Places to Go (Vacation) - Three Days in NYC

As I mentioned on Monday, we spent a few days in NYC before Christmas (which seems like forever ago, doesn't it?). After we left the Cloisters (seriously, coolest museum ever), we drove to midtown and checked into our hotel in Times Square. We always stay in Times Square because it makes for such easy access to different attractions, but now that the kids are old enough to walk further and ride the subway, I think we might try a less crazy location next time. Anyways, our room was on the top (42nd) floor, giving us crazy views of the city (though it was also a little eerie to be that high up).

After vegging out and/or watching T play with his new "guy" from the Cloisters. We headed out to walk the High Line and eat a fantastic Solstice dinner at Foragers Table (seriously, I cannot say enough good things).




On day 2, Dan let me sleep in while he took the kids to the "Great" M&M store (as an adult, I've never figured out what is so great about it). T now calls the M&M store the highlight of 2015 (what about Europe? why do I even try?).

We then headed to the lower east side for a Tenement Museum tour about Sweatshop Workers. The kids really enjoyed learning about the area's history (though not nearly as much as they enjoyed the "great" M&M store), but Dan and I found the whole thing a little blah (oh well, it was geared at children so what did I expect?).




At night, we checked out the Broadway musical/comedy Something Rotten, which involves Shakespeare's competitor writing a musical called "Omelet" (like, Hamlet, get it? HA!). The whole thing was sort of funnily absurd, not exactly high art, but perfect for kids and adults to enjoy together. Plus, we scored awesome seats through TKTS.










By day 3, we had finally mastered the subway (it only took three or four previous NYC trips to get us there) and we spent the morning at the Met. We've been to several top notch museums this year (the Art Institute in Chicago, almost all the Smithsonians, the Vatican museums, the Louvre, etc.) and I have to say the Met topped them all. The Met has the most amazing audio tours. Seriously, do you sometimes go through museums and think to yourself, "um, why is this in here?". Well, the Met's audio tour answers so many questions you didn't even know you had - making everything fascinating. Unfortunately, we could only spend about two hours at the museum because we still had to check out of our hotel, but the girls keep asking when we can go back.



T purchased several new "guys" at the Met with his allowance money.




And, of course, a quick walk through Central Park before we began the LONG drive home - thunderstorms the whole way. Though really we can't complain how often do you go to NYC in December and have 75 degree days? (Remember, last time we visited, it snowed the whole time).

Places to Go (Vacation) - The Cloisters (NYC)

As I mentioned on Friday, before Christmas, we spent four days in NYC - visiting friends and walking around the city. We spent our first morning at the Cloisters, where I've wanted to visit ever since reading about the museum on Sweet Fine Day 3.5 years ago.

Not to sound cheesy, but this is one of the coolest places I've eve been, especially since the Cloisters are located into a hilltop park overlooking the city. The kids had a blast with the audio tours and behind every corner was something gorgeous and/or quirky (oh, the unicorn tapestries). Plus, all the green courtyards. I can't say enough good things, esp. in winter, when you can see so many views through the leafless trees.










I know this isn't the world's best photo, but it's one of my favorite memories. When the suspenders of my best friend's son came off, T tried to help him fix them. Although it sounds mundane, it was one of the cutest moments ever.









After the museum, we walked to a cafe in Fort Tyron Park. I can't emphasize enough how beautiful this place is.




And, of course, the kids played Heads Up while we waited for our food.

Places to Go (Vacation) - NYC Winter Weekend, Part II - Broadway and the M&M Store

On Saturday morning, we awoke on the 27th floor to snow falling over Times Square, the kids loved it more than TV. They also immediately started screaming "we need to go to the M&M store! Today! We NEED to go!" (If there is one place in the world nobody ever NEEDS to go, it's a giant store full of M&Ms). So after breakfast we dressed for the arctic and ventured outside. As always, the M&M store was crazy crowded (why do kids love this place so much?), but luckily the average price point is quite low. I bought T a mini light saber filled with candy for $4.50 and he acted like Santa couldn't possibly find any better toy (seriously?).

