NYC Day 2: Great Views, Blintzes and Rowboating

Day Two in NYC started a bit slower then our previous morning, but after finally rounding up the troops we headed to the subways to begin the day's adventure...

... in Times Square!  Honestly, I'm not sure what I was expecting - maybe its more impressive to see it after dark, but we took some photos and promptly skedaddled.  Brian and I are not "crowd" people so I guess Times Square didn't have much to offer us... though we were on a mission to avoid all the characters - Elmo, Minny and Micky Mouse, etc that were standing around for photo ops.  We encouraged the kids to wave to them as we sped-walked past!

Next we headed to the main event for the morning - the top of the Empire State Building!

We were fortunate that the wait wasn't too long, though the amount of walking inside the building before you get to the observation deck astonished me!

The kids thought the view was cool for a few minutes, but before we got half way around the perimeter they were ready to do something else.  But we persevered long enough to take lots of pictures!

We started out on the east-facing side of the building.

We were so thankful for another warm, clear day to enjoy the view!

On to the north side of the building, with Central Park in the background.

A little better view towards Central Park.

Now looking south.  You can see One World Trade Center (or Freedom Tower) towering above the rest of the Manhattan skyline, then to the right is the Statue of Liberty and on the left is the Brooklyn Bridge. 

By the time we were done wending and winding our way up and down the Empire State Building, it was lunch time.  I had fortuitously gotten a call the night before from Grandmother, who encouraged me to find a Jewish Deli to eat at and recommended trying the cheese blintzes.  After doing some research, I found a well reviewed one just a few blocks away from the Empire State Building, the 2nd Ave Deli.  We got a variety of items to share: I got the hot pastrami sandwich, Brian got the combo with one hot pastrami and one corned beef sandwich, one knish (new to all of us, it's fried dough filled with mashed potatoes) and a cheese blintz.  Actually, Nathan was the one who ordered the cheese blintz.  After perusing the menu, he pointed to "BBQ Chicken" on the menu and told us that's what he wanted.  I said "That's perfect!  B for Blintz!  Will you order us a cheese blintz for our treat after the meal?"  And he did.  (I know I'm only going to get away with misdirection like this for a little while more, but I'll do it while I can!)  All the food ended up being really good and Nathan was SO PROUD of his blintz selection - he even mentioned it again to me this past week!  "Remember when I ordered that yummy treat in New York City?  The... "  "... blintz?" I supplied.  "Yeah!  The blintz!  It was really yummy!"

Since our morning activity was not really geared toward the kids, we wanted to do something in the afternoon that they would really enjoy.  And not just the kids, but the whole family really enjoyed our time rowboating on the lake in Central Park!  Brian expertly maneuvered us past all the other boaters at the launching point...

...under the picturesque bridge that we had walked over the morning before...

...and into the main part of the lake. 

Here's what I said about the rowboating in a previous post:

Even before we got on the boat, Sarah was saying "I wanna do that!", with "that" being the oars on the boat.  So once Daddy handed over the oars, Nathan was just beaming ear to ear as he worked his oar, while Sarah was very intensely concentrating on her task.  Nathan also told me "Do you know how I know how to row?  I watched the people rowing the other day (on the Charles River in Boston) and that's how I learned how to row!"  And to my surprise I really think he understood the concept of rowing (though I guess he also had just watched Daddy's technique) and was working his hardest to replicate the motion.  We ended up spending almost 1:30 on the lake, most of it either with the kids rowing or begging to row again.  So much fun and one of my favorite memories from our trip!

We spotted LOTS of turtles around the edge of the lake. 

I took the next picture on the walk home to the apartment. Almost every time we crossed a north/south street, I would look towards downtown and be enthralled by the building-lined streets.  I consider Boston a big city, but it just has nothing on NYC.  The blocks and blocks of humanity all crowded together, just crazy to see and experience. 

To end the day we grabbed some burgers and a chocolate shake to share at Joy Burger near our condo. A yummy end to another really great day!

Brookline Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony

We are so thrilled that Gran and Pawpaw are visiting us this week.  I have tons of pictures to share, but here's a special one. But first, the back story...

On Memorial Day morning, we had initially planned to head to the Public Garden early and ride the swan boats, but the rainy and overcast start to the day put that plan on hold. This was fortuitous since around 11 I heard music outside our window and peeked out to see a parade going right by our building!

