Day Three

Day Three was with our trusted host Jen. Wicked driving... she obviously had done this before. Jen and I had met at many the "family gathering" but had never gotten the chance to spend time with our respective families. I think we all had a blast and learned more about each other in one beautiful day in New York. I also got another great trip in and out, which gave me the confidence to do the trip myself on Days Four and Five.

• Day 3
  • Central Park - We parked at the southwest corner of Central Park after an easy trip into the city with really no traffic to speak of. Parking was about $28.00 for the day so we handed over the keys and walked away. This, I thought, would take some getting used to and more trust than I usually expend. We walked, as a group of five, to the park and had a wonderful morning. With packed lunch, we quickly came upon a newly renovated playground with concrete structures and specialized turf for play. The adults basked in the sun while the kids ran freely with others in the area. Fathers of the city made a great decision when the preserved this area asa green space. The park is undoubtedly a jewel worth saving. After an hour and a quick snack we moved on to the southeast corner and the zoo.
  • Central Park Zoo - In short, a nice little zoo. Friendly staff, no line ups and excellently displayed information and animals. I enjoyed the Tropical exhibit, with the sea lions, red pandas and polar bears also cool to look at. Jen and Peter loved the penguins... the air conditioned area must be a popular summertime venue. This also became the day of the vendor as we hit multiple carts in search of hot dogs, peanuts and other goodies such as ice cream. Kids loved it (thanks Jen).
  • American Museum of Natural History - Almost diagonally to the opposite side of the park from the zoo is where this museum is located. Awesome building. Filled with cultural and natural exhibits. I believe it was here that our kids zoned out from the trip for a bit. We had excellent exhibits first and last (seen below) but the middle saw them physically tired from the events of the previous days. They are young at age 5 and 8, so we cut what would have been a longer visit to the museum short. There are a lot of things to be seen here. My wife and I have both taught Ancient History courses and the Asian, South American and African Exhibits would have been "boss" classroom excursions.
    • Butterfly Exhibit - Cool. Basically, you visit a climate controlled Green House filled with vegetation and butterflies. It was warm. The kids loved it and worked feverishly trying to have a butterfly land on them. It was too warm for me and I bolted after about five minutes. The staff inside were very knowledgeable about the species inside and were helpful when asked questions.
    • Hayden Planetarium - This was the spark that got our kids back in the groove. We "elevatored" our way to the line-up for the afternoon showing at the planetarium. Redford's soothing voice, the relaxing chairs, and the life-like screen were awesome. The "big bang" had everyone hopping in their chairs as we wandered through the stars and solar system. Our son had just finished a science fair project on the phases of the moon, so the information was not lost on him. The sheer immensity of the screen helped to give perspective to the size and scope of things in space. After a quick trot back we departed the city at 4:30 and surprisingly, avoided any major traffic concerns. Jen's comment in regards to our luck with weather and traffic was "Are you kidding?".

Evening Planning: We were up in the air at the end of Day Three. Being a long time hockey fan I'd considered taking Stephen to MSG to watch the Rangers and Sens. He was going to check in the morning to see whether it was an option at work. This would make our next day one closer to home or of short length in the city.