eve

It's Friday before Christmas Eve. We have had a few snow showers but nothing like what's fallen in the mountains around us. Lots of wind, too, and blowing snow, with very cold temperatures.

We picked up the RV in Belen for our trip the day after Christmas to California. The boys are very excited. Jack hooked up the Wii to the television inside the RV, and we figured out that we wouldn't be able to plug in the Wii console while driving.This was a bit disappointing. The boys were looking forward to getting in the RV early Monday morning in their PJs and sleeping until we were in Arizona. They are anticipating a new Wii game from Santa to play along the way, along with their other presents. Jack and I did a little research and we ended up getting an inverter so they can play on the Wii afterall as we head along the highway. As we drove around yesterday, the boys sat in the back and played. They loved it. We gassed up the RV and bought some snacks for the road.

At the moment, they are at Brendan's for a little gift exchange among the cousins and Ariel and Chris should be on their way here. I'm at work, trying to get some invoices out, and tonight the big plan is to cook the brisket. I just loaded all the gifts I ordered or bought into the RV. There's the Wii game, skateboards, a tournament chess set and clock for Jack, a vintage fire station Lego set for Ry, some books and clothes for Ariel & Chris, a big plush Angry Bird, and some other odds and ends. Saturday I'll cook the ham and prep the RV, and Ariel and Chris will join us to go to Belen. We'll pick up Lola along the way, too. And we plan to see the luminarias in Old Town that night. Santa on Sunday, church, and dinner in Belen. Then finish packing and take off early for California.

The weather ahead should be good, and I've mapped out our route, with plans to arrive at my family's at night.

Black Friday online

It's the day after Thanksgiving. Cyndi left to shop at 6:30 and was back home about an hour or so later. The boys have had hot cocoa with marshmallows. It's raining lightly. We are eating scrambled eggs with a little ham and wheat toast with a little jam. We are all sitting in the dining area. The boys are still in their pajamas and bare foot. Jackson is shirtless. Ry is wearing a sleeveless sports shirt. Jackson is at the counter watching Pokemon and Skylanders on the boys' laptop. Rylee is sitting at the breakfast desk watching Lego adventures, the Gummy Bear song, and kitten videos on the old desktop computer. Cyndi is checking email on her laptop. I was looking up the radar map on my laptop to see how the morning looks for the next couple of hours. I looked around and noticed. Cyndi got a phone call.

chez nous

I've talked about it before, but it's something we still continue doing. Ry and I leave the house around 7:30 in the morning every Saturday and Sunday. Our first stop is Starbucks for an Americano espresso, a hot chocolate with extra whip cream, and a maple pecan scone.

on the lip of the half pipe

After we back out to drive to the skateboard park, where he's practicing new tricks and skills, there is a restaurant called Chez Bob on our way.

Ry is in first grade now. He talks a lot about things he just learned in school, repeating what he heard his teacher say. This week it's even and odd numbers and compound words.

biking at the skateboard park

He reads everything in sight, including shop signs and road signs and billboards along the streets. And so he reads the sign for Chez Bob. He knows chez is French; he knows it's pronounced shay but he like's to say chezz instead to be funny, and he knows it means the place of Bob. So he applies the word to all manner of places, like Chez Sanchez, and wants to know how to spell other French words and also Spanish words.

Spelling tests are a breeze for Ry. Jack was missing words on his spelling tests, and his teacher wrote him a nice note, basically saying he should do better and it's just a matter of learning them. So I quiz him the night before the test. It only takes a few minutes for him to get them down cold and this week he got all of them correct. He tells me things he's learned in school, but the subjects are becoming more sophisticated and expansive: human physiology, history, political science, astronomy. His class had a field trip about a month ago or so to las Golondrinas, the living museum on the way to Santa Fe, and while we've gone a couple of times as a family I think the experience of going with his class and his teacher, along with the volunteer docents and artisans who guided the class, made a big impression.

chess tournament in school cafeteria

Jack had a chess tournament last week. It took place in the cafeteria of his school. I was quite surprised as there were easily over a 100 elementary-aged kids playing; probably a half dozen schools, both public and private, and each school had about three teams of five players each. The parents sat at the edges of the room, and there were assistant tournament directors monitoring the play. The director outlined the rules.

It was fascinating to watch the children and how their personalities were displayed during play.

another angle

One boy wore a jester's hat; a few of the older kids feigned indifference; small children displayed decisive and aggressive play beyond their apparent maturity, moving pieces quickly, slamming them down. Others wrote down the moves studiously, carefully moving. I saw one young girl "con" her even younger opponent into a draw when she was losing.

Jackson played a girl who seemed a little older. As Ry and I watched him play, Jackson took his time to move and to record the moves, and then fidgeted and swayed in his seat while waiting for his opponent, as though he were listening to some internal music. It wasn't distracting; it was just kinesthetic.

zooming in to Jack's game

Many of the games were over, and Jackson still seemed to be playing defensively. I couldn't detect an end game. Then I noticed Jackson methodically taking pieces and then he had two queens. You knew it would not be long. The girl sat patiently. She knew. Jack took his time to write down the final moves. It was excruciatingly painful. Just move your queen, Jack! He wrote some more. The girl waited. Finally, he moved his queen. Checkmate. Jackson and the girl shook hands above the chess board, an etiquette that starts and ends each game, a particularly impressive sign of sportsmanship because it requires both players to reach over the table to extend their hands.

The boys each had teacher-parent conferences Monday. The reports were good to glowing. They are both doing exceptional in mathematics. Ry has many good friends in his class. He writes wonderful stories about skateboarding. He was last week's VIP, which meant he got in front of the line, and got to bring in things to show (some Legos, a plush Angry Bird), and had a big poster with pictures of him and his family and his favorites things. Jackson's teacher wants him tested for the "gifted" program and thinks he should apply to the academy for middle school. He and his friend are part of what his teacher calls the Geek Team and she sends them off to other classrooms to set up and fix computers. Jack talks about going into business with his friend now. The boys are off this week for Thanksgiving. There will be turkey in Belen. As we drove to Belen last weekend, "Albuquerque Turkey" came on the Saturday morning children's radio show. Sung to "(Oh, My Darling) Clementine ", it goes something like this:

Albuquerque is a turkey,
and he's feathered and he's fine
and he wobbles and he gobbles
and he's absolutely mine.

He's the best pet that you can get,
better than a dog or cat
He's my Albuquerque turkey,
and I'm awfully glad of that.

Albuquerque is a turkey,
he's so happy in his bed,
'cause for our Thanksgiving dinner,
we had egg foo yung instead.

For Christmas, Jack has already put together a modest Christmas list for both him and Ry. It's some new Wii game. Ry desperately needs a new skateboard and there's Legos he's sure to want. Jack wants a tournament chess set that includes a clock. And maybe they'll get scooters, too. Ariel and Chris are coming just before Christmas and we've talked about maybe seeing the luminarias together in Old Town on Christmas Eve, after supper in Belen and before it's time for the boys to go to bed. Jackson wants to be involved in Santa this year. Ry overheard me tell someone where we got his skateboard. I told the kid the name of the store. I don't remember if that was a Santa gift, but later Ry asked me if I bought it. I think he was figuring out something. He usually says he can ask for anything from Santa because Santa doesn't buy the gifts, he "steals" them. And the boys are very excited about our newest idea of driving out to California on the day after Christmas in Poppa's small RV. I told Mom & Dad, and they were excited.

The last soccer games were this past weekend.

Ry tackling

It turned out to be such a great season for both of them. They had good coaches and, just like the baseball season in the spring, you could see their skills and knowledge rapidly rise. Ry was fast on the field, and the coach said he was the best tackler out there. Jackson scored goals in the last two games, and was making spectacular midfield headers.

last soccer Saturday this season

It really boosted his confidence. The best part of his last goal was seeing his sheer joy. It was a spectacular shot. He couldn't believe it scored. Jack had an iffy start to the season. I'm not sure he was really enjoying it, but as the season and his playing developed, you could see his enthusiasm and involvement rise. He started talking more, both calling out plays and cheering for his teammates. I think Ry was enthusiastic the entire season, because he just loves to run with other kids.

Recent fall 2011 pics

some time went by

It's been a while since I posted a blog about us, and there's plenty good things to say about things during that time.

Ariel is closer to setting a date for the wedding. It looks like New York, the upper Hudson River valley, New Paltz, Mohonk; perhaps the beginning of June.

I'll begin this quick catch up with Saturday a week ago. That was a long day of chess and soccer. We went to a chess tournament in the morning and the boys played a game against a young world chess master who just moved here. It was very impressive. The chess master played simultaneously against about 40 people, mostly children and a few adults. He commented on the boys' soccer uniforms, introduced himself, and shook hands before play began. Rylee hung in there, and Jackson was one of the last children to survive. The boys kept track of their moves. The chess master very graciously shook their hands after each check mate. Their coach was glad they came, so they can get familiar with a big tournament in November. I think the coach especially likes Rylee, easily the youngest there. Ry asked me a few days ago if we could go to the tournament instead of going to the skateboard park. Jack has his first inter-school match this week. I picked the boys up from chess club the other day and was surprised by how many kids were in the club. There's also a beginner session and a varsity session, in addition to the boys' Wednesday session.