I quickly called everyone to the window to watch the (short) parade, then everyone rushed to get dressed and put shoes on so we could walk up to the Veteran’s Memorial, where I suspected there was going to be a Memorial Day ceremony. I was right!  To their great delight, the kids were given some small flags, which Sarah especially enjoyed waving enthusiastically whenever there was applause.  There was also a local photographer who was taking pictures of the ceremony and the observers, but when they stopped and asked Brian for his name after the ceremony was over, we though we might have some soon-to-be celebrities in our midst.  And we were right!

Brian Kornrumpf and his son Nathan, of Brookline, attend Brookline's annual Memorial Day ceremony, May 26, 2014. Wicked Local staff photo / Kate Flock

Here's the link to the original page.  How fun!

Stars of the (Kid)Stage

I'm taking a break from the NYC posts for a while.  Still trying to slog through all my photos :).

The Boston Children's Museum has been the kids' favorite destination this year.  It took us weeks and weeks of visiting before we made it through all the different rooms that they offer.  The kids went through a long "workshop" stage, then it was a great fascination with the art studio, then the train table in the little kids' room, then the climbing structure.  These different favorites have fluxuated for the kids over these past months, but the one thing that continues to be their #1 activity is the KidStage theater.

Most days of the week there are are 2-3 performances of a rotating offering of plays.  Our activity schedule at the museum is dictated by the show times.  Usually we have time to explore a few different rooms, then head to the theater for the 11:30 show, then break for lunch, back for the 12:30 show and then time to head home for naptime.  But sometimes there's also a 10:30 show, which means we don't get much else done around the museum due to all the performances we have to catch.

There's about 4 or 5 different shows that we've seen, but the kids' favorite by far is "The Tale of the Three Little Pigs".  For every show there are volunteers from the audience needed, and I (along with one or two accompanying children) have played the "part" of on the of the pig's houses on more then one occasion (They ask for adult volunteers to hold umbrellas to represent each pig's house, which then get "blown down" by the Big Bad Wolf).  Beginning a few months ago, Nathan decided that he really wanted to be one of the volunteers picked for the play, but there was only one specific part that he wanted: "Patsy" pig, who built the house of bricks.  Week after week he would be disappointed as he was overlooked for the coveted part.  After a while, Sarah joined in the angst as she began to have her heart set on the part of... get this... the Big Bad Wolf.  But week after week both kids suffered disappointment as others were selected for their parts, though to their credit, it never ruined their enjoyment of the subsequent performance.

This week we were back at the museum again and I was pleased to see that the museum wasn't too crowded (we just never know when its going to be overrun by groups of giant school kids).  We spent lots of time playing with the water tables/rivers and the giant blocks, then headed to the art room where our creative process was cut short by the upcoming Kidstage performance.  As we hurried downstairs to get a good seat, we found the theater empty.  Though none of that day's performances was going to be the favorite Three Little Pigs, I was once again hopeful that the kids would want to volunteer and then would actually get picked for something. 

This first play was a new one for us (though I later learned from the actors that its been running since the 90's so I'm surprised we'd missed it), called "The Plate of Cookies", where two friends are planning on hosting a tea party for a guest, but have to keep each other from eating the freshly baked cookies before their guest arrives.  And, as you've probably guessed, this was the kids' lucky day - they were both picked to be part of a group of dancers.  That morning the kids had "dressed up" for the museum in their crowns, Nathan in his tie and Sarah in a "fancy" skirt - the skirt turning out to match exactly the tutus they were providing for her role.  So, here's the kids' stage debut as "dancers":



But then it got even better.  The next performance was one we'd seen many times called "Journey to the Center of the Stage" that teaches the kids different things about putting on plays.  It also gives kids two different opportunities to volunteer to be involved.  The first is when the real actors are teaching the kids about the stage directions, and the second is where the kids are given costumes and they are supposed to pretend to be that animal as they walk across the stage.  Nathan actually was picked as a volunteer for the animal part a while back, but that day the theater was PACKED (I think it was spring break week) and he got stage fright and bolted.  This time, though, the theater was practically empty so both kids got to participate in both parts of the production.  They were THRILLED!! (In case you don't catch it, Sarah's a frog and Nathan's a toucan.  And everyone in the audience is supposed to help with the animal noises as they cross the stage, but of course it sounds like I'm doing them by myself in the video.)



