Stir Crazy

After a Saturday of near constant rain but milder temps, I was going a little bonkers being indoors.  Truth be told, I think I was having one of those winter funk days where nothing felt right, I just wanted to be somewhere else, and everyone around me was desperately annoying. I even climbed back into bed midmorning and actually got left alone for a change while the girls played and Nacho manned the drink/snack/playdoh-opening stations. It was almost enough to lift the dark cloud.  But still it lingered and the girls being cooped up all day was not helping either.  So by nightfall, I was looking forward to a long sleep and a Sunday full of activity.  But even as we woke and ate breakfast on a clearer day, I wasn't feeling jazzed.  As we slowly got dressed, I could hear the strong winds blowing outside, and for a few minutes thought it might be a nonstarter.  I didn't really know what we were going to do. Elisa asked if we might go to "a park in Manhattan," and I didn't have a reason not to.  Yes, maybe a little visit to the Central Park petting zoo would cheer us up, and we could walk and visit the playground behind it afterwards.  It wasn't city living gold, but what's the saying? "Perfection is the enemy of good." All I needed was good that day. It would do just fine...

We managed to bump into some friends from the neighborhood as we made it to the zoo and that was a nice surprise. But the girls were already showing signs of hunger and crankiness before we'd started, so we hurried through to see the seals and snow monkeys before grabbing a bit of lunch. It wasn't in my plan to sit and get them overpriced hot dogs at the zoo, but it was a necessary evil which bought us more time to enjoy the park afterwards. And really, they did great sitting and eating, and for the first time in a long time, I found myself really relaxing on an outing. Not just surviving it, but finding humor and really engaging them.  Maybe because we never really had a goal for the day, I finally felt at peace. And the weekend that started off so shitty was actually getting better. I suppose we can't always have great days, or even good ones, but sometimes finding a little happiness in the ordinary is all you need. It worked for me on Sunday, and I plan to make it a habit. 

Three Lost Kings

Let me begin by saying that yes, in fact, the Three Kings did remember to visit us again. If you remember, last year was our first attempt at honoring Nacho's childhood tradition and it went well. I was really hoping to take both girls to the Three Kings Parade in Harlem this year, but with so many absences already from fun stuff, I didn't want to chance Elisa's attendance record. She's missed 9 days of school already (mostly for vacations) and the lingering threat of not passing based on a less than stellar record is enough to keep us on the straight and narrow. Besides it rained all day anyway. But back to the point here...January 6th fell on a Monday this year which also happened to be the second full day of school after our big New Year's snow storm.  That weekend we went sledding and spent the rest of it indoors while Nacho worked a long, brutish day on Sunday. It should have been on my radar to get things prepped and ready, but really I expected Nacho to pick up the slack. It was, after all, his holiday. 

So when Sunday night rolled around and we had no gift, no candy and no roscon de reyes, I was beginning to worry that we might have messed up entirely. Nacho was working late and I couldn't make it out to do secret shopping with two curious girls in tow. Fortunately, Elisa had no clue any of this was going on and she left for school on Monday without asking about the Kings' visit. A quick trip to the toy store and Nacho's pitstop in Corona and we had gifts and a cake.  By the time Elisa made it off the bus and Carolina woke from her nap, the Kings had left their gifts and all was right again. Their tardiness forgiven as fast as those candy necklaces were devoured. Yes, it's hard to feel the momentum for this holiday considering it comes so quickly after the giant bubble of Christmas/Nacho's birthday/NYE. But it's now a family tradition which means I owe it to our family to help make it happen. Or at least kick Nacho into gear a little sooner than this next year. And maybe one of these days we'll see the parade in Harlem and catch a glimpse of those camels. How cool would that be? 

Slip slidin' away

There are only a few things scarier than watching your kids go sledding for the first time. I'm not sure what they are, but I'm pretty sure there must be something. Oh man. I'm so glad we got out there yesterday before the crowds started to show up so we could play and slide and crash into the bottom of the hill. But it did take a few deep breaths and remembering that I survived years of sledding as a kid with hardly a scratch. How did I manage it? Thinking about the boulder my sister ran into made it even worse. Oh right, we didn't always end up unhurt. But still the memories fade and all you remember is how much unbridled fun it was.  So we gave it a try ourselves and took both girls out on the big hill behind 54th Street. Did I mention the slope ended in a concrete ditch with a few stumps and light poles around for good measure? Yeah, it wasn't the most bucolic of pastures for our first sledding effort, but we managed.  Considering that Doughboy Plaza is the hill for sledding in Sunnyside/Woodside, I think it was a must. And meeting up with friends to share the thrills and spills made it even better...

Sometimes I think photos don't capture the real essence of an event, but not yesterday. The smiles, the excitement (and in Carolina's case, the screams) were all there. And I was glad to be there with my camera to record it all.  After a few runs, our little girl wasn't so sure the cold was worth it. She sat in her stroller, snacking but mostly crying about wanting to go home. In the meantime, I needed to get a sled for Elisa since she was melting down about having to share (we had yet to purchase our own considering friends had extras and I wasn't sure how well the girls would do). But getting our own plastic was a must and so I backtracked to the dollar store on Skillman Ave where thankfully they still had some pretty decent sleds for cheap. Returning with our new blue toboggan in hand, I was delighted to see how well Elisa took to it without whining. She and Birdie made several runs with Nacho and it was all going so well. I was pouring spiked cider for the adults and hot cocoa for the kids. It was almost ideal except for those nagging screams. Elisa started in about Nacho shoving off with Leonardo and then she wanted her rag which was at home. Yes, as good as it was for a minute, it quickly devolved into tired, hungry, cranky kids who needed a nap. And that was our cue. We made a valiant effort to enjoy the snow and to be part of the community of sledders in Sunnyside and we achieved both.  And I'll forgive the screaming since everyone took a good nap. Winter sports for the win!

