Labor Day in Manhattan 2012

Even though Michele's birthday picnic was an afternoon activity, it took all of Sunday for my sleep-deprived family to recover.  When we all do something together, we all rest less. On Labor Day Monday, we got ambitious again. Even though James has been to lots of different cities because of our Southern roadtrip this spring, and our Northern roadtrip over the summer, and even though James had been to Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx (for the zoo) -- it seemed wrong that he had never been to Manhattan before. So off we went!

Family photo in Times Square

I wanted a photo in Times Square, because, to me, it's the most "New York" spot even though it's filled with tourists. Let's face it though, the tourists are the nicest people in the city. And I needed them to take our family photo. The one of James yanking my hair out while I hold my smile (the photo reigns supreme!) is my favorite. I also thought James might like Times Square because he's obsessed with lights. There was also a life-size Dora, Diego, and Elmo walking around that he was less excited about. Who knows?

James enjoying the lights of Times Square.

Hugging Da-T

Then we took James to Central Park's big Castle Playground because in general he prefers parks and playgrounds to sightseeing. He loved it, but wow, New York is for real. There were little hipster toddlers on scooters going up and down the hills in the park like they were Shaun White. They had helmets; James did not. It was intense. Eventually, James found his way out of the playground and decided to jam out to some musicians playing jazz and Lady Gaga tunes. He swayed and stomped to the beat. It was ten million times cuter than it sounds.

Castle Playground

Off to storm the castle

James jamming out in Central Park

Monday was also James's first time on a train! We took the LIRR into Manhattan, and James was super psyched to watch the trains go by, look out the window, grab at our tickets, and point out all the street lights in Queens. As such, he was very good on the way into the city, but he was tired and not so good on the way home. We might give him a little break before we try that again.

First train ride!