The Kitchen Table

Day at the Park

In truth, nearly every day is a day at the park, but when friends come to town, we always push for meeting in Central Park. We don't get there enough on our own, which is silly because we love it. I love it, Bama loves it, Mister loves it, and now Rabbit loves it, too.

Lucky us when the M&Ps came to town. We hooked up in Columbus Circle where the girls ran around in circles while A and I looked for coffee for me. Desperate me. 

One majorly happy family. I love these people.

So does Rabbit, no matter how serious he wants you to think he is: What? This is my New York face!

Up the big rocks by Heckscher Playground. Mama M led Bama and S up and over and around into a secret house with a sofa.

There are thirteen parks in Central Park? But we love Heckscher. We keep going back for its sun, the rocks, the great expanse of space in the sand and the swings and all of it. 

 

Storming the castle!

 Showing off our new ribbons. I think S might have negotiated for them.

Big hugs good-bye from the big girls.

Coney Island or Bust!

My friend and I have been talking about where to go with the girls. I have a "New York before we leave" list, but they are from here and have some of the same, and some different! on the list. In part because we know different things, but also because when you're local, there are things you don't rush to do. Me, have only been to Alcatraz to work a catering gig. Coit Tower the night before I left for college and it wasn't my idea.

Big hits on our lists: Bronx Zoo and the New York Aquarium. We made it to the zoo in early August when Pace was in town. These kinds of trips are not uneventful. We had to load two more carseats into Natasha's family-fantastic car. Then strollers. Then adults. And my coffee. We barely made it.

Now the aquarium is a straight shot on the F Train to Coney Island. Elevator at my station, ramp or something at the other end. Rain was predicted for the week. We got some, by the way, not enough to clear out the horrid humidity and the vestiges of a summer that needed to be over (Hello, Fall!!), but we thought, if it rains, let's see fish!

Did we firm up this plan? Yes, this morning but crazy texts. I can get us dressed and out the door in thirty minutes! I said, engaging in my usual game of "I can get this family out the door" akin to the 70s game show about music. We agreed, via text, we'd meet up on the train.

People, you know that a large part of the subway is underground, right? Down we go, trying to get to the 10:24 train (about an hour later than I'd planned). Texting frantically! It turns out, Bird and her mama are on the train behind us. 

Rabbit, Bama, and I hopped off at 4th Ave./9th St. in Brooklyn to try to get on the same train. This spot, it's like Colma but less ugly, more ugly, weirder. The cemetary is split by the train. Look left or right, see a sea of memories. I wish I had better shots of the headstones, and of the clusters of them. All from my iPhone.

We didn't meet up at that station. More time-underground-delayed messages. We hop on, shuttle to the next station, off, then on. This time, we're on the same train, different cars. We all have to get off at King's Highway because there's track work. All of us off, down the stairs, up the stairs (two strollers, two toddlers, infant in ergo! oh my!). Natasha and me wondering how people do it. How do New Yorkers who don't look like I look -- casual, unkempt -- do it. (They use car services or don't do outings like this, the nanny does.) 

Then. 8th St./Coney Island. The smell of the Atlantic. A bit of the boardwalk, us wondering why hadn't we done this earlier? 

And, fish. I'm going to have to add a couple of pictures to the post, from the first fish tank of wonderment. Rabbit was agog watching the colors, but you won't see much of him as he was mostly with me while I was taking photos.

 

There are a few sections to the aquarium. We went through the outside section, walruses, northern fur seals, California sea lions, seals, otters. I'd never seen a walrus. My new favorite!

The girls looked like this for most of the day, which began at 12:30 or so:

I can't say the shark exhibit moved me much, not compared with Steinhart, for example, but you could zip behind the seals, penguins, and other swimmers to see into the tanks (and catch some seahorses!).

The walruses were doing laps, with a tidy turn at this window. They come from the murk, turn, and vanish. It's awesome. I told Natasha I wanted a cup of tea and to stay there all day. It was incredibly soothing.

Checking out the whiskers.

A koi pond and turtles. The girls are watching the fish teasing one of the swimming turtles who is on his way to a baby and another turtle on the bank. Baby turtles are cute! Natasha's grandmother has had turtles in her backyard forever. She can call to them and they'll come lumbering for melon. 

We rolled home at 4:45. You got that right. A dinner of curry soup, with star pasta instead of udon because we were out and I'm creative, everyone in bed, more or less, by 8pm. 

When I asked Bama what she liked the best today, she said the seahorses, the walruses, and the turtles. Oh, and I think she really liked all the fish. And the seals. And the ....

... you get the picture.

 

Blanket: Done!

When Aunty Cake and M were married, I promised them a handknit blanket (queen size) for their bed.

Um, yeah. It never happened.

But, when The Captain came along, I knew I could make a blanket for him. The log cabin style blanket is perfect because it can be added to, if wanted, when the baby gets bigger. I made one for Rabbit and love it. For The Captain, I used most of the same Blue Sky Alpaca Dyed Cotton yarns, plus a few new colors, on size 10.5 needles. 

 

I mostly finished it. Aunty Cake had to weave in about 20 ends. Argh.

