The Happiest place(s) on earth

Although we have never bought into the idea that parents are depriving their children of the necessities of life if they have never been to Disneyland, the stars aligned for us in January, and we were able to put together a pretty fun trip.

It all started last summer, when Kelly proposed a paper for a conference in San Diego, then forgot all about it. In October, we found out we'd be going down south, so we figured we could try to piggyback on the drive down with a trip to the magical kingdom itself. One thing led to another, the phones started ringing, and before we knew it we had ourselves an ordeal all lined up. Here are some pictures from the fiasco in no particular order (importing confusion).

The first day at Disneyland was tough on little B. He came down with a cold that later evolved into a flu, which resulted in throw up near the men's restroom of the Livermore A&W Root Beer. When we got home, he climbed into the crib (which he hasn't used in years), and went to sleep. Sick kids are a sad sight.

This was earlier in the trip, when a few power ranger action figures, the first twenty minutes of several DVD's, and lots of junk food got us all the way down the coast (7.5 hours) with minimal whining and crying. Asher took two naps along the way. Overall, we had some pretty good travelers.

They say Disneyland makes the kids happy...you should see the grandparents. We were so happy to have Kim's parents lay aside their normal lives for a few days and make the trip over. Although Bennett doesn't show it in the picture, our kids were so glad to be around their grandparents and ate up every second they could get. And to top it all off, the cousins from Oklahoma flew in and turned the trip into a veritable family reunion. 

Southern California in January - warm enough to play in the water in a diaper.

And Mr. Crankyface (at the beginning of the sick phase, Bennett was not feeling very happy)

Asher, on the other hand, was loving life in Toon Town.

While Kelly was sitting through boring talks all day at the hotel, Kim and the boys got a special visitor - aunt Leanne from Arizona - who accompanied them to Sea World one day. Despite the funny sea lions and spectacular orcas, Asher preferred rolling around in his jammies all over Leanne.

But the shows were pretty cool.
Bennett was not very pleasant at SeaWorld, even after several exuberant youtube sessions leading up to the occasion. He did, however, enjoy the padded play area with the huge stackable blocks. Can anyone tell me how this fits in to the marine motif?

The Hike

It was one of those afternoons where moving from the east coast to California makes perfect sense. Paradisiacal, you could say. And afternoons like this one have a tendency to turn otherwise normal people into the adventurous, active type without much warning. So it was on this Saturday afternoon, as the four of us set out on the first hike in the history of our family - possibly since Scouts and Girl's Camp, depending on what you count - and we were off toward the green hills of Briones Regional Park. 

Bennett was thrilled to be walking/running along the trails, and the nervous factor was limited to the remote possibility of a dog attack (we saw lots, but they were mostly on leashes) and a tumble down a cliff (there was a lot of grass, so he would have had a padded fall). Asher rode most of the way on our shoulders, using the kid-carrying backpack we bought at a garage sale a few months ago (for free) with the hope that we would one day use it. 

Bennett got some positive reinforcement at an early age for picking some flowers in a field and giving them to his mother; now he cannot resist the opportunity, and we have had to physically restrain him from the planters of many a shopping center. In the wilderness it seemed OK, and he was off through the meadows gathering token after token of his affection. Sweet kid.

By the end of the trek, Asher was getting restless, and his thirty-four pounds were weighing on our shoulders in a painful way. Not to mention the climb. So we found out that we, while not exactly prepared to take on Everest, definitely have the potential for being one of those families that hikes for fun, and we plan to try it again soon. Especially when the weather and scenery are this perfect.

As if all that outdoor adventure were not enough, Asher couldn't get enough and hurried outside to enjoy his own little slice of paradise - slides and lollipops in the backyard.

We [heart] New York

If you don't count a few 24-hour tourist blitzes during the time we lived in Boston, and a trip Kelly took as a one-year-old with his parents, we really had never visited New York. We definitely did not have anything close to "the experience." But life is a funny thing, and we ended up spending the bulk of December in the big city due to a work assignment for the local electric utility. 

With three weeks in NYC, we can't claim to have anything close to an idea of what the place is really like, but the following is a compilation of first impressions from what turned out to be a memorable stint. The first adjective for the experience is "cold," followed closely by "awesome" and "really fun." Here is Asher gazing in wonder at the bright lights of Times Square.

A lot of people have asked where we were staying. Since I'm a nerd, I'll just embed this google map and you can see for yourself. The place was a long-term executive hotel (basic services provided, new sheets every couple weeks, buy your own groceries, etc):

View Larger Map

We loved being so central to so much fun stuff: Madison Square Park (including Shake Shack), Downtown and Midtown access, Fifth Avenue shopping (yeah right)...