Sarah was especially cute when she came back to sit with me after the first part of her performance and (loudly) whispered "I be berry, berry, berry brave on stage!".  I guess I had talked to Nathan about being brave if he was picked as a volunteer after the stage fright incident and it stuck with her.

I still hope for Nathan's sake that he gets a chance to play Patsy pig before we move, but all three of us were so glad to have such a fun experience on Kidstage this week.  And, of course, they've been reliving their performances every morning as they watch the videos on my phone.

NYC: Central Park, Statue of Liberty and Ice Cream (Days 0 and 1)

Saturday (Day 0)

Drove down to NYC with a lunch stop at Cracker Barrel (Brian especially was overjoyed).  But something (my fish sandwich?) that Sarah ate ended up making her mouth break out in a terrible rash (Brian remembers differently, that Sarah woke up that morning with the rash.  Mysterious!).  So in case you notice in pictures, that's what that's all about.  We got stuck in periodic traffic as we approached the city, but were able to find (free!) on-street parking 3 blocks from our place.  We almost got everything in from the car before the rain hit, though Brian did get wet as he came in with the last load.  We waited for the storms to pass and then walked the 4.5 blocks to Central Park.  We were able to find a playground but everything was wet, wet.  Ate dinner at Nick's pizza - it was delicious!

Sunday (Day 1) 

The kids were up early (around 6 am partially due to the bright bedroom), so we were ready quickly and out of the apartment by 9:00.  We took the train to near where the Manhattan C of C meets and headed into Central Park (only 3 blocks away from the building) to spend some time before services.  The kids had a blast climbing on the Alice in Wonderland Statue, then we watched the toy sailboats in the Conservatory Water. 

You can see the kids just to the right of Alice (Nathan in gray shirt, sunglasses and hat, Sarah behind him in pink).

Sarah was not intimidated by all the big kid climbers.

Nathan loves climbing high these days and was thrilled when he got up onto this very highest perch.  He even cheerfully gave me a smile for the picture!

A memorable Mother's Day with the kiddos in front of the toy sailboats on the Conservatory Waters!

We then walked to the Angel of the Waters Statue and around part of The Lake, where Nathan and Sarah both expressed interest in riding in the rowboats. 

Next we strolled back to church where we had a nice service... except for Sarah's mid-sermon meltdown.  She was already so tired from two early mornings (Saturday and Sunday) and the one missed nap (so far), it made us a little worried since it was only "Day 1" of sightseeing.  After church was over we walked 10 minutes to our lunch stop and Sarah was asleep half way there.  We ate at Papaya King, where we ordered hot dogs, corn dogs, fried pickles, onion rings and a papaya smoothie, which we then enjoyed picnic style on a (relatively clean and) shady piece of  sidewalk that we found.  Probably the most memorable Mother's Day lunch I've had!

Afterwards we hopped on the subway to downtown and rode the Staten Island Ferry (our boat was the Spirit of America) and got to see the Statue of Liberty, the harbor and the Brooklyn Bridge.

To avoid another impending meltdown on the boat ride back, we told the kids that we would get some ice cream when we got back to land, which we enjoyed in Battery Park. As was mentioned numerous times in the videos, Nathan got vanilla with sprinkles and Sarah got plain white (vanilla). 

Though by this time (5:00) we all were really dragging, we had one more stop that we needed to make - to buy my Mother's Day present... a camera battery charger! Unfortunately our first night I realized that I had forgotten extra batteries and my battery charger for my camera, so Brian had done some research online to figure out where in the city we could buy one for me - and found a used one at B&H, an electronics super-store that we've ordered from before online. So even though we were all getting tired, we took the subway there - it was a crazy huge and awesome store.  They have this system of overhead conveyer belts that shuttle your purchase from the department where you select it to the checkout area.  I've never seen anything like it before!

From there we hopped the subway again (already thankful that we decided to go with the 7 day unlimited Metrocard) to get back to our condo.  It was 6:30 when we got off at our stop, and Brian still wanted to make one more stop at a store to pick up black garbage bags and tape to rig up a more effective light-blocking shade for the kids' room.  So I took the kids home and fixed sandwiches for them while Brian went in search of the necessary items.  Sarah was SO groggy when I woke her up I was worried that she wouldn't wake up enough to eat anything, but once she got a cucumber in her mouth she perked up slightly.  After dinner it was straight to bed for the kids, though Brian was still taping up garbage bags as we were reading books and brushing teeth!  The Brian and I collapsed on the couch, wondering how we would all make it through three more days of craziness, but also very glad that we had decided to brave the city with the kiddos!

