Mom in NYC

Mom came to visit last week and we had a GREAT week!  It was the hottest week we've had all summer, hitting 100 degrees two days in a row, but despite almost melting, it was wonderful to spend time with her.  It was the most time we have spent together consecutively since before I was married.

Henry also had a fun time with his Grandma Dar.  For several days after he woke up he would instantly ask where she was.  It was very sweet.

Here are a few highlights:

 

Mom's raspberry iced tea from Martha's Country Bakery around the corner from our house, she raved about this all week!  Joe and I have to get over there and try it soon.

Walking through Times Square Henry spotted the big sign for the upcoming Disney store.  I had just pushed his "wings" button, and he was saying, "To infinity and beyond!"

Mom treated us all to a ride on the Toys R Us ferris wheel.  We ended up getting the gondola that Henry really, really, really wanted - the firetruck!

Mom on Times Square

The next day we strolled through Central Park and came across the carousel

 Sheep Meadow, Central Park.

The future home of Joe and Brook Wozniak. ;-)

 

Empire State Building lobby.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hanging out at home, Mom played "train" with Henry - he loved it!

 

New York has some very, very good eats, we just had to go get some cannolis from one of the zillion bakeries that sound our house!  They were delicious.

 

Going to see the "big boats" at the South Street Seaport.

 

This is one of many, many boats you can purchase a cruise on.  It happened to be docked at the Seaport while we were there.

 

Beautiful view, beautiful lady!

 
Battery Park

 

We did a Statue Cruise, its about an hour long, takes you through the harbor, you get nice views of the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges and get really pretty close to the Statue of Liberty.  We all really enjoyed it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back on shore after the cruise...little boy, big buildings!

 

While we were down there we took the time to walk over and see this.  This piece was in the courtyard at the World Trade Center.  After 9/11 it was pulled from the rubble and placed in Battery Park, the flame in front is an eternal flame.  I've seen this dozens of times, and it never fails to bring me to tears, I wasn't alone in my crying though - I am my Mother's daughter, she was in tears as well!

 

One afternoon we took Henry to the park near our house and had a good time watching him play.  Here is he "selling ice cream", its a regular game we play.

 

Mom met Nicolas Cage...in the window of the wax museum!

 

We went to see Mary Poppins, which was EXCELLENT!  Joe wants to see it, so he and I are going to plan a date night sometime!

If you'd like to see the whole album of pictures, click HERE (Facebook).

Fireworks in Astoria Park

Back on June 30 (hard to believe that was two weeks ago!) there was an evening of fireworks in Astoria Park.  I love me some fireworks, so as soon as I heard about it, I wanted to go!  We had a very fun evening with our friends Pete and Rebekah, and their 2 children.  The kids all really enjoyed playing together.

I packed us a dinner of sandwiches, fruit, chips and lemonade.

Our view of the waterfront.

Henry being goofy and trying to pass the time before his friends Jack and Zoe arrived.

The Hellgate Bridge.  The fireworks were set off between the Hellgate and the Triborough Bridge.

Our friends arrived-as did a couple other families they know-and the kids all had a good time playing together and being silly.

Playing with the camera...I'm NOT posting the one he took of me....!

A boat with big sprays of colored water went by a few times.

This wasn't supposed to happen, that's Rebekah's water bottle!!  :)  These sort of things happen all too quickly with 2 year olds, doesn't it?  But, on a happy note, they are SHARING!

Live music.

The view up at the crowds from the waterfront.

Joe being entertained by the kids.

Fireworks!

Big Boats

Last week after Joe got off work one day we asked Henry if he wanted to go see some "big boats" - he was more than eager.  We also decided we'd take the train to Joe's new office first to see how long it took, then walk up to the "big boats" at the South Street Seaport.

While riding the N train, Henry insisted it was the R train and did his pirate face.

After a 45 minute ride we arrived in downtown Manhattan to Joe's new office building.

It's the one in the back.

On the way to the building we passed this famous site - the nation's first tavern.  It's a beautiful building.

 

New buildings & old buildings, I love the history here!

 

Joe's office.

After a nice meal at Chipotle we continued on our way, walking around the area a bit, scoping it out before heading to the seaport.

 

This area was loud and bustling - various bars and restaurants line the sidewalk with lots of outdoor seating in a nice alleyway.

 

Burger Burger.

Right next to...

  

Pizza Pizza.

!!!

On our way to the seaport look what we came across!  Henry was pretty excited, but kept asking where the firemen were.  They had a plaque outside the station in remembrance of the men and women from this station that lost their lives back on 9/11.  Their names were also painted on the various firetrucks.

 

 

We arrived at the seaport and I captured Henry's reaction to the giant ships.

 

He was pretty excited!

We let him out of his stroller and he had a blast running around.

Big boat, little boy.

 

Love this view of the ships and the skyline.

 

Henry relaxing for .07 seconds and enjoying the view.

 

Pretty.

  

Pirate face.

 

Tasty's is tasty!

Tonight Joe and I decided to try out a restaurant down the street called Tasty's.

On our way there, as we passed the bakery, Henry noticed a gal sitting outside on her break and said "Hi!" to her.  She said hello back, asked him how he was and then asked if it was okay if he had a cupcake.  Despite not yet having dinner, I said that he could.

The gal disappeared into the back door and Henry waited, watching attentively for her return, just knowing she'd have something wonderful when she came back.  He was thrilled and, without prompting, gave a very nice "thank you!" to the woman.  It was a great surprise!

Onward to Tasty's.  We didn't really know what to expect here, but were pretty happy to realize it's a diner-we always like a good diner, but with a few more sophisticated things on their menu as well.  We stuck to pretty normal diner fare - eggs, turkey bacon, potatoes and toast for Henry and I, and a burger and fries for Joe.  Tasty's was tasty.  We were not disappointed.  The check came and the price made us even happier.  Great food for a great price!  I think we've found "our spot"!  Hopefully Henry doesn't think he'll get a free cupcake from Martha's every time we go though....

Ear Lowering

My poor child has been a ball of sweat since we moved here.  It has been in the 90s nearly everyday (until very recent).  He would sweat all day long due to his long hair...so the obvious was done.  He HAD to get a haircut.

Before:

After:

Each time you cut a child's hair they grow up some, don't they?

Sigh.