Oh summer. How I wait in such anticipation for those longer, sun-filled days only to realize by July that it's too blazing hot to enjoy them! Woof. This week things really heated up with lots of days in the 90s. Now that kind of heat with central A/C and lots of car rides might be tolerable. But here in the city, where walking is king and most apartments rely on window units for isolated cooling, the heat always feels...well, hotter. So last week we made our first fully air conditioned playdate with Leonardo and Carmen at the movies. "The Secret Life of Pets" was on the girls' radar for months now after seeing its trailer in the spring and I have to say it really lived up to the hype. The jokes were much funnier (especially Kevin Hart as the sewer bunny) than I expected making it a very enjoyable Friday afternoon outing. Afterwards, we hit a pizzeria in College Point and then Target for a little retail therapy. About half way through the shopping trip I wasn't sure why I did that to myself, but hey, it was another cool spot. We made it back to Carmen's for a bit and enjoyed tacos for dinner. The whole week was ending on a good note.
Nacho returned with gifts from his first trip to Edinburgh
Then Monday came and Nacho was off again. We woke to beautiful clear skies that just begged us to go outside. So I opted to take the girls into the city on my own and meet up with Carmen and her Canadian crew visiting from Toronto. We ran a few errands near Madison Square Park before lunch at McD's and then a pit stop at Union Square Park while we waited for Carmen to catch up with us. My idea of walking the Brooklyn Bridge, playing in DUMBO and taking the ferry all sounded wonderful at about 2pm. But by 5pm when we started out, having finally met up on the sweltering platform at Union Square, I wasn't so sure. The girls barely started across the bridge before Elisa was chirping about having to pee and Carolina was complaining about being tired. Oy. Yes, I always forget the bridge is more fun when you aren't under the influence of childhood. So off we went, or rather kept going, and when we finally made it across, I started death marching Elisa towards the bathroom at the end of the playground on Main Street. Carmen, Bridget and I sat for a bit while the kids all played and things were mellowing a bit. We checked the times for the ferry and realized that we needed to get over there soon to get the second to last ferry back to Queens. When it ended up being almost 40 minutes late, things were getting ugly (tired, thirsty and hungry), but the boat ride itself was gorgeous. The kids all seemed at peace. Until they weren't. Mine came off the ferry expecting a playdate at Leonardo's but as it was almost 8:30pm and we hadn't had dinner yet, I opted to snap a quick Manhattanhenge photo from Hunters Point South and schlep them on home. That was not a resounding success. Elisa freaked out pretty much the whole way back, and I was thanked with a "this is the worst day EVER" declaration--just what I needed at 9pm after a day out in the city. So yeah, the next day I needed a drink. Even if I had to drag my kids with me to Mundo at the Paper Factory Hotel with Elyse to see our friend Brenna visiting from Portsmouth. Ah, that was a good mojito.
Carolina and I watched a storm roll in after camp on Thursday night
I made sure to double down on cocktails the next day as well. In fact, the rest of the week was all about taking it easy. Or easier. Wednesday night I went out for a little send off for Marija who is leaving soon for her summer in Serbia. We had drinks at The Lowery followed by a lively dinner at Casa Del Chef in Woodside, followed by more drinks--and NO guac--at La Adelita on our walk back. The girl talk and camaraderie was just what my soul needed. By Friday I was ready to hit the city again with Carmen and close out another week of summer. We stopped by the Barnes & Noble in Union Square to get her travel books and Oliver's birthday presents. Seeing Elisa jump right into a graphic novel ("Smile" by Raina Telgemeier) was a delight. Yes, this was what we needed to kick start our lazy reading program. And then there was lunch at Big Daddy's diner which was a colorful throwback complete with sundaes and malteds. We made it back to LIC for another pit stop and then a quick train ride home. Again, my city girls were hanging in there but just barely. By Saturday I needed a day of pampering and I got it when I dashed off to Williamsburg to get my hair done. The Summer Social was later that night and I finally felt like this was the summer I deserved. We had a great night in the park talking and drinking and hanging out. So another week down. A lot of fun. Some struggles. But hey in the end, we kept our cool.
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