Family Vacation - Chapter Four

Our second day in NYC was fabulous.

I managed to figure out how to maneuver the stroller through the crowds and we had a plan set when we checked out of the hotel. They also allowed us to check our bags for the day until our train.

In the morning we grabbed some free breakfast courtesy of the Comfort Inn Times Square, cleaned up and packed, then headed out on the town. We planned to meet our friend Hanniel at Bryant Park for lunch.

Our troop headed to Central Park, which is beautiful at all times of the year but especially so in the fall.

The park is great for families and kids and couples and people just out for a run or bike ride or walk and are looking for somewhere away from the bustle of the city. In the summer, each playground area (and there are at least thirty) has a spray park included. We played on two different playgrounds and swing areas, strolled around the park, and climbed on some rocks, which are a prominent feature of the entire park area. Tons of folks were out for their runs or bike rides, walking dogs, and hanging out with their kids.

The playgrounds feature gates around all areas so you know where your kids are at all times because there is only one way in and out of the playground. The swings have their own fence and the little kid playground area has it's own fence in addition to the large fence surrounding the entire playground. The features are old, but durable and the ground is covered in sand under the playground areas to prevent injuries from falls.

After playing at Central Park, we hopped on the subway and headed back to Bryant Park, where we found we were a few minutes early to meet Hanniel, so we watched the ice skaters (you can skate for free if you have your own skates) and rode the carousel ($2 per rider and parents ride free). We checked out the vendors set up all around the park, decided not to buy anything, and met Hanniel. The five of us headed downtown and ate lunch at the Tick Tock Diner. The food was great, the service wasn't so great. The waiter was very polite, but they were out of hashed browns and we weren't even acknowledged after being seated for about ten minutes. Then it took another fifteen to get our check.

Which had us at 2:20 to buy tickets for and catch our 2:45 train.

Hanniel, the kids, and I dashed over to the station while Michael ran all the way back to 42nd Street to grab our bags and then ran to the station to buy our tickets (he had the cash). We ran down the stairs to our train, shouted our goodbyes to Hanniel, and the train pulled out at 2:44. It was a miracle we made it in time, and in honesty, a really fun time trying to make it on time :)

The train ride back was uneventful, and we spent our last night of vacation with Michael's parents relaxing. In the morning, his mom was nice enough to get up with the kids and we both got a chance to sleep in and catch up on our lack of sleep from the trip as a whole. We made it back home after a spin on Grandpa's trike (he was in a cycling accident that rendered him unconscious, broke his back, finger, and nose, and left him rather bloody, so he had to get a trike to continue his cycling hobby - seeing over the handlebars of a road bike was too strenuous for his now fused together neck vertebrae) and a stop at Chipotle for our final meal on the road. Both kids were asleep when we arrived at our usual nest. The Adventure Mobile was a disaster, but it's clean now - though there's this weird lingering stench - I'm sure Maeryn stashed something perishable somewhere in her carseat.

Family Vacation - Chapter 3

I have been to NYC several times in my life, but never with kids. TOTALLY different world with kids.

When we got off the train at Penn Station I quickly realized how different NYC was from Philadelphia and how while I was a single chick cruising the streets I felt wild and independent darting and weaving through the crowds, fighting for my place at street crossings, and walking fast and with purpose at all times... this is not the case for a mom with kids.

I had the stroller. Michael had the luggage. Jonah had his hand on Michael's pocket and the train station was NOTHING when compared to the streets. We made it up the station stairs and headed toward our hotel. The streets were jammed. Up and Downtown are not the same as Midtown, but we came to NYC to see a show and so I'd booked a Midtown hotel. Everything about Manhattan is insanely crowded, and no one in New York has time to be courteous. You can't blame them. You simply can't say "excuse me" 3,000 times a day. You just move where you need to move and do what you need to do to get where you want to be.

It was raining.

Jonah took a LONG time to figure out that walking fast was serious business and that he did not have time to play "don't step on a crack" at 42nd and 5th. The stroller was an adventure in and of itself. Puddles collect at the ends of the handicapped entry ramps at every street crossing and to avoid them you've got to take the time to pop a stroller wheelie and people just do NOT want to wait for you. People aren't used to looking for little people when avoiding collisions, and so you've got to be proactive in protecting your kids.

That first run to the hotel was the worst - especially since our room wasn't ready when we got there and we had to check our bags and go back out onto the streets. Neither of us is as familiar with NYC as we are with Philly so we didn't really know where to go in the rain and cold when we'd planned to hang at the hotel awhile. We ended up at Applebees, which was prices the same as it is everywhere else in the U.S., thankfully, and though Maeryn lost a blue balloon to the ceiling gods in the restaurant, it was a nice lunchtime excursion.

Our first day in New York was sort of a wash. We walked around a lot, just trying to get our bearings and figure out how to do kids in this city. There were other moms with strollers and kids - but they just DID IT. They were street tough moms who knew the ropes and were out to keep their kids safe. I was impressed and tried to take cues from them. By this morning I was doing pretty well.

We ended up at the NYC Public Library near dinner time, where we found the children's area and Jonah made a BUNCH of little friends and played for over an hour. All of the parents were locals and I asked one of the moms for a good place to eat that was reasonable for the family. She sent me to Bryant Park. We had sort of meandered our way through the little place on our way to the library and thought about ice skating, but skate rental is $12 (skating is free - so if you have ice skates, bring them!) per pair, so we balked since we were running out of funds. The moms at the library directed me to the nearest McDonalds. Michael and I opted not to eat dinner in order to save some cash, we got the kids their usual faire, and then headed back to the hotel.

The Comfort Inn Times Square is very small. It would be awesome for one or two people. But not four. NOT kids. Nice place. Clean. Friendly. NOT good for kids. WAY too small.

We met Hanniel, a former student and now good friend and NYC resident, who volunteered to babysit Maeryn (thank goodness!) while Michael, Jonah, and I headed off to Mary Poppins on Broadway. It was great to see Hanni, and GREAT to be headed to a show with our five year old.

The play was magical and fun and well worth the money. Jonah, who is VERY emotionally sensitive, was not afraid for one minute and was totally into the entire thing. He fell asleep before the finale, but got to see most of the story (barring Mary Poppins flying over the audience for her final exit - which was really great to watch) and will talk to you about it for hours if you ask him.

Just for the record, if you are planning a trip to NYC, a Broadway show is a MUST DO. I don't care how much money the ticket costs (if you don't care much what show you see, find the TKTS line in Times Square and rush tickets for cheap the day of), it is worth it. Do note, however, that children under four are not permitted in Broadway houses and if your son or daughter won't be able to sit through it, don't bring them. Don't think "oh, maybe even though they can't do the same activity for more than five minutes including a kids program on TV they'll sit through this expensive and fantastic Broadway play. Don't bring them. If your kid is going to sing along, don't bring them (though some actors ask for the audience to join in and some matinee performances expect it and even encourage it) - though it's cute for them to know the songs to Mary Poppins or the Little Mermaid or what have you, it is not cute for the people in front of the child who paid over $80 to hear a Broadway star sing it - not your adorable little munchkin. It's not a Wiggles concert or even an adult rock concert. It's a Broadway show. No singing along. Please.