Chloe getting treats from Lisa on the bus. Notice Lisa's leg blocking Chloe from going any further. Chloe had decided the bus was made to roam. 

Me and the fidget (a.k.a. Chloe) with Christi and Madeline in the foreground. 

Melanie and Grant on the double-decker bus tour. 

Melanie trying to wrangle two toddlers from diving into the ocean while I took a photo. 

Grant and Melanie at the beach. 

Opening Chloe's birthday present from Melanie...a wading pool! Of course, Chloe wants to play with Mommy's keys. 

Madeline in the sand pit at the West 67th Street playground in Central Park. 

Toddlers and the City

What a great time we have been having this past week. My two sorority sisters flew in to Jersey from California with their two children (ages 2 and 3). We have been seeing the sites of NYC and the surrounding areas. We have surprisingly accomplished a lot with 3 toddlers in tow! (Of course, we aren't going to let that slow us down...our children are little troopers. I'll detail our week's events below.

Tuesday:
Melanie flew in from L.A. with her son, Grant, and her cousin, Lisa. I picked them up first because Christi and her daughter, Madeline, were delayed. After a hail storm, we successfully made it from terminal C to A at Newark to pick up Christi. At terminal A, we were yelled at by a Transit Authority police officer through the bullhorn of his car to "keep it moving". I stopped at the terminal where Christi and Madeline were waiting and the policeman kept harrassing me, pulling up right on my bumper to yell at me that I could only stop if I were picking up someone. Well, I'd like to believe he felt quite a fool when 3 adults and 2 toddlers hopped out of the car to meet another adult and a toddler. He left it at that with a wave. It was a warm welcome top Jersey...a copy harrassing a car load of mom's and toddlers.

Wednesday:
We made it into the city with 3 kids on a train! We began our tour with a walk through Times Square and then hopped on a Grayline double-decker bus tour of Uptown. The kids were well behaved considering it was in the 90s. We hopped off a Central Park where Melanie, Christi and Lisa were introduced to the joys of trying to find a place to eat with young children. After circling many blocks and attempting many times to find a restaurant with high chairs, we finally decided on Houston's. Chloe had given up by this point, choosing to take a nap instead. After lunch, we had great fun in FAO Schwarz's. The kids loved the giant piano and all the hands-on activities. Grant & Chloe built their own Hot Wheels cars, as Grant loves cars. Chloe built a Mustang and Grant built a Corvette. After walking 20 blocks, we made our way back to Penn Station and the train back home during rush hour.

Thursday:
It was back to the city for the 2nd leg of the double-decker tour...Dowtown. We drove into the city on this day as we had "free" parking (which really cost $8). We had it all planned out on this day. We weren't going to wonder aimlessly searching for a restaurant with high chairs...no, we weren't going to make the same mistake twice. We had consulted City Baby New York, the book to turn to for parents of young children living or venturing in to NYC. We had it all planned out...we would tour to SOHO and then go eat at Tenneessee Mountain as the book had suggested. At our stop, we unloaded and were delighted to see that the street was shut down for filming of the new ABC show, 6 Degrees. We got to see actress Bridget Moynahan and actor Campbell Scott shooting a scene. After the shot was finished, we headed to the restaurant only to find out that the best made plans often fall short. The restaurant had closed down. It was boarded up. What to do? After walking a few blocks, Melanie took it upon herself to ask a group of locals lunching at a "not-so-friendly to toddlers" restaurant. They recommended we walk back a few blocks to Bar 89, which they assured us was not a bar and would be a great place to take kids. If I ever meet up with those people I will be sure to ask them if they have ever even come in contact with a toddler. The place was ONE GIANT BAR. It was a hip, trendy-looking bar with steel and glass. A place most unwelcoming to children. Luckily, there was a children's store next door. We popped in their long enough to ask for a lunch recommendation friendly to toddlers and for Chloe to attempt to climb out of her stroller and flip herself over. The shop owner recommended Jerry's a block over. We walked there and were greeted by an incredibly rude hostess who told us,

"We have no high chairs. We have no air, we have no ice. We don't take charge or
debit cards as we accept only cash because our credit card machines take too
long and we can't seat you all together. Do you still want to eat here?"

