Thankfully, parking wasn't a huge problem - the car could stay in front of my apartment until Friday (they arrived on Tuesday), and we had decided to go to Jones Beach on Friday, so it all worked out well. My sister hurt her foot before coming to visit, so I was worried about her making it worse with all the walking you have to do around here. She was a trouper, though. The picture on the left is pretty much how we walked all week - nephew in front, me in middle, telling him not to get too far ahead, with wounded sister and slowpoke mom bringing up the rear. :)
As we were walking to get some dinner, my nephew informed me that he liked coming to New York because it was different than Akron. In some ways, they're the same, with some good neighborhoods and some not-so-good neighborhoods. But, New York has more 'chaos.' I thought that was an interesting way for him to describe New York: chaos. I told him that a little chaos is good for us, to shake us up a bit and make things not so boring. He agreed. And so ends the philosophical portion of this blog post. Hee. But he's a pip, yes??Because I'm me, I have to plan the schedule to the tiniest minute and I try to plan for every contingency. Down time is the enemy of an active twelve-year-old boy. Well, at least for this one. I make copies of menus from restaurants I think my nephew would like (he's a notoriously picky eater) and map out routes so we always seem to be moving forward. I think the planning worked out pretty well for this trip. And Danny even ate more than one meal every day, so that was a bonus.
Wednesday, we DID deviate from the plan a bit. The space shuttle, which was supposed to be transported to the Intrepid Museum the day before, was actually going to arrive on Wednesday afternoon. So, after trying a Doughnut Plant doughnut, and shopping at Toys R Us in Times Square, we took the crosstown bus to the 42nd Street Pier, walked over to the Intrepid, and saw the shuttle floating down (up?) the Hudson. It was very cool. The pier was crowded, but not as crowded as I thought it would be. It was a warm, sunny day and everyone was excited to see the space shuttle, so it was a nice moment. Danny liked that it was something not many people get to see. And he definitely wants to go to the Intrepid Museum another time, preferably with my dad (we need to get my dad here again soon). The rest of the day was spent shopping at the Lego Store and FAO Schwartz. Since we had left the apartment so early in the morning, the rest of my group was done sightseeing by 4pm, which seemed early to me, but c'est la vie. We spent the rest of the evening playing the Nickelodeon DVD game I bought a few years ago (and have certainly gotten my money's worth out of), then playing at the small playground near my apartment. Day one: fun.Thursday: My sister pre-reserved tickets for the 9/11 Memorial a couple of months ago, for an 11am reservation. Boy, am I glad she got the tickets in advance, AND that we went so early. When we got there, there was no one in line and we sailed right through all the security you have to go through. As we left, though, the lines were enormous and it was going to take those people a long time to get through the lines. So, word to the wise, if you're going, go early.
The Memorial is a beautifully quiet and contemplative place, with lots of trees, stone, water and sun. I'll admit that I'm one of the people who thought there shouldn't be a new building built to replace the Twin Towers, just a memorial of some sort. I'll need convincing that the Freedom Tower is the right idea. In this Memorial, I like the pools that they've put in the footprints of the towers. They're bigger, yet smaller, than I thought they'd be. The sound of the water is relaxing and chilling at the same time. And seeing all the names around the pools and the perimeter is heartbreaking. There's an iPhone app that you can download about the Memorial that mainly tells you where you can find a name, which is very handy, though I do wish there was more content about the site itself. Maybe that will come later, since the area still seems to be a work-in-progress. My nephew was very interested in hearing my 9/11 experience and, in his twelve-year-old logic, couldn't understand how such a thing could happen. I think it does him good to hear that bad things happen sometimes and you can't plan for them. You just have to be willing to learn from what went wrong. He still sees everything in black and white, so I'm intent on teaching him that sometimes life can be a little bit grey...
After we finished at the 9/11 Memorial, I had thought we might get some pizza at Lombardi's, but Danny preferred to give Shake Shack a try. OK, fine with me, as long as he eats something. So we took the subway back uptown and had lunch at Shake Shack! He liked it! Hooray! Then we took another bus down to the High Line. My mom was especially keen to see the new portions that have opened since the last time she was here. Danny, on the other hand, was disappointed it wasn't a real 'park' and was bored. So Mom and I wandered around, while he and his mommy sat and took a break. After a bit, we decided it was time to head back to my apartment (again, kinda early, but oh well!). On the way to the subway, we passed a park that Danny found more interesting, so we made a pit stop and he played a little handball. He had seen some kids playing at the little playground near my apartment, so he wanted to give it a try. He actually has pretty good hand/eye coordination (probably from all those stupid video games), so he had fun playing for a bit. Plus, it wore him down for the subway ride back to Queens. :) Day two: fun.
Friday, we drove out to Jones Beach. Of course, I had printed out some directions, but navigated us wrong in the very first few minutes. Sigh. But it wasn't all my fault - there was a semi in the middle of the road and it looked like you couldn't use the access road! Well, at least that's what I'm telling myself. It wasn't such a bad mistake - we probably only lost about fifteen minutes. I've definitely gotten more lost than that in the past. It's actually a pretty easy trip to Jones Beach from Astoria. It probably took us around an hour to get there. 
Boy, is Jones Beach really pretty! Much prettier than Coney Island! We had a grand time (though the end of the day got fairly dicey when we couldn't find the miniature golf place and then no one was there once we found it). It was a beautifully sunny day, not a cloud in the sky, and we all got sunburned. This would put a damper on our Saturday, but while we were at the beach, we loved it. There weren't that many people there, which was nice. And the water was cold, with just enough waves to make things interesting. Danny dug a hole so deep, he could fit his entire body into it! Lots of people walking along the beach had to talk to him about it, so he liked getting attention from other people than just his mom/aunt/nana who think he's the bee's knees. Danny definitely wants to go back, especially when my dad comes, and this time, we'll know where to park for the miniature golfing. I guess you can't know everything the first time around. Day three: super fun (until the sunburns).Saturday: I had planned we would meet some of my friends at the Boat Basin for lunch, then wander through Riverside Park, but I woke up with a sore throat and some sort of whooping cough, plus Danny and my sister were in a bit of sunburn pain, so we ended up just staying in. It wasn't so bad, though. I could spend more quiet time with Danny, though he said he was disappointed to not see my friends. But, we were all pretty tired from all the stuff we'd done the previous days. We watched cartoons and played the Nickelodeon game. I believe we also indulged in naps. My mom doesn't enjoy a day of doing nothing, so she kept going out and about, but it doesn't bother me, my nephew or my sister. Doing nothing is a luxury that should be indulged in any chance you get. Recharge. Danny told me he was sorry to leave me and he had fun, but he was ready to be home. I told him that was fine. After all, according to Little House on the Prairie, home is the nicest word there is. Besides, I'll be heading to his place for the Fourth of July weekend, so it made the parting a little less painful. I'll admit to some watery eyes, though, when we all said goodbye. He's growing up so fast, but at least he still lets me call him my angel boy. Until July...
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