Out On Our Own

The kids and I decided to be brave and venture out on our own. We packed our lunch, loaded up and jumped on the subway heading downtown towards the Central Park Zoo. I am still horrible at figuring out where I am when I come up from the subway stop. And yes, this time was no different. Because I couldn't tell which way to go at first, the kids and I took about an 8 block detour before getting in the right direction. Oh well.. we are learning. Needless to say the kids were very hungry when we finally reached the park. So we enjoyed our lunch while watching the sea lions :).

The Central Park Zoo was nice, but small... very small. It didn't take us long to see the entire zoo (I think top to bottom including lunch we were there about an hour). We did love the polar bear, who put on quite the show - swimming back and forth, back and forth along his pool, and the sea lion show was a winner. We even had front row seats ... perfect for the kiddos.

Just down the walkway from the main zoo is a children's zoo. Again... small, but enjoyable. Along the way you pass under this clock tower. The kids were in awe as the chimes began and the animals began circling the tower to music. Both Abby and Dallin said it was their favorite thing of the day. It really is quite a neat sight.

Inside the Children's Zoo the kids had fun climbing on everything and anything they could find.

Lucky for all of us this little man was a great traveler. Sleeping most of the time. I love a sleeping baby.

Connor thought it would be fun to have a stare down with an alpaca. Even though I kept trying to tell him... "That animal will spit at you if he gets mad.... watch out." But that did not deter him. He stayed right there .. staring.

After a fun afternoon at the zoo... we decided to head home. I didn't think that Central Park could be that big and we had come up some from where the subway stop was... I decided we would walk. The kids weren't too happy about the plan, but they agreed when I promised we would stop at one of the parks along the way.

Let me tell you ... Central Park is that big! :) We walked from 59th Street up to 97th Street and then over about 4 more blocks until we reached home. It only took us about an hour and a half with a short park stop in the mix. It was nice to walk through the park. It is beautiful. I am still amazed at how many people there are though. I have always associated nature with fewer people... not here in NYC.. there are people everywhere :).

And Yes... in case you are wondering.. We do look funny in NYC. Anyone with four kids is bound to draw some attention and get some interesting looks :).