Lazy Crazy New York
New York City isn't my first choice of vacation spots with a five year old in tow. But, considering that my husband is commuting here Sunday through Thursday for the next 10 weeks - I'll move it on up to the top of the list.
This week, we are tagging along. Winston needed to see where Daddy goes to work - ALL THE TIME.
So, here we are. Daddy gets up; puts on a suit and goes to work every morning. We have the city. And Winston is loving it! Life in London turned the boy into a big city kid. I'm a little weirded out about how naturally he has taken to life in midtown Manhattan. This morning we went to FAO Schwartz, walked down 5th Avenue and meandered around Rockefeller Centre. Then, we hopped home for lunch and a rest.
We ran into the Parrot People that we met last night. They are a lovely couple who frequent a cafe near our flat with their parrots. They've taken a shine to Winston. When they told him their birds names were "hard to say because they were Chinese," Winston said, "we'll I'm learning Chinese." The usual shock and awe. The usual explanation about home education. Needless to say, they were eager to teach him to hold the parrots. It kind of worked. Winston is very small. The two parrots - they come as a pair - are huge and medium. He may try again tomorrow.
Later ~ out we went. Tried to fit the Central Park Zoo into our afternoon - before Daddy got off from work. We were rushing so we didn't take the tube. The stupid cabbie took us to Central Park West. So - the rest of our afternoon was spent trudging through Central Park in search of the zoo. But, we got to see the sound check for some unknown band mainlaining the "Summer Stage," observe a zither player, discuss algae on the lake. We made it to the zoo 1/2 hour before closing. Hardly worth the price of the ticket. So, we canned it and put it at the top of our agenda for tomorrow.
He didn't care. He decided he wanted his portrait sketched, instead. So, he posed. The man drew. We have a rather angelic, idyllic version of him. Maybe he will resemble it in 2 years. (The guy forgot his chubby dimple cheeks.)
Two striking things for the day:
1. He was largely uninterested in most of the toys at FAO Schwartz. He was given a budget. He chose three toys. He came in under budget. The two toys he loves he most are:
a. a telescope/microscope which looks like a pocket pen
b. Ball Of Whacks It has a lots of Rubix-type "puzzles." He has solved a majority of them today. But, it doesn't stop him from playing with it at every opportunity.
Regardless, he loved the adventure. It is nice to see him swagger confident through a city again. To quote myself from a poem coming out in The Drunken Boat shortly,
"What is it I'm not getting
about this antlered sunrise?"
This week, we are tagging along. Winston needed to see where Daddy goes to work - ALL THE TIME.
So, here we are. Daddy gets up; puts on a suit and goes to work every morning. We have the city. And Winston is loving it! Life in London turned the boy into a big city kid. I'm a little weirded out about how naturally he has taken to life in midtown Manhattan. This morning we went to FAO Schwartz, walked down 5th Avenue and meandered around Rockefeller Centre. Then, we hopped home for lunch and a rest.
We ran into the Parrot People that we met last night. They are a lovely couple who frequent a cafe near our flat with their parrots. They've taken a shine to Winston. When they told him their birds names were "hard to say because they were Chinese," Winston said, "we'll I'm learning Chinese." The usual shock and awe. The usual explanation about home education. Needless to say, they were eager to teach him to hold the parrots. It kind of worked. Winston is very small. The two parrots - they come as a pair - are huge and medium. He may try again tomorrow.
Later ~ out we went. Tried to fit the Central Park Zoo into our afternoon - before Daddy got off from work. We were rushing so we didn't take the tube. The stupid cabbie took us to Central Park West. So - the rest of our afternoon was spent trudging through Central Park in search of the zoo. But, we got to see the sound check for some unknown band mainlaining the "Summer Stage," observe a zither player, discuss algae on the lake. We made it to the zoo 1/2 hour before closing. Hardly worth the price of the ticket. So, we canned it and put it at the top of our agenda for tomorrow.
He didn't care. He decided he wanted his portrait sketched, instead. So, he posed. The man drew. We have a rather angelic, idyllic version of him. Maybe he will resemble it in 2 years. (The guy forgot his chubby dimple cheeks.)
Two striking things for the day:
1. He was largely uninterested in most of the toys at FAO Schwartz. He was given a budget. He chose three toys. He came in under budget. The two toys he loves he most are:
a. a telescope/microscope which looks like a pocket pen
b. Ball Of Whacks It has a lots of Rubix-type "puzzles." He has solved a majority of them today. But, it doesn't stop him from playing with it at every opportunity.
Regardless, he loved the adventure. It is nice to see him swagger confident through a city again. To quote myself from a poem coming out in The Drunken Boat shortly,
"What is it I'm not getting
about this antlered sunrise?"
Comments
I remember my last (and only so far) trip to central park zoo. Like you I arrived half an hour before closing, and likewise I decided it wasn't worth the ticket price. Otoh, I did discover there's at least a half hour's worth of random animl watching you can do simply by walking around the outside of the zoo and looking in.
I think, out of all the things I've seen in NYC the thing (family aside) that I enjoyed most was MoMA (both the main one, and to a lesser extent PS1.) I wonder if Winston would like that? Some of the bigger pieces were quite accessible in a way that encourages you to make your own mind up rather than having to read the little card in a gauge attemp to understand what was going on.
But, thanks for the MOMa tip. I'll put that on the list. He did love the Tate Modern...maybe the association will work.