ABZ on the Road Again

It should be uneventful, to do laundry, clean up the apartment, and pick up some supplies to restock the house. After $30 in laundry cards, 42 trips up and down the elevator, and 4 hours of time, we were able to do our two loads and get the apartment in tip top shape. It was a blessing that most of this happened while Zed was, thankfully, bowling with Shane and Kevin. The building was switching over any day to all new machines and we came to know why. After the money-taking machine theived us and the front desk was desperate to help, but mostly ineffectual, the real topper was when soap suds literally foamed out of the machine a SECOND time. Barry lost it. Needless to say, we got everything done in time to catch our taxi.

Flight home – all good. Drive home – all good. Gracie – happy, happy, happy.

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Our last full day, and Barrie offered to take us skating at Lasker Ice Rink. We headed uptown, to the north end of Central Park, to what used to be one of the funkiest rinks, but over time, Trump has trumped up the place. It was cloudy but mild and Zed and Shane took immediately to the ice. (Barrie was very humble about her days of competitive skating.) Shane has had lessons so he was an inspiration to Zed who has only skated a few times in Roseville. They zoomed around and had a wonderful time. The highlight, though, was the hot chocolate break (Shane closely monitoring the time leading up to that with much anticipation.)

We all went back to Shane’s place to hook up with Kevin and the family (Kennon, Karen, Jonah and Kyla) from the building. We were going in their two cars to Dykster Heights. This is an area in Brooklyn that is famous for its lights. First, we all went to the Salty Dog for dinner where a lot of French Fries were consumed and good conversation. Off to the lights. We parked and walked. A very cold night and I was thankful for my hat in the wind. The houses seem to be in competition with one another, rivaling the store windows with the amount of moving figures, huge blow-ups, and millions of lights. The wind drove us back to the cars where we hunted for an Italian pastry shop. Cannolis, cheesecake, and apple turnovers seemed a big hit!! What a fun night. -A.

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Barry definitely felt better. I knew at some point that day we would hook up with a surprise visitor but Barry would NOT tell me who!

We went to meet juggling friends Cindy, Carter, and son, Theo (this was great but not THE surprise) who keep a place a few block from our apartment and just happened to be in New York making one of their rare stops in the city. They spend most of their time in Boulder, CO or traveling so this was an unusual opportunity. We made a bagel stop and chatted before they went off to catch flights.

The day was absolutely gorgeous. We headed to Central Park where a tall tourist holding a skarf to his face, and looking, frankly, psycho, asked me to take a picture. Peeking out from behind him were Bodhi and Riley (Sally was hiding under her hat)  – friends from GRASS VALLEY!

We went back to our place for lunch and compared New York stories. Then we took scooters to Central Park and covered some distance. We stopped at Adventure playground – still some snow and it was inevitable that sooner or later we would have a snowball fight. Super fun! Then we all scooted to the Merry-Go-Round. That was one FAST ride. Sally was standing next to Bodhi’s horse and almost fell off. Yikes. Got some great pics!

We split off, with Sally & Dave & kids headed to the Flaming Idiots show and FAO Schwartz. At home, after a relaxing dinner, Zed did all the dishes himself and cleaned the kitchen. Hmmm. Every night?? That would be great.

Then we got a call that the Peterson’s were downstairs next to our building eating dinner. Everywhere they went was a bust – sold out or closed!! Unbelievable. They had seen a restaurant that they liked near us so decided to come back uptown. Barry headed out to get dessert, leisurely perusing the offerings, of which there were plenty, and ended up with Cold Stone Creamery choc/peanut butter ice cream and huge chocolate chip cookies (can you say Fat Flush diet? – NOT).  Then we knew – we were not in Grass Valley anymore.  Those guys came up for dessert and we had more super hang time. We just love them!! What a great day!

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Pouring rain. Barry started to feel under the weather so he stayed in bed. Zed and I played a lot of games and Hot Wheels. He built an amazing track with loop-di-loos and ricocheting triggers. He tried to play with the cat and the hamster (he has given up on the fish and the frogs.) I went to the store. We all read a lot, I worked on the blog, worked on my on-line class.  Barrie and Shane offered to take Zed so that B and I could have a Saturday date night out, but it seemed like Barry was more ready for sleeping in.

