The Po Show

Big City Sunday

We spent the day in the city, soaking in the holiday air and navigating the packed sidewalks of bustling tourists and shoppers. Actually it wasn't too bad, since we went early in the morning (we've found that New Yorkers don't seem to do much before noon on Sundays, so we always try to get to the city before 10 AM to scout out street parking).

We were at FAO Schwarz at opening, just in time to see the guy dressed like a toy soldier blow his horn. The place filled quickly, but Tessa only had to wait a few minutes to get a turn on the light-up piano floor. Man, I wish I'd had a videocamera, because at the end of her group's turn, she announced "And now for my big finish!" as she ran the length of the keyboard and flung herself to her knees, gliding across the last few feet like Roy Scheider in "All That Jazz."

We walked down 5th Ave., looking at the decorated windows (which only I was really interested in), and made our way to Rockefeller Center. The kids weren't too impressed with the tree, and only cared that we were near the Nintendo Center. We spent way too long in there (I marveled that there were people standing in tremendous lines to buy Pokemon cards! Dude, you can buy them anywhere, and not wait forever in line!), and got to see people playing on several Wii (is that the correct pluralization? Wiis? Wiiiii?). The lines were too long, and I reminded Matthew that he can play on his cousins' Wii in CA in a couple of days.

More walking, a stop at Barnes & Noble to buy books for the trip (not flying JetBlue! Will not have individual screens with DirecTV in front of each child for the entire trip!), and on to Grand Central. The kids loved the light show they have going in the main lobby, which was actually very clever and well-done. The kids haven't been to Grand Central in a quite a while, and they still think it funny and bizarre that Daddy goes there every single day. *I* still find it bizarre, that my Birkenstock-wearing California boy puts on a tie and goes off to labor in Manhattan, across the street from the New York Public Library, every weekday of his life.

Most of the days we go into the city, we stick to the Upper Westside (we did stop there briefly today so I could exchange some Gymboree stuff at 81st and Broadway). We go the Museum of Natural History, or Central Park Zoo. Occasionally we park in SoHo and take a taxi to Chinatown to have pho. We go early, and try to avoid the worst of the crowds. But today we did touristy stuff, and were reminded that we live very close to the New York City that they show on TV.

And since no one complained too bitterly about walking or being cold or wanting to buy stuff, it was a huge, fun, rousing success.