March Break 2019: Day 2 New York City

March 11, 2019

Our first full day in New York was a rainy one, but we didn't care. We heard that there was more snow coming down in Ottawa, so anywhere else that didn't have the white stuff coming down was pleasant.

One of the best features that Nicholas loves about the hotel is the big screen TV that he can view from his top bunk. Since we don't have cable at home, nor does he have free access to watching TV, he was fascinated with watching the History Channel.

After we woke up around 7 (we lost an hour because the daylight times savings meant we jumped ahead by an hour - so we really were up at 6 am) we quickly got ready and headed out to get some breakfast. Traveling with a picky 9 year old isn't fun - he is more amenable now than he was when he was 2,3,4,5, 6,7,8...after all these years, I've always hoped that he would snap out of it. Still picky after 9 years! We ended up at Tivoli Cafe for breakfast - bacon sandwich for him and oatmeal for me. Great start to the day.

After we ate, we walked towards the Math Museum, which was minutes away. Wow! What an amazing, interactive museum that is perfect for kids - all the displays are interactive, there is sunlight coming into the building, and the exhibits seemed updated. I loved it because I was able to use my museum pass from Ottawa for free entry - $35 dollars savings at least! We spent almost 2 hours pressing buttons, jumping from display to display. He did some origami and even participated in a reserach psychology exercise. His other highlight was spending time in the really cool gift shop - we got Joshy a Rubik's ball, and Nicholas found a metal puzzle.

Next up - the Flatiron Building which is the district where our hotel is located. We then dipped into the Lego Store, and continued our walk down Madison Ave. We found a really cool store that had a secret opening to an entire play toy area called "Camp". Kids were running everywhere, blowing edible bubbles, doing karaoke, playing basketball. The whole experiential shopping at its finest - happy kids testing out toys while parents with money eagerly took a break from chasing them around.

After the museum, we found a subway station and bought our weekly pass - $32/pass unlimited rides for 7 days Nicholas was mesmerized by the rats he saw on the tracks, the smell, the dinginess. It was a good time for me to teach him about minding the gap, being aware of his surroundings and to stay focused. He quickly learned to stay by my side, and not to venture off like he does when he is at home.

Our first stop - Times Square! I closed his eyes and when he opened them - I will never forget the pure excitement in his eyes. Lights, action, people everywhere!!! We walked around for a bit, looking at all the lights and action and made our way to the three-story M&M store. What kid wouldn't want to go to a massive candy store! I couldn't believe how many people were in there spending ridiculous amounts of money on M&M's and gifts. Since we made it this far, I let Nicholas select a very small bag of M&M's. He was in candy heaven!

We stepped out of the store, and 3 minutes later - we saw the Hershey store. The prices were more reasonable and it smelled more chocolate inside! Next stop, I saw a Swatch store and decided that Nicholas was finally old enough to own a big boy watch. He selected a nice blue watch and wore the watch immediately - after a few years of tutoring reading time to the boys - Cam's good work is finally paying off. As we continued throughout the day, Nicholas read me the time on his watch to check if it was the same on my iPhone. He finally can tell time!

One of the shocking moments Nicholas had was when we saw police officers coming out of a truck with their machine guns and armor. I asked the police officer if there was impending danger. He said it was normal for the crew to be walking around with their weapons. This definitely is not a scene we would see at home!

For dinner, we decided to back to the pizza joint he loved the night before - 2 pepperoni slides, and I found a delicious noodle soup place. Cheap, fast and delicious. I've been enjoying finding cheap eats for the past two days since Nicholas isn't keen on eating in places I usually like.

Last stop of the day, we checked ou Trader Joes to get some groceries. It was a complete zoo inside since it was Sunday night. It was fun though to see all the products they sell, and to see the action in a grocery store. We wanted to get a case of 24 bottles of water but didn't have any way of getting it back to our hotel 10 minutes away. We opted for a smaller case, some snacks, bananas, pears and off we went to end our night back at our room. Day 1 was a success!