We couldn't stay for the tournament because the boys had soccer games in the afternoon. Poppa and Grandma came up from Belen to see Jack play but had to return before Ry's game. I don't think Jack got to play as much as he'd like, and Ry was exhausted by the time his game came along. We went to Bravo for dinner afterward. It was so nice and sunny, we sat outdoors. Unusual for us to stop, sip some wine, enjoy a good meal, even have dessert.

The boys have been going to soccer practice twice a week. Jack was less than enthusiastic when the season began, especially because the coach has really been pushing conditioning--running laps before practice. But he has been hanging in there, and all of a sudden, beginning with last weekend's game, his skills have really improved, along with his confidence and enthusiasm. At yesterday's practice, he made a couple of spectacular goals and the coaches have really been talking him up on the field.

Ry is fun to watch. He puts his head down and pumps his arms and legs when he runs, and he often will run around the pack to get in front of the ball. At half time during Saturday's game, I told him not to hang back so much or wait for someone else to kick the ball. I told him, it's your ball; take it to the goal. He remembered that and got a kick out of it, wondering, what if it were really my ball? So in the second half he broke out of the pack and took the ball to the goal. So far, neither has made a goal but it's not long in coming.

Most weekends have been about soccer, and Ry and I consistently go first thing in the mornings for coffee, hot chocolate, and skateboarding. We go so early, we are almost always the first ones there. On recent weekends, we've been watching the balloons floating over the west side. We counted 24 in the air last Sunday. Sunday afternoon, I ran my jog up the trail through the center of the Academy fields and Ry joined me on his bicycle. It's about four miles. When we got back, Ry said he wanted to do it again next Sunday. I can't seem to get Jackson interested in these little excursions. He likes to sleep in on the weekends, and he's much more interested in making movies or watching movies or playing games on his computer. One of the balloons Ry and I watched from the skateboard park ended up landing behind our house after we got home.

A while back, we had a particularly busy weekend, which I haven't written about, even though it's been a long while now since we went. I moaned and groaned about how much the weekend cost, and I'll try to spare you with that theme as much as I can.

It started with the state fair on Friday night. We met Cyndi's friend Roxy and another family, friends of Roxy, with a girl about Jack's age. [$25 admission right off the bat; followed by another $25 for Indian tacos, etc.] It was a blast. We talked and talked. The kids got to see the animals. Ry and I ate pie a la mode. It was a delightful evening, and we kept bumping into people we knew all over the fair, from the entrance gate to the Indian Village to the petting zoo to the exhibition hall and to the food plaza.

The next day was a Lobos football game. We went mostly because Jordyn is a "spirit dancer". [Another $50 just to get in for general admission.] Now, the thing is, the Lobos have won about two games in the last three years, and once in three years is about how often we go. The head coach's head was on the chopping block. There was almost no one in the stands. They were playing some po-dunk Texas college, not even in the same division...but, still, a Texas college. We sat on the east side of the stadium, which was pretty much vacant. The boys got to roam around the stands.

Somewhere near the end of the fourth quarter, the Lobos caught up from two touchdowns behind, after a new quarterback came in, and the game was tied. We got to watch the final touchdowns in the regular time and the sudden death overtime with an unobstructed view, just off the field, along the lines of scrimmage. It was very exciting, and Jackson was jumping up and down and cheering along with me and Pete and Brendon. It was the best game we ever saw, but the Lobos lost in the overtime and the next day the coach was sacked. We got ribs that evening on the way home.

Then Sunday was the Corrales Harvest Fair, with another fee to see some arts & crafts booths and a barbecue lunch. Cyndi planned it so Ry skateboarded with some friends at the park there. Ry's friends are pretty impressed with his skateboarding skills and they are putting skateboards on their Christmas lists. Ry gets a new skateboard for Christmas, too, since his is pretty beaten up now. And both boys should get a scooter they can ride at the park.

Jack's test results from last year's big standardized test came in, and he scored in the top 4 percent in mathematics for the state and just as substantially high in the other categories. Ry is doing really well at math and reading. He's always testing himself in addition and multiplication, and reading anything in sight. He came up with this equation and wrote it out, and then figured out it applied to any number: 1 + 1 - 1 x 1 ÷ 1 = what? He's fascinated by the idea of infinity. I told him once that there's always one more number, and now he's applied that to negative numbers.

He drew a picture of a grave stone that read, RIP, with a dark moon and stars overhead and a hand reaching out from the ground. Hilarious. (He knows that the buried body is supposed to be resting in peace.) The boys are dressing for Halloween as ninjas, and today Ry is coloring his hair for crazy hair day at school. Ry was telling me about how the characters on Phineas and Ferb were half brothers, and how Ariel was his half sister. Jack beat me three times at chess a few weeks ago. When I finally won a game, he was disappointed. I told him he played so well. He said he only won before because I let him take back moves. Then a couple days later, he said that he thought the chess lesson he had in Greenwich Village made him smarter. Another stellar thing about Jack I have to say. He always asks permission, especially when it comes to what he watches or downloads on his computer or IPod. I appreciate that. Ry's not there yet. And if you watch Jackson play long enough, you will often see him do a spontaneous pirouette during a lull and, of course, there's his non-stop commentary. Ry's still at the stage where he talks loud. And the boys still rough-house together, but with less tears. Rylee, however, does know when he can milk an injury, either by Jack or one of his cousins.

Beth is recovering nicely from another surgery on her back. She sounded good when I talked with her. The relief was instantaneous.

Last Sunday, Jackson and Rylee did a magic show for everyone in Belen, with Jackson the consummate showman. He even brought along a felt bowler hat. When we returned that night, the boys were in the back seats playing their old IPod or Cyndi's new IPhone. I hardly heard them make a peep. As we approached Albuquerque from the south, a light flashed falling from the sky over the road before us. Cyndi saw it, too, and asked, was that a shooting star?

The kind of boy he is.

The boys and I dropped off Cyndi at the gym for work at the child care. We went to Big 5 to get Ry some soccer cleats and shinguards. They offered several combo deals that included both, along with a soccer ball. Jackson found his cleats and shinguards from last year, and he brought his ball. We stopped off at Trader Joe's for a smoothie.

We found the park where the boys had soccer practice. Thankfully, on Mondays they go at the same time to the same park. That won't work out for the rest of the week. They both practiced with their teams, and afterward they swung and played tag together with some other kids on the playground. We went home and ate macaroni and cheese.

When we left to pick up Cyndi, the car was backing up funny. After I backed up, I saw that I had run over Ry's new soccer ball. I retrieved the ball, and I got mad at Ry for leaving it there. He said, I couldn't get it, and I tossed it in the back. It did not seem to have popped. As I drove, I waited a bit and then fumed so he would get the message that he needed to take more responsibility for his things: a pick after yourself speech. Jackson tried to interrupt, and I told him to wait until I was done. Then I said, okay, Jack, what did you want to say?

He said I shouldn't blame Ry. He said he was getting something out of the car when we were home, and the ball rolled out of the car. It wasn't Ry's fault.

I paused a minute. I said, Jackson, I admire you for saying that. First, because you told the truth. Second, because you were protecting your brother. Third, because you saw how unfair it was for Ry to take the blame. Rylee asked what admire meant. I said I was proud of Jackson. Jackson said he should be punished and even offered to use his money to buy another one. I said it was never about punishment but learning a lesson. Ry then said he didn't know about the ball.

I told the story to Cyndi when we picked her up. Jackson did his homework when we got home, and he seemed to be wiser. I'm not sure what lessons were learned, but I am very proud of my children.

more settling in

Cyndi and I went to Ry's curriculum night Thursday, just after I wrote my last blog. We sat at his desk. He sits by three boys: Nader, Parker and George. It is a very diverse class. They spend most of their day on language skills and arithmetic. The teacher posted one of the children's projects in the hall, which I looked at afterward. They were supposed to complete a sentence beginning, I like to....

I studied Ry's. It was one of only a few that I could read. His printing was neat. It said, I like to Skate Bord. The accompanying drawing showed two skateboarders flying down a half-pipe slope, with big smiles on their faces, their arms outstretched to balance themselves.

We had a bunch of family over last night. Janey and her girls came, too. (Nicki's at UNM, Marleigh was in town from Portland. Even Juliette and Garrick showed up.) Don's mother came, along with Elley, Don, Nick, Lauren, Dorie, Pete and Brendon. The kids ran around the yard outside most of the time, playing tag, playing baseball, climbing the play deck we built with David, and jumping off. Everybody brought a ton of food, salads and bread, wine, dessert, chips, dip, and guacamole. Cyndi made mashed potatoes. The grill was piled with chicken thighs, sweet peppers and hot dogs. It was breezy in the evening, cool and threatened rain. (We had a small deluge earlier while Ry and I were at Costco; and the weather is starting to feel like Balloon Fiesta is just around the corner.) There was a lot of conversation, noisy in our small house. I think everyone enjoyed the get together; something about our small house and the grill and the wine makes it successful when we host everyone.

