Friday in New York City

We are staying at a hotel immediately adjacent to Ground Zero, so we walk out the front door and across two lanes of traffic is the fencing around the construction site where the Twin Towers once stood. (We're not staying here for novelty; this is actually right next to the buildings where Chris is working.) We're in a corner room, so one window looks down on Ground Zero and the other window looks over the water with the Statue of Liberty visible.

John is overjoyed to stand on the windowsill and watch the construction site. And Mary loves to tag after him in anything he does. (In the above photo, on the close building to the left, you can see the window washers' platform at the top of the building. Watching it move into position, then descend throughout the day provided much entertainment--for John and for the adults!)

Chris had meetings all day, so after we ate breakfast together in the hotel, I took the kids walking for two hours, during which time I made a circle around Ground Zero and walked along Battery Park. Above is one of the many cranes with an American flag hanging from it.

This is the firehouse just one lane of traffic across from Ground Zero.

This is a small memorial to the firemen lost on 9/11. I was surprised how moved and tearful I was walking around the site. I felt so upset, so angry at the attackers, so patriotic, so moved by the innumerable acts of heroism at that time. I have a sense of uneasiness now being here (right here) on this hallowed ground that is, essentially, a battlefield or a graveyard.

After walking around half of Ground Zero, I saw some water in the distance so walked over there to check it out, discovering that it was Battery Park. John enjoyed watching the boats zooming across the water and the many helicopters flying by. The above boat (yacht?) was his dream come true: a boat with a helicopter parked on it (also parked on the boat were two jet skis and two scooters!).

Then we walked around the other half of Ground Zero, had lunch in the room, and I got the kids down for a nap. (My first nap attempt failed, as John was too wound up. He got out of bed, turned on the radio, and said, "I just have to dance!" And away he went.)

After a long, much-needed nap, I took the children to the temporary museum at Ground Zero, which was very touching. Many tears were shed.

Then a rain storm hit, so I had to take the kids back to the hotel instead of taking a walk I had planned. At that time of day there were no cartoons on the television, I had very spotty Internet and very spotty cell coverage, so all three of us were bottled up in a hotel room for a few hours, trying just to get along. Thankfully, John and Mary are now starting to play together. Mary eschews baby toys to tag after her brother in whatever he is doing. Today I witnessed two firsts in their playing. At one point, John wanted to keep a half pint bottle of water to himself, but Mary desperately wanted it. John kept moving it away from her, so she'd cruise along furniture after him and the bottle. Then John set it down and forgot about it momentarily while he looked at something else. But Mary had not forgotten about it, so she cruised over there, grabbed it, and I heard her let out a wild squeal of triumph. Then John saw her and protested, but did so while laughing because he saw her laughing. Then she actually laughed in his face, revealing total glee that she had captured his water bottle. It was cute instead of irritating because both kids were having fun and no sibling fight broke out.

Later I witnessed their first real game of chase. John chased Mary all over the room, each laughing in delight. They must have passed 20 minutes at that game: twenty minutes of my not having to deal with them. There are benefits to having more than one child!

In the evening, the kids and I joined Chris and two of his coworkers for dinner--at a much more appropriate restaurant that was loud, fun, and had great food. It was packed to the gills and there were even other children there.

The restaurant was right off of Times Square, so we briefly visited it. Another rain storm broke out, so we stayed only a few minutes.

Chris was trying to be artful with this angle and poor John was miserable about the wetness of the rain, even though it was quite warm. Sweet boy was probably also extremely overstimulated from a day of nearly incessant noise, lights, movement, and visual stimulus. I know I had a headache from it all!