Snow day, snow play

After returning to school on Thursday just hours before the first snow fall of the year, Elisa was granted a reprieve when the accumulation proved too much and they cancelled school on Friday.  Nacho's first flight of the day was also cancelled (though they later rerouted him and called him into work--boo!), so we enjoyed a leisurely morning at home. But once the sun broke through, I started to feel the excitement of being outside in the powdery stuff. This wasn't the only snow we've had this winter, but it was definitely the most to date. And more than anything, I was ready for it. There was nothing else I needed to do that day. So we embraced the cold and the bitter winds and wrapped ourselves in a million layers before heading out to play. My loftier goals of making it to the park or even to the sledding hill over in Woodside were quickly abandoned once I read what the wind chills were going to be. It was 10 degrees with a chill of -5F. Yeah, no thanks. Hearing reports on the news about exposed skin freezing in 15 minutes also didn't help. BUT IT LOOKED SO PRETTY! We had to just get out and dip our mittened hands in the white stuff.  And that we did. 

Elisa took to the first fluffy piles as a fish to water. She was jumping, diving and rolling in the snow. Carolina was curious and maybe a bit immobilized by her stiff winter boots (thankfully, she wore them though, since Ms. E refused at that age!). Playing in the alley was actually fairly sheltered and perfect, until we decided to venture a bit further and then the wind hit us straight on. Wooosh! Carolina caught the first of it since her hood doesn't cover her as well. But man, it was C-O-L-D. Elisa didn't seem to care and was ready for the walk to the playground at P.S. 150 so we headed on over.  After a few more snow angels, Elisa grabbed a fistful and sprinkled it on Carolina's face which just about made me do the same back to her. Seriously, that's so mean. I tried to explain to her that when it's this cold out, you don't want snow making your skin wet and frozen. But she didn't seem to get it. Carolina brushed it off like a champ, but within 5 minutes, her cheeks were bright red and I knew our time was up. Elisa was still bouncing around, wanting to make a snowman and arguing with me about helping her. It wasn't the right snow for making big round balls, and we had to leave anyway. Maybe if you hadn't thrown snow at your sister, we could stay. That's always a nice parenting strategy, right? Of course, Carolina threw some snow back her way too which made me happy to see. I like ending an outing on an even note. And so we returned home to homemade chicken stock-egg noodle soup and a little nap. Considering this was Elisa's first official snow day from public school, I think we spent it wisely.

Welcome, 2014!

So I wrote a whole post about our little outing today and promptly lost it when my mobile blogging app decided to take a break. Harumph. Oh well. I suppose the mantra of the day is stay calm and be flexible. Like when we got out in the freezing cold to join some friends for a New Year's Day dim sum lunch in Flushing and then there were no seats left for us at the reserved tables (to be fair, we were nearly 15 min. late).  Friends offered to shove in, but the thought of holding a squirmy kid on my lap while I tried to enjoy a meal sounded like pure torture. No, thanks. So we turned and made our way out of the giant mall, and back through the amazing grocery store with its piles of exotic fruits and down the street. Surely we could do better than this for our first outing of the new year. And as luck would have it, one of our favorite Vietnamese places up the road had plenty of open tables and we settled in to an enjoyable family meal in relative peace. This was more like it.

Something about January 1st always sets the tone for my monthly, if not yearly, outlook. Doing something together as a family, trying something new, and being out in the city we love were all good omens. Even though I woke with a horrible back ache and stomach pains that fortunately died down with some ibuprofen and a little sleeping in, I managed to make the most of the day.  I didn't decide to stay home or just give up. And given how easy that is when it's 20 some-odd degrees out, I was proud of myself for not just muddling through but really enjoying the day. The girls were champs during our about-face in the first restaurant despite Elisa's questioning when we were going to see her friends. And I was delighted to hear Carolina tell me the big bowl of rice I ordered for her was "delicious." Elisa gorged on the lemongrass beef bits I gave her from my vermicelli bowl. And Nacho quietly gulped down an iced coffee while Carolina screamed abuse at me for "more CAFE!" out of mine.  Ah yes. She likes what she likes. 

The two girls went practically ballistic when we bumped into the Burns family post-dim sum and joined them for a sweet slushy treat at Quickly.  So. much. shrieking. Geez. Carolina can take it up a few octaves these days, and Elisa just winds her up with taunts and tickles until I'm ready to say BASTA YA! But again, staying calm, I just smiled and shushed them until it was time to hit the train home.  The first family nap of the year was a perfect way to end the activity of the day and now we're bracing for re-integration into school life again tomorrow--yikes!--and a coming snow storm for Thursday/Friday that will see the first real accumulation of the year (8-10 inches most are predicting).  So here's to all that's yet to come in '14, and staying calm and positive about it. I'm going to work on that the most this year. It's going to be great. No really.