Ry skateboarded twice this weekend in the early morning, after we pick up some espresso Americano, a kid's hot chocolate with extra whip cream, and a scone. We were the first to arrive Saturday morning. There were some raindrops, but nothing came of it.

Today we may see The Lion King. Tomorrow the boys start soccer practice.

settling in

We aren't really settled in for the new school year but the boys love it so far. Cyndi has been overseeing their homework, spelling lists, and reading. Even Ry has some. Jack has been pretty good about keeping up with his--the teacher gives out a week's worth--and you can tell he wants to excel. Cyndi and I went to a parent's only curriculum night for Jack's class. The teacher seemed to really like Jack. He helps her with all the computer and tech stuff in the classroom. She said the other day he was helping her, telling her, "Now, there's just two steps...." I saw Jack's old friend, Hailey, who sits by him in class, and asked about Jack. They must be good pals. I peeked in his desk, crammed with books, everything very organized and neat. Cyndi said the teacher confided in her about testing Jack for the gifted program. I'm not surprised. He just seems to be flourishing now and growing up so quickly. He's particularly enjoying mathematics, scoring very high, and he prefers books about science over fiction. He's mentioned some boys at recess being pushy about sports, I think mostly football, trying to out-bluster him on the playground, but he brings a soccer ball with him to school and joins in the games, taking a certain pride when he out-maneuvers them and deflates their bluster. Ry's curriculum night comes up next week. He's mentioned a few friends he has at school. Did I mention him recognizing fractal geometry, and being able to describe it, while I was watching a Nova program a month ago? He's definitely got arithmetic and reading down already. As I mentioned last time, his big interest right now is pet adoption centers and mastering his skateboard.

Balloon Fiesta is coming soon, and State Fair is here now. It's been trying to rain lately, and some days feel like Fall. So far no plans for the State Fair. We've talked about bicycling to the Balloon Fiesta this year, and in any case, unless the weather forecasts suggest otherwise, I'd like to avoid the first morning. I'm sure the school will have its usual pre-Fiesta, Friday morning launch on the school grounds. We talked about fall camping sometime soon, but nothing is planned at the moment. Jack has a field trip coming up soon to El Rancho de las Golondrinas, which I bet he'll be very excited about, taking a bus with his classmates out of town, up La Bajada, to La Cienega, almost to Santa Fe. We've been there a few times, most recently this summer, so it will seem familiar to him, but I imagine this will be a very memorable experience for him, to see this "living" cultural and historical museum through the guidance of teachers and docents. It comes at the end of their season when Fall should be very much here.

They finally started their chess club after school. They are both in the intermediate level, and judging from the materials they brought home it's a more sophisticated program than I thought. I played with Ry last night because he was so excited. He knows the moves and sees the traps but hasn't quite figured out how to attack yet. But I saw a few things last night that made me think he'll be playing a good game soon. Meanwhile, Jack is so steady in his strategy, planning his moves, setting up trap after trap.

They are also signed up for soccer but the season hasn't really begun yet. It will be fun when it does. After a short practice season, it's just a fun weekend outing for the games. It'll be a kick to see them play. They have religious education mid-week at the sister church, too. And soon we have to make a decision about cub scouts for both of them.

the end of summer

Jackson had his 10th birthday. He said it was his best ever. The day began with balloons all over the house. Rylee and Cyndi had set up little clues to his presents, which Jackson followed from his bedroom, beginning with the staircase. One clue was to find the chair where Daddy sat, and, of course, I was sitting in it. The clues led to a big box, containing a little, but special, present.

Rylee took the initiative to plan Jack's morning. The boys do that for each other's birthday and they are developing their own rituals together. Jack orchestrated much of his birthday beforehand.

I made oatmeal for breakfast, and Cyndi made cookies for Jack's class. She arranged for Jack's friends and cousins to meet at our gym for a little pool party after school. There was lots of jumping and splashing in the water, pizza to eat, and a birthday cake. The highlight for Jackson was having three of his friends spend the night at his house. The boys played Wii game versions of Wipeout and Bass Fishing, the first based on a popular TV show of pratfalls the kids and Cyndi love to watch and share a laugh together, the second a present from one of his friends. They watched a movie on the new projector until they drifted to sleep. The camping air mattress was blown up for the occasion, but only Ry slept in it. Jack tucked him in, and the rest of the boys were scattered around the bunkbed, couch and cushions in the room. They were incredibly good, and the friends left the next morning after a breakfast of bacon and waffles.

We went to Santa Fe on the Saturday during Indian Market. This is the busiest day in Santa Fe. Before we left Albuquerque, we went to the skateboard park while Cyndi went to the gym, we went to Target for I don't remember what but the boys managed to get some small toys, and we grabbed a bite for the road. We would arrive in Santa Fe after noon, and I didn't expect we'd find an empty table or a short waiting list anywhere. We managed to find a parking spot near Santacafe and walked toward the plaza. We skipped the toy store on Marcy and looked inside J. Crew. It was a hot, sunny day as we walked up and down Lincoln, which was bustling with booths filled with pottery and clothes and paintings and people walking by, stopping. Some people had the Santa Fe look, which I joke means expensive jeans with expensive jewelry. Sometimes the jewelry is turquoise, and the jeans or skirt may be accompanied by elaborately tooled and colored boots, and usually a brimmed hat. The vendors were from all over the country, but most were Pueblo or Navajo. The craftspersons appeared to have already sold most of what they had brought. The painters looked to be much slower.

The plaza, too, was crammed with booths. We went into the Plaza Bakery for ice cream. There's a trick to that tiny shop. It looks like there is a line at the door, but it's not. We just go in and stand up to the counter, and wait until we're asked what we want: two kid's chocolates with rainbow sprinkles. As the boys ate their ice cream, we walked down to Tia Sophia but they were closing for lunch, the owner told me kindly after we peeked in the door. We walked back to the plaza and entered the Palace of the Governors through the front door under the portico, where the native vendors usually are. That door is not usually opened. It opens into the original wing of the museum, which I had not been in for many years, when I used to visit the print shop. It was wonderful, and this weekend it was free admission.

I asked where the regular vendors were and the museum attendant said they were in the little courtyard of the palace. What a wonderful place that was, shadey, uncrowded, a short line for fry bread, and small booths scattered on the lawn. Cyndi found some earrings and she tried several variations until we bought one custom made for her as we talked with the jewelry maker.

Jackson was very weary and hungry, and Rylee was just about getting over me telling him we were not going to the toy store on this trip. We put more money in the parking meter. Santacafe was also closing for lunch, the owner told me kindly, again. We walked over to the Inn of the Anasazi to see if we could have a bite on their porch outside on the street.

We were told it would be a short wait. We stood there for only a few short minutes, unsure if we should wait. But, perhaps sensing we very much wanted to eat there, the staff became exceptionally courteous and gracious, treating us as if we were guests at the hotel, a five-star one at that. After a couple of minutes, they asked us to sit on the sofas in the lobby to wait, where it was cool. The boys played, but they were unobtrusive and polite. I noticed that the staff knew all of their guests by name, as the guests came and went, and I remarked about this to the woman who was trying to help us. We struck up several conversations with her during our visit, and it turned out she was a director there.

We got a table in a short time, on this the busiest day for Santa Fe, at one of the nicest hotels and restaurants, when most restaurants were no longer serving lunch. It was a lovely lunch. The boys had a shrimp quesidilla, and Cyndi and I split a soft shelled crab dish and tuna tacos with an avocado mousse and mango salsa, with some little salady sprigs on the side. We sipped beers. I ordered a German one the man next to us was drinking. He was alone, just watching the world go by along Washington.

During the day we got many comments about the boys. Rylee was wearing a Yankees baseball cap, and Jackson a Red Sox cap. So many people in Santa Fe noticed it that day and questioned whether the boys were an equal rivalry. This must have happened a handful of times; twice during lunch. As we finished our lunch, dark clouds were looming and thunder began. The wind was gusting. The vendors began closing down. The hotel invited us inside, and we finished our beers in their library, where the boys were treated to cookies set out for the guests.

We haven't seen much rain in Albuquerque, and I was antsy to be outside in the weather. We left the hotel and drove home but somehow the rain never came.

Rylee has been going to the skateboard park now for about three weekends in a row. It's getting to the point where it's just him and me, while Cyndi and Jack do other things. Jack sometimes tags along just to see who may be there or perhaps to play chess with me. We go early in the morning, and we've started to stop off first at a Starbucks for coffee, hot chocolate, and a scone. There's only a few there; we recognize some regulars; many are very young children with their parents. Some are on bikes, some are on skates, some are on scooters. Ry skateboards mostly, but likes to bring his bike, too.

