We're No Spring Chickens, But We Can Still Outlast Our Children (Barely)

I'm not certain, but I think that today, Saturday, our kids beat their own records for the shortest stay indoors. With quite a few activities planned and no time for a nap, it was a very busy day for our munchkins.

I can't find the words to describe how happy we are that the winter is behind us. We barely see the inside of our house nowadays except to sleep and an occasional meal. (Some meals are enjoyed right outside!) The kids even play in the driveway while I am cooking and David is in charge of making sure Julia doesn't wander into the street, although she already knows not to do so. We love this weather and take full advantage of it.

Anyway, Saturday began with a trip to Van Saun Park before it got too crowded. Since the park was practically empty, Julia was making friends with the park's local residents.

They enjoyed the sound of the water running over the rocks in the stream, taking a few quiet moments to relax and throw an occasional rock into the water.

Since the zoo and carousel wasn't open, they played in the park and enjoyed the beautiful spring weather. David tried his hand at climbing the wall - something he wasn't able to do last autumn.

Ahhh, carousel! Open once more for our kids to enjoy! Seth and I can already feel our wallets getting lighter.

After a couple of trips on the carousel, we headed to the zoo. That's when we met up with David's "girlfriend" which made the zoo much more fun!

Then it was back home before David headed out to a Birthday Party. David's friend at school had just turned 3 and it seemed as though half of the kids in town came to a party. It was so much fun watching him interact and play with the kids.

The biggest surprise was having David's idol, Mr. Kurt, come and perform at the party. (I can't believe I didn't think of asking him to perform when planning Julia's 1st Birthday party!) I have never seen a better child entertainer than him. Every single kid at school adores him and watching him perform and engage the kids, now I know why.

After the music, the kids painted a mural.

Once back from the party, we all went to another park and had a blast there with some of our friends. Julia had a great time playing on the swing.

By the end of the day, the kiddies were so exhausted that they were looking forward to going to bed - at 7:30 pm! This hasn't happened... ever. In the last few weeks, we've been coming home from the local parks at around 9 pm, so Seth and I didn't know what to do with this extra time. Exhausted ourselves, we settled for some wine and cheese.

Finally enjoying some time alone, we start to recharge our batteries. By 7am tomorrow morning, the kiddies will be ready to repeat another fun-filled day. *sigh*

The Greatest Show On Earth.

Wow! "The Greatest Show" logo now digitally rotates!

Long gone are the days of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus actually having the right to proclaim that they were the “Greatest Show on Earth.” There wasn’t any three ring circus, no one was shot out of any canon, no tightrope performance and the trapeze setup looked a lot less impressive or dangerous than I remember as a kid. The souvenir lights were wrapped up in plastic bubbles -- no more tiny swinging flashlights that we had as kids that allowed an impressive sea of circular patterns in the audience (and a few bruised heads.) Lastly, this was the Blue show, making me wonder if this the greatest show. Perhaps the Red or Gold shows were better!

But for David, this was the greatest show on earth. During the 2 ½ hour show, he didn’t fidget, complain, make demands, bang or screech. The only thing he asked for was popcorn, which I was happy to oblige and only cost $7.

The popcorn made David's night... the circus was just a bonus!

He was mesmerized; glued to his seat (which happened to be my lap). During the clowns’ performances, I heard him laugh – not the forced laugh he makes from being tickled or the exaggerated laugh he produces when he’s amused and thinks he needs to laugh.

Prior to the show, or should I say during the pre-show, we got to go to the floor of the Brendan Byrne Continental Airlines… IZOD Center. (In case they change the name before this blog is posted, it’s that arena in the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, NJ.) Some of the performers put on a show: clowns perform and interact, some acrobats perform some basic maneuvers, and we even got to see one of their elephants produce a canvas painting.

Popcorn in one hand, Mini M&Ms in the other,
and a great view of the circus. What could be better?

