Vacation Week #2: Back in NYC, More Museums
Read about our summer 2010 vacation week #1, here. For our second week we were back in NYC, doing a few boring things (lawyer visit, trip to Target, etc.) but mostly relaxing and enjoying all the fun New York stuff that we actual New Yorkers never have time to do because we, you know, work here and stuff. I'll skip the boring stuff and just report on the three highlights: The Cloisters. This is an outpost of the Met up at the very tip of Manhattan. It has all medieval and Renaissance art and architecture. Very cool. Maddie pointed out the animals in the tapestries. When she saw this painting she declared "They look grumpy." And she was fascinated by all the different pictures and sculptures of the Madonna and Child. "There's another mommy and baby! And another mommy and baby!" MoMA: So fun! Maddie was primed for a museum visit because of the Cloisters. When we walked into the Picasso room she said "Oh, look at all the paintings!" A Matisse with three women and a bunch of flowers inspired this: "They are playing ball like how I play ball. I like ball." Unfortunately we didn't get to spend as much time in the Matisse as we'd have liked because someone declared "I want lunch!" (Sam, for his part, loved the nudes. Everytime he saw breasts he cried out with delight. He too was thinking about lunch.) Check out Maddie playing with blocks in the children's area:
And here's Sam, being Sam:
Lots more great photos from MoMA here. Beacon: After MoMA we decided to try a real restaurant with the kids. We figured a Wednesday in August at 5 p.m. was a good time for such an experiment. It was hilarious. First, Beacon was more kid-friendly than I would have guessed. They gave Maddie a coloring book and crayons. The kid's menu included a steak dinner with a tiny filet mignon, mashed potatoes and string beans. Maddie and Sam were both on their very best behavior and the staff was amazing -- so lovely and gracious. It was a whole new twist on family dining! Great week. Now to get a good night's sleep ... I've got more than a thousand email messages to wade through tomorrow ...