Monthly Archives: August 2010

This morning Ari and I rushed around getting ready for his pre school’s trip to Governor’s Island. I was so tired that I decided to wear the same clothes I wore yesterday, even though I had a giant peanut butter stain on my pants.

We managed to get out the door, and onto the subway. We were late, as usual, so I frantically asked the subway booth person which was the closest handicapped accessible station to my destination. I did not want to carry my stroller up several flights of stairs. She kindly handed me this:

How nice! I thought to myself. Now I actually know which stations have elevators! To think I’ve lived in New York City all my life and this is the first time I’ve received this information.

We got on the train, and Ari started freaking out.

Why was he so upset, you might ask? Well, he wanted to sit in an actual seat. So I obliged.

Things were okay after that. We got off the train, and I got lost several times in Battery Park before we arrived at the ferry to Governor’s Island. We were just in time!

We arrived at Governor’s Island.

Upon entering Governor’s Island, we walked straight to the Children’s Museum.

But it was not yet open. So we walked around enjoying some of the scenery. Ari played with some leaves.

Then he ran away and found a stick.

In a little while, the Children’s Museum opened, and there was a big arts and crafts fair. At the fair, he was introduced to flubber.

But, he was unimpressed.

Here are the things Ari did at the fair:

We tried to make a “dinosaur egg,” (which means putting paper mache material on a balloon to re-create an enormous egg) but Ari loves balloons so much that the thought of putting paper mache on a balloon made him very mad.

So we let that one go. That’s okay. Ari made a friend named Rebecca.

And then he ran off to play with an enormous bulbous blue balloon-like structure.

Then he became one with it.

He had some chocolate ice cream, which made him very happy.

Then we hitched a ride with an Island security guard back to the ferry. I told him I was pregnant and tired. He obliged.

And he went on his way.

We made it on the ferry back to Manhattan, but Ari was exhausted. I couldn’t even get him to look at the camera.

And then he…

Unfortunately, I could not join him.

Here’s what Ari does at my midwife appointments:

Good thing it’s a family friendly practice!

Parenting dilemma:

Wil smokes. He wants to quit before the new baby is born, but in the meantime he smokes. He doesn’t smoke in the apartment. He goes outside to the stoop of our building to smoke.

The problem is, when he leaves to go have a cigarette, Ari asks me:
“Where daddy go?”

And I don’t know whether I should tell him “Daddy went to smoke,” or not. So far I’ve been giving a generic response like:”Daddy went outside. He’ll be right back. ”

I don’t know if it’s the right thing to say. Should I be honest and tell Ari that his dad is out smoking? And how do I explain the contradiction that smoking is bad for you and his dad engages in it anyway?
Thoughts?

Ari was playing with his Uncle Egreck the cat, when all of a sudden he announced:
“Egreck’s happy! Egreck’s mad! Egreck, go to time out!”

This morning I woke up at 8am. Today of all days, Ari decided to sleep in! Unfortunately, we had to be in Manhattan by 10am to catch a bus. We were scheduled to go on an exciting trip today to Wolfe’s Pond Park, a free city park in Staten Island. I sluggishly made my way to the kitchen and made some coffee while Ari watched Blue’s Clues.

By the time we made it out the door, it was 9:30am, clearly not enough time to get to the city and make the bus. I decided I’d better drive if I wanted a shot at making it there on time. Unfortunately, three blocks into driving and traffic was not agreeing with me. I called the director of the school and let her know that I was not going to make it to the bus. Instead, I would drive to Staten Island and meet the group there.

She said that was fine, but remarked that she had been waiting for us to arrive so the bus could leave. Keep in mind the last time these moms saw me I broke down crying in front of them because Ari was behaving so badly. Now I’m holding up the bus trip. Great!

It all worked out. Thankfully. I made it to the park in time to meet the Park Rangers!

Ari listened intently as the Rangers talked to us about the hike we were about to take around the park.

Then he was given a “nature badge.”

As he was listening he got so comfortable that he held another mom’s hand.

And then he realized that it wasn’t my hand and dropped it quickly.

The Rangers showed us all kinds of fun things. Check this out. This is a seed:

Here it is up close:

This seed grows into this tree:

But the most exciting part of the trip was our visit to the beach. Yes, you read right, Wolfe’s Pond Park has a beach.
Okay, so the water was brown. But what do you expect? This is New York City! It was so hot, I could have been swimming in toxic waste and I wouldn’t have cared.

Now you may be wondering: Is that a maternity bathing suit? No it’s not! It’s a plus sized swim suit purchased from Walmart in Texas.

The beach was great, and the water was warm! Ari loved it too.

After we left Wolfe’s Pond Park, we started to drive home and this happened:

I was still really hot, even though the air conditioning in the car was on full blast. After all, I am pregnant. So I called my friend and Staten Island native, Donna to advise me of the closest ice cream place. She said:
“You must go to Ralph’s Ices! It’s the best!”
So I did.

And I got this:

It was amazing.

In the words of Richard Scarry from his masterpiece Cars and Trucks and Things That Go,
“My hasn’t it been an exciting day?”

For more on Wolfe’s Pond Park click here