Shortly after taking our seats, the show started. It had the usual bits; tigers standing on pedestals, white horses running in a circle, and elephants standing or lying on one another. There was a motorcycle ball where seven bikes rode, a trapeze show, and a few other bits that reminded me vaguely of Cirque du Soleil. Vaguely. The sub-plot of the show involved one of the clowns stealing the ringleader’s (Chuck Wagner) hat and keeping it away so that the clown (Tom Dougherty) could run the circus his way, emphasizing the point by referring to the show as his circus.

Nice kitty!

It only lasted several seconds, but when it was over,
three trainers and two clowns were unaccounted for.

The grand finale!

When the show ended, David turned to me, smiled and said “more circus!” For David, this was indeed the Greatest Show on Earth.

A checklist of a perfect Sunday for me.

- Sleeping in late.
- A long shower.
- Having a hot pot of coffee ready before I even get downstairs.
- David and Julia running towards me screaming "mama! mama!"
- Having fun with the kids OUTSIDE of the house.
- Kids taking their naps.
- Running 6 miles.
- David having 5 tantrums an hour and not 20.
- The husband cooking dinner.
- Not overindulging at dinner.
- Not consuming an entire box of chocolate.
- Kids asleep.
- A bite of Seth's ice cream.

Today was one of these Sundays. Today's outside activity included a trip to Hoboken for Cabin Fever Festival (thanks, Sadaf) filled with a puppet show, arts and crafts, face painting, tattoos, bobbles, music and much more.

A Movie Night.

Seth had planned to take David today to the French Institute in the city to see a movie called "The Red Balloon" which was supposed to be followed by arts and crafts. We figured, it is never too early to introduce him to a foreign film especially since he perfected English language so well (sarcasm). Actually, this movie doesn't have much dialog. It is about a balloon that follows a boy around Paris. I suppose it sends a message of friendship and loyalty.
This morning we found out that all tickets for the movie were sold out. We knew we had to improvise especially since we had told David that he and daddy would take a train and a bus to see a movie. He's been talking about it for days now.
So, instead, we drove to a Ridgewood library and borrowed the "The Red Balloon" dvd and settled for a movie night at home.

David's inhaling the smell of butter in a popcorn package.

At first, he seemed disappointed not to use a stove to make popcorn. A wide grin appeared on his face as soon as we told him he could press a few buttons on a microwave.


And here they are: munching on an entire bowl of popcorn (they both finished it all before the movie ended) and enjoying a foreign film.

Once the popcorn was gone, Julia lost all interest in the movie, but David was glued to the screen for its entire duration. Nothing beats the comfort and convenience of a home. Did David understand the movie's underlying message? We shall see how he treats his sister tomorrow, but I doubt much will change.

Schools of Fish;Queues of Russians

Our Saturday plans have changed over a dozen times before we left a house earlier this morning. I had asked Seth last Friday night whether he'd prefer going to NY Aquarium this weekend or making a trip to Lowe's with David and try to do some handy work around the house. Since Seth likes to fix broken things as much as I like to cook gourmet meals, the choice was obvious: On to the NY Aquarium!
On Saturday morning, Julia woke up screaming and a fever approaching 102. We decided that only Seth and David would make a trip to the Aquarium. However, as Seth was leaving the house, he suggested we all go since Julia's fever was down. Another 15 minutes later and all four of us were on our way to Brooklyn.
Once there, the kids were running from one fish tank to another as they both fed their curiosities. Julia didn't even exhibit any behavior of someone who had a relatively high fever two short hours prior.

David was in awe of the walruses, yet he wouldn't stop licking his lollipop.

To most, the step in front of the tanks offer a way for small children to view the residents in each exhibit, but Julia found another use; She'd climb onto it and then jump off. I have a feeling that this was the highlight of her experience today.



The kids saw all kind of water animals today: sharks, moon jelly fish, starfish, stingrays, penguins, eels, and even a small crocodile (among many other animals.)

We even caught a performance by sea lions which David enjoyed watching, even though his sister didn't seem to have much interest in it.