After that warm welcome, we declined their hospitality and set out for a more pleasant dining experience. Lisa ran into a nearby restaurant where we were warmly greeted and told that they did accept toddlers! Yea! It is safe to say that the restaurant, Zoe, is now on our favorites list. It was very nice inside. While we were being seated, the Bridget Moynahan, the actress we saw filming a scene came in to eat as well. After a nice lunch, we headed to Bliss to make a purchase and then set out back on our tour bus. We made our next stop at Ground Zero in the Financial District and then headed down Wall Street to Pier 17. We made a stop into a local Barnes & Noble to search for the updated copy of City Baby New York (because we were told at the children's shop that a 2nd edition had just been published making my copy obsolete considering it recommended restaurants that were shut down). only to find out that it was sold out! What luck. At Pier 17, we waited to take our 3rd leg of the Downtown tour. The bus was packed and we had to sit downstairs. You couldn't see much of anything in the lower section of the bus so we hopped off and walked back to the car. It had been a long day of searching for a place to eat!

Friday:
We decided to hang out in Jersey and let the kids have a day of play instead of dragging them all over the big city. We went out for breakfast and then toured our village. We made a search for the local cheesecake bakery with 2 screaming, crying little girls in tow. In the afternoon, we aired up the play pool Melanie purchased for Chloe for her birthday and let the kids splash in the pool. Their fun was cut short by a thunderstorm. After dinner, we took the kids for ice cream and to the park to play. It was nice to take it easy and let the kids run and stretch their legs instead of carting them in strollers into the city.

Saturday:
Matt joined us to tour the Statue of Liberty. We took the ferry from Liberty State Park in Jersey as it is only a 10 minute boat ride as opposed to the 35 minute boat-ride from Battery Park in NYC (because it is technically on the Jersey side). Anyway, we were all set to tour when suddenly came a downpour. We opted to view the Statue from the boat as all the tours were booked for the day. After it cleared up, we were going to eat at Serendipity 3 but were told it was an hour and a half wait. Knowing that the kids couldn't cope with standing on a NY sidewalk for 1 1/2 hours, we attempted to eat at Alice's Tea Cup near Central Park. It could not accomodate us all, so we ate next door at Arte and then walked to CP. We first stopped at Strawberry Fields, the memorial to John Lennon. Grant wanted a strawberry from the memorial. We decided we had better head out before he snatched one. We then went to the Sheep's Meadow and the kids ran wild. We made another stop at a playground. We were headed to the carousel when we spotted a new playground and let the kids strip down and run through the water. They had a blast and got soaked. We headed back to Jersey for dinner and to get out of the impending rain.

Sunday:
We took the kids to the Bronx Zoo. We spent all day at the zoo and the kids had fun at the Children's Zoo, the Butterfly Garden, the Congo exhibit with the gorillas and the Asia monorail. We enjoyed Indian food in the evening and the kids loved the Pilau rice.

Monday:
Our last full day was a great success. The day worked out according to plan! We headed into the city to eat at Serendipity 3. We had attempted to make reservations but were told that they were booked. They only take a limited number of reservations, which based on our attempts to make them appear that they only take 1 reseration a day. We arrived 15 minutes before they opened and only had to wait a short while to be seated. We all enjoyed their frozen hot chocolate. After Serendipity 3, we headed down the street to Dylan's Candy Bar and then to Long Island. Lisa has a great aunt & uncle who live in LI, so we dropped her off at their home and Christi, Melanie and I took the 3 kids to Fire Island to walk/run/chase them on the beach. The kids had a blast and loved chasing the water and fall down and get absolutely drenched and sandy. We had the forethought to bring a change of clothes, though we didn't think to bring a towel. With a little ingenuity and a lot of toilet paper, we were able to shower and dry off the kids and make them presentable again. In the evening, Melanie made spaghetti and we all hit the hay early.

Tuesday:
We woke early to take Christi and Madeline to the airport for their 6:45 a.m. flight to San Francisco. Melanie, Grant & Lisa would fly out in the evening, so we used the rest of the morning to download digital photos, pack and rest up. We then went into our town to have lunch.

It was an awesome week and I was so happy to see my two college pals and their children. We got to reminisice and discover that

(a) we are older than we "think" we are (who are these 30-somethings with kids?)

(b) hindsight IS 20/20- looking back at our video of Spring Break in South Padre Island, TX in 1992 made us realize that we weren't as cool as we think we are and that we really should have rethought the striped pants and glittered shirts (a special thanks to Christi for having it made into a DVD)

(c) that deep-down we haven't changed--that was a shocker

(d) after the 3 of us have not all been together since 1998, we can easily fall into the silly and loud banter that we shared for our 4 joyous years of college and sisterhood

(e) that ones closest college friends do not have to invite themselves to visit.

