So, yesterday was officially both Papa’s (My father-in-law) and Grandpa’s (my dad) birthdays. More on this later, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
We spent the day strolling around NYC yesterday. Running around the city is tough work with three kids. Even with help. Katie and Mike, (our friends from Hawaii), have always made having kids easier. They are a great aunt/uncle (they’re brother and sister) set to have around. When we lived in Hawaii, they were our babysitters. They were great to have around, and frequently crashed at our place. Having them over yesterday and today was like reliving old times a little, and that counts for a lot.
I’m a big fan of using the Subway when in NYC as a way of covering ground, especially with kids. It’s a bitch getting selves, kids, stroller, etc. to the platform, but once there, it’s a straight shot onto the train. The bus, on the other hand, would be sitting there while your slow-moving-herd boarded, while other passengers watched with frothing mouths.
Kevyn, it turns out, likes the subway too.
George and Kevyn on the subway
He kept asking me to let him slide down the pole. So being a dad, I obliged, his laughter being contagious and infecting other passengers.
Lara also introduced him to the rushing wind preceeding an oncoming train.
Lara and Kevyn, as the train approaches
Central park has some nice little playgrounds, where the kids can have adventures, meet new friends and explore the properties of matter, As Caelyn was wont to do. She also likes putting sand at the bottom of the slide. Just because.
Caelyn playing with sand
Mike and Katie spent some time with their non-blood nieces and nephew as well. Honestly, you should have seen the looks on their faces when Mike and Katie walked into the apartment yesterday morning. It was priceless!
Katie watching over Caelyn
Mike and Quinlyn
The end of the evening involved dinner and tomfoolery at Dave and Busters, where the kids made a killing in tickets on some roulette type of game. Quinlyn played air hockey for the first time. And Me, Mike, Quinlyn, and Kevyn took turns blowing up aliens/monsters on various gun games.
The cap to the evening was something Papa had said earlier. Lara had called him to wish him a happy birthday, and he said something to the effect of “have a piece of cheesecake for me.” Well, this became our driving force. Find a whole cheesecake in NYC at 9:30PM. Problem being that we were tired, and it was getting late: most normal bakeries were closed by then. Everywhere else sold them by the slice, and we weren’t having any of that. So after searching Times Square for a deli or bakery with a whole cheesecake we settled on a slightly-used-but-mostly-whole cheesecake, that cost $43 after tax. Some decisions just can’t be explained.
A slightly used cheesecake
Happy Halloween!
