Field trip

Ahhhh the weather has shifted and we're now in a trend of dry, sunny and a high of 70º.

The kids and I took the train into the city yesterday to spend the day with my parents. It almost didn't happen as First was reluctant to go. But, he changed his mind on his own (with some debate and conversation, but no coercion which felt really good).

I packed some lunch stuff, extra layers for all, grabbed my Metrocard and we were off. We walked up to the train station, it took 15 minutes, Kinder complaining semi-loudly for about the last 5.

Once we were on the train, the kids were delighted and commented on how they had forgotten how much fun it is to ride the train. They're still at an age where most conductors don't charge me for them and I scoot them under the turnstiles in the subway. So, the total cost for transportation yesterday was $13.75.

At one point we did a little lesson on directionality as First correctly figured out which way was west, north and south after discovering we were headed east. Kinder jumped in by working on left and right and I agreed with them that although left and right aren't included in the traditional foursome of north-south-east-west, that they do often denote directions.

Once at Baba and Jiji's, I made lunch for everyone. Chicken apple sausage, sautéed peppers, steamed carrots, and slices of heirloom tomato all from our farm, challah sandwich bread that Baba picked up at her farmer's market, grilled munster cheese sandwiches for Kinder, Baba and Jiji, rice with sesame seeds and Bragg's for First, and slices of Gala apples.

After lunch the kids, Jiji and I took off for Central Park. We carefully avoided a building facade that scares Kinder (the Jekyll and Hyde restaurant) and enjoyed a walk around a pond where we saw turtles sunbathing on a rock, ducks wading about, lots of interesting grasses including some that looked like giant chives, and the grand event, a beautiful and fierce hawk that swooped over our heads in pursuit of lunch (pigeon---yuck) and landed in a tree ten feet away from where we stood.

The kids had decided that they wanted to go to the zoo, something we hadn't done in over a year. It was cash only which astounded me, but luckily I was with someone with cash :-) We watched the sea lions for a long time. I got as much of a kick watching my dad with his new digital slr camera, as I did the kids following the graceful moves of the animals in the water and the rocks.

We saw the penguins being fed, the polar bear snoozing in a cool corner of his "habitat" and were treated to unusually active red pandas assiduously marking their territories by rubbing their bottoms on spots.

The kids had a snack of ices on a park bench right outside the zoo entrance and I noticed Gwyneth Paltrow strolling by with one of her kids.

Once we got back to my parents', they showed us some of their pics from their safari which were amazing. There was something incredibly majestic and powerful about how the animals looked in the wild...or their protected wild as the case may be.

Sandy came by after work and we were all treated to sushi and other yummy Japanese fare at a restaurant owned by the family of one of my mom's tea ceremony friends. Everything was delicious, but I nearly overdid it with my unassuming plate of toro, uni and ikura. So, so rich.

The kids were droopy on the ride home, but stayed awake and Cap met us at the station when we climbed off the train at 8:30. It was our second late night in a row, but felt utterly satisfying. We walked in the door and one of the kids said, "it feels so good to be home". You know that feeling that you get after a full and wonderful and not routine day? That was it.