It's Always An Adventure

Dopey and A, daydreaming.

For the first time since moving to NYC, I desperately missed two things this weekend: a backyard and a car. We are in a deep freeze right now in Manhattan. It is Ottawa cold. For my American followers- Minnesota cold 😉 It is the kind of cold that when you step outside you lose your breath for a moment and your eyelashes stick together. Yep, it is cold.

So, normally Ron takes the dogs out first thing in the morning but since he is away in Florida (lucky bum) it was up to me. For the past four mornings I have bundled up and taken the dogs out (at 6:45!) in the tundra like weather to do their business. Oh, I swear I would have done almost anything to be able to just boot them out the back door while watching from the kitchen sipping tea in my p.j.’s! On the positive side, you sure wake up fast while picking up poop in biting wind chills.

The other thing I missed this weekend was a car. I desperately missed my lovely car starter and seat warmers while planning my daily adventures. Manhattan is a walking city. If you want to avoid cabin fever and actually get out in the winter, you have to do some amount of walking even if it is to and from the subway. Oh, how I wished I could just go from the house to the garage to the car to my destination. Nope, not going to happen. And trying to get a cab on a frigid winter day in NYC, is just as hard as trying to get a cab in a raging down pour. Not worth the hassle.

The girls were not going to settle for just hanging out in the apartment on Saturday, so the inevitable “What are we doing today, Mommy?” question started just after breakfast finished. They did not want to go to a museum that they had already been to and I didn’t feel like seeing “Yogi Bear” for a second time (help me!) so I tried to convince them that we should go to the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art). It is one of my favourite spots in the city and I thought they would really enjoy it if they could get past the stereotype that looking at art was boring. They were still resisting, so I visited the MOMA website and looked under the discovering the MOMA with children section. One of the suggestions was to encourage the children to bring a pad of paper and pencil so that they could sketch their favourite pieces. I suggested this idea to A & R and they were really excited about it.  We stopped at Duane Reade, picked up some sketch pads and away we went.

Even though it was a Saturday, the museum was not overly crowded and the girls were able to easily sit down in front of a piece of art and sketch it. The security guards never once asked them to move and other patrons were supportive. They were totally immersed and eagerly printed out the name of the artist so that we could go home and read about the artist and his or her works on the internet. I am saving this activity for the next time they are bored, they can use their sketches to recreate the artwork on paper with colour. I think Aunt Sandy and Sads will be very proud 😉

Artist at work!

Getting the right perspective

The girls ended up having a great time. R even said to me that she actually like the museum. We had many lively discussions about what exactly constituted “art”. They were a bit confused about some of the more modern pieces including the painting that consisted of a straight line and the sculpture that was made out of hay. LOVED these discussions!! While heading back to the subway we stayed warm by stopping at Magnolia cupcakes and ToysRUs =). That night we watched the new “Barbie” movie. A perfect day with the girls. If only I didn’t have to leave the warm and snuggly apartment to take the dogs out…