I knew if Zed was going to sit in a movie theater, he needed to move. We braved the rain on the scooters. We tooled around Strawberry Fields in Central Park where a few brave tourists were taking pictures of the mosaic “Imagine” memorial. No flowers on it, just a lot of rain. Leaving the park, a group of Japanese tourists stopped me and asked about The Dakota. I told them everything I knew and they smiled and nodded but I think the only thing they understood was “John Lennon.”

Zed left to see the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie with Shane. Barry felt well enough to go to a nearby dinner. We went to an Indian place called “Indigo Indian Bistro.” It was good, but not the meal we might have had if we’d gone to Indian row. We were still happily satisfied. Barry went home to bed and I went to get Zed at Shane’s. Another family was visiting and we all played “Catch Phrase,” which had a timer that beeped loudly creating all kinds of fun and confusion.

I can never tell if Zed loves the buzz of the city in general, or the fact that he gets to scooter home!

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We woke up real slow, reading in bed to Zed together while life zoomed down in the street below. Then we called family (once the Californians were up). Zed played some Wii – we jumped around the living room, and then it was time to head to Shane’s house to help with all the prep for Christmas dinner. Barrie had the show moving along and under control when we got there, but we did try to make ourselves useful. Zed probably did the most, keeping Shane busy.

The guests arrived in spread out waves so we really got to meet everyone. There were about seven kids and they busied themselves most of the night with dance contests. They did stop to eat for 5 seconds. I enjoyed getting to know Barrie and Kevin’s wonderful friends and ate some of the most delicious food ever combined together. My favorite, though, was Noa’s Pomegranate soup, which she casually referred to as “easy” but as she said that, I thought, no, opening a can of soup is easy. This was so flavorful and sweetly unusual. I have to get the recipe.

It was an easy night in so many ways – an incredible group of people who folded us right in, a high of play and dance for Zed, and Barrie and Kevin holding the space in which we were so welcome. It was raining hard on the walk home, but we were warm inside.

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We picked up Shane around noon and headed down to 42nd street to see “Chestnuts Roasting on the Flaming Idiots.” We got there early and braved the cold wind off the Hudson to walk around and gawk upward at all the moving billboards. You can’t help but look like a green tourist right there in the hub of Broadway.

This show is good clean variety arts at the New Vic (the Idiots are friends of Barry’s) – known in the show as Pyro, Gyro, and Walter. Think juggling, crazy antics, balloon swallowing, machetes, torches and a great band, you’ll have imagined most of it. But, really, when Gyro (Rob Williams) makes a sandwich with his feet and an audience member eats it . . . well, you really need to see THAT in person! It was a very fun show and Zed and Shane had a great time together.

We met up with Barrie and Kevin at a wonderful neighborhood Italian place, cozy and warm, and excellent food and went to hang out afterwards at their place.

After Zed went to bed, we streamed a lot of the latest season of  The Office on netflix. We’ve been staying up too late (by which coasts standards) but who needs to sleep?

What a great way to spend Christmas Eve. I love New York. – A.

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It was a cold wind and I wish I had bundled up as much as the night before when we saw the windows. We picked the coldest day so far to be out at the zoo, but we strode forth. It’s small, right there in Central Park, with a handful of exhibits. I loved the rainforest – it was WARM inside! But, really, so well done with close encounters of all the inhabitants. Two tortoises making love were a highlight. The male moved at a tortuously (tortoisely?) slow pace, but he moved with conviction. The birds were plentiful but we never found the sloths! Penguins, polar bears, a snow leopard. The snow monkeys (do they just change the sign in summer to read “African monkeys?”) were the luckiest with 100 degree hot tubs.

The Tim Burton exhibit at the MOMA was incredible. Four big rooms with his drawings, sculptures, movie story boards, cartoons, etc. Quite a deal but VERY crowded. It was a great chance to show Zed the evolution of an artist as Burton’s drawings from grade school were there as well as the illustrated short story he sent to Disney when he was in high school (and the rejection letter!) He looked at the artwork,  drew a picture, and then settled into a short film of “Hansel and Gretel” which was a wild rendering typical of Burton’s odd take on the world.

Steve Mills (yes, of Mills’ Mess fame, but he gets tired of that) came for dinner. Great to see an old friend and catch up on life.

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Uh-Oh. Barrie is sick, too! Yikes!  We are powering down homeopathic pills, which may or may not be as effective as crossing our fingers. But we hope . . .

