New York City

 Ollie with his treasured "list"--the NYC bingo game Abby made for him

Abby is one of those people who would probably plan her vacations six months in advance even if her OB-GYN residency didn't require it. So when she told us back in the spring that she would be on vacation the week of September 19-26 we made plans to go up to New York to visit. Ryan just stayed for a long weekend because he had to be back at work on Tuesday, but I decided to stay for the whole week. I thought that in addition to being a lot of fun our extended stay would give my mom plenty of QT with the boys. Unfortunately I didn't consult my mom before I made our travel arrangements and she was already planning to be in Japan for the entire month of September. BUMMER.

In any case, it was really fun to explore New York from Abby's place in the West Village rather than from the Upper East Side where my mom still lives. It is such a different city!!! I LOVED it!There is so much to the City that is new (since I left for college 15 years ago--I shouldn't be so surprised). As Abby pointed out, this last decade has been very good to New York. There are so many new parks, new neighborhoods, and old neighborhoods that have been completely transformed. It is so vibrant, so lovely and so livable. I fell in love all over again. Or actually, more like for the first time. I didn't really even like the City growing up. Maybe it was just adolescent angst. But honestly, our neighborhood, Carnegie Hill, is pretty boring. It is safe (which counted for a lot in the pre-Guiliani/Bloomberg days) but pretty unexciting and wildly expensive.

Ok, so enough of that...here are the highlights of our recent trip. We had perfect weather for walking around and taking in New York so we hit the City HARD. These are a few of my favorite memories.

• Spending time with Abby and Adam and seeing a little bit of "their" New York: their favorite neighborhood restaurants, boutiques, fountains, parks, strolls, etc.
• Jogging along the Hudson River watching the boats and the people and the water and the Statue of Liberty and New Jersey's pretty impressive skyline (who knew?!?!)
• Checking out the view of lower Manhattan from the Highline: a former elevated freight train track that has been converted into a cool new park
• Visiting the aircraft carrier Intrepid
• Enjoying spectacular views of the Statue of Liberty and NY Harbor from Adam's 33rd floor office...and enjoying all the candy and treats pushed on us by his office manager
• Eating lunch outside in the Financial District and feeling the pulsing energy of the city
• Seeing Wicked on Broadway with Abby and Adam (LOVED it!!!!)
• Eating dinner outside at the Pier i Cafe, watching the sun go down over the Hudson River
• Catching up with so many old friends (and their progeny)
• Checking out some pretty amazing playgrounds around the city (Rockefeller playground in Battery Park City and Pier 51 playground near Abby's house)
• Eating awesome food and even more amazing treats (cupcakes at Magnolia and  Billy's , tiramisu gelato at Cones, and milk and cookies at... Milk and Cookies!) 
• Visiting the Central Park Zoo and riding the Carousel (Oliver was a bit scared but Abby hopped on behind him and convinced him that it was going to be fun!)
• Eating burgers from the Shake Shack with my dad by the lake in Central Park
• Walking around the city, exploring neighborhoods, window shopping, people watching, walking, people watching, taking the subway, walking, eating, people watching...oh, I could do this all day...and we did!!

Ryan and Ollie with our gracious hosts Abby and Adam

 

Me and the boys...just caaaasually walking by the Statue of Liberty (can you tell this is posed?!)Ollie and Ryan in front of an Army "he-di-docker" at the Intrepid 

    Elliot got right down to business at Adam's office, making calls and typing on the computer. Oliver asked if Adam had any toys...and sure enough, that's when the (toy) guns came out. Elliot apparently thinks workplace violence is pretty funny.

Elliot wasn't sure if it would hurt EVERY time he banged his head into this dodo bird's bronze beak, so he decided to do a little experiment.

  

 

Chilling at Abby and Adam's house. Watching TV in the living room...or in the bathroom. They have a TV built in to one of the three mirrored walls so you can sit in the world's largest tub and watch a movie. How cool is that?! The boys just loved swimming in that tub.

    

 

My friends Katie and Emily watched the boys while we went to see Wicked. The kids had a total blast as you can see from the mayhem.

 

My dad took us to his favorite bookstore in the City, The Strand. I love this picture of him reading to Oliver.

Once Elliot had determined that, yes, in fact banging his head into the dodo would hurt each and every time, he entertained himself for about a half hour on this perfect toddler-sized slide.     

When I was little, one of my favorite things to do was pretend that I was a mountain goat and climb all over the rocks in Central Park. I'm glad to see that Oliver is following this proud family tradition. New York really can be fun place for little kids, I'm glad that I can share some of these experiences with my boys.