Easter fun

We enjoyed a nice, relaxing Easter weekend beginning with Thursday night's big egg-coloring extravaganza. We had our buddies Kellyn, Nasira and Fatima over to help Mason do the honors.

Take a look at all those colors!



All told, the kiddos dyed 36 eggs for us and eight hands! Now I understand why we always had to dye eggs well in advance of Easter Sunday -- so the dye would be gone in time for photos!



Rob and Mason spent Good Friday together, though Mommy had to work. I'll post more about their adventure later.

Easter Sunday doubled as Mommy's birthday this year, and we had a great time. First, Mason awoke to find his wares from the "Christmas" Bunny -- as he kept referring to the Easter Bunny all day long, especially when he was excited. Like Mason said, he got toys, some clothes and LOTS of candy from that Christmas Bunny.



After mass, we headed to brunch at one of our favorite Upper Westside spots, Arte Cafe, and then to Central Park for an egg hunt of our own. The Christmas Bunny was kind enough to leave Mason 25 stuffed eggs to find.



After last year's incident, Mason was worried about other kids swiping his eggs, so we picked a sunny, uninhabited hillside to hide them on. Or so we thought ...

It wasn't other kids who got to them this year, it was a squirrel. Check out the chewed-through egg and the empty candy wrapper.


Mason still had plenty of fun, though we only came home with 22 eggs. The squirrel got a few!



Note to Christmas Bunny: Stop bringing shorts! Two years in a row, we've egg-hunted in our winter jackets!

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, How Do You Stay Cool ...

When the temperature is 90+ degrees and the humidity makes your skin practically boil? For the polar bears at the Central Park Zoo, the answer was easy. Hover near-fully immersed in the water in the shadiest corner of your pen, watching everyone watch you, like so:

Penguins, Penguins, how do you stay cool? Um...that one's easy. They're of the arctic variety, and their water and enclosure is very cold. It was also very crowded as everyone lingered in the cool room for a little longer than normal. Mason, per usual, got up close and personal with one of his feathered friends, and even wowed him with his Happy Feet dance.

Mason Man, Mason Man, how do you stay cool? Why, at the Heckscher Playground, of course! We kind of discovered this playground late last year, but it quickly became a favorite. It's got this really cool series of walkways that are filled with water and connect to various places to climb up or down and a couple of slides -- which Mason learned today shoot you to the bottom at bullet-like speed once they (and he) are a little wet! In addition, there's not one, not two, but three separate sprinkler areas.



He was a little timid to start, but once he poured water over his head it was over. He LOVED it. He was running all over. Mommy ran through once with him, but a poor wardrobe choice (read: too much white) limited her to the sidelines, despite the fact that the misting sprinkler, especially, felt oh-so-good.

Once the little man was thoroughly soaked, we packed up, but, you know ... it was hot, so a little ice cream was in order to finish our day off right.


Afterward, Mommy dragged Mason to a few stores in Columbus Circle. As we were waiting in line at our last stop, he announced he had to poop. By the time we made it through the line, he was quite literally, too pooped to poop and had passed out in the stroller (where he still is, which is why I have time to write on the blog!) Success all around.

It Happened Again...

So, I've let it slide. Again.

Apologies for the month-long absence from the blog. I wish I could make a triumphant return with tales of a recent trip abroad, or somesuch, but I have nothing of the like to report.

Instead, here's what we have been up to as summer has engulfed the city, bringing with it sunshine, but also humidity and heat...

Without further ado, here are some long overdue adventures with our urban toddler:

Hanging out in beautiful Central Park and enjoying our new favorite activity: duck feeding.

So far, we've discovered they like stale bread the best (actually, doesn't everyone know that?). The turtles at Morningside Park went crazy for some Veggie Booty, while stale pretzels are a little too hard to handle. Stale bread is also the least preferred food by Mason, while he has a hard time sharing the Booty!

We also checked out NY's annual Fleet Week, we got to go aboard the U.S.S. Kerasage. And. It. Was. Big.