New York City, Days 3 and 4 Recaps

We got back from New York yesterday afternoon and have spent the intervening time recovering from the trip.  I've made bread, did a grocery run, washed loads of laundry and have batches of yogurt and buttermilk culturing.  Sarah took a 3 hour nap today and is on the road to recovering from 6 no-nap or micro-nap days.  Nathan, unfortunately, did not nap today and was fighting tears as he tried to convince us that he did (the emotional outburst was a sure sign that he'd greatly benefit from some extra shut-eye).

I still have not waded into the abyss of photos that I took this past week - 600 pictures from my big camera and 300 from Brian and my phones.  I've got to recover a bit more before I tackle that immense project.  But I do have more videos to share in the meantime!

Day 3 (Tuesday) Recap



Day 3 - Playing the big piano at FAO Schwartz with the kids!  (Though maybe I should have re-watched the piano scene from Big so I could have been more purposeful in my playing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yu62StlsMY)



Day 4 (Wednesday) Recap



Day 4 - NYC Transit Museum

New York City!!!

After much debate, Brian and I decided to spend this week's vacation in New York City!!  We drove down on Saturday and are staying through Thursday morning, so 5 night total.  As expected, I've already shot hundreds and hundreds of pictures and I haven't had the energy in the evenings to even start going through them, so who knows when they'll ever get posted.  But thankfully I was inspired this morning by Nathan's phone conversations with family, as he talked about the highlights of our trip so far (according to him).  So after he hung up the phone, I recruited both kids to help with with daily recap videos of our trip.

So here's "Day 1", which was our first full day in the city (yesterday).



And here's the recap from this afternoon for Day 2.



Next is us on the rowboat today in Central Park.  Even before we got on the boat, Sarah was saying "I wanna do that!", with "that" being the oars on the boat.  So after Brian expertly rowed us away from the crowded launching point and into the main part of the lake, he handed the oars over to the kids.  Nathan was just beaming ear to ear as he worked the oar, while Sarah was very intensely concentrating on her task.  Nathan also told me "Do you know how I know how to row?  I watched the people rowing the other day (on the Charles River in Boston) and that's how I learned how to row!"  And to my surprise I really think he understood the concept of rowing (though I guess he also had just watched Daddy's technique) and was working his hardest to replicate the motion.  We ended up spending almost 1:30 on the lake, most of it either with the kids rowing or begging to row again.  So much fun and one of my favorite memories so far from our trip!

This and That (May 2014)

"A bug!  Schmash it!"

The sugar ants are back in our apartment now that the weather is (finally) somewhat warm.  Sarah has gone from scared of the tiny ants (always insisting that I come and "schmash" it) to being somewhat interested in them.  Nathan, on the other hand, has started collecting...

He also considerately labeled the container for us.  There are usually 2-5 ants crawing around inside trying desperately to find the way out (there is one, though we're not sure where the lapse in the defenses is located).

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There was a local election this past Tuesday and beginning a couple days beforehand there were campaigners holding signs in the triangle outside our window.  Nathan immediately grabbed paper and copied down the words on the signs (Nancy Daly and Ben Franco were the two names), then we found some popsicle sticks to turn his papers into his own campaign signs.

Sarah, per usual, wanted to do what her brother was doing, however she requested that I put her name on her sign.  I guess she wanted to be a write-in candidate.  Her first foray into politics?  Time will only tell!

*   *   *

Sarah lately has been saying "I want do this wif my hair" while grabbing her hair to the back of her head.  We finally gave the ponytail a try with moderate success.  She definitely has enough length in the back, but all her hair in the front and around the sides don't make it back into the holder.  It looked good for about 5 minutes then everything around her face starting falling down. 

*   *   *

Brian had a call shift on Saturday, so the kids and I were trying to fill the day.  We headed to the park after naps, but after a few minutes Nathan said "Mom! *exasperated sigh*  We forgot to bring a picnic lunch!"  (Side note: I have just begun a campaign in our house to help us all to remember to be kinder to one another.  "Kind words, kind voice, kind actions" is the new motto I'm going to drill into our heads).  We had talked about having a picnic sometime soon in the park, however there had been no mention of it anytime Saturday.  But I went with it - we scootered home, packed some food, and were quickly back for dinner and lots more playing. 

