Wednesday, April 30, 2008

How Time Flies...

Saturday, Mason and I went to the Central Park Zoo to reconnect with some old friends (the penguins, puffins and polar bears) as well as to sign up for a yearly membership. Of course, no trip to the zoo is complete without a walk through the Children's Zoo, where I snapped this picture.



Oddly similar to this picture (minus the Dad-O holding Mason inside the shell) which we took in October of 2006.



I guarantee we'll have more turtle pictures from future trips to the zoo.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Shark Attack, And Other Tales Of A Family Outing

Question: Where can you get up close and personal with the third-largest mammoth fossils ever found, fly to Colorado and back in the course of minutes, see a Galapagos tortoise, play with blocks and stuff your face with some good food just after escaping a shark attack with a lobster on your head?

Answer: National Geographic Channel Family Appreciation Day. Thanks to Dad-O's cool hookup, we did all that and more on Sunday at Chelsea Piers (where Mommy and Dad-O both worked for a time upon arriving in the Big Apple).

First stop? The big green screen, where Mason posed for this picture. Don't worry ... we didn't endanger our son for the sake of memories. Neither the shark or the lobster is real.



These very simple blocks (with a simple name, that already escapes me) provided endless entertainment for Mason and all the other kiddos. Mommy and Dad-O had a blast building things for Mason to knock down as well.



After eating a bit of food, Mason took some time to pose with this mammoth fossil, which we learned was found on a golf course in Ohio a few years back, and is part of the third-largest mammoth ever discovered. We also got to see the animal's tusks and some fossils from saber-tooth tigers before Mason was given a hunk of mammoth bone to keep.

The flight simulators were another big hit. Mason couldn't be bothered to put on the virtual reality glasses, but had a blast pushing the buttons and playing with the controls. Him and Dad-O went for a long flight -- all the way to visit Grammy and Papa while Mommy snapped a few photos.



Also on hand for the festivities were a group of exotic animals. I guess we were too busy touching them to take photos, but we saw an armadillo, the aforementioned tortoise, a fox, a bird and some millipedes. We also painted a Terra-cotta planter, and filled it with some bulbs, we picked out a piece of crystal and turquoise to take home with us.

We also met this guy. He twisted a mean balloon animal. Mason took home a penguin and a monkey that were both very cool and far ahead of your usual balloon poodle!

On our way out, Mason got one last gift. A NatGeo backpack filled with some too-cool-for-school supplies. Now that's a cute advertisement.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Surprise, Surprise

Yesterday marked Melissa's birthday, and all of us daycare mommies got together to throw her a little surprise party. It was no small feat pulling it all together and keeping it quiet when I was at her place twice a day!

Luckily, the weather held out for us and we were able to party on the sidewalk -- other option was our apartment, and you all know how small it is for three of us!

We tried and tried to get a picture of Melissa with all her charges, but this is the best we could do...



Here, the Mason-man shows off his crown. Resident artist/Kaya and Fiona's mom Sandra was charged with the decorating and making the party hats for everyone.



This look...well, we saw it a lot, from a lot of different kiddos -- it is the universal sign for "Oh, No! My balloon got away and is floating up, up, up into the sky!"



This is what Mason did all night -- eat cupcakes. I can count at least three different ones from the sequence of photos on my camera. He kept finding friendly adults (read: not mommy) to give him more sugar, I guess. Smart kid...



Here's the surviving crew -- Kellyn, Fiona, Kaya and Mason, who along with their mommies outlasted all the other party goers.



The most entertaining moment of the night? Undoubtedly when we gave them the cooler full of ice and told them to wash their hands in it (a ploy to buy us some clean-up time). They did that, and then proceeded to dump all the ice, cup-by-cup onto the sidewalk. It was all fun and games until Mason nearly pelted some cops with a cupful of ice and the pile caused one biker to come precariously close to a spill.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Under the Big Top in the Big City

We ventured out to see the Greatest Show On Earth on Wednesday night at the World's Most Famous Arena.



It was a first for all three of us -- neither Rob or I had ever been to the circus. We arrived early for the much-advertised all-access pre-show. At first, it was a little disappointing, but Dado picked up a tip from a staffer that the elephant hadn't made her pre-show appearance yet, and would be momentarily. We followed his directions to step up to the rope and were *this* close to Kelly Ann, the elephant when she emerged from the curtains.



We got a lesson on Asian elephants and watched her paint a picture -- which was given away to a lucky winner during the show. We don't know exactly what she painted, but she did shake her head when someone in the crowd suggested it was the sky...




The Mason-man, needless to say, was quite impressed. He would have been satisfied with the circus experience had we left at that moment -- little did he know what was in store for him.

The crazy motorcycle riders were a highlight of the first half of the show. At one point, they had SEVEN motorcycles/riders inside this steel sphere.




We found ample entertainment for the mid-show intermission:




As you can see, our kid...he likes cotton candy. It's a good thing, too, we spent $12 on the snack. Lucky for us, it came with a Seussian-looking top hat. Another lucky break: We had plenty of wipes to clean up this mess!



The second half of the show featured the tigers (kind of a letdown):



As well as the much-anticipated elephants: Totally worth it, for the reaction from Mason as well as the cutness of the baby elephant in the troop, who literally skipped out of the arena. It's the one looking straight toward us.



And, the grand finale:



We had a great time, and no doubt we'll hit it up again when it loops through here next year!

Food, fun and friends

A few photos I pulled off the camera from last weekend for all of you to enjoy:

Hanging at the park with Nasi, Fa and Kellyn. Nasi and Fa are Melissa's goddaughters, who we visited in D.C. over Easter and they joined us all back in NYC for their spring break.

Two of our friends from Nursery North shared a birthday party last week. It was pretty cool to get together with everyone -- as most of the invitees all started out in the same classroom when they were just months old. Hard to believe they're two now!

The birthday boy, Matthias, and girl, Celeste.




Forget about the snacks on top of the table, Mason and his secret twin Malka had loads of fun just playing under the table.


Sharing a birthday kiss.



Mason was pretty happy to have someone else's (brand-new to him) toys to play with for a bit.



And last, but certainly not least, cute little Peony. Too sweet for words...