NYC Day 2: Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

When we were planning out our second day of things to do in New York, Dylan put in a request to go to Nintendo World. It’s basically just a big store for Nintendo and it’s got lots of Wii stations and Nintendo DS’ set up around the shop. He really wants to buy a new game that’s just come out. Now I’ve been rather smart in getting out of a purchase so far. I told Dylan two weeks ago that I was not buying or downloading anymore games on his DS until he could tie his shoe laces. You see all his life I’ve bought him shoes that are velcro and it works out very convenient in terms of him having himself dressed and ready for school on time. But his baseball shoes have laces and so it really is time he learnt.

So that morning I said yes we can go look in the store, but don’t ask me for a game because you know the deal. That has him frantically pulling apart the hotel room for a pair of shoes with laces. Luckily Fletch had brought a pair and what do you know he learns to tie his shoes in ten minutes flat. He does it a few times and even yesterday he tied his laces on his baseball shoes so all I can say is that there’s nothing like a little motivation to get the job done!

Closed? Nooooo!

Stories on the steps

Before we get to the Nintendo Store there’s a few other places we wanted to stop at. First is the NY Public Library. I’ve always wanted to see the grand reading room with it’s long tables and green lamps. But it is close for the memorial weekend. We sit outside on the sandstone steps and Fletch tells the boys stories. We relax and people watch for a bit then go find Grand Central Station. They were filming something there that morning. Dylan desperately wanted to know what they were filming and so Fletch goes up and asks them. The new Tom Cruise blockbuster? No, a mayonnaise commercial, or at least thats what the crew were telling us. I think we’ll choose to believe the other. Then we head in the direction of Nintendo World and, wait for it… American Girl.

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Now you know that I have this fascination for American Girl, I cannot explain it, except to say it indulges the little girl in me. It’s not like I’m going to ever buy the stuff, but the curiosity gets the better of me and I cannot leave the country without seeing it for myself. The disgust from the two boys is hilarious and if they’d have put on the Frozen song, “Let it go“, they would have collapsed on the spot from the indignation of it all. Why do you want to look in here Mum?” they ask. “Because I have boys and therefore I get taken to lots of boy places and sometimes I want to look in girl places”. I march them through all three floors of the boutique. We look at the cafe, the hair salon and spa, the make your own dolly station, the historical girl collection. I even make them use the restrooms there and at first they refuse until they realize that they do have boys toilets. I asked Fletch if they have special dolly hangers in there to place the dolls like they do in the ladies cubicles. And no they don’t for the record. I sneakily get a photo of an abandoned dad, asleep in the shop. How different life would be if we’d had girls. Fletch sets a good example commenting on little interesting things, wording them up that when they have girlfriends they’ll be doing this a lot so they better get used to it. Then we hightail it out of there and go across the road to Nintendo World.

In Nintendo World, there’s a large sit-down area where they conduct gaming events. In fact there was a tournament for Pokemon while we were there and the funky smell of boys is rife throughout the shop. If you have a boy, you’ll know what I’m talking about, the sour, pungently unique smell that is boy body odor. Multiply  that by the 30 or so boys in there and you have a shop that smells like no other. A few of those plug in air fresheners would not have gone astray, let me just say!

Then we head off to the Museum of Modern Art. Dylan wants to see some Pollock. For me, the highlight is Dali and Van Gough. Hooray for Glorious art! Even Hamish enjoys it and sees paintings that he’s studied with his class. (Yes, they actually do visual art lessons at his preschool).

Recovery in the sanctuary of Nintendo World.

The smell of boy is rife in this place!

Feeling better after a play in the shop.

Nice one! Super star.

Frida Kahlo.

Found a Pollock. He’s happy.

Oh dear, don’t bust yourself Dylan.

In the late afternoon we head to the FAO Schwarz shop to look at yet more toys. It’s actually a part of the Toys R Us company so there’s nothing new or different in there, but it’s just one of those New York shops that has been there forever. It has a fortune telling machine  and giant piano that was in the Tom Hanks Movie “Big” and to be honest it is really annoying as it’s just kids running up and down it constantly.

Today brings no words, just a tale of what determined minds can achieve.

 

NYC Day 1: Skylines and Musicals.

It was a long weekend here and so we took the opportunity to go and see some more of the sights of New York. We had so much fun on our first trip to NY in the winter with all the Christmas decorations, but we left feeling as though there was so much more we needed to see. So we are well and truly happy to take one last bite into the Big Apple before we leave and well, lets just sat it was a crisp, juicy bite we took! We arrived in on the train on Friday night and we are all excited to see the familiar train station that is right under Maddison Square Garden. We walk a couple of blocks to drop off our gear then head on out for a late dinner. Dylan insists on going to a restaurant in Times Square where we’ve eaten before called Ruby Tuesday. It’s just a steak house with a big self serve salad bar, and we sit almost in the same spot we sat at last time we were here and watch a big lightning and thunderstorm roll through. I stop to buy a cheap umbrella – best five bucks I ever spent!

 

Nothing Will dampen my spirits – I’m In NYC!

