The Morning After Halloween

We celebrated Halloween with our little firefighter all day long yesterday. First on the agenda was the second-annual Small Idea Daycare trick-or-treating parade extravaganza.

Mommy was greeted with a "Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat..." song when Mason, Kellyn and their crew showed up at the home office to collect their goodies.



After that, we took a walk around the block, and attempted to take a shot of the whole crew before Mommy had to duck back inside to do some work, and the kiddies had a little party and a nap to get ready for the evening's festivities.



In the afternoon, we took all the kids to Hippo Playground on the UWS to participate in the Hippo Playground Halloween Parade and play in the playground a little bit. There, we met up with our neighbor Emilio, who Mommy didn't recognize because his "pumpkin head" costume was such a good disguise.



Once the crowd thinned, and we met up with Dad-O, we headed out on our own to do a little trick-or-treating. We went up and down 86th Street, which was decked out by all it's residents. In addition to the usual candy, they also handed out pizza and hot dogs. Not bad!



We even had a celebrity siting, as Elizabeth Hasselbeck was hitting up the street with her kids. By we, of course, I mean Dad-O. He told me who she was after she left us. I guess I need to watch the view more!

After wandering up Broadway, and picking up a few more treats, we headed for the subway. We had planned to trick-or-treat on 95th Street on our way home, but by that point, the little fireman was all tuckered out and just wanted a ride home!

Firefighters Rule (Yet Again!)

Last Sunday morning, Mason and I were on one of our usual adventures -- as he likes to call any jaunt into the city. After all, you're never sure what you'll encounter in this great city, and this particular morning was a perfect example.

We were heading back uptown after one of our early morning treks to Trader Joes (So worth the trek, and the best time to be out 'n about!) when we saw a firetruck parked on a curb at Union Square Park.

I pushed Macey over to it, and was explaining that it was the No. 14 engine, and a hose car, as opposed the the hook 'n ladder truck that's been a (unfortunately) frequent visitor to our 'hood lately. Our bold little Mason waited patiently until he saw the firemen, and then yelled "Hello Firemen!" to them.

Besides a friendly hello, you know what else they offered? To let him sit in the truck.



Then to push the horn! He did this three times. The first time with a big, scared jump. The second time a little less of a startle, and by the third time, he was an old pro.



Alas, after about 15 minutes (seriously, they let him sit there that long and he got lots of passersby cooing about how cool he was!), he had to climb back down to reality and let the brave firemen go on their way, but he was beaming all day about his latest adventure.



He even regaled the old church lady who sat next to us on the bus with his tale. She asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up ... he answered "A garbage-truck man!" We were both expecting him to say fireman, but, you know garbage truck men do have some pretty cool rides themselves!

(Editor's note: Inspired by this, a few too many hours of Olympic coverage in our house and his swimming lessons, Mason has declared a new career goal: "I want to be a swimmer," he tells me this morning.)

Out 'n About

This weekend brought some beautiful, humidity-free weather to our area. A few things we've been up to:

River Flicks at the Hudson River Park. It was a beautiful night and the classic Wizard of Oz was playing on the big screen. Mason was very excited for the free "popcorny." We'll go back, but we need to invest in a more-padded picnic blanket and arrive a bit earlier so we don't get stuck behind the one family who brought chairs again!

Saturday found us at Highbridge Recreation center, and my friends with small children, if you haven't been...go! Olympic-size wading pool with a maximum depth of 2-foot-2-inches. We had SO much fun splashing around in there and watching Mason be able to run and jump (like a frog) and play in the water. It was some quality, free fun!

Today, Mason and I were headed to the playground. It was locked for some reason unbeknownst to us. Instead we found a blimp (or bimp, or pimp...as he called one last weekend with Dad-O) hovering overhead.

That was cool, but not as cool as the firetruck across the street, which stopped us in our tracks when we were heading to a different playground. Seems it was fire-drill time for the firemen, so there they were, practicing window rescues in the vacant building across the street. We stayed out there for a good half hour watching them run up the ladder, repel from the top and, of course, wave at the Macey man. The fun ended abruptly, though, when there was an actual fire they had to head off to! Hooray for the brave firemen, Mason yelled as they sped off, siren blaring.

The kiddo is off to nap now, preparing for our next big adventure: Watching our Rockies take on the Mets at Shea tonight!

Only In New York

Last Tuesday night, just as we dared to think about getting our little Mason man wound down and ready for bed, something happened that had the exact opposite effect. We wound him up, thanks to this scene on our street:



Why is there a seemingly endless supply of firetrucks and firemen on our block, you ask? There was a fire in the building next door to us. I've still yet to quite get the details on the whole affair, but it seems the top floor of the building was wiped out in the ordeal.

While we'd never wish this on anyone -- and it's worth nothing that everyone was OK, it was only material things that were lost -- you can imagine how excited our fireman/truck crazed son was at the site.

His excitement, however, maybe have been eclipsed the next day, when I snapped this photo with my phone. The firemen, back on the scene to inspect the damage (I think) were nice enough to invite a mesmerized Mason to sit in the front seat of the firetruck. He was beaming, and couldn't stop talking about it.



I love how these guys are SO friendly to Mason. I can't tell you how many times we've passed a truck on the street and they've waved at him or how many times there's been one parked in a station or elsewhere when they've taken a few minutes to say hi and comment on how the little boys are always their biggest fans.