Eight is Great

The way August birthdays kind of sneak up on me is nothing new. I start thinking about them in June or July, feeling like they are right around the corner. Usually there's some kind of hubbub--a vacation or trip somewhere--that happens though in the middle that momentarily takes my mind off of them. And then, POW! One or both are upon me and I forget that every year it's going to be like this for the near future. Just when we've passed the first birthday hurdle with Carolina, the second one is coming up fast. And that's what happened today. I had the feeling last week after we made it back from Spain that I still had plenty of time to shop and wrap things and generally prepare for Elisa's birthday. But still, I found myself the night before rushing around after the SGP special meeting hitting the dollar store at 10 p.m. hoping they would be open and sell me some balloons, wrapping paper and a table cloth. And they were. God, I love NYC. Once I had the goods, I made it home to prep the party room and get the streamers up before her big morning. I had a few vague ideas about what we might do to ring in Elisa's 8th but I was also trying to stay flexible. I had narrowed it down to an amusement park of some kind but really I didn't know if we should stay local and hit the one in Central Park and maybe lunch at Serendipity 3, or make a full day of it and go further afield to Rye Playland up north. In the end, my general laziness won out and we hit McDonald's for the girls on our way into the city to Victorian Gardens at the Wollman Rink. I'd say that was a bit off the mark, but really I had to figure the girls were going to be way more excited about getting to the rides than a silly ice cream sundae or about driving an hour to get some place slightly bigger. From their reactions when we got there, I'd say I was right. 

There's something about passing a spot so often on your walks that it almost becomes an after thought. That was definitely the case with Victorian Gardens. The girls had seen it a dozen times but we've always blown it off--like that place? Oh no. Not for us. But this time, I was ready for it. And given its proximity to Queens, it won for the closest, easiest amusement park in NYC. Both girls had a really good time and I'd say they rode just about every ride in there. Carolina fell a bit queasy towards the end but that wasn't such a shock given the heat and all the whirring about. Cutting it off around 5pm was just right, I'd say. Also, I was kind of banking on swimming later in the day if all worked out right with our friends. And thankfully, Kristin and Patrick were all systems go on a little early evening dip in their pool. So I ordered a pizza and brought our funfetti bundt cake (made that morning with Elisa and Carolina's help) and we rounded out the evening with a perfectly improvised swim night with friends. This neighborhood always makes me feel welcome and appreciated and never more so than when you need friends to step in and act like family. They sang happy birthday to my big girl and she was so pleased. So thanks, friends. Thanks, Sunnyside. It was a pretty spectacular day.