We then meandered over to see the HUMONGOUS Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. All three kids alternated between telling us "Wow, NYC is so beautiful at Xmas! I wish DC was like this! Look at the decorations and the Santa Clauses everywhere!" to "I'm cold and bored. Can we go back to the hotel yet?" We ended up stopping at the gigantic Toys R' Us (a working ferris wheel takes up the middle of the store), which was so full of people that I began to have a low scale anxiety attack.

And, finally, the big moment arrived - Matilda on Broadway. Since there are 5 of us, I bought the cheaper balcony seats, which were not that great. But still, I found the whole production over-the-top awesome (T can't stop singing "the little bit naughty" song). I thought F would love the play, since Matilda is one of her favorite books of all time, but as the script strayed from the book, she seemed disappointed. Oh well, I was enthralled.

Walking back down a very snowy Broadway, we learned that the tkts discount booth still had tickets to that night's showing of Annie. When in Rome . . . So we took the kids to two Broadway shows in one day (one at 8 pm). And I'm really glad we did, because Annie positively ENTHRALLED the girls. And T tried his best, but by 10:15 he was asleep in the chair. Oh well, all in all a perfect weekend.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!! HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY!!



Walking in the snow, post M&M store, in search of a really big tree.



Play #1 - I thought it rocked.



Despite the cold, it was sort of fun to see Broadway through the snow (especially since DC temperatures reached 70 degrees the next weekend).



Play #2 - T tried, but by 10:15 those 4 year old eyes had to close.

Places to Go (Vacation) - NYC Winter Weekend, Part I - MOMA

When F was little, as in REALLY little (like 2 or 3 (funny how all those years start to blend together), her favorite book was Seen Art?, where a guy wanders into MOMA looking for a friend named "Art" and ends up discovering "art" along the way.

Seen Art?'s plot (obviously) requires understanding that a word can have two meanings (which I think is pretty much impossible for a 2 year old), so reading it to F became rather old as we felt like the whole thing kept going over her head. But she loved it, so we read it again and again and again. Until, finally, the book became lost in the shuffle somewhere (I haven't seen it in a long long time).

So skip ahead 6 years . . .

MOMA is one of my favorite museums ever (despite the crazy high admission price) - the building is beautiful, the exhibits are wonderful, and I like modern art. So when we planned a family weekend in NYC, Dan immediately stated "don't worry, I'll take the kids so you can have some time to yourself in MOMA." But this trip, I figured the girls were old enough to explore with me and I really hoped they'd like it (fingers crossed).

Immediately upon arrival, F looked up and said "MOMA, I've heard of this before. Remember, we used to have some book, where a guy wanted to find his friend named Art but ended up learning all about art? I loved that book." This statement made me realize two things - (1) the early years really do matter, so glad that I spent hours upon hours reading out loud while my kids tried to eat every book in site; (2) my daughter freakishly remembers everything. as in everything. (this isn't necessarily a good thing).

F then basically went on a scavenger hunt, recalling by memory everything in the Seen Art? book. I know I sound like the world's biggest dork, but IT WAS AWESOME!! F's reaction upon seeing Starry Night (absolute awe) was priceless.

In one of their brochures for families, MOMA recommends a game called "Everyone's A Critic" in which you choose an adjective and then everybody "competes" to find works of art that exemplify the adjective (one person operates as the "judge"). So the girls and I played this while we meandered (I learned that MOMA contains LOTS of "tragic" works).

As wonderful as the first hour or so was, eventually the girls became "sort of bored." At this point, we decided to check out MOMA's Art Lab for kids for awhile (a small, but amazing space), where the girls made stop motion films, painted masterpieces using a wii remote, created Calder mobiles, and drew lots of art.

All in all, an amazing day.



The Art Lab was all sorts of awesome.



Our whole family had a fabulous time wondering around the city. P couldn't stop saying "wow, NYC is just so much more Chrismassy then DC."



But nothing really beats jumping on the bed and checking out city views from the 27th floor.