Fuel Efficient Car Show

It just so happened that – right after Ezra’s march and fight for more electric cars – there happened to be a Fuel Efficient Car Show in Bedford NY. Of course we had to take him to see the Teslas (his favorite car to date) and various other models with fuel efficiency being at the core of their engineering. I think this is the first time he has ever seen a giant bow on the top of a car .. and he kind of loved the idea of getting one some day for his birthday. I think in his 6 year old fantasies he would drive around with the bow affixed to the car forever!

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Spring in the City

Whew .. a week of work is done and I have a few days to decompress before going back to work again. My blog has been a little neglected due to a hectic schedule, but my friend sent this beautiful instagram of the Orly Gender show being knitted together this week. I cannot wait to check it out this weekend. And while I was working I was back in this neighborhood again where I found tulips growing by the carousel. It was a bit stressful being so near to Times Square while the news broke that the Boston bombers had it as a second target. But at lunchtime I liked to imagine I could be in Paris when I’m in Bryant Park – especially when it’s misty and rainy, and flowers are in bloom.

Bring on the flowers and warmer weather!

instagram by Ina Seow

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Sagamore Hill and some more Theodore

My husband has an interest in Theodore Roosevelt (check out our previous Theodore encounter here) and was hankering for a trip to the Theodore Roosevelt house at Sagamore Hill. Unfortunately the house is under construction but there’s still Sagamore Hill itself. Sagamore Hill is a pleasant site to hike around – and it has an information center at Old Orchard Home where we could see some movies and old artifacts on the subject of Theodore’s life and presidency. The kids were pretty excited to get Junior Park Ranger badges – which were earned by completing a little test of finding various things around the center. Now that we are chalk full of Teddy knowledge can’t wait to get back to tour his home when the renovation is finished.

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Long Island Children’s Museum

Wow. This museum has the coolest little “animal diner” where you put plates of various kinds of ‘food’ in front of your animal customer – and the condiments on the bar will light up with a yes or no depending on what your animal likes to eat! Clearly this is another fun museum for climbers and sand diggers, and the music rooms are fascinating. But my kids can spend hours playing with the old rotary telephones with the ‘strange curly wires’ holding the earpiece to the base. Who knew such an overlooked device from MY past would be seen as an antique by my own kids so quickly!

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New Jersey Botanical Garden

What a strange time of year it’s been. We went to the New Jersey Botanical Garden and had a nice little picnic on the grass, and shortly thereafter it started to snow like crazy! The nice folks at the Skylands Manor let us enter (where normally you need an appointment to go in) — they knew that Zoe thought it was a ‘princess castle’ and let us check it out. Oddly enough today it’s 80 degrees in New York… what a strange April!

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Cousins in from Kansas City

Our cousins came around and we wanted to show them the Staten Island Children’s Museum – but the day just got away from us. The weather was beautiful and the kids preferred to play in a giant sand box area in Brooklyn instead. By the time we got to Staten Island Ferry we were side tracked again by an outdoor acrobatic performance, and then the ferry trip itself became our destination. When we got to Staten Island we checked out the 9-11 Postcards sculpture/memorial to 9-11 victims (on St. George Esplanade) before getting back on the ferry and heading home to dinner. We even got a glimpse of Lady Liberty on the ferry ride back, and showed our ‘waving game’ to Stella while on the train!
(It’s worth noting that in one day we managed to be in 4 out of 5 boroughs of NYC, and used all modes of transportation except a taxi! What an accomplishment for little travelers.. )

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Port Discovery

While we drove through Maryland we stopped in to check out an amazing exhibit at Port Discovery – the kids museum for Baltimore. Currently there’s a very fun, interactive show on the subject of all things ‘Wizard of Oz‘. Ezra and Zoe had just heard the ‘books on tape’ version of this story in the car, so they loved having some visuals put to it all. The voice altering machine (used in the story to amplify the wizard’s voice to make him more intimidating) was a big hit with my little crowd. And the permanent climbing maze is one of the most impressive we’ve seen … going through 3 floors. It’s not for those skittish about heights and climbing – however Ezra found plenty of little pockets of nets that he could manage without feeling overwhelmed. And you’ll need a change of clothing for the the water area – where there are even some fun games for the older kids to enjoy.

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Please Touch Museum

Really, does the name get any better than this? So far this is hands down the best children’s museum I’ve ever been to. Maybe I’m mostly impressed that this gorgeous old building was salvaged and converted to a children’s museum, instead of simply mowed down and built anew. Or maybe I love how many of the old toys and artifacts are woven into the new exhibits instead of being set aside to another section of the museum. Honestly it seems all kids’ museums have the same exhibits: the car garage and gas station, the water play area — but Please Touch does it bigger and better. And downstairs included a doll hospital, play McDonald’s Restaurant, and an amazing 2 story tree surrounded by an Alice in Wonderland play zone. We loved driving through Philadelphia in the first place, now this museum gives us even more reason to visit!

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Air and Space while in DC

I love this museum … I think it’s one of my favorite things to do in DC. I’m always happy that Ezra gets as much enjoyment out of it as I do (and I think Zoe likes it too.) I’m always surprised however that what E likes the most are the colossal plane engines and motors. Who knew that his 6 year old boy questions would already baffle me? Like ‘how does this engine work’ or ‘how exactly does a rocket thrust get a rocket into the air better than propellers?’ – I already feel like I can’t accurately answer him without reading all the museum signs patiently first. (Ezra is not as patient and wonders why I don’t already know this by heart.) What’s crazy is that days after our trip to Air and Space he woke in the morning and came to my bed, telling me he had the ‘best dream ever’. I expected to hear about blue skies and romps on a beach – but instead he told me he dreamed that he and his cousin Solomon built a huge motor together, while his cousin Eve built a pink motor. I have no idea what kind of engine he dreamt of – but it’s amazing to me that it put such a smile on his face for the whole day.

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Passover in DC and MD

Normally Fridays are reserved for Beautiful Things that we find on other blogs – but this Friday we have the most beautiful of all things to share: time with family! We spent a good part of the week traveling further south to DC and MD, hiking in nature, hanging with cousins, having a couple seders and waking to a surprising snow fall. Other than some relatives being displaced by a fire at their hotel – the weekend was pleasantly crazy with family fun.

Hooray for cousins!

Who knew he’d like wii dancing so much?

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