Summer: Fri., 8/23 (Lucia's City Day)
Rounding out our adventure week with Lucia's day in the city! Another great day. We all went into the city on the train this morning. Greta and Andrew went to his office, and Lucia and I headed up to Times Square. It was raining a little, but we found a Starbucks and had a little breakfast while we waited until our ticket time at Gulliver's Gate.
Then it was time for our Gulliver's Gate exploration. It was so much fun. Gulliver's Gate describes itself as "the largest interactive miniature world on earth," and it's exactly that--a miniature world. Or parts of the world, to be more specific: tiny-scale replicas of cities in Latin America, Asia, Europe, and the U.S. We each were given a key that, when inserted into glowing keyholes throughout the exhibit, set parts of the dioramas in motion. It was really fun. Lots of little details to discover. We'd been expecting only a miniature New York City, and were surprised to find all the international dioramas too. Lucia really liked it.
Next up: subway to Chinatown for a lunch of soup dumplings at Joe's Shanghai. Delicious as always. While walking through Chinatown, Lucia was taken aback by all the people discreetly hawking fake handbags--droning "handbags, handbags, handbags, Louis Louis, watches, handbags" as we walked past. On the way back from lunch, Lucia counted the people who approached us, totaling 16. I tried to explain what they were selling, and why it had to be done in such a sly, secret way, and she was appalled. She was horrified when I (jokingly) suggested we buy a handbag. Too funny.
Our next stop was Flying Tiger, for a little shopping spree. Lucia looked at everything in the store before making a second runthrough to choose her final selections. She picked out one thing for Greta as well, as they'd promised each other. She seemed most excited about a giant highlighter, and an hourglass thing where blue liquid drips through.
We rounded out our afternoon with some gelato topped with a macaroon, and then we headed to Google to meet up with Andrew and Greta. Andrew still had some meetings, so the girls and I hung out in a little lounge area. One of Andrew's co-workers had brought her mini goldendoodle to work today, and Greta had spent a lot of the day playing with it. We all got to meet him. Super cute and snuggly. I'm even more excited about our imminent dog ownership now.
Then we took the train home, rested a bit, had dinner at Parkwood Diner, and are now in bed or nearly there.
These days with the girls have been really fun. It's so interesting to spend time with them one on one. Lucia is more talkative, asking more questions. She is showing a little anxiousness about starting school, despite her general excitement about fourth grade. There are so many unknowns--who her teacher will be, who will be in her class. I'm anxious about those things too.
City days 2019 in the books.
Then it was time for our Gulliver's Gate exploration. It was so much fun. Gulliver's Gate describes itself as "the largest interactive miniature world on earth," and it's exactly that--a miniature world. Or parts of the world, to be more specific: tiny-scale replicas of cities in Latin America, Asia, Europe, and the U.S. We each were given a key that, when inserted into glowing keyholes throughout the exhibit, set parts of the dioramas in motion. It was really fun. Lots of little details to discover. We'd been expecting only a miniature New York City, and were surprised to find all the international dioramas too. Lucia really liked it.
Next up: subway to Chinatown for a lunch of soup dumplings at Joe's Shanghai. Delicious as always. While walking through Chinatown, Lucia was taken aback by all the people discreetly hawking fake handbags--droning "handbags, handbags, handbags, Louis Louis, watches, handbags" as we walked past. On the way back from lunch, Lucia counted the people who approached us, totaling 16. I tried to explain what they were selling, and why it had to be done in such a sly, secret way, and she was appalled. She was horrified when I (jokingly) suggested we buy a handbag. Too funny.
Our next stop was Flying Tiger, for a little shopping spree. Lucia looked at everything in the store before making a second runthrough to choose her final selections. She picked out one thing for Greta as well, as they'd promised each other. She seemed most excited about a giant highlighter, and an hourglass thing where blue liquid drips through.
We rounded out our afternoon with some gelato topped with a macaroon, and then we headed to Google to meet up with Andrew and Greta. Andrew still had some meetings, so the girls and I hung out in a little lounge area. One of Andrew's co-workers had brought her mini goldendoodle to work today, and Greta had spent a lot of the day playing with it. We all got to meet him. Super cute and snuggly. I'm even more excited about our imminent dog ownership now.
Then we took the train home, rested a bit, had dinner at Parkwood Diner, and are now in bed or nearly there.
These days with the girls have been really fun. It's so interesting to spend time with them one on one. Lucia is more talkative, asking more questions. She is showing a little anxiousness about starting school, despite her general excitement about fourth grade. There are so many unknowns--who her teacher will be, who will be in her class. I'm anxious about those things too.
City days 2019 in the books.
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