NYC Day 2 - July 3

*** Notice ****
Because we have so much to catch up on, Nikki is allowing me (Dave) to guest post. She maintains complete editorial control, however. .... Of course.
***************

Saturday July 3 began with an exploration of Central Park. Well, that was the intent. On the walk from our apartment to Central Park we ran into a filming of CBS's Early Show. It was a cooking segment and Nikki had to stop. Actually, we all enjoyed watching the camera crew and screaming when the lady help up the "applause" sign.

We walked the park from the southeast corner, through the central park zoo, past the Balto statue, down the Mall, through the Naumberg clamshell, around (and around) the Bethesda fountain, through the Ramble (yes we got lost), into the Belvedere castle, past the Obelisk, and finishing at the entrance to the MET museum for a typical NY sidewalk lunch of hotdogs and giant pretzels. Oh, I forgot to mention. We also had to climb every rock cropping we found. And chase away every pigeon in the way. In all, a very fun walk.



One of the larger rock formations. Claire refused to be left behind.










One of the 100's of statues in the park. This is Balto.









Belvedere Castle. Ian was done cooperating at this point because he had to walk instead of riding the stroller.










After a quick lunch, we got subway passes and took our first ride - the No. 4 train from 86th to 161st/Yankee Stadium. Crossing under the Harlem River we entered our second borough (the Bronx). Because it was almost game time the train was very full (hence no pictures).

A note here on the subway. This was one of our biggest worries going in. So much so that we practiced getting through the gates for FHE the week before our trip (we used trash cans as gate walls). Our procedure was to have Mom descend the stairs first, holding Ruby in her arms and Ammon at her side. Noah and Ian followed (as buddies; Noah with a cell phone in case they got separated). I brought up the rear holding the stroller, with Claire at my side. We went through the turnstile the same way (with me swiping all the cards to go quickly). Then we would "hug" a wall to keep the kids as far back from the tracks as possible until the next train arrived. The boys liked to walk to the edge to see if a train was coming - definitely the most stressful part of the trip for Nikki. Our experience was that, so long as you knew what you were doing and where you were going, people would treat you just like anyone else - meaning they ignored you. The stroller barely fit through the turnstile, but hey, its a double stroller, so not bad. Usually Nikki and the girls would find a seat, while the boys and I stood. Sometimes the trains were near-empty (such as the Sunday morning going to church). Other times we were packed like sardines (such as Tuesday morning going downtown at rush hour). But on the whole, the kids and I enjoyed the subway, Nikki tolerated it, and it was the only realistic way to get around.




Yankee Stadium was very cool. Ian brought his Boston hat despite my warnings (he was on the Red Sox in little league), and we didn't make it to the second deck before the taunting grew too much and he took it off.






As for the game, NY was playing Toronto. The Blue Jays scored two in the first, which prompted Noah to cheer for them. Things were quiet for the next little while and Ruby fell asleep in the middle of the third.








Of course, that's precisely when the Yankees proceeded to score 11 in one inning - including a grand slam and an A-Rod pop up which the center fielder dropped in the sun. Ruby was awake the rest of the game. Noah plugged his ears as Ian and Ammon went crazy.



After the game we took another very crowded 4 train down to 59th street. We took refuge for an hour in FAO schwartz, where Claire and Ammon could have stayed an entire day dancing on the giant piano.