satisfy me :)

Discussing Adam's book about space, something both boys are interested in. 

Goofy People

 

New York! #2

No pictures of our hotel! What a mistake. Well, we stayed at the Skyline Hotel because it was one of the very few in Manhattan with a pool. It was very nice and we were at the pool every morning and evening. It is located in Hell's Kitchen (now they're trying to call it Clinton, but really, its much cooler to call it Hell's Kitchen) The area seems very residential with lots of apartments, restaurants and small grocery shops. It seemed safe. It was half a mile from the subway, which was kind of a bummer, but we got pretty good at walking. 

My goal this trip was to take it easy and not try to fit every single museum and attraction into our 3 NYC days. I tried to do way too much when we went to Chicago in March (again, because Jim would be there for work) and quite frankly, it was no fun at all. But this time worked out better. We left many things out, but they can go back when they grow up and see what is important to them. It will still be there. We took one main destination each day and fit in other things depending on how we all felt and how much time we had. Flexibility!!

Our first day, after a swim, we ventured to Staten Island. Trust me, getting there and back was an all day adventure. Walk to the subway, wait for it, ride it halfway down Manhattan, wait for the ferry, ride the ferry...

Ellis Island and Liberty Island were closed due to damage from Hurricane Sandy. Liberty Island opened the day after we left and Ellis Island won't open until 2014. But the ferry is a great, free way to get a pretty good view. Laura was so impressed by her. It is cool that Laura really "got it". 

Once we were on each mode of transportation, everyone did quite well. Waiting for the subway, bus or ferry was a whole new experience for the kids. What a bunch of whiners the first day!! But it was cool to see them get accustomed to the waits and the walking by the time we came home. It reminded me how very nice it is that our life includes a car and relatively very little traffic, but it was good for us all to see how most of the world lives: with tight quarters and public transportation. By the time we came home, the crowds didn't overwhelm them so much either, and they were much more comfortable sitting by someone on the subway.

Once on the island, we took the bus to Snug Harbor. It is a cute park with different museums and gardens. We stopped for a snack by a pond with a friendly duck...

and then went to the Staten Island Children's Museum. (our MN Science Museum membership gave us free entrance!).

It was small, but well done and a good place for them to explore.

See, they don't always fight!

The Bug Room was my favorite.

Then we headed home, bus to ferry to subway to feet. I considered stopping at the 9-11 Memorial on the way home, but it looked to be quite a walk from the subway stop and it was already late afternoon.  I guess it was the right decision, but we never did make it down that direction again.

Today's food was weird. We had yogurt in the hotel room in the early morning, second breakfast at Olympic Diner after swimming, then just a series of snacks, ice cream, and street pretzels until dinner at 7pm when Jim brought home yummy pizza.

Happy 4th of July

Thank you, Aunt Emma, for the great idea!

New York! #1

 So, what do you do when 

1) it is summer

2) you have a brother and his family that live just north of NYC

3) your husband needs to go to NYC for work, thus offering a free hotel room in Manhattan

???

You go to New York!

Hop a plane

Wait for a 3 hour delay in Chicago watching Powerpuff Girls on the airport TV and playing on the moving walkways

Land in Newark and take a train into Manhattan

Woo hoo!

More to come...

When I'm Gone

This song took over our house a few weeks ago when Laura decided to learn to do the "cup trick". She worked really really hard to learn this. The kids and I have it permanently burned into our brains. If you want to see the inspiration (minus the cleavage), go here (no, we haven't seen the movie).

A Small Poem For Today

Have you browned butter?
You should.
It is good.