Back

I wish I'd been able to hold a camera while walking off the plane and out through security at JFK. A shot of Mister's face as he saw us coming around the corner. Bama kicking and waving. Rabbit, turning to his papa, smiling and reaching up and touching his face. 

Mmm, that face. Scrubbed, shaved, and so lovely to see. He and I both had hoped Bama would have been able to run to him, but she was in the carrier (on my belly!) because she'd been stuck in her carseat for six hours on the plane and wanted to cuddle. I was carrying a couple of bags and pulling Rabbit along (now in carseat attached to a Go-Go Kidz Travelmate).

(She's literally pulling her weight, from the airplane back to security. By the time we hooked up with Aunty Amy, I was carrying the blankets and the backpack while she had the carseat.)

After two weeks away, the three of us returned from our visit to California. We saw "lots of people!" "All of my friends!" said Bama. We did. Maybe we packed in a bit too much, especially those first couple of days, but we had people to see and foods to eat. (I'm sad Bakesale Betty's wasn't open. 11am - 1:45pm? What kind of hours are those?) 

On the food front, we got a few fan favorites: Zachary's pizza (spinach and mushroom with sausage added, thanks for sharing, Uncle A!); a quick morning at Pizzaiolo (buttermilk doughnut holes and a slice of fritatta) with Aunty Cake and Aidan; Tacubaya with Aunty Cake and Nana (the soup, oh, how I miss the soup and the chips). On the other hand, we didn't make it to one farmers' market, and that makes me sad days later, back in New York. Not one, fresh from the tree, juicy end of summer peach. Never mind that Rabbit and I went to one of our markets when we returned home, only to find some of the saddest peaches ever. EVER. What else we missed: the great hamburger at Wood Tavern; Arizmendi's English muffins, sour sourdough baguette, a slice of pizza; a quick shop for anything at Berkeley Bowl. 

We did get to see the water and some of the mamas from Bama's and my mama's group. Aunty Cake and Aunty A joined us with The Captain and Joe the Pirate Monkey. We arrived, both of my babies crashed out in the back of Minty, which I'd borrowed back from my brother's family for a few days. 

Rabbit and The Captain held a chew-a-thon while Bama and the bigger kids ran laps on the ramp and lawn.

 

Lord of all I survey!

 

 We had some satisfying tacos from a place a couple of blocks away. I think I could have had tacos every day while we were home. New York: bagels. Tie: pizza. California: Mexican. New York should stop pretending to have great Mexican food in the same way that Californians should stop defending our bagels (even the great California bagels are not as good as New York's).

I'd made plans with Aunty Jenny to linger at their place for a few hours while everyone had naps. I initially thought we'd bail, but Bama wanted to see Mr. Wilson and Aunty Jenny and Baby Roo. No naps were had, but Mr. Wilson and Bama did their best Ma and Pa Kettle impression on the porch:

Before heading inside to pour water all over the bathroom floor. Awesomesauce!

Not Enough Water in the World

We headed to Battery Park City to beat the recent 100+ weather. It was genius, because Nelson A. Rockefeller Park has big lawns, lots of trees for shade, and a great park with water, water, water. I wanted the grass for Rabbit. Poor guy, there aren't always good opportunities for him to get on the ground and roll around, scoot, or hop in the city parks. He needs grass. I do put him down, but he really likes to to put his face in the sand or lick the rubber mats. His immune system is hearty, people, hearty.

After lackluster interest in the weekly BPC art project, we headed for the grass and trees with Bird and Aunty N. (At some point, you all become and aunty or uncle in our world.) On the menu: ball tossing, rolling around, grass tasting. 

Then, water. Sand? Who cares. Swings? Whatever. We need sprinklers in our everyday lives. Big, little, fountain, whatever. As long as water is flowing, we're good.

 

Rabbit thinks he can take Bird's bucket. Not just yet!

 

Rabbit got to enjoy this part of the park. Face-plants in sand are fun, but face-plants in water = awesome! He's fearless, this boy is. 

Bug and Bird

The fountains at the just opened children's playground at Washington Square Park are often on the blink. One hundred degrees out? Eighty percent humidity? Okay, then, well, we'll crap out if that's okay with you.

On or off, the turtles are a hit. You can climb on them! You can talk to them! You can pretend you're going somewhere far away. Really fast. Really, really, fast. 

Bama and Bird

One of the more difficult aspects of moving cross-country was leaving behind all of Bama's friends and family. Her best friends, Mr. Wilson and Cindy Lou Who, her super buddies Jack the Monkey Boy, Sophie and Isabel, and others. 

I kept saying to myself, give it a year, give it a year. Routines. Routines. 

So, we are at about a year and she's made a few good friends, especially Bird. They took a "gym" class together and have developed a pretty great thing. Part of the magic of good playdates/buddies is that the caregivers get on. The classes and routines haven't been good only for Bama, I've made friends, too, including Bird's mama.

Although Bird's mama and I have gotten them together for play, if you've ever seen two-year-olds play, they do their own thing, pow wow, then split off again. But these two had some psychic moment when we took them (and Rabbit) to the American Museum of Natural History. It was supposed to rain, necessitating a shift from a park to somewhere indoors where they could get their ya-yas out. They ya-yad themselves to crazytown.

The lunatics took off in the dinosaur exhibit and never looked back. They flew about the dinosaur exhibit, looking at bones, "reading" information pages to each other, jumping about like frogs. On our way out, I loaded up the Rabbit while these two crazies cackled at their reflection in the door behind them. They stopped moving long enough for one photo. 

After music in the park, hamburgers and hysterics. The good, old sunshade up and down surprise! 

 

Then this. We met up with Bird and her mama for burritos. A couple of us didn't eat. We were too busy playing the squishy-blink-crack-up game. 

I love these girls.

 

 

Sometimes Daily Flower: The High Line Edition

I won't bother pretending like spring isn't tickling my toes. New York is covered in tulips, magnolias, dogwoods, and a lot of trees and flowers I don't recognize (a lot of trees and flowers). I'm excited to see new blossoms, the shoots of growth pushing out of the ground. I might have mentioned before that, to me, spring distinguishes the East Coast from the West Coast.

Our friend, Leanne, was in from San Francisco for a conference. We met up at Chelsea Market, then took the elevator up to the walk the High Line. Last time we were up there, it was late summer, early fall. The grasses were growing through the old tracks. It was beautiful. 

But it's spring!

 

What's this?

Eastern Red Bud
Mister and our friend Leanne, pushing our "new" double stroller (the Phil & Ted's Dash, cumbersome! not dashable)
Not sure.
Buildings line the High Line, the raised train track ran between and through buildings along the Hudson River, through the Meatpacking district. Moving the trains above the street kept pedestrians safer in the busy corridor. 

Many of the buildings have been or are being remodeled and refaced, glammed up. This one houses Phillips de Pury & Co., an art auction house, on the "ground" floor. I'm not sure what the business is above it, but you can see the tree cut outs through the windows. Sky, buildings, clouds reflect off the windows.
Where the wild things might be. 

I think cherry tree.

The sutra telephone game, courtesy the Rubin Museum (whose site is AWOL TODAY). A Tibetan monk chanted lines from the sutra, which were passed down from person to person along the High Line, to author Salman Rushdie. Rushdie tweeted the final words. 

Ah, bacon. Brunch at Cookshop. (GREAT food, ridiculous service.) Lunch was interrupted, for me, by Pickle's need for some milks. But first, shattering screams. We bounced up and down Tenth Ave., finally settling on the low wall in front of the General Theological Seminary across the street.

Mad-Love in a Box

After a wild morning of playing, Bama, Pickles, and I came home to find a big box waiting for us from our friends in Vermont. Treasures for everyone in the house. Bama, of course, took the lead on opening all the gifts (it was tough to convince her that no, she couldn't open Papa's and would have to wait until he got home).

For her, this crazy hat that looks a little like magic rocks sprouted from her brain. She slept in it. Oh yeah. Beaded necklace, a couple of yellow Matchbox cars, some pens, a collapsing giraffe. A perfect grab bag of fun for a little girl who loves to open things, wear new clothes, run around looking crazy. 

There were toys for Pickles, including this bug-eyed bird that rattles. It's awesome. We had a little quiet time in the nest during stories and songs before naps. Bama couldn't love that boy more if she tried. She's entertaining him with his new bird, that she MUST use with him!

Wow, said Mister, she made that blanket? Yes, I said. And I think she hand-stitched it. Gorgeous collection of warm and sunny yellows for Pickles first and only blanket. Perfect for tummy time with a brachiosaurus for encouragement.

Up we go! Look at that lift!

There is no end to the wonderfulness of our friends and what their gifts bring out in our children.

Doughnut Walk

Mister and I have a soft spot for the Doughnut Plant on the Lower East Side. It's a good thing we aren't too close to it. The doughnuts are impossible to resist. He goes for the Blackout (chocolate cake) and Valrhona-dipped raised doughnut.

Our friends, the Mibblestines, are splitting time between California and NYC. There are a few things we have in common with them, including a love of food, cities, and walking. Mister found an article about doughnut shops in New York

 

Aunt E shares her orange-scented glazed with Bama.

The pistachio-glazed doughnut. A little sweet for me, if you can believe it. I can't resist the creme brulee, though. (Think a doughnut hole filled with creme and then the crisp sugar crust on top. OHMYHEAD!) I promise, Eggs wasn't even looking while I held this out for the shot.

Ms. Mibblestine graciously shared these little beauties from Brindle Room, which for some reason, calls itself Wonder City Coffee & Donuts in the morning. Less sugar, some kind of mashed potato goodness adds life to the doughnut. A little sweet on top, but I liked the not-too-sweet doughnut for contrast. 

Brindle Room on E. 10th. Good stuff.

We made it to two of four possible spots (a 7.3 mile trek whittled down to three miles, or one mile with two subways or two taxis). It was slow going with our babes in tow, but we worked off at least one doughnut that way.

(We plan to hit Dough and Peter Pan, both in Brooklyn, at a future date. Leave no doughnut unnibbled.)