Searching for CC: Highlights from the Big Apple

Yesterday we drove up to New York City to visit Uncle Brian and wander through the Museum of Natural History and Central Park. Although I'm still shocked by this, I made it from our house to the parking garage in uptown Manhattan in only 2 hours and 15 minutes. That must be some kind of record, right? And, no, I wasn't even driving super fast! We just didn't hit any (any!) traffic on the NJ Turnpike through the Lincoln Tunnel or even on 10th Avenue. It was a transportation miracle!

(This miracle was unfortunately not duplicated on drive from Manhattan to Uncle Brian's place in Queens...)

The Museum of Natural History is one of my favorite places, particularly the Halls of Mammals. The full-size diorama displays were a huge hit with all 3 kids, as were the dinosaur fossils. Ben walked by the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Apatosaurus displays quite a few times. Abby's favorite part of the museum was surprisingly not the space exhibit or the animals, but the Asian peoples exhibits. She did have a chuckle when she learned Dad would weigh more than 4000 lbs. on the sun, though.

Caroline also liked all the animal displays, but stated that her absolute favorite part of the museum was "getting to buy my own hot dog". Mid-way through our tour we stepped outside to grab lunch from the hot dog vendors. Caroline inhaled her first dog and asked for a second. So, I handed her the $2 and said that she could go ahead and buy one all by herself. She acted like she had won the lottery (photo of her dancing in line below). So, the rare and priceless treasures in Museum hall were no match for the independent hot dog purchase!

Central Park is always fun and we always stumble upon things we have never seen before. This time, Abby and Caroline took in a street dancing performance with lots of handstands, breakdancing, and gymnastics. When the performers passed the hat after the performance to collect some money, Abby donated some of her very own money. I was a little worried about how much she might have given them, but later learned that she gave them "two whole dimes!"

Amazingly the kids still had energy, so we all played in the 72nd St. Playground (very cool with a play pyamid and rope tower) and also rambled through the "Ramble" area of the park, which is a paved woodland hiking trail. I can't believe such a natural treasure exists in the middle of New York City! It was a very beautiful hike since all the cherry trees and tulips and other spring flowers were in full bloom.