It's a kick to watch him. He has a black helmet on. He will skateboard all over the park, sometimes dragging his skateboard behind him as he climbs steep steps or tiers. He tries new ramps and pipes, taking his turn as others go before him, while others wait for him in turn. He'll test the waters of some steps. He is determined to master each new ramp and pipe, and so he does them over and over again...but not without also taking laps around in between. He looks so comfortable at what he is doing. There doesn't seem to be any danger from falls. He is probably the youngest on a skateboard, and you sense he is accepted there by the older ones. The scene on weekend mornings is different from other times we've gone.

When we left one time, he said that was fun. He said, you know what's funny? There's people who get paid to have this much fun. This weekend he mastered getting over the lip of the half pipe to skate down the slope. That slope is not a ramp, but has a quick drop, like a wave, before feathering out to the bottom. An older kid offered some help. He goes up and down the big ramps now, gliding along like a surfer. His board is getting pretty beaten up.

Ariel was in Atlanta during Hurricane Irene, working on a story assignment, so she didn't have anything much to report on the storm hitting Manhattan. Last time I talked, she and Chris were is southern California for a friend's wedding.

Meanwhile, Jackson has beaten me three times in a row at chess. He's an alert player, very clever. He and Rylee signed up for chess at school, but so far the after school club hasn't met. The boys are also signed up for soccer, and practice should begin soon. Rylee has been researching cat and dog adoptions online with Lauren. He prints out what he finds online and then puts it in a notebook he's keeping. Borders is closing, and he found a book on golden retrievers for $2, which he carries around now.

We went to a neighborhood sushi place one evening a couple of weekends ago. The boys ate some Korean shrimp teriyaki and rice. They were anxious to go the frozen yogurt shop, which was about three or four doors down. While Cyndi and I finished up, I told Jackson to take Rylee to the frozen yogurt shop. This was the first time he was left in charge to go into a store without his mom and dad. Cyndi seemed briefly uncertain, but acknowledged this was a good opportunity for Jack, who is on the cusp of growing up. I gave him some money and he and I talked quickly about what he was going to do. The boys left and we watched them go by the window together on their way. A few minutes later Jack came back with change and the two boys sat side-by-side outside our restaurant window eating their dishes of frozen yogurt and chattering away. Cyndi asked, will this moment make it into the blog? This past weekend, Rylee got the courage to ask for gum for him and Lauren at the baseball concession stand, as I stood a few yards away and Cyndi watched from the bleachers.

Here's the rest of the pics.

first day in school & a travel book

The boys' first day back in school is today. It is also Jack's birthday this Friday. They've been excited about both. Rylee did his usual countdown to today, and last night he made sure to go to bed early. They were both up early this morning, and I made them breakfast before taking off to work. Cyndi ironed their clothes, packed their lunches, and filled their backpacks with the last minute school supplies. As I write this, she is taking them to school. School is starting and ending about an hour earlier this year.

For his birthday, Jackson has asked for a small projector for months, and he understood he was not likely to get it. Last week, he valiantly came up with alternative gift ideas but I don't think he had his heart set on any of them and, frankly, a few were expensive with a one-week halflife. So, against my previous best judgment, I ordered the projector. He will be thrilled, of course. I hope he understands things will be different come Christmas. Rylee, meanwhile, is excited by the prospect that he is getting Cyndi's IPod.

The boys celebrated their last day of summer, as they called it, by going swimming with Lauren last night. Last Friday, we met their new teachers. Ry has a teacher that Jack did not have, and so he was disappointed. But she seems great, her room is great (with a huge storytime projector!), and many of his friends are in the class. So he's excited. Jack feels all grown up with his new classroom in one of the buildings detached from the main school. His teacher is also new to us and seemed great, with lots of experience. We will have a curriculum night in a week or two, so we will learn more about what they're up to this year, but I noticed there were some New Mexico history books in Jack's desk already and the teacher said they have several field trips this year, including one to El Rancho de las Golondrinas.

When we went to the school on Friday, we also put down the boys' names for cub scouts. The status of Jack's den is very uncertain; Ry would be a Tiger. There's also probably soccer, and Jack and Cyndi have been talking about Chess Club.

Meanwhile, I also talked with Ariel. She's off soon to Atlanta for an interview for an article she's working on for Discover magazine, and then she and Chris go to southern California for a couple of weddings.

I earned a free book, so I put together one on our trip. It should be arriving soon, but here's a preview. You can play from the cover, and it will page through the book, or you can click on a larger view.

Click here to view this photo book larger

NYC series no.12: babes in toyland

Once the boys understood that we weren't going to Legoland in California, Jackson began researching the Lego store in Manhattan and Rylee began researching what was available at the store. Legos are a big thing for the boys. They build the sets or create their own vehicles or buildings, collect and modify the minifigures, watch the videos and create their own animation. For months, they made plans on how to spend their money in the store. For the boys, shopping for toys became an important part of the trip and it took some doing to convince them that they shouldn't and couldn't spend every last dollar of theirs in the store and they'd appreciate fewer things in the long run. We planned on making the Lego store our first stop.

So on Friday morning around 10 we took the subway and walked to Rockefeller Plaza, where the big Lego sign greeted us in the window. The boys were very excited. Rylee first wandered around the entire store, looking in vain for Indiana Jones Legos. We thought this store was the only place to find them, but the line had been discontinued. Instead, the boys checked out the Hero Factory sets. They gathered around two kiosks where they could assemble their own minifigures from bins. Ry worked at one; Jack at the other. Each surrounded by other children building the minifigures. This was a destination for many young families and you could hear several languages inside. Then the boys filled two small cups with blocks from bins along a wall. They had a lot of fun there. Ariel joined us there, and we headed up 5th Avenue afterward.

After our champagne at the Plaza, we headed over to FAO Schwarz. There were many demonstrations of toys inside. The first in the door was a wax drawing tablet with a plastic cover sheet you lifted off to erase the image. About $1 at the grocery store; about $15 here. The demonstrator emphasized how it didn't make a mess. Tacky, of course, in more ways than one. A little beneath what I'd expect at FAO Schwarz, but it was the first thing through the door. Things got better.

Jackson grabbed me later. He wanted to show me something. At another point in the store, a man was demonstrating a magic kit in which lights appeared on his fingertips, which he then put in a paper sack, and in which one ball in his hand turned into three balls. Jackson loves magic tricks, so we looked at the kit. It promised 50 or 500 magic tricks, but was mostly the fingertip lights, a paper sack with a hidden light board, and four red sponge balls. We did purchase it, to be shared by both of them, and the boys had fun with that during the trip, practicing in the hotel room and often performing for whomever happened to be sitting near us in a restaurant or on the subway. The boys developed their own trick where they would act out throwing and catching the light between them, often across a table. Since we've been home, Jackson has demonstrated it to his cousins and Rylee practices the tricks with Cyndi and me, complete with all the banter and abracadabra.

Jackson must have seen the demonstration a couple of times. When we were looking at the kits, a new circle formed around the hawker as we studied the choices. The hawker repeated his performance, drawing the new boys in by asking their names and by including those on the outside of the ring, looking for the "missing" lights to put back in the paper sack. He'd say, oh, someone has been taking some, and find one on a boy on the edge of the circle. At this point, Jack, who'd been wandering back and forth within and outside the circle, made his way back inside the circle and walked up to the hawker. I confess, Jack said, I took one, too, and held out his hand. The hawker took a magic light out of Jack's hand, without missing a beat, saying, children are so honest these days, then went on with his performance as Jack exited the stage. I chuckled, this was so Jack.

The boys played on the giant piano, and Jackson found a jumbo red Angry Birds plush toy that he wanted. He kept hoping we'd go back to get it, and I told him it was possible, but sadly for him we never got the chance again. Maybe an upcoming birthday present. We did go back to the Lego store at one point when we found ourselves in Rockefeller Plaza again, and we also visited the Nintendo store next door to the Today Show studio.

Toys R Us has a giant flagship store in Times Square, with a ferris wheel inside. We walked inside it the night we saw Mary Poppins but it was crowded and I didn't see anything there that we couldn't find anywhere else. We looked for Vanns shoes for Rylee, but the skate store near our hotel did not carry children's sizes. We almost got an I [skateboard] NY shirt there but held off. My souvenir from the trip came from the Lego store: a mini-figure refrigerator magnet with, of course, I [heart] NY on the shirt.

The boys built their Legos in the hotel room and played with them when we were there. If you ask the boys what their favorite part of the trip was, they'll say they got to visit Ariel but the Lego store and FAO Schwarz are next on the top of their lists. Ry still holds out for the Lego store as his favorite, but Jack mentions both the Lego store and FAO Schwarz and admits that FAO Schwarz was the better of the two. He'll add that Toys R Us was a little lame.

chess & skateboard update

Our first weekend after NYC and this morning (Sunday) we took our chairs and skates and the magnetic chess set to the skate park after waffles. We picked up some coffee and hot chocolate on the way. Ry got on his skateboard, and he seemed more confident on the little bump in the middle of the park and was attacking the small half pipe. There were other families out in the morning. Jack and Cyndi roller bladed some, and Jack and I played chess in the shade. He trounced me. That little lesson in Greenwich Village must have inspired him. He had traps set up all over the board. At the end, I thought the best I was going to do was force a stalemate but he check mated me. We high fived, and later in the car he offered me a tip.

