We left Daddy at the hotel and walked in the rain to the Empire State Building (2 avenues and a few streets - how far is that?). We were told repeatedly that the visibility was zero and Mr. 8 started getting a bit annoyed. There was no line - it was completely deserted - so we went right to the top. The guys up at the top were super nice to us and for about five minutes the fog cleared and we could see the cars and people below as we stood out in the swirling rain and wind on the 86th floor but the boys LOVED it. Mr. 8 told me he would never forget it and took great joyin telling all those nay-sayers what he saw with "zero" visibility.
Then we hopped the train and went to the Museum of Natural History. Getting to the train was a bit of an adventure as our little stroller does not fit through the turnstile and no one was around to let me through the gate. A little creativity though and we made it.
The Natural History Museum has an amazing collection of dinosaurs which Mr. 2 was super excited about seeing. He ran from one to the next but was particularly excited to see his favorite, the pterodactyl. Soon after that he fell apart, his midnight bedtime catching up with him. Mr. 8 took charge of the stroller carrying Mr. 0 and I picked up our screaming toddler and dragged him off to the bathroom to calm down. While we were inside Mr. 6 and Mr. 8 watched a movie about how the dinosaurs and other prehistoric fossils were arranged by evolutionary development and explained the cladogram with branch points. The boys thought this was great and were excited to follow the path through the rest of the exhibit with Mr. 2 strapped into the stoller and Mr. 0 strapped into the carrier.
By the end of the museum Mr. 6 was ready to collapse and kept asking if he could take a nap. I had to tell Mr. 8 that we were leaving and there were no more last things. We made it back to the hotel in the rain and somehow Mr. 6 made in on his own power. After collapsing on the couch for some well-deserved TV time (quite a novelty for us - Mr. 2 didn't understand why we couldn't pause it so he could go potty) I convinced the boys that we had to eat dinner and dragged them out with the promise of pizza. Our hotel was in the heart of Times Square and mesmerizing for the boys but a litle too exciting for me with tired, easily distracted kids and screens in every direction. We found pizza and chocolate for dessert and headed back to watch Times Square from our 35th floor room.
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Oh, you were brave to wander New York City with your four boys! Sometimes I still get exhausted thinking about taking my four around Kansas! But I also envy you...I would so love to take my gang to New York and to visit it again myself. We had some great times there and the museums are truly wonderful.
ReplyDeleteRest well!