Favorite Signs from the Road

Today we drove from Brooklyn to Boston, via Connecticut and Rhode Island. We thought Connecticut had some great road signs. The best street name sign I saw was "No Walkers Drive." Jonathan says that the senior citizens in the area must feel discriminated against since they don't think they can live on "No Walkers Drive." At exit 17 along some highway, there was an official highway sign that said that the name of the exit was "No exit". I guess you had to be there to think they were really funny. As we were crossing in to Massachusetts, I told Nolan to tell me what the green sign said (it said "Welcome to Massachusetts"). Nolan shouted out "Subway!" On the other side of the street there was a green Subway restaurant sign. Also, no offense to New Englanders, New England in April is pretty ugly... lots and tons of brown leafless trees. I'm sure that once the trees leaf out, then the region is beautiful- I guess I'll have to come back during the spring/fall and see the thousands of trees in all their glory.

The Big Apple, Day 2

I found an area where I think I could live in the NYC area. This morning we decided to walk into Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge. We got off the train in Brooklyn Heights. I really like the feel of that area. We spent about an hour wandering Brooklyn Heights (in search of the pedestrian entrance for the Brooklyn Bridge) and I enjoyed being in that neighborhood. We walked into Manhattan, which took much longer than we expected due to our inability to find the bridge and the human traffic jam across the bridge (too many bikers, rollerbladers, runners, normal speed walkers, and old people on the bridge). We took a train to Battery Park and made in just in time for our ferry to Liberty Island (thank you Congress for reaching a budget agreement at 11 p.m. last night so the government didn't get shut down today which kept Liberty Island open). We went to the museum and to the Pedestal view level at the Statue of Liberty. Then we took the ferry to Ellis Island. Ellis Island was really cool. Unfortunately, it's not the best place for a 2 year old. I felt rushed. Dan took Miles out and let him wander so he missed most of the museum. I'd like to go back there sans a toddler and have all the time I want to read and experience Ellis Island. After the ferry ride to Manhattan, we went to Chinatown where Miles had to have a Chinese flag. We ate mediocre Chinatown Chinese food for dinner. Jonathan and Nolan both tried new foods- Nolan tried broccoli chicken and Jonathan tried fried rice, lo mein, bamboo, water chestnut, bean sprouts, and scrambled egg. Then we headed over to the United Nations building (which was really lame because it was late evening on a Saturday and everything was locked up and no flags were flying) and then back to Times Square for souvenir shopping. The Big Ones bought picture frames to put a NYC picture that they took in. Miles got "I heart NY" pajamas. Our last stop of the night was to the Eugene Oneill theater to get a picture take by The Book of Mormon musical posters. It was a long, but fun day (and the boys were dragging by 4 p.m.)! Off to Boston tomorrow...

Oh, and I've decided that New Yorkers are the nicest people. We had people stop and ask us if we were lost or needed help. Kind people tried to interact with Miles. People gave us their seats to we could sit with Miles. My Metro card was being lame and not reading correctly so some nice guy exiting the station swiped his card for me so I could get through the turn-style. The real New Yorker City-ers are so much nicer than the tourists!

Subway Oddities

By "oddities", I mean people. We had 3 Subway lecturers/panhandlers today. The first guy was seriously nuts and was ranting about the gridlock in Congress with respect to the budget and how all the members of Congress need to be sequestered, and blah, blah, blah. The second oddity was a subway preacher and she went on and on about how we all need to remember the first commandment is to love God and rather than deciding who is not good enough for God, we should think about who is good enough for God because none of us are. For a donation, she would pray for us. Oddity number 3 was a one-handed man who was a volunteer and basketball coach and is "real" and not a fake, and "you can roll your eyes or say 'oh my ______', but if you don't have change, you can give me a smile". The last oddity worth mentioning was the person Nolan say by on the way to Times Square. He got to sit by a cross-dresser. The man was bald with a 5 o'clock shadow. He was wearing neon green leggings, a black belted tunic, and stilettos. Part way through the subway ride, Nolan came and stood by me. I told him that the person he was sitting by was a man and he told me "I was just going to ask you if that was a man or a woman."

Most the PA announcements of the subway are boring... watch your belongings... put litter in its place... the station master has asked that we remain in the station for a few moments as there is track traffic ahead, etc. My favorite PA announcement... "A crowded train is not an excuse for sexual assault. Please report all inappropriate activity."

A Full Day in Manhattan

My boys are wimpy vacationers, well, Nolan is. We wore him out by 3 p.m. today... "when can we go back to the hotel and relax?"

