Rebuilding the Rockaways

It only took us most of the summer to make good on the promise of returning to the Hurricane Sandy-ravaged Rockaways, but yesterday we finally made it. And we weren't disappointed. After all the devastation I'd seen on the news, I wasn't expecting much. But the brightly painted boardwalk outposts and new paths and terraces were a welcome indication that the rebuilding is happening and it looks like things are going to be even better than before given a little more time. There were great new ramps up to the boardwalk, cool stadium style steps down and even solar-powered phone charging stations. In another year, I can only imagine the throngs of people here. But on a quiet Monday, we were practically alone. It was perfect.

Elisa didn't last long on the beach, claiming she was cold and tired. She laid in the beach tent for a while and then I finally checked, and yes, she was coming down with something. Oops. Should have figured something was wrong when she fell asleep in the car on the way there. But her energy for the first 30 minutes there was undeniable. That's how much the girl loves the ocean. When she wouldn't get back out there, we decided to head up to the boardwalk for a quick bite of lunch and then home.  As we discovered last summer, having Caracas, a perfectly delicious restaurant outpost from the East Village, in the Rockaways is like combining the best of NYC--awesome location and great food.  We ordered the standard arepas and some Ommegang beers and settled into one of the picnic tables to take it all in. Yeah, not bad for our first beach outing of the summer.   Elisa couldn't be swayed by any of the lunch I'd packed, and I knew it was getting serious when I couldn't even tempt her with ice cream. We were off after I'd grabbed an iced coffee and two scoops with dulce de leche sauce. 

Overall, I will say the beach is still a long way from being back to form. There are still large sections that are not yet open to the public, as seen by the red flag cordoned off areas. We had to walk a bit further down the beach to around 108th to be able to enter the water, and there was still a bit of trash floating around.  Considering how overcast and foggy it was, we weren't able to get a good view up the beach, but I gather that it was the same all over. There are still lots of construction vehicles all over, and police and parks department workers milling around.  Mostly, I'm glad to see that less than a year later, the Rockaways are on the rebound and that businesses haven't given up on the area. It's still well worth a visit, and I know if we were going to be around in August, we'd be back. Maybe in September....

EDITED TO ADD: On Tuesday Elisa wasn't running a fever, but complained of a sore throat. Took one look and thought I better get her in that afternoon. Yep. It's strep. So we're starting antibiotics and hoping Carolina avoids it. But by last night, she too was running a low grade fever. None this a.m. though, but uncharacteristically, she slept over 12 hours. Hmmmm....what to do. Wait and see, I guess.

The Week in Review

Wow. What a scorcher.

Last weekend began with a birthday party at the park and an invite out to Hoboken to visit with my college buddy Jason Clampet who I hadn't seen in at least a decade. His daughter Flora is just a year older than Elisa and of course it didn't take long for the girls to find their common bonds--namely Barbies and making big girl games that slyly excluded Carolina. Ah yes, girls will be girls.  Since our late night catching up, Elisa has been bugging me about going back, so I guess that means I need to see what their plans are for the rest of the summer. Hopefully, we can have them out to Sunnyside to see our neck of the woods and not wait another 10 years.  The temperatures this week hit the mid to upper 90s every single day which meant we'd need to take it easy. We were on a park/pool/nap/cool off at home routine pretty much all week long, and it was fine but a bit boring. We broke it up with an ice cream night at Jahn's in Jackson Heights and the sweltering Summer Social at the park last night.  Seeing temps go back to the 80s this coming week is a welcome change. Hopefully, the rest of July will go easy on us. You think?

Visiting the City

Last week a childhood friend of mine from Kansas City visited the city, and thanks to a generous playgroup friend, he was able to stay at a housesit in Sunnyside.  Having him close by but not subject to our girls' early wake times was the best of both worlds, and we found ourselves traipsing into Manhattan with him a few times for a little sightseeing of our own. My biggest fear when we have a friend visit is that they won't get to see all the parts of the city that I really love--places like the quiet brownstone-lined streets of Brooklyn Heights with its promenade, the grit and character of the Lower East Side or East Village, and of course our own humble hamlet of Sunnyside. Usually, it's hard to pace yourself in New York and you want to rush downtown and then uptown and see everything in between.  But the reality is you wear yourself out fast, and what you see, you don't always enjoy.  Doing that over a long weekend is killer, but with a few extra days, the mad dash becomes a bit more tolerable. So it was my plan to take Adam to a few areas of the city Nacho and I love, slowing down just enough to savor them. And since I was stuck with the girls (yes, dragging kids around in major summer heat is not exactly my idea of a good time), we made plenty of pit stops for food and parks. This is how we do summer in the city... 

We've been seeing a lot of this face from Carolina, plus a lot of screaming. This kid knows what she wants and she will cut you to get it.

Ahhhh, there. So much better sipping down mama's iced coffee without anyone touching it.

The highlights of this slow crawl through the Lower East Side were definitely the culinary pursuits: late breakfast at Doughnut Plant followed by lunch at Caracas Arepa Bar. It had been years since I'd had one of their donuts (I know, I know, how could that be), but they didn't disappoint. The tres leches and the creme brûlée were both amazing. Elisa snarfed down her vanilla bean glazed one so fast, I didn't even get a bite. And the arepas were piping hot and oozing with flavor. Anyone venturing there would do well to order the pabellon and skip reading the menu. It's that good. But by the time I was licking my fingers and tucking away my napkin, I knew we were on a fast track to heading home. A little guac and fresh plantain chips helped curb the crazy for a few minutes, but it was well past nap time and we had two buses to catch on the way home--not the best plan when you're running low on toddler reserves. But somehow we made it just fine. The girls were very patient with our slow transport home, and I managed to lose my Metrocard after the first bus which meant I not only lost a transfer (damn it!), but I had just charged it with $20, of course.  Luckily, there was a silver lining in that a nice elderly woman generously sold me a swipe from hers, saving me from having to jump off the bus and  go buy a new one. Another day in the city made better by the good company we had.

Field of Dreams

This summer we attempted a first for Elisa--organized sports--which in the case of t-ball offered at SGP for 6 weeks was really a loosely formed group with no real ambition. Let the kids get a feel for catching and throwing and hitting and see how it goes seemed to be the only overarching goal. Which was perfectly reasonable to me, lest it sounds like I'm knocking it.  And did I mention it was only $12 for the season, which included the fabulous t-shirt AND pizza party (which we forgot to even attend)? Yeah, it was worth it many times over...

The first couple of Sundays, Elisa wasn't thrilled to be out on the field, but she tolerated it for a good 15-20 minutes each time. Considering it was an hour-long session, I figured she was at least giving it a try so I was patient. And really, she showed some initiative and strength, especially throwing. Her few times at bat were all very successful and I think she felt proud after all our whooping and hollering. I was elated to see her out there doing something new and not complaining about it. The fight to get to the park (with shirt ON) was epic once or twice, but once there, she was a happy kid. And mostly, I wanted her to see that sometimes you need to be part of a team and to wait your turn and try again if you miss. She did all of that and more...

Towards the end of the season, she didn't want to play again and I let it be. I had seen enough to consider my investment well made.  Of course, I hope she'll find an activity that she loves in the future and one that she's willing to work hard on.  She had all of our support and I hope she knows that. I loved watching Carolina on the sidelines cheering and watching her every move.  It's the little stuff like this that make you realize your child is growing up--the way you tense up and hold your breath when they go to bat. And *POP* she hit a ground ball and took off running. Afterwards, Elisa turned to me and said, "Mom, did you see that?!" "Yes," I said beaming with pride. "Okay, then I'm done."  Good enough, kid. Good enough.