Deep freeze weekend

Never underestimate my ability to rally despite the weather or my better judgement. On Saturday when the highs were only going to be in the low 20s, I soldiered on and got everyone up and ready to hit the East River Ferry for a bumpy ride to Brooklyn Bridge Park and a lunch at Shake Shack on the waterfront. To be honest, my main motivation was to use up the ferry tickets Dad had purchased on their trip here over the holidays. We didn't make it on the much smaller water taxi that balmy 50 degree day in December, so we held on to the tickets and I was hoping to use them with Stace and Mia. I am nothing if not thrifty--at least when it comes to travel!  The fact that this was our last day to do so meant we needed to bundle up and get going. There was a bit of an "Amazing Race"-style dash from parking to the ferry which had pulled in a few minutes before schedule. And kudos to Stacey for sprinting with Carolina in tow. Whew! That was some start to the day.

Once on the boat, we were treated to a spectacular 7-alarm fire at a storage facility in the Williamsburg and an FDNY boat spraying it from the river as we passed by. Seeing two large storage tanks with "PETROL" written on them just adjacent to the raging fire was a bit unnerving but the girls were enthralled. Carolina asked if the fire was going to come up from the water and I then had to carefully explain that the water was putting out the fire. Love that 3 year old mind sometimes, and I forget how confusing things are. But no, were weren't in danger, I told her....mostly. As we pulled up at the Brooklyn Bridge dock, I was happy to exit since my stomach had been churning with the choppy waters. What a warm ride, though. The winds and bright sun greeting us at the pier were just enough to endure before racing over to grab lunch. It was my first time in that Shake Shack and it was perfectly empty on that cold Saturday. There was even a roaring fireplace! So we settled in and had a great lunch with a s'mores shake and Brooklyn pie concrete to finish. 

On Sunday I had a photo shoot and the girls went off with Nacho to a Super Bowl Party. Then on Monday it was time to hit the city one last time with Mia. I let Elisa play hooky from school, partly because it was her last day with her cousin and also because the snow/slush made the commute a little uncertain. Little did I know how true that last statement would be. The 7 train went out of service early morning because of ice on the third rail, and so our bus adventure into Manhattan was a stroke of sheer luck. We hit Dylan's Candy Bar for Mia to buy some presents for her friends, and the girls were elated to get their own goodie bags. Then Patsy's for a pizza lunch (you can never get enough New York pizza apparently), followed by a trip to FAO Schwarz since Mia had never been. Not sure I recall if that's true or not, but she was game for the idea, and the girls were overjoyed. Helping them pick out something for less than $10 was quite the challenge, but in the end, we made it. As we waited for the Q32 bus home, it was just before rush hour and I had every confidence that we'd get home okay. Until I didn't. The 7 train still wasn't working at all, the bus we were tracking on the app disappeared, and the snow and winds had picked up again. Seeing a cab pull up right next to the bus stop to discharge a passenger gave me a sudden impulse to grab it. And that I did. We piled in with Nacho up front and off to Queens we went. It was a completely luxurious end to a pretty fantastic day.