Surprise!

I turned 37 on January 10th! It was a great day; friends called, Sam made a great dinner, I skyped with friends, yummy burgers, sushi the day before, home made cookies. Just a great day.

And for my birthday, I got a gift from the kids that was called 'surprise'. It was a home made ticket that said 'Surprise Family Adventure'. Included was: lunch, Sam, Wyeth and Seren. It also said that shirts and shoes were required. Hmm. All week I thought about what sort of day adventure we would have. And every time I wondered aloud, Sam and Seren would hope that Wyeth wouldn't ruin the surprise!

On January 19, a Sunday morning, we woke up early for my surprise adventure! The kids were so excited!  And so was I! As a self proclaimed control freak, I had to just hang out and see what happened. We went North instead of South on I-95 which in my mind meant New York City or New Hope. When we got to the New Hope exit, Sam pretended to turn towards the exit before pulling the steering wheel back on the road. We arrived in the parking lot of the train station to New York! I was very excited for a great day. But standing under a sign that said 'New York Train's' Wyeth couldn't understand how I figured it out.

He turned to his sister and said 'But that is ok! Mom doesn't know what we are going to do there, right, Sissy!"

Watching the kids get on the train and experience the train ride was a total highlight. They looked down the long track and jumped with excitement as the train- a basic NJ Transit- approached. We boarded the 8:30 am train. When we got on, they helped each other look out the window. And when another train passed our train and they heard the incredible 'whoosh' they both yelled in unison WOAH!!

When we finally arrived, we had a little bit of time to kill before the next adventure. So we roamed a bit and grabbed some coffee and pastries at a little coffee shop. I was in heaven. It was just perfect. At 11 am we finally went inside a museum I had never heard of before: the New York Historical Society Museum. They had a children's museum inside it complete with a story hour and treasure hunt. The kids enthusiastically enjoyed both. Then, as a special treat, they had live music. A wise guitar player performed classic hippie songs! I was in my element.

After the museum, we made our way across town taking the subway to Times Square. The kids tweaked their necks looking up at the huge buildings and lights. Another WOAH! It was simply fabulous! The people! The energy! The excitement!

We then went to lunch at a trendy little dinner called Vinyl. .Oh it was GOOD. We were famished- eating lunch at 3 pm. We finished up, walked a few more blocks, took two more subways and took the 5 pm train home. One more surprise awaited us all: the train was a double decker! They were SO excited when it pulled up.

The best part of the day was that everyone was happy! And we were relaxed! No crying. No yelling. Just BEING. It felt so so good to just have a family day where the only objective was to have an adventure! Sam planned it perfectly: the train trip, the lovely museum that was age appropriate and fabulous, the subway maneuvers and the restaurant. Thanks Sam!!  It was an amazing day- not too cold, not too icy. Just a fabulous day spending time with those I love in one of the best cities in the world.

Happy 37th to me!