We started the day out in the financial district. We stopped by Trinity Church, then walked over to the NYSE, but the NYSE isn't open to the public anymore. Then we visited the site where George Washington took the oath of office and became president. Ground Zero was next. It's essentially a very large construction site. They are 60+ stories up on the construction of some of the buildings. The reflection pools are "in". I think it's too bad that the real estate that Ground Zero sits on is so valuable that it has to be developed. I think that a big, green park would have been a more fitting memorial instead of skyscrapers and reflecting pools. Next we walked along the river front and let Miles feed his bagel to the birds.

About midday, we headed uptown. We got off at Grand Central Station (because I wanted to see what that train station looks like, since it's one of the few "famous ones" the U.S. has. Then we walked over to the Empire State Building and went up to the 86th floor observation deck and peered down on an overcast, gray Manhattan. It was quite cold up there, as Miles frequently reminded us. FAO Schwartz was next for Miles. He loved the large stuffed zebras and giraffes (he wanted to ride a giraffe) and the regular sized "kitties" and "pup-pups". He especially liked swinging the cats and dogs around by their tails. We dragged a screaming Miles out of the toy store and walked through Central Park to find the Manhattan Temple (which was not very impressive compared to all the freestanding temples in the world, but is still cool in its own right) and Lincoln Center (and Julliard, which almost impressed Jonathan). We took the subway back to Times Square. Miles liked the lights! We ate at Olive Garden because there was something there that everyone would eat, then walked by the Ed Sullivan Theater. We tried to find the theater where "The Book of Mormon" is playing, but someone gave us the wrong address. We walked by Radio City Music Hall, where Charlie Sheen is having his rant session tonight, then over to Rockefeller Plaza.
After the Plaza and a visit to the LEGO store we declared ourselves "done for the night" and took the train back to Brooklyn. Fun & busy day!

New York City!

We're here! We're here! It seems like forever ago that we bought the plane tickets and now we are finally here! We barely made our flight due to slow check-in agents and a security log jam (we were so slow!). We got on the plane and shortly thereafter, Delta shut the door. Then they reopened the doors because there was a "problem". Evidently the fuel gauges weren't reading right. It took a half an hour to resolve the issue, then we were off. Miles did awesome... even took a nap... but he got so mad when he had to be in his car seat for the landing... scream, scream, kick, bite, scream!

We landed and then had the "lets find our hotel" adventure. 3 subway trains later, we found it! We encountered the nicest people everywhere... no stand-offish New Yorkers yet! The MTA lady was awesome and told us the cheapest way to use the Air Train! We met a couple of missionaries that were fun to talk to. A nice guy helped Dan get on the subway with all the luggage he was dealing with. Another nice guy pointed out to us exactly where out hotel was.

We planned to check-in, then head out to Manhattan, but we are too tired. We took the boys to McDonalds for dinner. Not only is the food more expensive here, but they have all sorts of funny "fees" that we aren't used to... the deposit for the plastic water bottles, and the "dine-in" fee. We had to pay an additional $2 for the privilege of not having take-out. Well, now it's Tangled, and then bed. Tomorrow we will take on Manhattan!

Spring Piano Recital

Nolan's recital was on Monday night. He played "Tarantella" and did great! He's been busy with extra piano stuff this spring... Superior rating at the Federation Piano Festival and an overall score of 98.7% on his AIM (Achievement in Music) evaluation. He qualified for the AIM honors recital, but he isn't playing in it because we'll be out of town.

"Why Are You So Picky?"

I hear that from my children on a regular basis. I guess that is better than them flat-out calling me a nag. Do you want to know what I "harass" them about to be called "picky"? Here's a partial list...

• I am "picky" when I ask that wrappers get put in the trash.
• I am "picky" when I ask that the dirty laundry be brought upstairs so I can wash it.
• I am "picky" when I ask for the owner of the cat to clean the litter box.
• I am "picky" when I ask the person who shared the dregs of his cereal with the cat to put the bowl in the dishwasher.
• I am "picky" when I ask that clean & folded clothes not be put in the dirty laundry.
• I am "picky" when I ask for a rundown of current homework and due dates for upcoming projects.
• I am "picky" when I ask that all nail clippings be put in the trash.
• I am "picky" when I ask that dirty socks not be put in the laundry rolled up in a ball.
  
• I am "picky" when I ask that wet towels not be left on the carpet.
  
• I am "picky" when I ask a certain someone to not leave his athletic cup on top of the piano.

Aren't I unreasonable?