Saturday was a Special Day

A good friend gave us fantastic tickets to the American Museum of Natural History.  We go there often but never into the special exhibits, which cost an arm and a leg.  We took advantage of the generous tickets and went to as many special exhibits as possible in one day.  It was fantastic fun.  Throw in lunch at the Shake Shack and dinner at Angon and it was a fun, exhausting day.

Funny thing: I realized I don't get "museum back" like I use to.  (Do you know what I'm talking about?)

The Butterfly Conservatory.

Isabella had asked to see real butterflies for the last few weeks and was excited that she might touch one.  (I don't know where the idea came from.)  But the reality (which I figured might happen) was fear.  Brian was very patient with her and they went in and out 3 times.  The last time she was so brave and calm until a huge butterfly came right toward her face.  Understandably freaky.  Above, she's experiencing the exhibit from outside the glass.

The IMAX

We saw Mysteries of the Great Lakes at the IMAX theater.  It wasn't a great IMAX film, but it was interesting. 

The Silk Road

I wasn't sure what to expect with the new Silk Road exhibit but I was pleasantly surprised.  There was enough interactive pieces that Isabella was able to be entertained most of the time.  I enjoyed the scents of the market: rose oil, musk, jasmine and watching the live silk worms at work.  Isabella loved stamping her passport along the way.  And Oliver found the coziest spot possible and took a little nap.  (He's never fallen asleep in my arms!)  Thanks Spencer!

 

A cold, but beautiful day!

Smothering Adoring her brother.

 

I love this photo!

After the Silk Road exhibit we were hankering for some Indian food and lychee bubble tea.  We hopped on the subway, down to the East Village to satisfy our cravings.  At Angon on the Sixth Isabella adored her way into a complementary mango lassi.  She was pretty proud of herself.

Getting out!

Last Thursday we met friends at the Met and then walked home through Central Park.  It's such a lovely park even in the bitter cold winter.  Although it couldn't have been too cold because I took off my coat...but I guess I was hauling Oliver in the ergo and pushing Isabella uphill...

I used to think I was such a wimp in the cold, but now I'm thinking just the bitter cold.  I'm a wimp when the windchill takes the air below 15 degrees.  (Which is quite frequently the last few weeks.)  When that happens I'll cancel all plans to take the kids outside.  I vote cabin fever over a teary numb face any day.  It really is amazing how warm 30 degrees feels after experiencing 5 degrees.  This week is forecast to reach 39 degrees.  Ahhh, spring!

Unique New York #1

In an effort to use my camera more and also capture our everyday life here, in New York City, I'm setting a bit of a New Year's resolution.  With wee ones I hesitate setting anything too rigid (if anything at all) other than the necessities (i.e. take a shower).  (I never thought taking a shower could be a resolution...sweet children certainly change life, don't they?!)  I stray...back to my goal.  I'm hoping to photograph and share, here on the blog, 150 New York City moments this year.  I want to focus on things of the everyday--our everyday--that are unique to our lifestyle in Manhattan.  Why 150 photographs?  Well, one per day (365) sounds fun, but unattainable.  And somedays we have lots of fun, unique experiences which might necessitate more than one photo and other days are, well, pretty hum drum (especially during these cold months) when we don't leave the apartment.

Goals (in a nutshell):
1--carry, use, become more familiar with my Nikon D40
2--capture our everyday life in Manhattan

There you have it! 

~Unique New York~

Getting keys made for our new apartment at a hole-in-the-wall locksmith shop.  It's a door, a hallway, and a whole lot of keys.

And for the grandparents:

Hats

Thank you, Grandma Nikki, for all the cute kids hats for Christmas.  We love them!  Isabella wears a different one outside everyday.  (The next few posts--above--have Nikki's homemade hats as well.)

Right Now

Playing at the American Museum of Natural History, aka our new backyard.

Grabber

This boy has the fastest hands in the East!  As I reach for an item he grabs it before I do.  Which is making cooking, while holding him, very tricky.  And working on the computer, with him on my lap, practically impossible.  And taking photos while we are out and about is resulting tiny fingerprints all over my camera lens (I always have him in a front carrier).

Dress Up

For Christmas Isabella got several dress up outfits and she loves them.  This, snow princess, is one she's been sporting most of the time these last couple of days.  Heather (Brian's sister) picked up a bunch at Target the day after Halloween for $5/each. Awesome!

Cousins + Trains + Pizza = A Perfect Saturday

It was a bitter...I mean BITTER cold out (wind chill=5 degrees), but we were determined to enjoy the city!  We succeeded.

This was the beginning of our adventure.  She wasn't actually asleep, but still groggy after her nap. We went out to meet up with Spencer, Heather, Devon and Roman for some play time.

I think the New York Transit Museum is one of the city's best kept secrets (and cheap too).   I have heard about it several times, but it was always dubbed "If your kid loves trains..."  I never considered us train lovers, but we loved the museum and could have spent hours here.  Too bad we arrived 30 min before closing (but they let us in for free).  We will be going back again soon.

We finished the evening with some delicious pizza from Lombardi's in Soho.

 And over-priced pastries from Celi-Cela

 

The Magic

the amazing windows at Bergdorf Goodman

 

I know and understand the true meaning of Christmas.  But there is a special, inexpressible magic and sense of wonder that made this Christmas even more special as I witnessed Isabella begin to comprehend and enjoy this season of hope.   I'm convinced little children make the celebration of the birth of Christ more meaningful, pure, and exciting.

Right Now

Enjoying THE only "quiet" corner in the Children's Museum. What was I
thinking? A children's museum during school break and tourist
season?! Crazy!!!

Christmas in the City

Hosting Christmas at our tiny apartment this year was so much fun!  Seven of the Carini clan came and enjoyed the holiday celebrations at our place, making a total of 11 bodies in our 600 sq ft apartment.  (They did sleep at a hotel and I'm only estimating that's how big it is.)  I've never hosted Christmas and the only time we've had that many people in our apartment was with a casual pizza party...not a holiday meal.  It was a big deal for me, I was a little nervous, but it all turned out great.  After they left our small apartment felt surprisingly huge. 

Oh, Christmas Tree!

About two weeks ago we picked up our fist Christmas tree from the deli on W 73rd & Columbus.  It was an exciting moment for me.  I've always loved the tradition of getting a tree and decorating it.  This is the first year we felt comfortable splurging on a tree since we were going to be in town for Christmas.

Since we have never had a tree before we needed some ornaments.  Isabella LOVED making some salt dough ornaments.  We had a lot of fun.  I got the recipe and inspiration from here.

 

And on Christmas day we took some cute photos of the kids in front of the tree.

Let it Snow!

Just over a week ago we had a fantastic winter storm blow in and leave almost a foot of snow on Sunday morning.  Brian attempted to get Isabella to church while I stayed home with sick Oliver.  According to Brian, Isabella was impossible to get to church.  All she wanted to do was jump in the snow and roll around.  Really, who can blame her?!  After church I strapped Oliver on and met Brian and Isabella in Central Park where we played in a winter wonderland.

First Foods

Oliver has started eating solid food recently.  I was so hesitant to start because with Isabella it was more a battle than it was worth.  But Oliver is doing well...as long as it is sweet, but who can blame him?  And Isabella is an excellent helper!

Right Now

At ballet class with my very talent friend, Maria, of Maria's Movers.
Three year old girls doing ballet is THE cutest thing ever.