Pete and Dorie and Brendon came over Friday night for steaks, with sweet peppers, bread, salad, and chips and guacamole. They brought dessert. While the charcoal ignited, I talked briefly with mom & dad, who had returned from their trip with David up to Alaska. On Saturday, it was back-to-school shopping for school supplies, shoes and shirts. The school sends out a list for school supplies. The list includes more pencils than one could imagine using in a decade. This year the lists include flash drives. We're all curious to learn how they intend to use those for fourth graders as well as first graders.

NYC series no.11: Central Park & more

Back when Ariel first moved to NYC, we began planning a trip to see her and visit the sights. From the beginning, we wanted to spend a day that revolved around Central Park to take in its recreational opportunities--skating, biking, boating, chess, playgrounds, picnicking, concerts, plays, hiking and more--and the surrounding museums. It was my dream to jog the trails in the early mornings. When we started looking at staying on the Upper West Side, we started by planning a day in Central Park and other excursions to nearby Riverside Park, where we learned we could kayak, bicycle, and even skateboard. We found a skating store on 72nd Street between our subway station and Central Park. Jackson and Cyndi wanted to rollerblade in Central Park. Rylee and I started talking about taking his skateboard. We found out that Southwest allowed them on board, and TSA appeared to allow them, too. At the last moment, we decided to go ahead and pack the skateboard in our check-in luggage. It would only fit in the large rolling duffel and it added some significant weight. (I was able to confirm later that TSA did allow them through security, at least according to the TSA in Albuquerque...but I still wonder about LaGuardia, which seemed, well, less sophisticated and, justifiably perhaps, less accommodating.)

As it turned out, our time in Central Park was pretty limited. After a short visit on Saturday morning to the American Museum of Natural History at 77th on the western edge of Central Park we had only a short time before our reserved time at the Sony Wonder Lab at 56th and Madison. We entered the park from the museum exit and walked up the hill along the roadway used by joggers and bicyclists, and then across a path to Belvedere Castle, where we could get views of Turtle Pond, the baseball fields of the Great Lawn, and the surrounding skyline above the treetops. The theater for Shakespeare in the Park was next door. The castle is a miniature stonework building, with some staff, making it one of many visitor's centers where you can get a really good map of the park. We climbed to the small parapet on top. At this point, we elected to go toward the lake through the Ramble, a quiet, dense, hilly forest of narrow trails and rocky outcrops, where a few families strolled in the cool shade to find a bench or a patch of grass to picnic and where a group practicing a martial movement were gathered in another patch of grass. We managed to find our way down to the Loeb Boathouse, where we had a few sandwiches inside overlooking the rowboats. We walked along the lake, past a gondola and a musician, over to Bethseda Fountain, where we saw two wedding parties, and then down the mall, past artists, a performer in a small bandshell, and statues of poets and writers. As we began approaching the corner of the plaza near the corner of 59th and 5th, the crowds of pedestrians began dramatically to increase.

On Sunday morning, I did an abbreviated jog through Central Park from our hotel. I entered around 77th and joined the joggers on the West Drive, past Strawberry Fields, the Sheep Meadow, and Tavern on the Green, down toward Columbus Circle, up past the Chess House, around the Mall, and out 72nd. On the way across 72nd, I saw a meeting place for joggers to gather. I bought coffee on the corner to take back up to the room.

The skate shop on 72nd turned out to be a bit of a bust. They were friendly there, but they didn't have Vanns shoes for kids, and Rylee desperately needed new shoes, what with a new school year coming up fast. We visited the shop on Friday between subway trips. We never filled up Monday afternoon, our last afternoon, and we never managed to visit Riverside Park, so Rylee and I boarded the subway so we could go to the skateboard park at 108th.

I have to believe that there are beautiful parts of Riverside Park and this section was beautiful but it seemed a little desolate and a little unkempt, showing some signs of age. The skateboard park was a big disappointment. A chain link fence surrounded it, and the first gate we came to was locked with a chain. There were no skaters there, it was in disrepair, and many of the ramps were blocked off from use. Rylee put on his helmet, and the lone attendant waved us over. I put on Rylee's pads as I talked with the attendant. He told me this was the first day of fasting for Ramadan. Rylee skateboarded a while, having a good time on the small ramps. Several other skateboarders came by while we were there but they had to walk away because they did not have helmets and pads. After a short time, I said goodbye to the attendant, and Rylee and I returned to the subway back to our hotel. That night, Ry fell asleep at dinner. He managed to wake up a few minutes to shovel in some spaghetti and meatballs.

NYC series no.10: restaurants

When I prepared a budget for the trip, I kept staring at the amounts I set aside for meals, knowing they were too low. Still, I never changed the numbers. We did, in fact, go overbudget on the meals, but my budget was padded in other ways and we managed to stay within our means overall.

Going out in NYC was almost twice as much for what I'd like to spend on family dining but it never seemed unreasonable. I had a good idea of what restaurants would be family friendly, which is taken pretty seriously on the Upper West Side, and we certainly knew that this was not going to be a trip for gastronomical indulgences. Typically, we look for entrees that might be split for the boys or sides that may serve as main courses for the boys, but in the New York restaurants it was apparent we had to rely on the children's menus they offered, and generally the prices for kid's meals were not unreasonable in the scheme of things. What I found humorous was that each restaurant we went to had its own take on the boys' favorites. You'd read the description and it would take you a moment to realize it was just basically a grilled cheese sandwich (Jack's favorite) or macaroni and cheese (Ry's favorite). Alternatively, Jack would eat hot dogs (which was on most menus, too) and Ry would eat spaghetti and meatballs. So they ate well in NYC.

We started off poorly with our first meal at Chicago Midway. I was going to save this for a separate blog on the airports but we found ourselves eating on the A concourse going to NYC at a place with pizza and pasta. It was really horrible and the prices were shocking. A bad start. There was a Ben & Jerry's in the food court that we stopped at both going and coming back. On our way back, we got a table at Harry Caray's in the food court and that turned out good. The boys played chess there, and Cyndi and I had a beer between flights. Our last indulgence.

Our first meal in NYC was with Ariel at La Bonne Soupe, where we had lunch Friday on our outing that started with the Lego store and proceeded up 5th Avenue. It was on 55th Street in Midtown. We arrived early for lunch, about 11:30, and for a brief moment we wondered if were arriving too early. It turned out perfectly. The only tables taken at that time were the two or three small tables on the balcony above the street. We were seated at a very nice table upstairs in the room just off the balcony, surrounded by colorful paintings. I had Soupe a l'Oignon, served with a salad and a glass of red wine. Cyndi and Ariel each had quiche and salad, as I recall, and this is one place where the boys had a cheeseburger (Jack) and a hamburger (Ry). We shared a chocolate mousse, a flan (creme caramel), and a chocolate gelato. When we left, the place was full.

That evening we skipped the Toys R Us flagship store in Times Square, after buying our tickets for Mary Poppins the following evening, and hurried back on the subway to meet Ariel and Chris at Isabella's. This restaurant was in our neighborhood, on Columbus Avenue at 77th Street, just across from the American Museum of Natural History. It was a pretty bistro, but not overly fancy. I made reservations sometime in the afternoon and we arrived just at the right time. I think it was after 9, and the room was busy, a popular place to dine on the Upper West Side. It had rained that afternoon and between the rain, the humidity, and our outing around Midtown, not to mention the subways and the walk to the restaurant from the station, we didn't feel very fresh. They seated us, and we stored our umbrellas in the corner. Ariel and Chris were about ten minutes away, so we ordered cocktails. With the ambiance, the cocktails, and the air conditioning, we were revived. The boys nibbled on bread and began entertaining the next table with some magic lights we purchased at FAO Schwarz that morning. It was very clear that children were welcome by both the restaurant and its patrons. Our neighboring table actually enjoyed our boys.

At some point the restaurant lights dimmed. I remember this because I couldn't read by the light of the tea candles and Cyndi loaned me her reading glasses. That was a first. The waitress brought the boys' dinners out quickly, without us asking. We ordered the least expensive bottle of an Argentinian Malbec. Ariel and Cyndi split a chopped salad and a salmon special. Chris had gnocci, which I remember because Ariel told us the story of him making the best gnocci ever. He thought the gnocci he had that night was comparable to his. And I had a tasty linguine dish. For dessert, the boys split a chocolate chip ice cream sandwich, Ariel and Chris split a brownie sundae, and Cyndi and I split a citrus vanilla creme brulee.

We caught up with Ariel and Chris. I don't think it was grilling, but I kept asking questions about what Chris was doing. It sounded fascinating, that's why I kept asking, and I was curious how their time might play out in Manhattan. As it turns out, there's some thought of going to David's school in Pullman where there is a research lab connected to the work Chris is doing now at Rockefeller University. We asked about his parents, too, who we liked and who are excited about a wedding next year. We parted at the restaurant. It might have been around 11, and we walked back to our hotel, past the brownstones on 75th.

