Our Bite of the Big Apple

This past weekend we went on a big adventure with Granny and Babo to New York City to visit Uncle Patrick (aka Uncle Truckit). We drove to New Jersey and hopped aboard a train to Penn Station. The boys were thrilled to see the railroad tracks and ride on a real train, just like their beloved Thomas. When we disembarked in the city on Friday evening, we were overwhelmed by the crowded sidewalks and streets. The boys held our hands tightly as we forged through the masses, only asking to be carried when utterly exhausted. After some authentic NY-style pizza and a quick jaunt to Whole Foods with Aunt Frances, we decided to call it a day.

On Saturday we rode the Subway to visit the Central Park Zoo, where we enjoyed seeing strutting penguins, monkeys eating pumpkins, and a polar bear swimming laps. Then we walked to FAO Schwartz, only to discover that for some reason Mr. Schwartz was not interested in making bokus of cash by selling Thomas Trains. After getting lost trying to find the Subway stop, we finally made it back to Uncle Patrick's apartment, devoured some Lucky burgers, then the boys and I crashed for a much-needed nap.

A couple hours later we awoke to darkness and pouring down rain, but nevertheless braved the crowded, wet sidewalks on our mission to find the Toys 'R Us in Times Square. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by a huge indoor ferris wheel, a T-Rex that gesticulated wildly and roared, and a most impressive Thomas display. Dorothy and her gang must have felt similarly when they finally reached Oz. Since the boys had been on their best behavior the entire trip (and thankfully so, since anything less would have been disastrous considering our unfamiliar and rather chaotic new environment), Granny kindly promised to get each boy a special toy as a reward for being so good. It didn't take Joshua long to decide upon Diesel 10 as his toy of choice. Joshua became somewhat frustrated with Caleb, who, in his usual fashion, was taking his sweet time deciding what he wanted. At one point Joshua grabbed a random train and thrust it at Caleb, saying, "Here, Caleb, want this one? Want this one?" because he knew the sooner Caleb made up his mind, the sooner Diesel 10 could come out of his package and play. Caleb finally settled upon a flashing orb of light on a plastic stick with a picture of a taxi cab and the words "Times Squares" emblazoned upon it. Leave it to Caleb to go into a toy store and come out with something like that! We then ventured out into the rain once more, this time to a cozy little diner for some delicious salad, spaghetti, and cheesecake, then back to the apartment where the sounds of car horns and sirens lulled us to sleep.

Having learned our lesson trying to maneuver luggage and two toddlers along the crowded sidewalks on Friday night, on Sunday morning we took a cab to the train station (I unintentionally hailed the cab myself, but felt like quite a city girl having managed to do so). At Penn Station, we bade Uncle Patrick farewell, thanked him for his hospitality, and boarded the train back to New Jersey. When we got home, Joe laid down on the street in front of our house and kissed and asphalt. We had a wonderful visit to the Big Apple, but it sure did feel good to be home in sweet Virginia!