It has been a while

It has been a while since I logged on here. We were busy with my sister's visit and then just busy with life in general. I hope to get caught up a bit tonight.

My sister and her family came on April 4th for a long weekend stay. They arrived Friday evening and departed Tuesday afternoon. We had a great weekend together and I'm sure the kids had a great time playing together. I don't think Ethan and Jameson fought as much as they usually do either. Improvement comes in baby steps!

Thomas and Ethan were so excited to go to New York City so we planned a trip for Saturday. Good old weather person predicted a cool day filled with rain. No problem, we planned indoor stuff. We decided to do something different and go on the Staten Island Ferry. We got there no problem and only had minimal problems/u-turns/illegal turns before we found the parking. We boarded the ferry and the kids were instantly thrilled. It's a quick ride but just perfect for the kids. Thomas was especially pleased that he got to see the Statue of Liberty.

We were sitting on the ferry talking about the plans for the day. We would walk around Battery Park and then jump on the subway and head up to the Children's Museum of Manhattan. We knew that the kids were excited to go on the subway as well so we thought the whole day was quite an adventure.

Once we docked and got off the ferry we walked around the park. It was clear and sunny but there was quite a wind whipping around down there. There were a ton of people enjoying the beautiful day (uh, what was the forecast oh trustworthy weatherperson?). The line up for the ferry to see the Statue and Ellis Island was insanely long. So glad that wasn't a part of our plans.

We headed underground and got on the ferry. It was so loud but, surprisingly, the kids weren't scared. James and I made our game plan before heading out so our roles were clear and we knew which child was under our personal care and observation. Thankfully for Chris, Thomas is older and much less worry. They did have the additional burden of a cumbersome stroller but they made due.

We got on the next train and all had seats, what a relief. All the boys were liking it at first but, before long, Kyle expressed his displeasure. I don't blame him. It's dark, it's loud and there are a ton of flashing lights. You're also be jostled back and forth and there are a bunch of strange people as well as strangers surrounding you. Poor little guy. :(

We got off at Columbus Circle where we had to switch lines. According to our map we needed to get on the C train. We stood around trying to figure out where we were going. I did a head count and realized that there was one head missing. It was Ethan. (I lost some more years off my life then.) We quickly scanned the area and found that he had followed the masses and ended up on the other side of the exit gate. There was a ranting lunatic lady on the gate yelling "Who does this kid belong too? Don't you watch your ^$*&#* kid?" Poor Ethan. He wasn't scared, just a bit confused. He had to endure the crazy chick though. Thankfully there was an off duty police officer who took flashed his badge and took Ethan to a gate where he let him back in. Either my sister has nerves of steel or she does not let her emotions show. She was as calm as could be.

We eventually found where we were supposed to be and stood there and waited, and waited..... Dumb tourists. We didn't look at the sign (in our defense, there weren't a lot of signs and they weren't really obvious) that said that the C train was not working so we had to take the A train. This devastated Jameson. I'm not sure why exactly but he had his heart set on riding the C train. It became a day long (and week long) comment that the "C train isn't working". He got that stuck in his little head (well, not so little really) and just fixated on it. That night Tom told him that we didn't ride the C train because "C" means no children allowed. I'm not sure where he comes up with these things either. I honestly think my sister is raising four boys, not just three.

We got on the A train and headed up to the Museum of Natural History, our stop. Our destination was only a few blocks from there. It was nice because we had been there on our last trip so we had an idea of where we were going. Once we surfaced again we decided it was time to eat. I was willing to walk the few blocks to H & H Bagel but no one else was. :( We went to Chicago Uno and had quite a nice lunch. Terrible service and disgusting washrooms but the food was decent. I just don't want to think what the kitchen looked like if they let their washroom get so gross.

We headed out from the restaurant and decided that the day was so beautiful we shouldn't waste it inside. We headed over to Central Park with the thought of going to the zoo. It was easily 70 degrees and sunny. Truly, a perfect spring day. We ended up walking through the park for the rest of the day. We didn't even make it to the zoo. The kids (big and small) had fun just walking/running/climbing on rocks and looking at the lake.

We were headed to one particularly large rock when we noticed a wedding about to take place. I like to be nosey so I tried to get a good look at the bride. Now, it's my opinion that all brides are beautiful. Even a person who is not so beautiful other days becomes beautiful when she puts on the white dress and the veil. (This is just my opinion.) Well, I have to say, that this particular bride was definitely an exception to that theory. She was not very attractive. In fact, she looked down right manly. Which got me thinking, maybe it was a man. That would explain why there was no family there. There was literally a bride and a groom and an officiant. Seems a bit suspicious. Just a theory...but it would make my beautiful bride theory still stand true.

Prince Stellan decided that he wanted to be carried most of the time. He was OK walking on his own but the problem was that he was so much slower than everyone else. He had to run his hand along the fence as he was walking. He had to bend over and pick up stones, every 3 steps. I usually don't mind but it's difficult to walk so leisurely when everyone else is so far ahead. By the end of the day my shoulders were killing me. Prince Stellan was happy though. Problem is, he is so stinking cute that it's hard to say no to him.

We were heading on our way out of the park when Tom and Thomas needed to stop for a washroom break. Jameson needed to earlier on but I have no problem letting him pee on a tree. The line up for the port-a-potty was not too long and they got in relatively quickly. I can only imagine how disgusting that must have been. I don't even want to think of what it was like. The restaurant washroom was gross but I would take it any day over a port-a-potty. But when nature calls you gotta do what you gotta do.

The boys were all so well behaved. They had so much fun which meant that the adults had a great time too. It was such a great day. I am so glad that we had such wonderful weather and such a great time. They enjoyed the ferry ride back and mine even had enough energy to run up and down the ramp at the terminal. On the way home we ordered a pizza so it was ready when we drove by. So yummy!!! We went to bed early and I can say that I slept quite well.

What a great day! Maybe my sister will even start to like big cities after this experience.