Aboard the ship, we got to climb on everything: Looking over the edge of the boat.



Popping out of a tank (with another Dallas Cowboys fan/marine, who wanted a picture with our little Cowboy-clad cutie).



On a hover craft, which some kids had unknowingly started inflating earlier in the day, because they literally let the kids climb and play everywhere, cockpit included.



On the deck of the boat.



Climbing in and out of helicopters.



And finally watching a Canadian ship docked just upstream from us head out to sea, police escort included.



We spent Memorial Day out at Coney Island in Brooklyn (home of the hot-dog eating contest where we will NOT be next week).

We broke in our new WCS membership with a trip to the aquarium where Mason was reacquainted with the walrus.



We also saw the sharks and sea turtles. Mason even got to handle a starfish at the touch pool.

Also a highlight: Watching the sea lion show at the Aquatheatre.



After that, we headed for the boardwalk where Mason got to spend some time on the rides at Deno's Wonder Wheel Park.

Mommy was a little nervous that it was too much for her little man, but as you can see, he had a blast!



We met up with some friends, and he and Sophia loved riding the rides together.

After a brief break from the park -- to refuel with some cotton candy and Italian ices -- the whole family braved the Wonder Wheel. So fun ... and a bit terrifying, since the Ferris Wheel cars swing around as you're sailing through the air.



Some more of the views...

Thanks for checking in. I'll try not to be so tardy with the posting. It can be my July resolution...

Showing Off Our City

Mommy's college friend Dorothy flew in for a weekend graduation and Mommy and Mason were lucky enough to steal a whole day to spend with her. Her only request: We show her some of our favorite spots in the city. Oh...that, and she wanted to go to FAO Schwarz.

Our first stop was the Carousel at Central Park.



After that, Mason pulled Dorothy all over FAO, while I chased them with the stroller and the camera.

First, the train set.



Next, the Harry Potter section.



Later, the dinosaurs (that is his *cheese* face).



After wearing ourselves out, we decided to grab some good old-fashioned NYC hot dogs and sat in the corner of the park watching the carriages and the cabs pass by. Of course, no warm-weather lunch is complete without a Mr. Frostee ... or two!



We finshed off our journey with a walk through Times Square before heading home for a little R&R. Of course, there's no rest for the wicked. We had a date with some steamy NYC pizza and finished our day in the most perfect of ways: A Magnolia Bakery Cupcake.

How Time Flies...

Saturday, Mason and I went to the Central Park Zoo to reconnect with some old friends (the penguins, puffins and polar bears) as well as to sign up for a yearly membership. Of course, no trip to the zoo is complete without a walk through the Children's Zoo, where I snapped this picture.



Oddly similar to this picture (minus the Dad-O holding Mason inside the shell) which we took in October of 2006.



I guarantee we'll have more turtle pictures from future trips to the zoo.

Not Quite Ready For Nathan's...

Mason had his first real New York City hot dog (not cut up into teeny-tiny pieces or anything) as we walked through Central Park on Saturday. Quite a cute site, him all bundled up, sitting on the park bench and eating it from both ends.

We had grand plans of attending this family friendly event in the park, which turned out to be a dud aside from the free carousel. Mason loved the carousel. Good thing it was free, because we rode it three times. Once on the giraffe, once on the zebra and once on a good-old-fashioned horse. He also got a elephant-shaped balloon from one of the clowns before we left the crowd behind and headed for the great outdoors.

Aside from amusing us with the aforementioned hot-dog eating moment, he was a riot as he toddled all the way across the park -- we're talking the whole width of the park, people. A big deal for a kiddo who only wants to be carried or in his stroller.

He was a chatter box the whole time. Talking to the "big fluffy squirrels" he knows from his This is New York book and pointing out the horse-drawn carriage while making horse noises (and imploring Mommy and Dad-o to do the same).

All in all, just a simple day in the park, but so much fun seeing it through his eyes.