NY trip

Last weekend, to celebrate our 7th anniversary, we had a short but fun trip to New Jersey and NYC. Here are some things to note:

--Got to visit Paul's old friend L on the way in Pennsylvania and it was great to catch up with her, the best excuse for all of us to get out of the car and stretch our legs.

--Stayed with my uncle's family in New Jersey. The boys had been excited about this for a long long time. This is when Noah's excellent memory boggles me-- he still remembers all the details of an Amtrak trip I took with him when I was pregnant with Ben: the birdie, the dog Mindy, and everything about the house. This last trip was when he was less than two! So this time he got to again play with the animal friends as well as all the family and all had a great time :)

--I believe that human beings are originally "clan" based and as we evolve and assert independence and privacy, we grow to be more used to being by ourselves or stay within nuclear families. Why do I say this? I notice that our boys are always very happy and easygoing when we are with big groups of families. They seem completely comfortable and at ease having aunts and uncles and cousins all around, and they are well aware of the kinship and connections among members. While the adults sometimes find the big crowd too much too handle, this is never the case with the little ones. Just like two generations ago, when people tend to live in clans or at least close to their extended families.

--We trained in to NYC from Princeton, walked around midtown, then took the subway to the Village, where we enjoyed the scrumptious Murray's Bagels. Then we walked to Soho and strolled around town. A store called Evolution captured my three boys for almost an hour: fossils, ostrich eggs, freeze-dried rats and bats, a two-headed cow... you name it. Some are kind of cool to me, but others simply gross, if you ask me. After about 30 minutes, I started getting bored. My girly side started to complain: what about all the fashion and shops right around us? Nobody wants to go with me to check out some purses on sale? Oh well, I am well aware that this is only the beginning of me living in an all-male dormitory, as my Dad used to describe his situation. Baba--I now feel for you when you used to stare blankly into the clothes in a department store, waiting for the three of us!!

--I would love to live in NYC for a few weeks some time. It's so walkable, interesting, and fun. The only thing is the cost--it's so easy to have to open your wallet, and rarely can you walk away from a store without spending at least ten bucks!

BTW, Paul's just posted some pics from today's walk at Turkey Run Park right by the Potomac on his blog (which he started months ago but never gotten around to write). With his new camera, we should be posting some nice photos soon.