After a stop at the Aquarium's cafe for a quick lunch, it was time to say goodbye to all the fish and head back home --- or so I thought. Seth thought since we were so close to Brighton Beach (a.k.a. Little Russia,) I'd want to go food shopping in the area. A few minutes later and we were seeing Russian signs on every block.



I should mention that since I've come to US, I have never seen the lines for food as long as I saw today in Brighton beach. The sidewalks were so crowded that not was it almost impossible to walk, let along push a stroller, down the streets. Are the people so nostalgic for the old life that they bring their lifestyles to the new country?
So, instead of going straight to a Russian supermarket, we made a stop at a toy store. Ok, it was a Russian toy store and maybe that's why it was so much more appealing to me. That's when I felt nostalgia ... for my childhood. I saw so many familiar toys featuring characters that I grew up with. They even had a small section of Ukrainian books which most of them my kids already have. The store was divided into two big sections -- Russian and American. David ran right away to an American section that had an inventory of every musical toy imaginable.

As my kids entertained themselves in a store under Seth's supervision, I became a kid myself in the Russian section of the store. I was tempted to buy a lot of stuff, but I held back. Instead, we left without making a single purchase, pulling a screaming David away from a toy guitar (whose box he ripped opened.) One day, when I am a grandma and don't have to save for my kids' college education, I'll be doing nothing but shopping in a toy store!

Since I didn't have the patience to deal with the crowded stores, we ended up only buying lots of fruits and vegetables from outdoor markets.

Once back home, Julia's fever came back and she was hysterical. We realized she was teething and after applying an anbesol, she calmed down. I couldn't wait to put them to sleep tonight as neither one of them had napped and we had all ran around nonstop.

After putting the kids to sleep, we enjoyed a delicious dinner of baked ziti, garlic bread, salad and some wine. Afterwards, we were ready to call it a day.

Spring Wonderland Dome.

The kids are still getting over their cold and Seth is just catching it. Not only has he been sick for the last week, he had to work on Saturday which left me stranded home with the kids.

But we compensated for it on Sunday. We actually had a taste of spring today. Rumsey playfield in Central Park was taken over by a 8,100 square foot dome which hosted a carousel, story times, musical and acrobatic performances among many other things.

I could barely wait to finally get out of the house and because of this we arrived when the dome was still closed. It was freezing outside, but the kids didn't seem to even notice that. David patiently waited until a gate opened while Julia was jumping up and down the stairs. Slowly people started joining us and forming a line.

It was amazing what they did to this place. It truly seemed like a spring inside with the flowers all over not to mention that it felt like a sauna in there. Our jackets came off as soon as we walked in. Of course, the kids spotted a carousel right away and remained on it for four rounds.



Perhaps the high point of David's day was when he sat down and enjoyed a complimentary cup of hot chocolate while listening to a nearby performer.

We stayed long enough to watch two acrobatic performances that took our breath away. These guys were so good that both adults and kids stayed glued to their seats for the duration of the performance.

David even joined some of the kids at a story time corner long enough to get through one book and then he ran off to continue exploring some more and get another cup of hot chocolate.

It was surprisingly nicely put together and all of us had an incredible time. We left with a bag of goodies for both us and our kids. On the way back, Julia kept saying "more", to which David would reply "no more! carousel tomorrow!". I hope he doesn't ask for a carousel tomorrow because this boy doesn't take "no" very well for an answer.
It is so difficult to find something in the winter to do with the kids that doesn't break a bank and "hunting" for free winter entertainment has been lately my and Seth's job. Two more months of this freezing weather and we are hoping to start bringing David biking in Central park.

Our second date.

It's been a long time since I took David to THE city alone. Of course, the one day I decided to do this again was the first snowstorm of the season.

We woke up this morning to at least two inches of snow. No one seemed to be as excited about it as me. After the kids' breakfast, we got them bundled up and let them out to play in the snow before it melted - while most people - childless, I should add - were sound asleep. I sat Julia on a sled and David was happy pulling her. She was so excited and very curious since it was her first time on the sled. For a short time, everything worked out pretty well.