The hotel had a little patio on the fifteenth floor, which came in handy when it was time for our little California boy to experience his first snow.

Being December, the weather was pretty cold (especially hard on us after we have grown "soft" since leaving the East Coast).  Take below-freezing temperatures, wind chill, rain, ice and snow, coupled with a family unit that is accustomed to traveling by car everywhere, and throw in one or two naps a day, and you end up spending a lot of time in the hotel. 

Fortunately, the 1-bedroom unit provided by my company worked out pretty well. Asher's crib fit snugly into the pantry next to the kitchen, which ended up so dark and isolated from his older brother's morning routine that he was sleeping several hours more per day than normal.

When the ~500 square feet just didn't cut it, the boys had a great time running the hallways of the 19th floor. After about 37 reminders not to bang on any doors or scream, this became a decent release for everyone.

And when they were not out in the hallway, Bennett and Asher were sure to get every possible ounce of fun out of their surroundings. This couch was not only a wrestling mat, but also a pirate ship, spacecraft, fortress, and bed. And toilet one time (Asher ran away from a diaper change...gross).

So we got nervous soon after our arrival when we found out how difficult it would be to navigate the city and the cold with two small children. (Every time I write this, I think of the moms that somehow live in Manhattan and pull this feat off on a daily basis.) The prospect of getting in enough fun seemed daunting. In a moment of exasperation early in our stay, I saw Kim mouthing the words of a silent prayer. I took the boys out into the hallway to let her vent in peace, when to my astonishment I found our neighbor from a few doors down, stay-at-home mom, transplant to NYC on temporary assignment, and even Mormon, coming off the elevator. We have come to refer to this fortuitous encounter as "The Miracle on 24th Street." And it really was a miracle. We not only had some friends in a strange place for communal "Office" viewing,  pointers on the city, and general camaraderie, but we also had baby monitors and a clear signal. This meant swaps, and we really took advantage of the situation. Each couple went out four times over the course of a couple weeks, giving us the chance to see shows and visit shops and try restaurants and just enjoy New York nights at Christmastime. We had a blast, and still feel so fortunate to have met our new friends David and Bonnie.

The best date ever involved a carriage ride through Central Park...

I kept thinking about the Seinfeld episode with the Pork-n-Beans, but the park was really nice and the falling snow made it all very quiet.

...the famous Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree and Ice Skating Rink...

...and lots of other things. We stayed out for something like 4 hours, walking around under a light snowfall the whole time. Here are some highlights:

• Trying a randomly selected restaurant and finding it to be delicious
• Visiting a large and beautiful Cathedral

• Checking out the coolest Apple Store I've ever seen
• Late night peppermint hot chocolate at Starbucks (literally on every block in Manhattan)
• Famous Serendipity desserts, including the oxymoronic frozen hot chocolate
• And a quintessential "yellow cab" on the way home.

As if one fun date wasn't enough, we went a couple days later to see the Little Mermaid on Broadway. We're no connoisseurs, but we both agreed it was a really fun show. The costumes and sets were unbelievable.

On the Sunday before we left, we took a subway across to Brooklyn and then walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. The photos don't do it justice in the least bit, but it was a nice view as we walked toward the illuminated downtown area and looked out over the East River and the harbor. But definitely cold again...

We took advantage of the free ferry ride to Staten Island and back. Despite the "crazy eyes" and the eery, yellowish glow of the vessel's lighting, the ride was fun and we got an up-close (and free) view of Bennett's favorite attraction, the Statue of Liberty.

Someone at FAO Schwartz is paid to construct Lego models of Chewbacca. I might be in the wrong profession.
The picture at the big foot-piano was mostly out of obligation. The boys didn't know about the 1989 motion picture "Big," and they didn't have the courage to go far from Kim. Plus it was naptime.

Santaland at Macy's is another of those "Christmas Miracles" in that it's amazing anyone has the time and willpower to put together room upon room of intricate holiday decorations - model trains, scale villages, singing bears, life-sized murals, exuberant elves, and even Santa Claus. Actually, four Santa Clauses. Bennett was timid but followed through with his plan to ask for legos; Asher was terrified.

Adventures in the Big Apple

We went to New York and lived in Manhattan for three weeks in December. It was a lot of fun, but the combination of Blogger, Firefox, and the MacBook are not allowing us to post pictures. Except for a weirdly shaded version of this one: