Staycation Series: Because it was Tuesday
Child and I went to NYC yesterday.
Because we could. Because it was Tuesday. Because he didnt have school and it was a beautiful day. Because soon he'll be in school during the day and I won't be able to do stuff like that.
But mostly because we could.
We took the train in. The ride on the West Side of the Hudson River is probably one of the most picturesque in the nation. Beautiful views the whole way. We probably annoyed regular commuters who have a policy of not talking. We chatted the whole way in:
"Mommy, I like this side of the train (the river side). Its more interesting. Mommy, what does that sign say? Mommy why is the seat broken here? Mommy why do they punch our tickets? Mommy, what happens if the train stops?"
Fortunately, I had a good night's sleep so I was fully stocked on patience and good humor.
Then we took the subway which was exciting. Child had never gone through turnstiles before. Or ridden the subway. There were more questions. We investigated the map. Talked about why there are lines between each seat. What the poles in the middle are for. Why subway trains are different from MetroNorth trains.
I did not take his picture on the subway. That's something tourists do.
Once out of the subway, we walked to meet my good friend NYCFishGirl (She chose her own moniker) for lunch.
This is her, but not at lunch. Because I am an airhead and forgot to take a picture of us together.
BTW: Good friends let you cry on their shoulders. Great friends help you move. The Best friends don't bat an eyelash when you call them up the night before and say "Umm, by the way, we were thinking of coming to your city tomorrow. Want to meet for lunch?"
On the walk to and from the restaurant, Child entertained himself by climbing all over ... NY. Proving that you can take the boy out of the tree, but he still wants to climb.
I love this picture. He's having such a good time!
After lunch we went to the Children's Museum of Manhattan. Awesome and I think Child was just the right age for it. Most of the kids there were younger, but what can you expect from the middle of a random Tuesday? They had one floor devoted to exploring the body.
How the brain processes memory while you sleep.
Child got to make a heart pump, as well as feel the difference between a healthy and fatty heart. He crawled through a small intestine and bicycled off a small sip of soda.
Other floors had other things, but this was his favorite exhibit:
There was air coming out of the holes with the arrows and you had to use tubes to connect the air to the boxes with the whirly-gigs. Meaning you had to trace the pathways, use trial and error, use a couple tube steps to get to the center box. Really made my little science heart go pitter-pat. He was loving this display. But there were others:
When you crawl through this it makes noise.
Feed the letters to the alligator and he says them. There was another component to this exhibit where you could arrange the same tiles into 3 letter words. That part was getting no love from the masses - they just wanted to feed the alligator over, and over, and over...
At about 4:30 I started the process of extracting the child from the museum and we walked back to the subway, stopping for a moment to appreciate some street art:
Some sort of art tour. Massive sculptures on every block. Wish I had time to explore, but we had to make our train.
Which we did. We had very few moments to spare, but child said that he was Really Hungry. This was legit because it was around the time we normally eat dinner (5:30), but we didnt have time for even McDs. Not going for parent of the year, but Child had:
A yogurt and a giant cookie on the train ride home before falling SOUND asleep on the train. I carried him to the car and he slept on. I carried him into the house and he slept on. He woke up briefly in the middle of the night to go potty and then went back to sleep. DH peeked in on him before heading to work and accused me "What did you do to that poor child??"
Child work up on time this morning and in good spirits. It was an excellent day and I cant wait to do it again.
Because we could. Because it was Tuesday. Because he didnt have school and it was a beautiful day. Because soon he'll be in school during the day and I won't be able to do stuff like that.
But mostly because we could.
We took the train in. The ride on the West Side of the Hudson River is probably one of the most picturesque in the nation. Beautiful views the whole way. We probably annoyed regular commuters who have a policy of not talking. We chatted the whole way in:
"Mommy, I like this side of the train (the river side). Its more interesting. Mommy, what does that sign say? Mommy why is the seat broken here? Mommy why do they punch our tickets? Mommy, what happens if the train stops?"
Fortunately, I had a good night's sleep so I was fully stocked on patience and good humor.
Then we took the subway which was exciting. Child had never gone through turnstiles before. Or ridden the subway. There were more questions. We investigated the map. Talked about why there are lines between each seat. What the poles in the middle are for. Why subway trains are different from MetroNorth trains.
I did not take his picture on the subway. That's something tourists do.
Once out of the subway, we walked to meet my good friend NYCFishGirl (She chose her own moniker) for lunch.
This is her, but not at lunch. Because I am an airhead and forgot to take a picture of us together.
BTW: Good friends let you cry on their shoulders. Great friends help you move. The Best friends don't bat an eyelash when you call them up the night before and say "Umm, by the way, we were thinking of coming to your city tomorrow. Want to meet for lunch?"
On the walk to and from the restaurant, Child entertained himself by climbing all over ... NY. Proving that you can take the boy out of the tree, but he still wants to climb.
I love this picture. He's having such a good time!
After lunch we went to the Children's Museum of Manhattan. Awesome and I think Child was just the right age for it. Most of the kids there were younger, but what can you expect from the middle of a random Tuesday? They had one floor devoted to exploring the body.
How the brain processes memory while you sleep.
Child got to make a heart pump, as well as feel the difference between a healthy and fatty heart. He crawled through a small intestine and bicycled off a small sip of soda.
Other floors had other things, but this was his favorite exhibit:
There was air coming out of the holes with the arrows and you had to use tubes to connect the air to the boxes with the whirly-gigs. Meaning you had to trace the pathways, use trial and error, use a couple tube steps to get to the center box. Really made my little science heart go pitter-pat. He was loving this display. But there were others:
When you crawl through this it makes noise.
Feed the letters to the alligator and he says them. There was another component to this exhibit where you could arrange the same tiles into 3 letter words. That part was getting no love from the masses - they just wanted to feed the alligator over, and over, and over...
At about 4:30 I started the process of extracting the child from the museum and we walked back to the subway, stopping for a moment to appreciate some street art:
Some sort of art tour. Massive sculptures on every block. Wish I had time to explore, but we had to make our train.
Which we did. We had very few moments to spare, but child said that he was Really Hungry. This was legit because it was around the time we normally eat dinner (5:30), but we didnt have time for even McDs. Not going for parent of the year, but Child had:
A yogurt and a giant cookie on the train ride home before falling SOUND asleep on the train. I carried him to the car and he slept on. I carried him into the house and he slept on. He woke up briefly in the middle of the night to go potty and then went back to sleep. DH peeked in on him before heading to work and accused me "What did you do to that poor child??"
Child work up on time this morning and in good spirits. It was an excellent day and I cant wait to do it again.