On Saturday, we had a snack in the cafe at the American Museum of Natural History and a late snack at the theater, neither of them having any nutritional value. We also grabbed some refreshments at Trader Joe's and hot dogs at Gray's Papaya near our subway station, but due to my own failure we will not speak of those hot dogs again and consider it a do-over for our next trip to NYC. So the closest we came to a meal that day was in Central Park at the Loeb Boathouse. It's a pretty spot by the lake, with people rowing and even gondolas. We came upon it after meandering through the Ramble. It looked like a nice place for a brunch, which Ariel and Chris recommended as a very NYC thing to do. We had sandwiches overlooking the lake, behind a restaurant, at an informal cafe, before following the lake to Bethesda Fountain. The boys and I grabbed really good smoothies at a Starbucks next door to the Sony Wonder Lab later, and other than these our nourishment that day came from our refrigerator in our hotel room.

On Sunday, we had a good pizza at John's on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village. Half cheese, half sliced meatballs. We walked from the chess store, and I wondered what we would find. Would it be crowded? As we approached, there was a group of people standing outside. My heart sank. But when we got to the door, it was clear that they weren't waiting in line. They were just tourists on a walking tour of Greenwich Village. We got a booth immediately. The booth was covered with names scratched into the wood. Jack was a little turned off by the very old bathroom. The linoleum on the floor was worn. The people were great. We ordered a pizza and a pitcher of root beer. When I asked if I could add the sliced meatballs on half, I asked the man if that was good. He said, in good humor, that if I didn't think it was good they would get us one we did like. It was delicious. The crust was cracker thin. The boys struggled with the slices. I should have shown them how to fold them but wondered if they'd take me seriously.

In the evening we dined at Alma in Brooklyn, a favorite of Ariel's and Chris's. I mentioned this restaurant on my blog about views, since that was the afternoon Ariel drove us to Pier 6 for a ferry to and a bicycle ride on Governor's Island. Alma was close to their previous apartment, before they moved to Manhattan. It had a cozy neighborhood bar on the first floor where we waited for the prime tables on the covered rooftop with its view of Lower Manhattan. On the rooftop, we sat in the shade of early evening. There was a slight breeze. The food was exquisite. The company was wonderful. Cyndi and I had an anejo. I was intrigued because they offered an enchilada dish with what they said was New Mexico chile. I had to try it. It was presented exactly as how it would be prepared in New Mexico. The red chile seemed more complex than I would expect in New Mexico, perhaps more like a mole sauce. But it was delicious. I'm not sure what the others had this evening: we ordered some guacamole; the boys maybe a quesadilla; Cyndi maybe a fish taco; Chris fajitas.

(I just Skyped Ariel to ask what she had. Probably a favorite. She answered that she had the Poblano Relleno, stuffed with short ribs and gouda, served over a yellow mole sauce, topped with crispy yucca. Yum! And she reminded me that Jack fell asleep and had his half of the quesadilla when we got back to the hotel.)

On Monday, we had lunch at the cafe at MOMA. Once again we went early and beat all the crowds. We sat by a window, overlooking 53rd Street. The menu was mostly bruschetta and pannini. The kids' menu had mozarella panini (grilled cheese, although Jack couldn't eat the last bite of mozarella; it came with apple slices, too) and pasta with butter and cheese (yummy macaroni and cheese), along with a bowl of fresh berries and two cookies.

That night Ariel joined us and we walked down Broadway to Arte's Delicatessen, "a traditional retro 1930's New York delicatessen." This is where it was Rylee's turn to fall asleep during dinner, after an early morning wake up call for The Today Show and afternoon skateboarding. I'm sure I should have ordered a pastrami Rueben, but the brisket dinner sounded good to me. Cyndi had a large salad, since she was dying for something green, and Ariel had our favorite: The Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner. It was sensational--the stuffing, the turkey, the mashed potatoes, the vegetables, and the cranberry relish. Huge! Even after Cyndi and I helped Ariel, there was still plenty for Chris back at home. Ariel soon left us that night, to get back to her apartment on her bike. We would be up early the next day to head home.

NYC series no.9: Beacon Hotel

We stayed at the Beacon Hotel on Broadway between 74th and 75th. I heard a lot about it after making inquiries for family friendly accommodations. There were many families staying there while we were there, and I gathered that most of those families were from other countries. We heard many languages on the elevators, in the hallways, and in the lobby. Of course, we heard many languages throughout the city.

The hotel is in the Upper West Side, two blocks from Riverside Park and the Hudson River, three blocks to Central Park, about the same distance to the American Museum of Natural History, not far from Lincoln Center, a block from a subway station, across the street from a great market, and next door to a wine store, a cafe, and the Beacon Theatre. The staff was really good, very attentive. We got to know our doorman as we walked out the front door onto the sidewalk on our way to the subway, or the market, or Starbucks, or whereever. On the day it rained, he gave us umbrellas. When we left, he haled the cab and loaded our bags.

The first impression of our room was how cool it was inside after our first taste of the heat and humidity. Jackson pushed the button in the small elevator to the 23rd floor and Rylee unlocked the door with the card key. The room's palette was a pleasant green. There was a living room with a sofa bed. Cyndi unpacked the boys' clothes and stored them in a bureau in the room. Their toys went into separate drawers, and the bags were stored in a closet near the front door, which also had a little safe. There was also a kitchenette. We used the refrigerator, the sink and the microwave, but that was all. It was pretty well stocked for four people, and at the end I discovered you could ask for wine glasses and additional utensils. (You had to ask for a sharp knife to go with the cutting board that was already there.) The bathroom was very nice but very small. Thankfully, there was a wide sill along the bathroom window for things. There was another closet in the bedroom. The bedroom also had a wonderful tall window looking toward Central Park and Midtown, its own temperature zone, and a second flat screen. I think Cyndi docked her ipod in the room, too.

We often came home to the hotel late and tired. There were a few mornings we got an early start, but it never seemed hurried until I started haranguing everyone when it was time to go. On a few mornings, I'd get some muffins or scones and coffee. We bought some milk and juice, grapes, and other things to eat in the room in the morning or late at night. We even got two bottles of wine from next door. Some days were divided so that we could come back for rest. Cyndi would lie down for a bit, the boys would play with their new Legos with the Disney channel in the background, and I'd take out my little itinerary and figure out the next subway trip or see if we were still on budget.

NYC series no.8: a short architectural tour

There were a handful of places I wanted to see and that Cyndi wanted to see, and show the boys, that I thought we could visit when were out and about. One was St. Patrick's Cathedral, which we visited on our first day, between the Lego Store in Rockefeller Center and FAO Schwarz, which was further up 5th Avenue, at that corner on 59th where Central Park meets The Plaza Hotel and the two squares and, of course, 5th Avenue. Ariel was with us.

I can't describe the cathedral and give it due justice. It is extremely Gothic, with high spires, and when you enter it you are first impressed with the height of its vaulted ceiling and its cavernous immensity. There was a steady stream of tourists entering and several stopped in the vestibule, where votives could be lit. We walked down the nave toward the altar and sat in the pews close under its center, where the crosses of the building's footprint intersect. From there we could take in various details, including the stain glass rose window and grand organ over the vestibule from where we entered. We walked a little more toward a chapel behind the altar and then toward a small gift shop, where Cyndi purchased a little bookmark for her mother. I think it was for St. Anthony, the patron saint of lost things. We left a small donation in a box for the poor of the world.

On Sunday morning, we walked three blocks from our hotel to the Church of the Blessed Sacrament for 10 o'clock mass. The church is certainly not as grand as St. Patrick's but to my mind it was very grand. It was similarly Gothic, with beautiful stained glass windows, including a rose over the organ above the vestibule. Behind the altar were beautiful tapestries. It was their family mass, and there were many small children and crying babies. It did not seem particularly full but many, like us, arrived, as we tend to do, a few minutes tardy. The gospel that day was the miracle of the loaves and fishes, which I thought was appropriate enough.

For some inexplicable reason, I wanted to make a loop on Friday, before seeing Times Square, that included an arrival at Grand Central Station (entering the hall as though we were arriving by train) and the nearby New York Public Library. It was raining that afternoon, and the doorman at our hotel lent us umbrellas. The subway was particularly hot and humid, and it took a transfer from the Times Square station to get to Grand Central Station. We entered the grand hall and again its immensity was the wonder of it all. We exited by the least convenient exit and it began to rain in earnest. We ducked into a JCrew store on Madison Avenue during the hardest part of the rain. Cyndi could find no good sales. When the rain subsided a bit, we walked to the New York Public Library. I had wanted at the very least to sit in its reading room, but the doors between the lions were locked and so we turned the corner to Bryant Park, which was equally closed down due to the rain. That's when we followed our umbrellas to Times Square and the New Amsterdam theater and purchased tickets for Mary Poppins for the next evening.

