Thursday, April 03, 2008

Spring Break, part 4

This was our last day in NYC, so we crammed it full to the rim...Ben just went to bed (9:30pm) after a cool down at the end of our day...



We started out by going to the playground in Madison Square Park, which is in the shadow (architecturally if not actually) of the Flatiron Building...


Ben had, as always, a great time in this playground, which has a great mix of kids who look and sound very multicultural when compared to our playgrounds in Saranac Lake...


After some lunch, we met up with Anti-Sarah, who took a half-day and went out to the New York Aquarium, out in Coney Island...it was super...better than expected!

I couldn't capture all of the wonderful sea life that we saw during our visit (fast beasties behind glass and low light make for poor pictures), but I did get some video of our favorites...



This otter was rescued by the Monterrey Bay Aquarium, and when he could not be rehabilitated, he moved to this one, and has been educating New Yorkers and visitors for years...even though he is 16, he moves with a boneless grace that is amazing...



The highlight of the visit for all of us was the giant walrus who spent as much time checking us out as we did him...



Ben loved this walrus, and we had a hard time moving on...these videos don't capture the sounds he made while looking at us...squeaks and farting noises and bristly trumpeting...



Anti-Sarah had better hope that this video is never seen by the head hunters for the Shark advocacy group that she is seeking a job with, or she'll be out of luck...



I loved watching these jellyfish move around in the water, although they certainly give me the wiggins...



These little mushroom-shaped jellyfish just seemed weird...like some anime cartoon gone wrong...



We ended our visit to the Aquarium with a live show featuring a super-talented harbor seal and his entourage...we had a wonderful time at the New York Aquarium, and hope to visit again sometime...special thanks to Anti-Sarah for the idea and the legwork involved in making this trip happen...

This evening, after a super thin-crust pizza dinner, Ben and Sarah and I went to Jump, a great theatre experience that combines martial arts with acrobatics with comedy...




We had a wonderful time, and Ben really enjoyed the action and kicking and jokes and seeing live theatre...



They did amazing jumping and flipping and fighting...Ben couldn't take his eyes off of the performance...



He was tired enough at the end of the performance that he had a little meltdown once we got outside, but he did get a chance to say hello and thanks to a couple of the performers who were talking to the audience on their way out before he crashed...we got home and read a story with muz, and he went to bed...he was asleep before I left the room...

We've had a great time in NYC, and (but?) he'll need a couple of days to recover from the fun...

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I loved your pictures! Very nice blog.

Anonymous said...

WOW guys what a great week! Ben should bring the blog into school to tell all the kids about it! I wish I could have been there to enjoy it all with you! I MISS YOU!!!!!....Mom/Gail