Peter Pan was a rollicking good time. Peter sang, he gestured, he
"flew" and he had fun doing it. I don't know how 5 teachers managed to
pull it off but it was awesome.
We had a big surprise
for Peter. I secretly planned a mother-son trip to New York City. He has
asked countless questions about the city and all the "stuff" they have
there. I decided that after the adjustments of the past year, we both
deserved the treat of some one on one time in the big apple.
So after the play we took pictures with Reenie and Nanny, then I
spilled the beans about our trip. "I'm taking you home to grab our
suitcase and off we will go to New York! Just you and me! Yippee!"
Crickets.
And then came tears.
"But I won't get to have the lunch that you packed for me! And I won't get to see Daddy tonight!"
Not exactly the reaction I had envisioned. Time to break out the big guns.
Hotel.
Natural history museum. Dinosaur bones. Empire State Building. Statue of
Liberty. Subways. Buses. Lego store. Uncle Geoff will be there too.
And that frown slowly but surely turned upside down.
By
the time we got home he was ecstatic, asking all sorts of questions
about our plans. He eagerly added a few "essentials" to his backpack and
off we went.
The airport can be a little overwhelming, but he was very curious and
patient. I got lots of "I'm so excited, Mommy" and "I love you so much,
Mommy." Our flight was delayed so we grabbed a bite and sat to watch
some airplanes. There was a flight to New York leaving in 15 minutes so I
got us re-booked on it, and we were off.
This was
Peter's first flight in two years, so he was way more observant and
knowledgable than the last time. He waved to Reenie on the highway (she
was taking Davis to Birmingham for the weekend) and swore he could see
"the whole wor- wait, Murfreesboro" as we took off. Oh, just you wait.
We
passed the time reading our magazines and playing Go Fish, but when we
approached New York I made sure he was watching the landscape change
below and we eventually spotted the Statue of Liberty, downtown, then
the Empire State Building, and so on. He couldn't believe that there
was an airport with runways on the water.
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| Of course we brought Legos so I could sleep past 5am |
After settling into our hotel, it became obvious that there was but
one thing on today's to do list: the Lego store. We walked there from
our hotel and Peter commented a few times how crowded the streets were.
Fifth Avenue, baby! Lego was impressive but not that much more so than
our store here at home. He got a few treats and we caught a subway
downtown for the Empire State Building. The subway was a big hit, though the most memorable comment was, "It doesn't look like this on the Mighty
Machines [movies]."
I saw it coming from a mile away
and I still felt it was something we had to do. For those who have not
done this most touristy thing, it is lines and lines and elevators and
lines and another elevator and now metal detectors and more lines and
photo stations. Peter's feet hurt and he wanted to go home BEFORE we
got to the observation deck. That scene in Sleepless in Seattle when
Tom Hanks jets right on up and out to the observation area? I call
shenanigans!! It took us about an hour to reach the top, and we were the
lucky ones.
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| Reading his Lego magazine in line |
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| In the lobby of the ESB, post-observation |
So, after we wore ourselves out riding
elevators and dodging other people's pictures, we got to watch the sun
go down all over the city. It was beautiful. And we needed food. It
was after we grabbed a bite that I paid my first "stupid tax" to the
City of New York. As Mother of the Year, I thought it would be fun to
try all the different modes of transportation available since my kid
loves all vehicles. Those pedicab/rickshaw things looked like fun, and
frankly I didn't want to walk the mile home to the hotel. We hopped in
and had a lovely, goofy, and scenic ride home. When we got to our
hotel, the "driver" showed me the breakdown of pricing for that ride,
and I nearly fainted. I thought I was being punked. Suffice it to say
that that ride cost half of my airfare. Moving on.
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| Before the "check" came - but it was fun! |
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| He's sleeping across the bed with his lower half on me. Wasn't exactly a deep restful sleep... |
Saturday we ordered breakfast in bed and lazed around until we had to
catch a boat for a cruise around downtown Manhattan. It was a gorgeous
spring day and we got to walk through the west side, which was a nice
change from midtown crowds. At one point it was so quiet that Peter
decided he must be the only boy in New York. We saw the USS Intrepid
and the spaceship Endeavor on exhibit, then cruised around to see Ellis
Island, the Statue of Liberty (well, guess who had to go to the bathroom right as we approached Lady Liberty?), lots of bridges and the UN, as well as a
spectacular view of downtown. The new Freedom Tower at One WTC is
beautiful - and yes, very tall indeed. From there we stopped at Toys R
Us to check out the Ferris wheel, and took a ride to rest our feet.
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| Checking out the ESB from the Hudson River |
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| I ain't afraid o' no Hulk! |
|
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| The Ferris Wheel |
That
afternoon we spent at the American Museum of Natural History. We were
greeted by gigantic dinosaur skeletons and visited with a gigantic
whale, a giant squid, several arctic and forest creatures; we visited
various galaxies and re-enacted the Big Bang. A very productive and
informative afternoon. Then we took a city bus to our old neighborhood.
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| The walruses |
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| Polar Bear! |
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| Having a chat with Teddy Roosevelt |
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| In front of our old building, at which point my phone died and I couldn't take any more pictures |
The
park across from our building was a lovely place to spend time when we
lived in the city. The river walk, the dog runs, the sunny patches of
grass - all were a welcome retreat from the concrete jungle. It wasn't
until my last visit a few years ago that I actually took a peek into the
playground area of this park, and I was blown away. It's the size of a
football field with play structures all around the perimeter and a
fountain pad in the middle for kids to play in the sprinkler or play
soccer or hockey. I turned Peter loose and he took advantage of the
chance to run. After a half hour or so, it was getting to be time to
head back so we could meet up with my brother (in town for a
conference). I had been watching all the kids and their parents and
daydreaming about how it would have been for us to raise our family
there. Then, like a sign from God, I hear two sets of parents getting
into a screaming fight over a little girl's scooter. Yelling. Two dads
getting up in each other's faces. Police intervening. Peter and I
quietly exited and I said a silent thank you for divine providence. Our
cab ride home took us through some old stomping grounds, and then it
was time to reunite two peas in a pod.
Geoff and Peter go so well together. Peter teases Geoff and Geoff
dishes it right back, somehow without evoking whining. It's so fun to
watch him as an uncle. Big hugs were exchanged and we set out for
dinner, which was only eclipsed by cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery for
dessert. I kid you not, it was worth Peter's sugar high to enjoy that
little piece of heaven.
We went to Sarabeth's for brunch on Sunday, an old favorite that
never disappoints. We trekked down to Grand Central so Peter could tell
our train lover all about the signs and tracks and platforms. Finally,
we parted ways and caught a cab to the airport for our flight home.
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| Can you just feel his eyes rolling behind the sunglasses? |
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| Such a happy boy to see his uncle - and eat pancakes |
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| Where Daddy worked |
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| Inside Grand Central Station |
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| Headed uptown from 42nd Street/Grand Central Station |
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| Couldn't resist - at our old subway stop |
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| He read this entire book while we sat on the tarmac. But he was quiet!! |
So many times Peter would look at me with sweet eyes and thank me for taking him to New York or tell me how glad he was to spend time alone with me. He's such a goofball and I was able to focus solely on him and enjoy his "fiveness" without distraction. I must say, however, I slept much more comfortably back home without his acrobatics.