Of course, where David is concerned, there is always drama. Suddenly, there were thousand things that started bothering him, from the snow on his shoes to the hat on his head. That's when the tantrums started. I hope we'll get a lot of snow this year because I'd like to spend some one-on-one time with Julia playing outside while David is in school. (He can be such a party pooper.)

It can get very costly to entertain the kids in New York City or Bergen County (where we live), especially in the winter when the activities are moved indoors; but it doesn't have to be. My brother suggested that we meet this weekend at the Station at Citigroup Center. It's an amazing annual train show that didn't cost us a dime.


I decided to take only David since the timing would disrupt Julia's nap time and also because she was still getting over her cold. David had a blast and barely had any of his tantrums. After the show, he hung out with Marko and Daria, running back and forth and enjoying some snacks. They even listened to the band play Christmas music.



Since we were already in the city, I planned to take him to the NY Transit Museum - Holiday Train Show (there can never be too many train shows for David). Even though this show wasn't as impressive as the one at the Citigroup Center, it was less crowded and it was perfect for David's height, which was a relief since I didn't have to pick him up.


Walking through the underground corridor between the Times Square Station to the Port Authority, I had to pick him up and carry him as various subway performers would catch his attention. He would stop to watch every single performer playing their guitar, keyboard or drums. If Seth had been us, he and David would have stayed there for an hour if that's what would make our son happy.

David loves sitting in the window seat on the bus. He looks out and gives me a play by play, whether we're entering the tunnel, passing another bus or going uphill or downhill. He gets so excited on public transportation like a typical suburban kid. Once we exited the tunnel into NJ, he was fast asleep. He stayed asleep until Seth took him from me and placed him in his crib.

On returning home, Julia seemed very happy to see me. She spent a few hours alone with her daddy, and from what I heard, they had so much fun playing that Seth lost track of time and put her down for her nap much later than usual. (I never forget to give the kids their naps as it is the only thing that I look forward to after 7 hours of insanity).

The Best "Date" Ever.

I had a "date" this weekend. He was a few feet shorter than me, not big on words, cheap (as I ended up paying for our lunch) and for some reason, he was very amused by the buses and the NYC subway system. Even though he might not sound like a perfect gentleman, for a two-and-a -half year old, he actually was. That's right -David was my perfect "date" today and so was the time I spent with him in Manhattan.
Even though I am a stay at home mom, I don't get to spend any one-on-one time with my son as Julia usually gets most of my attention. Today, a lot of museums in New York city offered a free admission, so I decided to use this opportunity and take David to one of them, the Children's Museum of Manhattan . It was supposed to be a day about David, so to make him happy we ditched the car and took public transportation; a bus and a subway and no stroller.

No one could miss the fact that David was from the suburbs, it was that evident. He was pointing and shouting at every single bus passing by, impatiently waiting for the train and pushing his way in without even waiting to let people out.
We had a great time at the museum as well. David spent almost three hours running up and down four story building exploring every activity station. I don't know why it is called a museum, it reminds me more of an indoor playground.



After a busy morning, I decided to treat my little man to a nice lunch. Around the corner from the museum, there is a restaurant called Good Enough to Eat which according to Time Out New York Kids magazine is the place to eat with your little one. Ha! It sure is if you are willing to wait on line for over an hour to get a seat. So, instead we settled at an outside table of Fred's restaurant (doubt David would taste the difference in his scrambled eggs from one restaurant to another). He inhaled his eggs and while waiting for me to finish my sandwich, he was people watching (you'd think he doesn't get out much).

David was so happy running down the streets of Manhattan as though it was a giant park. What a day it was for both of us! I will definitely do these one-on-one outings with him more often. And from what I heard, Julia had a blast hanging out with daddy back in NJ.

P.S. An update on David's potty training. We have arrived, we are there!