Sick at the Zoo

Today is painful. Today I feel like I used to feel every Saturday when I was younger and I swore I would never drink again. Sadly, I don't feel this way because I did drink again but because something I ate yesterday decided it didn't like me at about two am. I will spare you the details but I never really got to go back to sleep.

No day is good to get sick, especially with young children.  They don't really understand when mommy and daddy are sick. They understand when they are sick, but not when mommy and daddy are. Even if they did understand, food still needs to be made, diapers changed, etc. There is no taking a sick day with children.

Today was also the day of Caelyn's school trip to the zoo. It is something she has been looking forward to for a while. There was no way I would deny her that.

I got up early to make sure I could keep food down, took some medicine to keep me upright and started getting things ready for the trip.

Turtleback Zoo is probably the perfect size for small kids. It is small but not too small. It only takes a couple of hours to see everything, more if you want to ride the train, the carousel or a pony. However, it was built on a hillside. So there I was pushing Caleb and his stroller up hills in 87 degree weather while Caelyn is running around with her classmates.

For her part, Caelyn had a lot of fun. She loves her schoolmates and running around the zoo with them was a great time for her. We spent about 3 1/2 hours at the zoo. I felt awful the whole time. All I wanted to do was go home and go to bed. However, watching her play with her friends and the smile on her face, there is no other place I would have chosen to be than right there.

A Nap and Dinner

This one was my wife's idea when she saw the pictures.

Today's Nap

Today's Dinner

A Central Park Kind of Day

As a parent, there are days that when you are in the middle of them, you realize that they will stand out in your memory. Saturday was one of those days. We decided that we would head into Manhattan and spend the day in Central Park, or more specifically, Victorian Gardens at Wollman Rink and Hecksher playground. 

Before we headed in, I found myself doing something I had never done before. I printed a map of the park.  While I know my way around the park quite well, the maps I printed were of all the playgrounds and restrooms. Items that are very important when dealing with small children, especially with a child that waits to the last minute to tell anyone she needs to go.

Victorian Gardens is a small amusement park that is inside Wollman rink. For those who don't know, Wollman is an ice skating rink that is used throughout the winter. The place has 12 different rides geared toward small children.

It also has live entertainment for the kids. We saw Sammie and Tudie (a clown act) but more on that later. Caelyn loved the place. Absolutely loved it. Caleb was just happy that we kept him supplied with food all day long.

After checking out several different rides, it was time for lunch. We headed to the food court. Caelyn was wearing what she calls the most beautiful shirt in the world, a pink Ramones t-shirt. Sammie and Tudie came in to the food court shortly after we sat down to eat. We had not seen their show yet. Caelyn had, however, seen a little of the act a few weeks before at the Tribeca Film Festival street fair. She wanted to go over to say hi and tell Tudie her dress was pretty.

Turns out Tudie is a Ramones fan and started talking to Caelyn about the band. When the conversation was over, Caelyn returned to the table for lunch. Shortly after Caelyn's return, I heard what appeared to be a rendition of Blitzkrieg Bop being played on the ukulele. The sound was coming from behind a curtained off area of the food court. I grabbed Caelyn and we went to check it out only to be met by Sammie and Tudie returning to the dining area from behind the curtain. 

They had decided to work up an rendition of the song on the spot and came over to our table to sing it for Caelyn. So there we sat, enjoying every minute of two clowns playing and singing Blitzkrieg Bop for our daughter who was watching in awe. It was a great moment and I thank them for that.

Click here to see Sammie and Tudie sing Blitzkrieg Bop

After lunch it was off for more rides. As the spinning swings and the psychotic spinning tug boat had made me nauseous before we ate, I wanted nothing to do with them.

While I hung out with Caleb, Kerry got to accompany Caelyn on the spinning swings. After the swings, there were a few more rides, then it was time for Sammie and Tudie's show.

(According to Caelyn, it takes a lot of concentration to drive a truck with two steering wheels.)

Caelyn sat right up front.  When it was time for audience volunteers, she was brought on stage with a couple of other children.  She participated in plate spinning.  She could barely control her excitement.  A few times she was unable to control herself and she jumped up and down.

Sammie and Tudie on the Web

For anyone in the NYC area with small children, if you get a chance to see Sammie and Tudie, go see them.  I am not just saying that because of the attention they gave my daughter. They had the kids in the audience laughing and yelling back and forth at the stage the whole time. Every child there looked as if they were having fun and many of them stayed after to hear Tudie read a story.

After the show, it was a few more rides then off to Hecksher playground.  I won't give too many details other than it is a nice large playground, that and it borders a large area of climbing rocks.  Caelyn headed to the rocks and spent about an hour climbing rock formations. 

Caleb, well, mostly he just walked around but wouldn't venture to far from the Cheerios in the stroller.  He eventually passed out in the stroller before we left the playground.

Finally it was time to leave. We stopped at an ice cream cart on the way out.

Once that was finished, Caelyn climbed into the double stroller's jump seat for the ride back to the van.  She passed out on the way. 

We went home with two very tired and happy children making for two very tired but happy parents.