Friday, August 08, 2003
Get Your Sorry Ass Moving
After two days of uneventful playground time with the two kids, sometimes it is best to just do something different. Change the channel. Take the subway downtown and look for adventure. Yeah, it involves lugging Large Baby in the stroller up and down subway steps, but it's better than laying about the apartment.
So, that's what we did today. My friend, Sally, and I took the kiddies to the Museum of Natural History. Since Jonah joined us, we've been there a lot. It is our rainy day activity. We catch the A train at 181st station, and transfer for the C to the basement of the museum. Suburban moms go to the mall; we go to the Natural History.
The C train drops you off the ground floor of the museum. As usual, the lines were backed up into the station, because it takes the ticket takers about five minutes a person. The ticket takers there are a horribly discouraged lot, but juggling four kids on line for twenty minutes doesn't make me all that sympathetic.
After finally getting the tickets, I had to balance a tray with hot dogs and fries with one hand and push the stroller with the other. So far, not an uplifting experience.
We visited the dinosaur exhibit, which was fine as always, but the highlight was the whale room.
When we were kids, our parents would cart us over to the "Nastural" History museum a couple of times a year. We would eat hotdogs on the steps and admire Teddy Roosevelt up on his horse with the Indian at his side. Now, my favorite parts of the museum are the ones that have been around since we were kids. The Hall of Biodiversity is fine, but give me the brown bear diorama any day.
In the ocean room, an enormous whale hangs from the ceiling. The lights are dim, so that you can see the dioramas better. Little animal stories in a box. Look there is the father walrus and he's protecting his children. See the octopus and the giant squid fight. Ah, the mama seal has a fish for her babies.
They have recently added some movie screens around the room, which makes it look too busy and dilutes the drama of Orca looming above your head. Don't change anything more, guys.
One of the great things about having kids is that you get to relive your youth. The C train to the museum was a time machine to 1970.
After two days of uneventful playground time with the two kids, sometimes it is best to just do something different. Change the channel. Take the subway downtown and look for adventure. Yeah, it involves lugging Large Baby in the stroller up and down subway steps, but it's better than laying about the apartment.
So, that's what we did today. My friend, Sally, and I took the kiddies to the Museum of Natural History. Since Jonah joined us, we've been there a lot. It is our rainy day activity. We catch the A train at 181st station, and transfer for the C to the basement of the museum. Suburban moms go to the mall; we go to the Natural History.
The C train drops you off the ground floor of the museum. As usual, the lines were backed up into the station, because it takes the ticket takers about five minutes a person. The ticket takers there are a horribly discouraged lot, but juggling four kids on line for twenty minutes doesn't make me all that sympathetic.
After finally getting the tickets, I had to balance a tray with hot dogs and fries with one hand and push the stroller with the other. So far, not an uplifting experience.
We visited the dinosaur exhibit, which was fine as always, but the highlight was the whale room.
When we were kids, our parents would cart us over to the "Nastural" History museum a couple of times a year. We would eat hotdogs on the steps and admire Teddy Roosevelt up on his horse with the Indian at his side. Now, my favorite parts of the museum are the ones that have been around since we were kids. The Hall of Biodiversity is fine, but give me the brown bear diorama any day.
In the ocean room, an enormous whale hangs from the ceiling. The lights are dim, so that you can see the dioramas better. Little animal stories in a box. Look there is the father walrus and he's protecting his children. See the octopus and the giant squid fight. Ah, the mama seal has a fish for her babies.
They have recently added some movie screens around the room, which makes it look too busy and dilutes the drama of Orca looming above your head. Don't change anything more, guys.
One of the great things about having kids is that you get to relive your youth. The C train to the museum was a time machine to 1970.
