Unexpected Departure

We planned a nice breakfast with my cousin Daniel and his fantastic girlfriend, Helene, this morning. However Samantha woke up quite sick and we had to rearrange our plans. We were scheduled on a noon train but Samantha could not bear the thought of doing the train.

So we called in the help of a Superhero and, faster than a speeding bullet, before we could even finish our breakfast...

 

He came to our rescue in a New York minute. Best husband ever. Best Mother's Day Gift ever.

Also unexpected about this departure, was that I felt sad to leave the city. I never had any particular warm and fuzzies for New York City. Paris was always the place I loved, the place to which I always wanted to return. 

Our last visit there was a wake-up call for me: all the things I thought to be true about NYC were found in Paris. It was dirty, people were rude, jaw-droppingly rude, and no one seemed particularly happy. 

This visit to New York City was a total shock. The city, while not pristine, was not at all like Paris. People were overwhelmingly polite, helpful, friendly, and upbeat. Like Paris, it was teeming with culture, but sans attitude. The population is incredibly diverse and, for the most part, everyone seems to get along. 

I feel like we have found a perfect Paris substitute. Plus, it's 3 hours away and everyone speaks English. 

And to top it all off, I had a fantastic time with my girls. I am not sure what it is about this city, but it truly brought out the best in us. We cannot wait to return.

Quintessential NYC

Today, our last full day in the city, we soaked it up in all its glory.

Before our great adventure, the girls enjoyed breakfast with their CNN; they were treated to an in-depth analysis on whether or not Hillary had surpassed the fallout from the email debacle. They also learned lots about ISIS. FUN!

Next, we took the subway up to Columbus Circle and returned to Central Park where we found this spectacular playground, courtesy of Andy Schofield, who met us there with his adorable wife Caroline and baby Floyd.

 

 

Then it was a short walk to the MoMA where I got to enjoy my last official week as a full-time student with a heavily discounted admission ticket. 

Samantha and I were less disturbed by the content of this message than by its grammatical troubles.. Like nails on a chalkboard. I get it. It's probably part of the message. But still. Not okay.

 

After absorbing some Warhol, the girls were not impressed and Eliza just knew she could do better:

 

 And she did!

 Lunch in the MoMA cafe:

Another short walk later, we found ourselves at the Shubert Theater for "Matilda." Eliza so desperately wants her name to be up there...

I personally found the show kind of "meh," but the girls enjoyed it:

We ended the day at a diner, for a dinner that could not have been sweeter. I am not sure who these children are but they have been delightful these past three days:

The Janus Sisters:

Hitting the Town

We woke up this morning bright-eyed and bushy tailed, ready to take on the day. This sentiment was promptly obliterated by sentiments of the  "Mom, please for ________'s sake, stop taking pictures" variety:

It was looking like a gorgeous day, so we decided to hop on the subway and head north toward the Park. "Really, Mom, put the _______ camera away"

All was quickly forgiven and forgotten when they got to climb on rocks:

And then we were fortunate enough to stumble upon another beautiful iteration of Bethesda. We do love our hometown, but this place, Bethesda Fountain and Terrace in Central Park, was truly breathtaking. And there were NO Lululemon pants to be seen!

Next, Eliza found the newest carriage ride in the Park and we headed over to the Alice in Wonderland statue:

It appears that Samantha wants to follow in her mother's footsteps toward the noble career of lactation consulting:

While we wound our way through the Park toward the American Museum of Natural History, I had the pleasure of hearing all about how I was a terrible mother for not letting these people consume candy at 9:30 in the morning. I opted to buy them a pretzel and was offered mediocre status:

Next we hit the museum. And while the Hayden Planetarium Show was a huge hit (Neil Degrassi Junior High Tyson's Dark Universe), the girls were a bit "meh" on the rest of the museum that we visited. Apparently the wonders of DC have rendered them comfortably numb to other marvels of big cities. However, I felt slightly less guilty pulling them out of school since they did learn their precise weight on a red dwarf star, which in a twist of cosmic irony, is the same number they would earn in "life" if they chose to constantly ditch school as I was forcing them to do...

I then decided to exert my powers to transform myself from mediocre Mom to "best Mom ever" by purchasing overpriced smoothies from a cart:

It was such a fantastic feeling, I decided to supplement it with trips to Dylan's Crack Bar and American Girl These Doll Clothes Cost More Money Than My Own Clothes Store.

After some NY Pizza, we met up with one of my very dearest friends, Jenny Brady, college roommate and maid of honor extraordinaire. And I had the honor of meeting for the very first time, her most gorgeous daughter, Lila. At first, we took over the hotel gym and chatted while the girls played with very large balls:

Samantha insisted on going for the Kardashian look:

In a beautiful shift, Eliza assumed the role of big sister and played it to perfection:

Finally, we ended the day up on the roof top bar of our hotel, a no-frills Fairfield Marriott. Brand new and not well known, it really is a hidden gem. Shhh...

Eliza getting one last dance in before it was time to collapse...

 

The Journey Begins

For the past two years, I have been consumed by all things nursing school. Since it had gotten to the point where my daughters would look at me strangely and ask Kenny, "Who is that?" anytime I surfaced in our home, I thought it would be a good idea to orchestrate some quality time. While the "Daddy" version of that is eating out of cans, sleeping in the woods, and peeing on the ground, the "Mommy" version is much more civilized and involves good food, culture, and quite possibly peeing on the ground. Yes, we decided to take our first bite out of The Big Apple.

With eager faces and big smiles, we left our house around 8:30am. Our darling Kenny dropped us off at the metro and as we gathered our luggage and turned to say goodbye, all we could see was back of his car, all we could hear was the sound of his tires peeling out of the Kiss n' Ride area. Poor man was too heartbroken to properly see us off.

Union Station was an adventure in and of itself:

The train was just okay until it was discovered that CHEESE PLATES could be purchased:

Once we arrived at our hotel, the girls' excitement caused them to go Linda Blair on me, minus the green vomit:

Eliza found her home at Times Square, which was both endearing and very, very frightening:

These lovely plush animals offered (forced) us to pose with them:

When I offered them what I thought was a generous tip, I was informed that their children could not go to summer camp unless I gave them more. I decided sending my own kids was generous enough and we were on our way.

One piggy-back ride (and mile) later, we were at the 42nd street Pier ready for our date with Lady Liberty:

I tried to impart meaning and gravity to our experience. "Girls, your great-grandfather took this very journey when he came to America. His name is on that wall over there on Ellis Island!"  All I received in return were blank stares and shrugging shoulders. Another time.

 

The weather could not have been more perfect and even though the girls were exhausted and mumbled something about getting a cab back to the hotel, the energy of the city carried all of us home another mile and change.  We stopped by the Stage Door Deli for some dinner and Eliza decided to give blintzes a try.  Like a good Jew, she ate them right up.

Exhausted but happy, we took turns in the shower and nuzzled up with our favorite devices. Traveling with big kids and small tablets makes a trip like this possible. So far, so good. So very good.