New York, NY

On Wednesday we drove to New Jersey to visit Jonathan’s Aunt and Uncle and his cousins. Then on Thursday morning we headed into New York City.

We opted to drive. Jonathan and I had our hearts set on taking the train, but the parking situation at Princeton Junction is a bit of zoo, and it wasn’t advised. When Jonathan’s father did the math, the train roundtrip for four people was about the same as driving.

Of course there was no way that he could have included the ticket we got for getting stuck in the crosswalk when the light turned red. I guess the Big Apple needs to generate revenue somewhere.

After we checked into the hotel, we headed to Pronto Pizza for lunch. The pizza was amazing. Caleb doesn’t like pizza (did I mention he is two), and Xander ate his whole slice crust and all.

We then ventured to Central Park. Our plan was to spend the entire day in Central Park, but Jonathan and I had to quickly devise a Plan B since the weather called for scattered thunderstorms. The most specific weathercast predicted rain every other hour. Luck was on our side and we got two full, wonderful hours in the park before rain.

We had our rain gear with us, and we bought umbrellas before heading out on our adventure. Our hotel was located in midtown, four blocks from Central Park.

I could imagine a future trip to New York where we spend three solid days exploring Central Park. For this trip we only made it about a third of the way into the park. The boys rode the carousel, and we watched a baseball game between the cast and crew of Wicked, and West Side Story.

Xander usually freaks out on the carousel, but this time around I selected horses that don’t go up and down. He told me, “Mommy, I’m not scared this time.”

When it started raining we thought it would be a quick scattered shower, but we were woefully wrong. It lasted for more than two hours. We hid in a tunnel with a group of people, and when the tunnel began to flood, we finally made our way back to our hotel. Caleb and Xander enjoyed jumping in mud puddles, so even with raincoats, they were soaked.

We got cocoas and lattes at Starbucks, and waited out the storm in the comfort of our hotel. We then walked toward the Central Park zoo. We saw a crane at the duck pond, and Xander napped in the stroller.

In researching our trip, Jonathan found a company called American Childcare Inc., which provides babysitters to visitors of Chicago, New York and San Francisco.

Our babysitter Michelle arrived at 7 pm. She was 34 years old, the mother of two boys, and had worked as a nanny. She was great with the boys. This gave us a much needed date night. We met up with friends, and went to a lovely Italian restaurant.

When we got back the hotel, both boys were sound asleep.

The next morning we headed to Barney Greengrass for breakfast. It is one of Anthony Bordain’s favorite places, and a wonderful old school deli – know for their sturgeon. The boys and I had blintzes and Jonathan had a sturgeon omelet. We bought some bagels and black and white cookies for the road.

We then headed to the American Natural History Museum to see dinosaur bones. There is a whole lot more to the museum then bones, but considering our preschooler crowd, we opted to simplify the experience.

The boys loved the dinosaurs. We even let them pick one of their own from the gift shop. Xander and Caleb are now sleeping with them. It was then back to New Jersey and a family barbeque.

Although it was a whirlwind. A day and a half in New York gave us a nice break, and everyone had a wonderful time.