Adventures with Blair and Family

This summer, instead of heading back to Utah, we're hosting a phalanx of family members. The first to arrive were Blair and family. Thomas was practically hysterical waiting for his cousins to get here. I've decided we probably should have given him a sibling a little earlier in his life so he could have someone to really play with all the time. That seems to be what this particular child needs. Every time we climbed in the car to go anywhere, he would ask, "Where are my cousins?"

"They're in the car behind us."

"Are they coming with us?"

"Yes. They're just following us in their car."

Stopping at a light: "Where are my cousins? Don't go, Daddy! My cousins are not behind us!"

"Thomas! Yes they are!" And so on.

Anyway, we enjoyed many an adventure for a relatively short weekend. On Sat. we headed back into New York to eat some authentic NYC pizza, climb the Empire State Building, and take the ferry down to the Statue of Liberty. Even Sethie got in on the pizza eating action. At the ESB, there was a skywriter, but even after much staring at the message, we still couldn't decipher it (It was degrading quickly). I'm posting it here. Let me know if you can tell what it says, cuz I sure can't.

Anyway, on we went to the Statue of Liberty. Long ago when I was college student, my friends and I spent our spring break tooling around the east in Rachel's car (hi chica!). We went to D.C. (where we stayed with Blair, actually) and to New York where we climbed the Statue of Liberty. Back in the day, you could wait an interminable amount of time (like 6 $&#*%! hours) and climb an interminable amounts of steps (like 100 $&#*%! thousand) in order to stand in the the tiny crown space and overlook the city. Okay--that last bit sounds kinda grumpy, but it was a pretty cool experience for all that and something you can always bring up (I think I brought it up at least four times this weekend). After 9/11, they closed the Statue of Liberty out of concern, not unreasonably, that it would be the object of a terrorist attack. Much later, they reopened her, but climbing to the crown is forever a relic of the past. Now you can take an elevator to an observation deck about midway up, but that's all. My time in Lady Liberty takes on a new significance.

This time, though, we arrived too late on the island to even go to the observation deck. The 1 train was under repair and after much flailing around trying to get to South Ferry, we ended up on Chambers St. looking for a van taxi to haul the lot of us down to Battery Park. The driver who finally picked us up looked pretty dismayed as we all piled in (he said later he wasn't allowed to pick up so many people at once. Sorry, dude. Maybe you should have mentioned that a little earlier, eh?) and when I told him we were going to Battery Park, he said, "Do you know how to get there?" Um, YOU SIR, are the TAXI DRIVER. Isn't that YOUR JOB to know where to go? We didn't exactly request a backalley warehouse or something. This is BATTERY PARK, at the bottom point of the island. GO SOUTH! Anyway, Blair gave him a nice tip. Blair's a good guy that way (the van driver we got on the way back not only didn't seem to mind all of us piling into his taxi, but had no problems finding Penn Station. He also got a good tip, but he actually deserved his).

Can I just say how I love New York? Every time we leave there I instantly forget how hard the day-to-day living was in the city and all I remember is how amazing and wonderful it was to live in such close proximity to world-renowned sites. I used to say, "If you're bored in New York, it's your own fault." Even the standing around in Battery Park was fun. We got ice cream. We listened to some classy street musicians. We breathed in the scent of the Atlantic Ocean. On Liberty Island, we walked around to the base of the statue and the adults crashed in the shade while the kids chased each other around (and made some little friends--incidentally the same friends showed up at the beach in Belmar, NJ where we went on Mon. Eerie!)

And here's the coolest thing about New York. You're always bound to run into some old friends (Nate and I were commenting to each other how in Salt Lake, if there was some guy in a spidey suit at the park, you'd be calling the police, not lining your kids up to get their picture with him, let alone giving him money).

As I mentioned earlier, on Monday we drove about 45 min. east to Belmar, NJ, part of the long, sparkling Jersey shore. Admittedly, I have never been a beach person and all those people I've heard go on and on about the allure of the ocean just sounded like crazy people to me (of course, they were from California, so the aura of crazy was on them anyway. Har! Hi Nolan!). But this was a blast. The kids had a great time playing in the water and on the sand, we found little scuttling crabs, we got some much needed sun, and standing there, looking out across the vast ocean, feeling for a moment my pupils dilating and getting a rush in my own smallness, well I think maybe I have an inkling of what they're talking about.

Thomas, especially, seems to destined to be a beach rat. He spent almost our entire time there in the water, despite the fact that it was a chilly 65 degrees and by the time we finally got him out his skin was purplish and he was shaking all over. No matter, he wanted to go back, even though his teeth were chattering so badly he could barely articulate that. He was absolutely fearless, plunging into wave after wave, even ones that were taller than he was, ones that turned him over and dragged him under. Without Nate there to haul him back up to air, he probably would have happily drowned himself. We've been debating what kind of activities he should be doing this summer--I guess swimming is probably what we ought to be investing our money in.

We barbecued in a little park in Belmar and then had to wish Blair and fam farewell. It's so sad--they are moving now to Romania and won't be back this way for several years. It's hard to finally get some family on this side of the country only to lose them again. We miss you already!

More pics and videos of our adventures follow below. Next up on the family adventures list--my sis, Alyssa! (showing up today!)