Summer in the City

This past weekend, I whisked my biggest little man away for a special trip to one of my favorite places on earth - the Big Apple. Although we were only there for about 36 hours, we packed in an amazing amount of activity, thanks to host and tour guide extraordinaires, Uncle Pauly and Andrea. Uncle Pauly is, after all, a big kid himself, so I think it was easy for him to think of things to do. Ethan would have been content just staying in Uncle Pauly's apartment and playing with all his toys and his adorable new 1 lb kitten. But alas, New York was calling and I didn't want to miss one minute! After a question-filled flight (How do we take off? What's that noise? Is that Uncle Pauly's house? Is that? Where are we? Who is that? Where's the pilot? Why are there two pilots? - you get the idea...) and cab ride to the Lower East Side, we took the subway (big hit) up to Central Park and strolled around in the sunshine.

While there, we visited the Central Park Zoo, which I had surprisingly never been to but is a great little spot!

Then it was off to FAO Schwartz.

"Mommy, why is that guy dressed like that?"

Playing the Big piano

Having some sort of Sesame Street battle?

After lunch at a haunted house, we did the Lower East Side playground tour. I'm not sure which made Ethan happier - the crazy amounts of new equipment for him to try out, or his new playmate.

I took Ethan to a different playground by myself on Sunday morning, and he wasn't nearly as thrilled with the company. He still had fun climbing on animals and drinking coffee (milk) with me on a park bench.

Ethan and a tired mommy - why is it that kids sense when their parents stay out too late and actually get up earlier as punishment?

After a real bagel and lox breakfast (have I mentioned how much I love eating in NYC?), it was time for Ethan's first Major League baseball game!

The Mets were atrocious, but the new Citifield is amazing and we had a blast anyway. Then we caught a quick drink with Noni and Papi, in town for dinner, before heading to the airport. Ethan talked non-stop about all our adventures the whole plane ride home, but was sound asleep the minute we pulled out of the parking garage in Portland.

Snuggling with his new Mr. Met doll

I enjoyed every bit of our weekend in the big city, but the best part (by far) was watching these two connect, play, bond, and act silly together.

Thanks for a great weekend Uncle Pauly! We can't wait to do it again!