On Saturday Chris was available to spend time with us in the morning before his business meetings began, so we took a subway for the novelty of it.
John loves trains, but the "underground train" was a bit too loud for him.
As usual, John was somber in the midst of the new experience, but enjoyed it in retrospect.
We got off at the Penn Station stop and walked to St. John Baptist's parish to see the
Shrine of St. Padre Pio, which contains three relics: his sock, his glove, and some of his blood on fabric.
Then we took a cab the rest of the way to the
Central Park zoo. (This is where Curious George lived before he went to live with the man with the yellow hat, as we all know.) The zoo was darling in its petite size.
Afterward we walked to
St. Vincent Ferrer's parish. What a lovely Marian garden on the outside of the church!
This was the wonderful baptismal font, positioned at the outside/entrance of the church as is traditional.
The sanctuary was gorgeous! We have way too many photos of it to post.
We stopped for some New York pizza before taking a taxi back to the hotel.
I told John that we'd be laying down for naps when we got back to the hotel, to which he shrieked that he was not tired, the sun was up, and he would not be taking a nap. This photo of him fast asleep was taken about two minutes later.
After naps and while Chris was in meetings, I took the children on a walk. St. John's (Episcopalian) chapel is right next door to our hotel. It has a sweet graveyard with all the words worn off the headstones.
George Washington prayed at this church after he was inaugurated president and there are two famous people (an actor and a French general) buried here. After 9-11, it was the wrought iron fence of this church that people turned into a spontaneous memorial. (This is
the only image of it that I can find.)
Then we meandered to the playground at Battery Park. Boy, was that a hit!
This water wall is how we ended up spending an hour and a half at the park! Water shot out of holes in the wall at random. John filled up his bucket countless times, then pouring the water into the sand. I had dressed him totally inappropriately in pants and a long-sleeve shirt because it had rained all morning, but by afternoon it was brilliantly sunny. All the other kids were in swimsuits. Part of being two years old is not differentiating between pants and a swimsuit, so by the end, John was soaking, covered in sand, and pantless, which is how he walked back through Manhattan to our hotel!
John loves trains, but the "underground train" was a bit too loud for him.
As usual, John was somber in the midst of the new experience, but enjoyed it in retrospect.
We got off at the Penn Station stop and walked to St. John Baptist's parish to see the Shrine of St. Padre Pio, which contains three relics: his sock, his glove, and some of his blood on fabric.
Then we took a cab the rest of the way to the Central Park zoo. (This is where Curious George lived before he went to live with the man with the yellow hat, as we all know.) The zoo was darling in its petite size.
Afterward we walked to St. Vincent Ferrer's parish. What a lovely Marian garden on the outside of the church!
This was the wonderful baptismal font, positioned at the outside/entrance of the church as is traditional.
The sanctuary was gorgeous! We have way too many photos of it to post.
We stopped for some New York pizza before taking a taxi back to the hotel.
I told John that we'd be laying down for naps when we got back to the hotel, to which he shrieked that he was not tired, the sun was up, and he would not be taking a nap. This photo of him fast asleep was taken about two minutes later.
After naps and while Chris was in meetings, I took the children on a walk. St. John's (Episcopalian) chapel is right next door to our hotel. It has a sweet graveyard with all the words worn off the headstones.
George Washington prayed at this church after he was inaugurated president and there are two famous people (an actor and a French general) buried here. After 9-11, it was the wrought iron fence of this church that people turned into a spontaneous memorial. (This is the only image of it that I can find.)
Then we meandered to the playground at Battery Park. Boy, was that a hit!
This water wall is how we ended up spending an hour and a half at the park! Water shot out of holes in the wall at random. John filled up his bucket countless times, then pouring the water into the sand. I had dressed him totally inappropriately in pants and a long-sleeve shirt because it had rained all morning, but by afternoon it was brilliantly sunny. All the other kids were in swimsuits. Part of being two years old is not differentiating between pants and a swimsuit, so by the end, John was soaking, covered in sand, and pantless, which is how he walked back through Manhattan to our hotel!
Katherine,
ReplyDeleteTruly I am impressed that you have braved NYC, an unfamiliar environment, with your two children (at times alone). Way to go! You look like you are having a great time.
Ashley
You're so intrepid to see the sights with two kids in NYC. I grew up minutes away and worked in Manhattan for years as an adult, and even so, I have not been brave enough to take my kids into the city when I visit home.
ReplyDeleteAshley and Sarah: THANK YOU, LADIES! It has been so hard to be treking around NYC, mostly alone, with the children. Can I say again, hard? And extremely hot? And very heavy? And all my muscles are sore from walking for hours at a time? And mentally exhausting to make sure at every moment that both children are safe and accounted for? And yet I also could not keep them locked in the hotel room for eight hours at a stretch (without even any decent TV) while Chris worked because then bad things would happen, as you well imagine. So, thank you for validing that THIS WAS HARD and maybe I'm not the wimp I thought I might be. (Can you tell that I'm ready to be safe in my own home now?)
ReplyDeleteNew York City is an ambitious undertaking with a young toddler and a nursing baby. No doubt about it. That's why my parents moved out of NYC and into the suburbs of Connecticut when I was 7. The city was too rough on parenthood. I think you did an outstanding job. I hope you are home safe and sound.
ReplyDeletePS - I have yet to even attempt flying with my little rascals! Yesterday we took an outing to an outdoor shopping center, and I was exhausted. I had Jules strapped to me, and Leo in a stroller tantruming a good deal of the time since he wanted to get out and run around (it wasn't safe to him to do so, or else I would have let him). The most disturbing part was that the reason we were at that shopping center was to get him his big birthday present! I can only imagine being responsible for a baby and a newborn in New York City. Wow! And it was humid too, which makes it extra difficult to have a baby strapped to you! You amaze me!