Alden's Birthday Day

I love doing stuff for/with Alden.  Like I put up on FB, he's so good, and so appreciative, it's worth it, he makes it easy to spoil him.   I wish we got an earlier start, yesterday. We saw most of the museum, only really missing out on the Rose Center, and the actual planetarium.  For whatever reason, the place was mobbed yesterday.  When Schuyler and I went, it was empty, we walked in, no lines, and most of the halls were nearly empty, which made for a pleasant meander. This was more hectic, and some things made me a little ranty...but overall it was an outstanding day.  I'll rant about them later.

We're getting more familiar with the trains every time we go into the city.  We've had a basic knowledge of certain lines, for awhile, but now, I can find where something is, and almost intuitively know which line gets us in the vicinity.  It's nice, after sticking to the well traveled routes, and taking cabs everywhere when I was a kid, to really range far and wide, discovering new neighborhoods, and good places.

Max Brenners was good, a little schlocky, but that's part of the experience.  I wanted Alden's birthday day to be a little over the top, and I figured what's more over the top than dessert for dinner?  We planned it out so we'd have a substantial breakfast, a light lunch, and then in place of a typical evening meal, we'd do a giant dessert thing from there.  It worked out good, and we didn't kill ourselves with sugar coma.  I had a churro fondue platter thing, Irv had an enormous cookie ice cream sandwich, and Alden had a s'mores sundae that wound up being the size of his head, which we all sort of freely shared around the table.  The kid loved it, Irv not-so-much, but I get the feeling that he's getting grouchier in general, as he gets older.  Sometimes, I think Irv is getting to be one of those people that looks for things to complain about, or is becoming more likely to complain when he's out of his comfort zone, or something.  Or maybe he's just been acting like that more lately for some reason.  It was a little pricy for dessert, but the food was very very good, and it beat the shit out of Rainforest Cafe, that's for sure.  

We moseyed around Union Square, walking around that neighborhood, checking out some stores, and walking off the chocolate, then headed home.  Had to stop at the only "local" Tim Hortons, and get some coffee, in Penn Station (Tim Horton franchisees, if you're reading this, come to Monmouth County, you'll have customers for life, just keep the coffee the same).  

Alden kept thanking us, sleepily, the whole way home, which is the greatest feeling.  Like, when you've nailed it, you know?  All the money, planning, fiddling with time and finances, really comes to fruition. When the kid can't stop talking about which exhibit was his favorite, or how he got to see Turkana Boy "in person", or how great the food was, etc.  He only got "spoken to" once, and it was because he was getting punchy at the end of the day, and losing his already minuscule attention span.  He asked if he could go in another room, and I said "give me a minute, let me look at this thing here, then we'll all move there together" and he trotted off, like I didn't say anything.  I didn't notice that he took off, at first, so I had the moment that every mother goes through, the "holy shit, where's Alden...he was just right here" moment.  So, when we found him a few minutes later, we made him take a time out, sit on a bench, and gather himself for a few.

All in all, it was a fantastic day, and like it happens every time, we get home and go "that was so much fun, why don't we go to the City more often?".

I think I'll save my rant for the following post.