A Day at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh

I wouldn't be surprised if the kids' favorite day of our New York City vacation wasn't in New York at all, but in Pittsburgh instead.

Our road trips to and from New York both pre- and post-kids have always been straight through. This time, we decided to split up the drive back to Columbus by staying a couple of nights in Pittsburgh. It was a good choice.

We spent our one full day in the city largely at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. We arrived shortly after it opened at 10 a.m. and surprisingly stayed for about six hours. Art room, circuitry, water play, balls, wheels -- so much interaction! The kids enjoy COSI, the children's museum here in Columbus, but I think the Pittsburgh museum takes it up a notch for kids of Edith and Atticus's age. There so much to do rather than just see! The museum alone made me glad we made the detour to Pittsburgh.

Ferries of New York City

On the Staten Island Ferry

When you think of New York City and modes of transportation, you probably think of the subway. But ferries are also a popular way to travel for both commuters and visitors -- and a lot more pleasant.

A new ferry stop opened in our former Brooklyn neighborhood of Bay Ridge since we had last visited, so giving it a try was on my must-do list for this trip. We walked along Shore Road Promenade, with it's beautiful view of Manhattan's skyscrapers, to the 69th St. pier. There we boarded the NYC Ferry for the 45-minute ride to Governor's Island. A direct route to Governor's Island, just off Manhattan's shore, wouldn't be long at all, but the ferry had a few other stops to make first. No matter. We brought along bagels and cream cheese (what else can you eat on a Sunday in New York?) and took in the views of the Brooklyn Bridge and Statue of Liberty.

On our last full day in New York, we took a much more famous boat -- the Staten Island Ferry. This was much more for the kids' benefit. I wasn't at all convinced that they had a clear idea of what the Statue of Liberty actually was, and the ferry gives you a close, clear view. Plus: Free.

The ferries didn't rank as highly for the kids as the subway (riding the train was pretty much tops for the whole trip for them), but it was a relaxing way to spend a couple of hours with a breeze and a view.

Birthday #37

Weekend birthdays are the best -- you can plan exactly what you want to do without the interference of any real responsibilities. Thus was the case Sunday, on the occasion of the 37th anniversary of my birth.

The kids presented me with a card before I had even gotten out of bed, and Edith especially was determined to make it a good day for me. ("I will make it a special day, Mama, because you're old," she said, not in the least bit snidely. And I'm barely paraphrasing.)

Paul and I got tickets to a pop-up brunch weeks ago, so we dropped the kids off with friends and ate a delicious meal. Then we walked around the Ohio State campus for a bit, until the humid weather got the best of us and we headed back to the air-conditioned car. (The construction on the Oval and at Mirror Lake didn't exactly lift the spirits either.)

The afternoon? A nap. And in the evening we visited my in-laws as usual, only this time I brought the best of all birthday cakes -- a blackout cake modeled after the one I loved so much in Brooklyn. (Mine's better.)

So my next year in life has started out pretty nicely. I even still have half a cake in the refrigerator.

Three New York Museums in Three Days

You can't go to New York without visiting a few museums. No mystery as to how we decided where to go. We chose the ones that (1) the kids would like and that (2) we could enter free for various reasons. Three museums in three days ... and go!

American Museum of Natural History, June 25

Paul and I joked that this diorama at the museum was a portrait of the kids.

New York Transit Museum, June 25

Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, June 27. Edith in the submarine.

Find Paul and Atticus!

A Return to New York

Brooklyn Bridge Park, June 26

The week before we left, Edith couldn't wait to remind us that we were about to visit the city where she was born. We spend last week in New York City, our third visit since we moved away in July 2013.

I'm glad we made the trip, and it was good for me. A return visit was overdue -- our last one was in fall 2015, when Atticus was only six months old -- and this trip dispelled a lot of my notions and recollections of the city. It was dirtier than I remembered, and the food didn't even taste as good! Seeing friends was hard. Getting to Manhattan from our old Bay Ridge neighborhood is long even when you're alone, but it's long and difficult when you have two kids.

Of course, we have been missing for most of the last five years and haven't discovered the newest fun reasons to remain in New York. But still. For the first time, if Paul or I were offered a job in New York, I'm not sure I would jump at the chance to return.

Don't get me wrong: I LOVE NEW YORK. But this trip made me definitively realize that Columbus is not a consolation prize. I love it here too.

In any case, we had a great trip, and I'll be posting some of the highlights off and on over the next several Tuesdays. We even spent a couple of days in Pittsburgh on the way home! Enjoy.

New York slice, June 23

Me and Atticus, June 23

Yummy cupcake, June 23

Alexander Hamilton's grave at Trinity Church, June 24

And Eliza Hamilton, too.

Central Park, June 25