AOT to my dearest friends! It was such a pleasure to be able to finally do what we said we would do in 2003.

**To make it easier to include photos from the week in NYC, I have uploaded them individually with captions after this post.**

All these women put Grant to sleep. 

A kiss on the train from Chloe to Grant. 

Meal time with Chloe and Madeline. 

Madeline and Grant enjoying running in the Sheep's Meadow of Central Park (Melanie is chasing them down in the background). 

Madeline and Chloe "playing" the big piano at FAO Schwarz. 

Chloe riding on the bug carousel at the Bronx Zoo. 

Our group photo at the entrance of the Bronx Zoo. 

Enjoying the beach at Robert Moses State Park on Long Island. The kids loved playing in the water and searching for sea shells. 

The lime green theme--we all dressed in lime green to go to the Bronx Zoo. People definitely knew we were a group. 

Chloe, Madeline and Grant all dressed in their "I Love Mom" pjs. 

Madeline and Chloe running through the water at a playground in Central Park. 

On the boat from Liberty State Park to see the Statue of Liberty. We never left the boat as it started pouring soon after this photo was taken. 

Holding hands and strolling the streets of NYC. 

Enjoying some ice cream. 

Melanie and her cousin Lisa. 

Christi, me and Melanie smiling outside Tennessee Mountain in SOHO. We had planned to eat there but they closed their doors forever which sent us wandering the streets in search of a "toddler-friendly" restaurant which can be hard to find. 

Christi on the train to NYC on Wednesday.

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July to everyone! We had a nice long weekend and a much needed rest for Matt. The start of the holiday weekend brought the revelation that Matt will need surgery on his shoulder to remove a fatty tumor (something we knew already but has been bothering Matt enough lately to do something about it). It also brought a 2nd doctor's visit for Matt, who went to the ER for a painful ear ache. Matt has an ear infection and is now on 2 antibiotics and under orders not to swim anymore. With all that news, we had a nice, relaxing weekend.

Matt and I refer to the village where we live as Mayberry. It is so very "Americana" if that makes any sense. It was really fun to see the 4th of July festivities. Friday afternoon saw many of our neighbors packing their cars and roof carriers and heading out to the beach or other destinations. For those who remained in town, there were block parties.

On Tuesday morning, we walked into downtown for the parade. Chloe was given a little pinwheel by a local bank and that kept her entertained in between the fire trucks. I believe every fireman and fire truck within a 15 mile radius was in the parade. It also seems as if every Mini convertible and bag pipe band in the tri-state area was brought in for the parade as well.

The real highlight of the festivities was the fireworks show. There were thousands who came and spread blankets out of the sports fields as they were serenaded by elderly gentlemen playing songs from the 1950's. Things started to then kick into high gear when the Dad's Night band, comprised of the father's from 2 local elementary schools (one of which will be Chloe elementary), took to the stage. After what seemed to be a 45 minute warm-up session, they began playing the Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Killers songs. Matt and I were impressed as that is some pretty hip music for father's of elementary school children who do this to raise money for the schools.

Chloe enjoyed the music and all the people. She danced and spent most of the evening playing the "make mommy and daddy chase me across the crowded field game". Her favorite part was running across everyone's blankets that were nicely spread out and filled with cards, purses, cameras and food. It's a good thing she is young and cute. Many were not amused as she streaked across their blanket and stomped their purse or the cheese platter they had just laid out. It was a riot to her until she got strapped into her stroller because we weren't amused by the game.

Our little village is known throughout the area for their 4th of July celebration and they hold nothing back. The parade and fireworks are not funded by the village but entirely by donations & volunteer efforts, so it is impressive that they can hold a parade and even have fireworks. The fireworks show began with a team of 3 sky divers jumping on to the field. It was then followed by the singing of many a patriotic song. When the crowd finished singing the national anthem, the fireworks promptly began. They were most impressive and long! Our village really threw down the gauntlet to any other nearby cities trying to usurp their title to having the best 4th of July festivities. I didn't think the show would ever end. As soon as the crowd would start cheering, thinking they had just seen the finale, another firework would go whizzing into the air. It was really impressive.

Chloe did well during the fireworks. Many young children were crying around us, but Chloe sat in her Daddy's lap and looked up at the sights. She didn't make it to the end of the show before falling asleep. The days events wore her out and she was easy to put to bed. No tears as we having been having of late!