*   *   *

Nathan helping Sarah button her cardigan before church on Sunday morning.  Isn't that the sweetest?!

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Brian and I are on a new mission to actually have the kids do physical activity at the park, as opposed to their usual preference of sitting in the sand or sitting on the swings.  So here were our activities the other day...

Nathan first choice, thought of all on his own, was his fishing net and a small, bouncy soccer ball so that he could play "lacrosse".  We had watched some boys practicing the night of our picnic.  Though the mechanics didn't work perfectly, there was some tossing and running around accomplished. 

After a while, Nathan decided to join Sarah and me kicking around some soccer balls.  Considering that we haven't kicked the ball around with the kids for months (or maybe since NC??), both had some serious skills!  Nathan had lots of powerful kicks...

... and Sarah was doing some impressive dribbling. 

Our other favorite park activity these days is climbing high on the apparatus.  Nathan likes to climb up and perch himself on a vantage point so he can keep an eye on everything else going on at the park.  Sarah will climb up and down, and up and down, and up and down, and...

*   *   *

Almost every time we're on escalators (which is a lot around Boston), the kids do this...

Nathan is so conscientious, always wanting to make sure Sarah's safe.  It gets me every time!

Marathon Monday

We cheered on the Boston Marathon runners two weeks ago! Brian and I had debated whether it was worth going (would the kids even be interested longer then a few minutes?) and when to go (it would be cool to see the elite runners, but then would we be bored?) and where to go to watch (definitely not ANYWHERE near the finish line).  I'm so thankful because this outing, like almost everything we've done this year, seems to turn out better then I could have hoped, especially given our half-way informed, fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants planning.

We decided our best option would be to hop the T out of town, right where our beloved D line crossed the marathon route and 10 miles from the finish.  We hoped that far out the crowd wouldn't be multiple-people deep, like it would have been if we walked to the course from our house (closer to mile 23/24).  We were right, though it took us a little walking to find our perfect observation point, which ended up being right next to the mile 17 water station.  Again, couldn't have planned this better if we had tried, because here the runners were doing interesting things in addition to running - like drinking and throwing their cups on the ground ("Mommy, why aren't they throwing their cups away in the trash can?  Whose going to clean up all those cups?" were two of Nathan's concerns), pouring water over their heads and bodies (Nathan's favorite) and sometimes even stopping (one runner asked me to hold his water cup while he opened an energy gel packet). 

And though it really wasn't a huge priority, we ended up getting situated at our vantage point right before the elite men ran by (some of the elite women and other earlier starters were already running by at this point as well).  Here's the man that was in the lead at mile 17 and ended up winning the race, Meb Keflezighi, the first American man to win the race since 1983!  I cannot even fathom running 26 miles, let alone being recorded while doing it!

The rest of the elite men pack, running a little bit behind Meb.

We also got to see and cheer on runner teams like this.  Gosh, I'm starting to cry again right now, and during the race I was desperately wiping tears from my eyes as we saw a few of these runner teams pass.  I can only hold in great esteem these runners (who I assumed were parents of the disabled individuals) who dedicate innumerable hours to training with their partners to enable them to be a part of an amazing event like this. 

This is self-less love and incredible dedication.  So inspiring!

Like I said, Brian and I weren't sure how long the kids would last watching the race, but they were pretty enthralled. 

Nathan even had a better vantage point for a while.

And then the biggest bonus, getting to see and cheer on John Little, our church friend from Knoxville who was here running his first (and last, he says) Boston Marathon (in the middle, orange Vol Power shirt, dark baseball cap and sunglasses).

I was so busy snapping pictures I forgot to cheer, but thankfully Brian had the presence of mind to yell out some encouragement to him, which was rewarded with a thumbs-up from John. 

Right after John ran by we packed up the kids for a trip home since we were already pushing past lunch and into naptime.  Here was the view down the road as we left.  What a crazy sea of humanity!

It was so cool to be a part of the marathon experience.  The incredible emotions I felt joining with the other bystanders in cheering on the runners... I guess it was a very positive experience of "group mind" that its just hard for me to put into words.  Bottom line, totally an incredible experience and I'm so thankful we got a chance to participate in this Boston tradition.  And even more thankful that it was a safe and happy day for everyone involved!