NYC series no.7: chess in Greenwich Village

On Sunday morning, after church, we took the subway to Washington Square. There is a corner of the park there where chess is played but that part of the park was under renovation and closed. We walked over to the arch, and the boys had strawberry popsicles on a bench nearby.

We walked over to Thompson Street, just before Bleecker Street, which is sometimes known as the chess district, where there are two chess stores on the narrow street. We went into the first. There were two rows of tables with chess sets, and a sign that said you had to pay $3 to watch and another sign that said the store was open 24 hours. There were only a few people inside. A gentleman was teaching a young boy. The boy's mother sat beside her son. The boy squirmed in his seat and didn't seem particularly absorbed in the lesson, but the teacher was very good and very patient.

The boys looked at the chess sets for sale. I didn't get the impression that they sold a lot of sets, but the selection was unique. The store showed signs that it had been around for many, many years. The boys also found some chess t-shirts. They were very reasonable in price. I waited until the lesson was over, and sometime passed before the mother was finished. They were setting up a series of regular lessons. When they finally concluded, I introduced myself to the teacher and asked if he gave drop in lessons. He said that he did, but the lesson was one hour. We were supposed to meet up with Ariel soon, so I said I didn't think we had that much time. We arranged for a short 1/2 hour lesson.

The teacher was very good with children, and he packed a lot within the half hour. I explained that Jackson knew the game pretty well but that I was his teacher and I doubted how well I could teach him beyond some rudimentary level. The teacher was also interested in Rylee, and I told him that Rylee knew the moves of the pieces and was already seeing the plays on the board.

Jackson sat opposite the teacher and Rylee sat at the end of the table. Cyndi came and went, checking out the other merchants on the street. She told me later about a meditative bowl she found. The teacher went through some opening strategies to control the center of the board and a simple end game to show what he called the "force field" and getting in the King's face. He explained how a pawn can take another pawn en passant, castling, the value of the pieces, and stalemate. I thought the teacher could move quickly, partly because he saw how readily Jackson understood and could play against him. Jackson is particularly proud of seeing traps, and the teacher had a clear description of the forms of traps.

At the end, the teacher turned his attention to Rylee with a technique he called the parachute. He'd place white pieces around the board, then drop one black piece onto a square and ask Ry which white piece or pieces could take the black piece. Ry was very quiet. The teacher watched Ry's eyes and he could see how Ry looked at the entire board until he saw the move. In a very short time, Ry would then move the white piece to take the black piece. The teacher would then put the black piece on another square and repeat the exercise. Ry never hesitated to move the correct white piece.

I was so appreciative of this short lesson. I talked with the man, and we exchanged email addresses. He even suggested we could continue lessons via Skype on the internet. A different world, I thought, considering the suggestion seriously, where the student lives in Albuquerque and the teacher lives in New York City. He told me it would be new for him, too. I told him Jackson would know how to use the internet for the lessons. Cyndi thought they could make a trade.

We walked down Bleecker Street, noting its close approximation to our name, and had a pizza at a long-established pizzeria in Greenwich Village before getting back on the subway to Canal Street, where Ariel would pick us up for a trip to Brooklyn.

We have a chess set at home, a simple wooden one in a tin box, that I bought online from FAO Schwarz for $5 years ago. I thought we could find a magnetic chess set at the store when we set out that day, but we didn't see anything there. When we got to Chicago Midway on Tuesday, we found one in a store next to where we had lunch. The boys played together in the restaurant and in the terminal and on the plane going back home.

NYC series no.6: pics

NYC series no.5: in a station of the MTA

In the four full days we were in NYC, I'd guess we took the subway about a dozen times. We took a cab only three times, twice to get to and from the airport and once to get from Times Square to our hotel. On Sunday afternoon, Ariel picked us up in a car to get us to Brooklyn and Chris drove us home to our hotel that evening. I was very thankful for that, as I was exhausted and it was great not to have to think about getting us around.

There was a station a block from our hotel that became familiar to us. It was a pleasant walk along Broadway, even one afternoon in the rain, past lovely residential buildings. Broadway at this point is divided with a median of trees and flowers. The sidewalks weren't nearly as crowded as Midtown. It was a pretty entrance to the station, in the center of Verdi square, where 72nd Street, Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway Boulevard converged. People sat in the park near the station entrance, many reading a book or a Kindle. It was our favorite station. Across the street was a Trader Joe's, with its escalator for shopping carts that Jackson, Rylee and Ariel tried, and a Gray's Papaya.

Cyndi helped steer us through the stations and get us to the right side of the tracks for our destination or find the cross overs for transfers and exits. Jackson quickly learned how to distinguish between uptown and downtown directions, listen to the stops over the PA system on the train, find the boards in the stations for the next arriving trains, and read the signs. Cyndi made sure always to hold hands. Rylee learned to duck under the turnstiles. Jackson always quickly found an empty seat.

On Friday morning we bought three passes for unlimited rides, good for a week. Riders under 44 inches rode free, and before we left I measured Rylee. He was about a half inch over 44, but the lady at the station booth said he was free and we never had any question as he ducked under the turnstiles. I would scan each pass for Jackson, Cyndi and myself.

I carried a laminated map with me on most outings, and the best feature of the map was a duplication of the official MTA map, showing the subway lines and stations. From our station at Verdi Square we could get direct trains to Columbus Circle (where we could transfer to a train to Washington Square) and to Times Square (where we once transferred on a shuttle subway to Grand Central Station). We could walk from Times Square to Rockefeller Center or take another line to Rockefeller Center from the station on 72nd at Central Park West. Once we got it down, it became a pretty quick way to get around.

We walked to the American Museum of Natural History and from there we walked to Central Park. On a couple of occasions we walked down 72nd, past shops, to the Dakota and down 75th, past brownstones and trees and flowerbeds, to Columbus Avenue. On Sunday we walked three blocks to the Church of the Blessed Sacrament to attend the 10 o'clock mass on 71st Street. We walked up as far as 83rd Street for markets and restaurants, not even a half mile from our hotel. Cyndi did a quick walk on Monday around the neighborhood and I'd get out in the mornings just in our immediate neighborhood.

What we noticed getting around was the stifling heat in the stations and sometimes on the trains themselves. It made you realize the importance of air conditioning and wonder how people lived and worked during the summer heat before air conditioning or how people may still do without it. We were often dehydrated and depended on Cyndi's water bottle. The worst train was an express we mistakenly took uptown to somewhere around Columbia University and Harlem before we could get off and get back on a local train to our intended station. The air conditioning seemed non-existent on that one. The worst station was probably waiting for the shuttle from Times Square to Grand Central Station. Even the overhead fans placed there didn't help the heat, which seemed to build up during the day and peak in the evening.

I have to say that the people we met and talked with were exceedingly helpful and pleasant. There were times when people even offered help when we hadn't yet asked. At Grand Central Station, I asked a man wearing the vest of someone who worked for the subway how to exit so we came up in the great hall. He led us, saying he was going that way anyway, and we talked about the Yankees (the boys were wearing their caps, which often provoked some comment), the Mets (the employee's team), and even the Brooklyn team. We never encountered a scary person or an uncomfortable situation. Once, while walking from Columbus Ave. to our hotel we passed by a man who had passed out in his own vomit. I wondered if he were alive. That scared me.

Rylee and I took the subway on Monday afternoon to 110th Street to go to the skateboard park. We passed by a music school from the station. You could hear the music from the open windows. We took the stairs down to Riverside Park at 108th. The park was quiet. When we returned, Ariel had arrived by bicycling from her apartment below Midtown through a corner of Central Park to our hotel. That was the evening Rylee, exhausted, feel asleep at dinner, waking up for a few moments to inhale his spaghetti and meatballs before falling asleep again.

NYC series no.4: The Today Show

Cyndi said she wanted to see the taping of The Today Show at Rockefeller Center, and the more I thought about it the more it sounded like a fun thing to do on Monday, our last full day in NYC, and afterward going up the elevators at 30 Rock to the observation decks and then over to MOMA, all while the day is young. I think we set the alarm for 4:30 in the morning. We took showers and got the boys up at the last moment. We might have taken the subway to Columbus Circle to transfer to an orange line to Rockefeller Center, but I think that morning we walked down to the station at 72nd and Central Park West, in front of the Dakota. We arrived in the station below Rockefeller Center and I found the exit to the concourse of shops at the level between the station and the skating rink. The boys thought this was the best metro station we'd been in. There was a Starbucks there and we ordered our usuals. Besides two kids' hot chocolates, there's a triple extra room tall Americano and a grande extra hot toffee nut latte, no whip. That's not exactly how I order them, but it's as close I can get to how my orders are repeated to me.