The next day we had tickets booked to see New York City from the top of the Rockerfeller Centre. We were told that you get a better view of the city because it’s higher than the Empire State Building, plus you have the bonus of having the Empire State Building in your photos! It was forecast for rain but we were fine. Blue skies and beautiful views to match. After that we headed to the M&M shop for a look. If you ever open up a packet of M&Ms and smell them, this is exactly what the store smells like!

 

The Green Lady.

The New Years Eve Countdown Ball.

Central Park really is quite large.

You don’t get a great view of the Chrysler Building.

Heading to the M&M store.

The big Toys R Us ferris wheel inside the store.

Hamish has a fascination for the NYPD.

Then it’s time for Toys R Us. This store is massive and much more civilized when every one is not there finishing off their Christmas shopping! We can actually move through the shop without have to duck, dive and squeeze past everyone. There is a really big ferris wheel in the middle of the shop and Hamish really wanted to go on it but managed to forget about it after getting a new toy.

We  were keeping an eye on our time because we had something very special planned for the afternoon. We hunted down a place to have lunch to make sure we had plenty of time to be where we needed to be in the afternoon. We chose to sit in a deli and have some of those huge pizza slices that NY is renowned for. After that we head across the road to take in a broadway show.

Well you can’t go to New York and not see a show! And I have been waiting for a very long time to see this one – Disney’s Aladdin. It’s my all time favorite Disney animation and I can still remember seeing it at the movies when it was first released. I played the music over and over when I was a kid and know all the words. The musical exceeded my expectations. There were a few different characters, there’s lots of new songs that never made it into the animation and the actor who played Jafar in the original movie is also the Jafar in this production. The Genie is his own character in this musical which is good because it was always going to be hard to be the Robin Williams’ Genie. It was fun, it was light and a good choice for little boys who like sword fights and ‘bad guys’. They sat entranced from beginning to end. Hamish had a booster chair  and our tickets were in the first row on the mezzanine balcony, so we had unobstructed views. Not bad for their first theatre musical experience.

Lets go see a show on Broadway.

So Exciting.

Great view, beautiful old theatre.

Today brings no words, just an action packed first day and Hamish singing ‘Never had a friend like me‘ at the top of his lungs in the shower.

Card Tricks.

So, I know it’s been a little while since I’ve posted anything. It’s not for lack of anything to say or like we’ve been sitting in a corner twiddling our thumbs. But most of our spare time has been taken up with baseball and as much as I love writing about the topic I don’t know if that’s everyone’s cup of tea so I’ve been laying low. In saying that though, I can tell you that Dylan’s baseball team are doing well, they’ve had quite a few wins although they have also had their share of losses. Dylan broke his bat, and so his player status amongst his team mates is pretty legendary right now. It was an aluminum bat and a ball come off it and bent it so that it had a slight banana curve in it. Fletch was beating it into shape for the rest of the game, but there must be a rod that runs up through it which was wobbling loose and so it was back to the sports store after the game. He is trying a wood one this time and his friends are most impressed with this new choice. Fletch said Dylan was strutting around with it – ahhh boys!

The last time he’ll ever use this bat!

Dylan has also started collecting baseball cards. He picked up a packet at the sport shop and got some of his favorite players and from then on he was hooked. He took some to school to show his friends, where he discovered the concept of trading. At first I was the over thinking mother ready to shut it down because he might give away his players for ones that may not be very popular or valuable. But then I reminded myself that he’s an eight year old boy, let him have his fun. I stayed out of it and he came home with his first traded card which he was very happy about. Then the next day he told me he has to bring it back for his friend because it belonged to his friends’ brother. I am just happy that the drama is not at my end because I could see something like this happening with my two in the future! Yes, Hamish is in on the collecting too.

Dylan even had a friend leave him a phone message letting him know that he had a card that Dylan may like, a card of his favorite player who was playing for a different team 3 years ago! The message is hilarious “Hey Dylan, it’s Luke. I have your Kurt Suzuki card, the bad news is it’s 2011. Call me back…” It’s so funny and completely little boys, being American little boys. Dylan even has the accent now to match.

But all the card toting has stopped now. His poor teacher was having a hard time getting them to concentrate and so she removed their cards from their desks and upon returning them in the afternoon told them they weren’t to bring them in anymore. At least this is what I think the story is, Dylans keeping pretty tight lipped about it all.

Today brings no words, and no more card trading capers, at least not on school grounds.

Dylan the poet.

 

Crazy pony

by; Dylan F.

My little pony was very lonely. 

She tripped on a wire that was set on fire.

When she got to the veterinarian she realised she was a

vegetarian.

And sent back in time with a 10 dollar dime.

To buy a hat but the clerk is a cat.

 

Today brings no words, just a poem typed and composed by Dylan. It’s no A.B Patterson, but we can work on that.

Player of the day.

Okay. I know I posted this on Facebook, but I am going to put it here for blog posterity. Dylan went into Saturdays game with no fear or apprehension after his “mishap” the night before and had a brilliant game. He slogged a ball which got three players home and himself two bases in. Enough to win the game for his team and secure himself player of the day.

He was so proud and while I have a million different puns I could use, I am going to let them go and just keep it for the glorious moment it is in the eyes of my quiet, yet tenacious eight year old.

Today brings no words, but I can tell you that Coach made sure the team were all wearing their cups on Saturday.