Stardate 62589.75 - NJ Trip

After a rough week of multiple presentations for Cheryl (note to self, don't bring stuff home and try to work on it the day before the presentation when you've just installed the latest version of Microsoft Office which is nothing like the previous version and you are under a tremendous amount of pressure!), we decided to go to the beach for Saturday. We got out of the city early Saturday and due to the imminent threat of rain the traffic was light to the beach. We managed to get a good hour under our belts before the thunder and lightning appeared and we packed up and headed back in for lunch. We really knew it was time when the wind suddenly shifted and it was suddenly 10 degrees cooler than it had been.


Loren has come a long way from the times last summer when all she wanted to do was smash sand castles. Now she wants to decorate them (note the feather). After lunch I took a shower and when I came out it was dark and pouring rain with wind so strong the cars were shaking in the parking lot. After about 20 minutes, it cleared up and started to get hot and humid again. Here Loren poses in a new outfit Cheryl's Grandmother purchased for her. Loren loved it!


We then went over to Cheryl's parents' house for dinner and some time in the pool. Loren kept telling Cheryl, "I want to swim by myself! Mommy let go of me!" I guess it is time to get one of those flotation vests for her to use in the pool. She has the hang of what she is supposed to do with her legs and arms, and spent a good 30 minutes running Cheryl and Grandma ragged in the pool! The best quote of the evening, however, was in this exchange between Cheryl and Loren:

Cheryl - "We have to get out of the pool, it is almost time for dinner."
Loren - "I want pizza!"
Cheryl - "We're having chicken burgers, Grandma doesn't have pizza."
Loren - "Get it delivered!"

Yes, Loren is a child of the city.

We spent the night and Cheryl's parents watched Loren so we could go out to a movie. I'll try to post the review later this week (we saw The Dark Knight). After church on Sunday we came back into the city. A college associate of mine (Kim Walter) was in town with her husband and 2 children but they had split up so he and one child could watch the Yankees and she and the other child could explore New York City so we met them for lunch in between their tours of FAO Schwartz and the American Museum of Natural History. We told Loren if she was good we could get ice cream on the way home and of course she wanted the messiest cone possible.


On Friday we leave for Ohio for a wedding, so this week is a short one and we should have a bunch of photos and stories after that trip.

NYC

Stardate 62003.84 - New Year's Day

On December 31st Cheryl and I stayed up and watched Knocked Up (our review of that movie will be posted later). We finished the movie at 2345 so we stayed up the extra 15 minutes and watched the ball drop. The whole event just gets more and more underwhelming each year. The 1999-2000 year change was such a big deal that everything else pales in comparison (although maybe it is because the 2001-2002 change was the last time we actually went out to a big event for New Year's).

Anyway, Steve and Rachel and their kids Ethan and Ellie came into the city on January 1st, and we took them to the American Museum of Natural History as our gift to the kids. Since Loren enjoyed it so much when we took her, we joined as members so we can go back for free as much as we want (and we paid for Steve's family as our Christmas gift).



Generally, everyone seemed to have a good time, but we had a significant issue with the coat check. We got there pretty early and there we no lines for the tickets, but there was a line of 20 people or so waiting to check coats. It was a raw, cold, rainy day (and hot in the museum) so we didn't want to have to carry coats around. It took the two people behind the counter 30 minutes to process 20 people. At the end of our trip we took the kids to the cafe and I went to the coat check to get into the line to pick up all the coats. The line was probably 30 people when I got into it, and another 10-15 stacked up behind me. At one point, they closed the doors so that no-one else could get into the line. This action made all the people trying to pick up coats come in through the exit and try to cut into the front of the line, making people picking up coats who were waiting patiently in line (like me!) very angry. It took nearly an hour for me to get the coats, and things were really starting to turn ugly as I collected our coats and left (when the coat check guy was telling a customer to take it up with his supervisor, I knew things were bad). And for the pleasure of this waiting and waiting and waiting we got to pay $2 per coat. I did end up in line behind two women from England so having been there a few times for business I chatted with them, passing the time. My advice - on busy days, keep your coat.

Finally I had our coats and we left the museum and went back to our place for Steve and Rachel to see our co-op and for the kids to play. We ordered great pizza from Pizza Park and as the kids were getting really tired (and Steve's cat allergies were starting to kick in) I took Loren out in the stroller so she could fall asleep for her nap and when I got back Steve and Rachel were just about to head out the door and back to NJ.

NYC

Stardate 62535.26 - Sunday at the Museum

Curt here, logged into Cheryl's account. It is too late and I'm too tired to log her out and log me in. On Saturday Cheryl took Loren out to NJ to the beach and to visit with her parents, while I went to see a movie and enjoyed an evening sail in the Hudson. They spent the night, and then came back early Sunday. We decided to go to the American Museum of Natural History, which we've been to several times. We left around lunch, so we stopped at one of the vending carts to enjoy a quick snack, and Loren got ice cream. We just sat on the edge of the sidewalk and ate before entering the building. Loren loves her ice cream!


Afterward we went down to Macy's so I could buy a pair of cuff links (with a quick stop for pizza first). After telecommuting for 6 years and getting by on just a week's worth of dress shirts for the past 3-4, I finally purchased some additional dress shirts and I got two of them with french cuffs, just for fun. I also needed a few new undershirts so I got a 3-pack while we were there. By that time we were all hot and tired and we came on home to a nice, cool apartment.

NYC

Stardate 61820.6 - I Like the Museum

Today we went to the American Museum of Natural History for Loren to see the dinosaurs. She had as much fun climbing the stairs and hopping from sticker to sticker on the floor as she did actually looking at the dinosaurs. But in the elevator on the way back up to the apartment she said, "I like the museum!"







NYC