We went up to the lobby and out to the plaza and we could see the metal barriers set up out side the studio in the alley between 48th and 49th. We were standing at a corner when a man, who looked to be an audience regular and was already at a prime location, by himself, inside the barriers (I'll call him the VIF), gestured us over to 48th Street, where sure enough a line was forming. Fortunately, it wasn't too long. About 6:30, they let you inside the outer ring of the metal barriers, but not until they check your posters (we didn't make any) for content and pass a wand over your body. Cyndi eventually found a spot at a corner next to a spot reserved for wheelchairs, which in turn is next to the pathway Matt, Ann and Natalie use to enter the inner ring. In other words, Cyndi ended up in a prime spot along the path between the celebrity entrance and the VIF.

Meanwhile I found myself facing the studio itself, with a direct line of sight into the heart of the production area. Mostly, I could view the producers, the cameramen, a makeup artist, and Tom Brokaw and the new Meet the Press guy waiting for the segment on the debt crisis analysis. I nursed my coffee and also watched a monitor above my head. The boys took turns between Cyndi and me, with Jackson sometimes drifting further out to take in the crowd, including the large crew of police on duty.

The show is on the air at 7 sharp. There's some silly stories, one about the royal family, and a fascinating interview with a woman on the U.S. ski team who had an amazing encounter with a mother bear. If you remember that story on The Today Show, you probably saw Cyndi, Jackson and Rylee on national television.

Somewhere before the first half-hour ended, about where they probably have lots of commercials and local news and weather, I saw on my monitor a spliced shot of Cyndi and the boys on camera. And then opening the next half hour, with the theme music playing and the host's voice over saying this was Monday, August 1, there was Cyndi, Jackson and Rylee waving and beaming on camera. The cameraman had picked them out of the crowd. It seemed a natural choice to me.

The celebs probably appeared in the inner ring two or three times. (During part of the on-air time, I went to get tickets for the observation decks around the corner, where I met some other really great NBC or GE or RCA or whatever employees.) I noticed how genuinely friendly The Today Show celebs and producers were. One of the producers went to greet the VIF and gave him one of those Continental kisses. Cyndi and Jackson shook hands with the celebs as they passed by.

Much of this was coordinated by constant text messaging and telephone calls to Cyndi's family and friends so that they would watch and TiVo the show. I still haven't seen any recording, but then I saw it already. I was there. I know Cyndi's dying to see it. Lisa called me after she got back from work that day. It was already late in our day, and we were exhausted. Lisa said something like, are you in New York? Did I see Cyndi on television this morning? What's the chances you'd be in New York, at The Today Show, on camera, and that I'd be watching it at that moment? A classmate of Rylee's saw him, too, that morning.

NYC series no.3: champagne

On our first full day, we met Ariel at the Lego Store in Rockefeller Center and proceeded up 5th Avenue. On the way, we stepped inside the Cathedral of St. Patrick, had lunch at La Bonne Soupe, and visited Louis Vuitton. FAO Schwarz was ahead, but first we walked across the square where the Pulitzer Fountain sits to the lobby of The Plaza Hotel. At one time I considered, but rejected, eating lunch at the Plaza. It had a gourmet food court and the posh Oak Room, and in my research I heard about a champagne room. The boys know the Plaza from the Home Alone movie. It is famous to older generations for the book about Eloise, but I can't claim to have read or been read that book.

We didn't hesitate to follow guests and other tourists through the revolving doors into an entry room, where those who weren't guests stopped to take pictures. We saw a little sign pointing to its front desk and found ourselves in a sunny room with high ceilings and chandeliers and green velvety chairs in twos along the windows and smaller upholstered chairs in groups circled around tables in a second ring near the windows. Cyndi sat in one of the green velvety chairs next to a window at the corner of the hotel, and I spied a small bar in the corner of the room where we entered. I asked the woman at the small bar, "Is this the Champagne room?" Yes, it was. And were they serving Champagne, and what Champagne did they serve? It was very early in the afternoon. And she tells me some French Champagnes. I recognize "brut" and "rose", and I recently had a rose Champagne that surprised me how good it was. So I ordered one glass. She said it was their most popular Champagne. As I always find, the people were very gracious.

A man in a tuxedo brought the champagne to our table next to the green velvety chairs in the far corner of the large room where Cyndi and Ariel sat. He asked if we wanted anything else, and I confided to him that were just having the one token glass of champagne to enjoy a few brief moments sitting in the room. He smiled and said he understood, and later he brought a stand with two serving dishes, silver probably, though I didn't really notice at the time, with snacks and chocolate-covered almonds.

Cyndi, Ariel and I tasted the Champagne. I think it may have been Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin. It was very good, very dry, the bubbles seemed small and numerous. The boys played with their brand new Legos sitting on the carpet at our feet. They talked quietly for a change. A man sat near us munching on what looked like a sushi order from the gourmet food court, and two men looked like they were engaged in some sort of business a few tables away. They were not eating or drinking. Some people came and went through the room but they were very few and we didn't notice any traffic.

We didn't rush, but it couldn't have been too many minutes before we paid our bill, looked at some shops and other hallways at the hotel, and then crossed over the small street in front of the lobby and toward FAO Schwarz.

NYC series no.2: practically perfect

I wasn't sure how we would see a Broadway show while we were in NYC. Cyndi thought it was one of the most important things we could show the boys, and as it turned out it was a highlight of our trip. Lion King and Spiderman I heard were either sold out or there were no discounted tickets. The War Horse, playing at Lincoln Center, was perhaps a little too old for the boys and it had just won the Tony for Best Play. Just before we left for NYC I printed a coupon from broadwaybox.com and brought it along.

On our first full day in NYC, on our second outing, in the early evening, it began to rain just as we left the lobby for the subway. The doorman gave us umbrellas to take with us. (Umbrellas developed into a bit of a leitmotif for the trip.) On this outing, we eventually found ourselves in the middle of Times Square at around 8 in the evening just as the lights were starting to shine against a darkening sky. We entered Times Square around 42nd and Broadway, near the New Amsterdam theater, and we walked to its box office. We found five seats together in the balcony for the next evening's performance of Mary Poppins, the cheapest seats in the house, and saved an additional $75 with the coupon. We took pictures of Cyndi and the boys beside the mural of Mary Poppins flying with her bonnet and frock coat and with an open umbrella in her hand.

On Saturday, Ariel met Cyndi in Midtown while the boys and I were at the Sony Wonder Lab and the five of us returned to the hotel together before the evening performance. We took the subway again to Times Square and walked over to the theater. Times Square was packed with people. We first went to the Toys R Us flagship store.

A crowd was milling around the mural of Mary Poppins next to the box office of the New Amsterdam theater for pictures, but we walked right in. At about twenty minutes or so before the performance, there was no line at all. An elevator immediately inside took us to the balcony and a small lobby of its own where we could buy candy and chocolates and souvenir mugs and even cocktails (one was called a Practically Perfect) in little plastic sippy cups to bring inside. (There went the discount.)

The balcony was small and high above the stage. Below us was a mezzanine we could not see and the large orchestra section in front of the stage. The balcony filled up before the lights flickered or an usher walked about with a small mallet and xylophone, and the entire theater looked to be sold out. In the balcony, the rows rose in tiers so you looked out above the heads of those in front of you.

I'm certain the experience from the seats below the balcony must have been different from ours, but our experience was a delight. The proscenium at the front of the stage was as wide as the the theater and as high as our seats in the balcony. The production design used the entire frame of the proscenium so that we weren't deprived of any action on the stage below us. It was like watching a large IMAX film screen, except all the action was live. The scenes dropped and changed constantly, often suspended above the stage, so that the dancing and singing was never confined to the floor of the stage but took place in the center of the frame of the proscenium. The scenes in the attic of the home or on the rooftops were appropriately staged above the stage floor. At one point, Bert, the chimney sweep, walked along the entire four edges of the proscenium frame.

From the very beginning the boys were riveted. They both sat at the edge of their seats, their eyes glued to the stage. I brought some binoculars, and Jack wore those around his neck and peered through them at the beginning. They clapped enthusiastically. They literally (one of their favorite words) squealed with delight. Jack bounced up and down in his seat through some numbers, and he looked for the wires that suspended the actors above the stage.

Cyndi loved the song and dance. Supercalifragilistic- expialidocious and Step in Time were full-out, energetic numbers, including tap, that you'd love to see on a Broadway stage. The musical had many but not all of the scenes and songs from the movie, many new scenes and songs (including one that repeated the line, "practically perfect in every way"), and I thought it must have followed the original book (or books) in ways the movie did not. Rylee crawled into my lap, twirling my hair and his own--the sign that he is tired--and fell asleep during the last half hour or so. At the end, Mary Poppins flies above the audience. For a while she disappeared from our view but then we saw her, with her opened umbrella in her hand, rising from below the balcony level, right in front of us, until she disappeared inside an enclosed catwalk at the ceiling, where she no doubt quickly unharnessed herself to get back onstage to take a bow with the rest of the cast.

Ariel left us when we exited the theater to catch a cross town bus or subway back to her apartment, and Cyndi, the boys, and I walked deep into the crowd of Times Square. After glimpsing the lights (it was now almost 11 p.m.), we haled a cab in the very heart of Times Square for a speedy exit to our hotel. I think that's when Cyndi and the boys began making jokes about being practically perfect.