We re-visited the Swedish Cottage for this year’s marionette show, “The Bears’ Holiday Bash.” A marionette show using a stash of puppets probably used throughout the year-a kind of All-Star cast. Zed liked the glow-in-the-black-light skate boarder the best.

Afterwards, Barry and Zed zoomed on scooters downtown and subwayed home.

Barry had this to say:  It seemed perfect… a small Razor for Zed – he jumps off anything and lands anywhere – effortlessly.  Easily covering four feet of horizontal travel before touching down again. Then there was the adult scooter.  The mom or dad of where we are staying apparently rides along with the kids so what the heck, I can do it, too!

Zed and I took off from the apartment and headed 1/2 a block over to Central Park.  A beautiful day – wet from a morning rain and, you know, it’s CENTRAL PARK so it’s cool already.

Zed flew and I rode cautiously like the 47-year old dad I am.  He waited for me.  Challenged me to small races he knew he’d win.  And we laughed, a lot.  He took on the Super Hero Identity of SnowSmasher!  He would come down onto these huge piles of snow and obliterate them into flakes, or smaller piles, at the very least.  I took on the identity of I-Don’t-Scooter-Guy… safe, cautious, calling ahead merely to keep him safe.

Well before we knew it we had left the park, scooted through a craft market at Columbus Circle, and ripping down 7th Avenue towards mid-town Manhattan.  How did that happen so fast?!?!  Is that actually downhill?

“Are we going to have to ride all the way back home?”, Zed asked.  I guess he was a bit tired, too, and realized that we hadn’t made a 180-degree turn at any point since leaving!

Right then I had the great NYC realization — ‘we probably aren’t more than a few blocks from a subway!’.  We hadn’t taken a subway yet this trip so I don’t know if they were in his consciousness.

Zed got so excited when I told him we were going to train back up to the apartment he just about squeezed the breath out of me!  A few minutes later we were underground jumping onto the 1 North.  Three stops later we were cutting across 72nd and back home.

“My knee feels a bit funky”, I told Annie when I got back to the apartment.  Oh boy… scootering isn’t actually a natural movement I do everyday. The rest of the day became about my knee… don’t know how bad it’s going to get but I know one thing for sure, that was my scootering experience for this trip.

Ouch, and I loved every single minute of it.   _____

For dinner, we were off to Greenwich for some famous brick oven pizza. then the department store window displays. Macy’s had their usual Miracle on 34th St (Zed saw the play last week) as well as some Willy Wonka wild colored windows that were themed around letters to Santa. Crazy and engaging with lots of movement and sound. Lord and Taylor had their miniature scenes (lots of moving parts, too) about what we love at Christmas, their classic take.

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None of us woke up until 10:30. Not even with the sun streaming in, cars honking 14 floors below, and the cat meowing for greenies.  We headed out for some scootering and a trip to the Fairway for groceries. Crowded, but not like our arrival on Christmas eve last year. This was do-able and very few people actually said anything mean. I even got one clerk to joke around with me. Zed and Barry went to the pizza place nearby like last year, so I guess it is a tradition now.

Barrie invited us for dinner which was wonderful, even though Kevin had to work. They live 3 blocks away. It’s fun that they are so close.

Zed and Shane had a great time – getting to Level 12 of some game. Then we all played Aggravation -a new version, not at all like the old one as this board looks like Willy Wonka took acid.

Then, Kevin called on the way home. Felt chilly, feverish, nauseous. We saw him in the hall on our way out and conveyed our deepest sympathies. Then we walked back the three blocks to our place amid the busy, thriving throngs of night owl New Yorkers. Do we really have to drive again, ever?

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Yeah!  Made it! Here’s a pic of Zed on the plane – watching Polar Express while eating a special 2 scoop sundae with whip cream that the flight attendant brought just for him!

Barrie (Raffel, gal Barrie, not to be confused with boy Barry) met us at the apartment (with DINNER). That was so sweet. The apartment is amazing, large and completely comfortable, and the location is great – 72nd and Central Park on the West side.

The cat is named Felix. He has a pushed in face and gray crystal-marked eyes. He is obsessed with these little green cat treats and stares all day at the cabinet door that houses them. There are also two frogs, a fish, and a hamster. We haven’t actually seen the hamster so we hope is still alive.

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