My friend Cailin is showing me up! I've been home from my trip to Brooklyn, New York (not to be confused with Brooklyn, Maryland) for a week already. Cailin has posted not one, but two entries on her blog about the adventure. You can check them out by clicking on the links below.
http://cailiniz.blogspot.com/2008/09/butterflies-trucks-and-whalesoh-my.html
http://cailiniz.blogspot.com/2008/09/labor-day-weekend-with-arron.html
She did a great job with her posts. I should just leave it at that and not say anymore, but I won't. I had such a good time. I enjoyed every moment I got to stay with Cailin, Israel, and the boys. Keahi and Jarom are growing so quickly. I'm amazed to hear Jarom talking since he was only about a year old the last time I saw him.
Keahi is as brilliant as ever. I read a few pages from a space book with him during my visit. I was asking him questions, not like a grown-up would typically as a child. You know, like, "What are the shiny things in the sky?" No, with Keahi I was asking him why Pluto is not a planet anymore. The discussion was more like two colleagues talking about the decision of the IAU to demote Pluto to a sub-planet status. He continued on with the irony that Mercury is still a planet even though it's smaller than Pluto. (NOTE: This is really not true. See the comments for more details.) He then told me Pluto has an irregular orbit thus complicating it's bid to be an official planet. Seriously, I can't make this stuff up.
We did make it to several New York attractions. The Natural History Museum, the Bronx Zoo, the Brooklyn Labor Day Parade. I should've got a picture of drunk-head-stand guy, but was too enraptured watching the police escort him out of the parade. For a moment I thought he was his own little parade party.
My boss had told me Friday before I left that I would be lucky to get to Brooklyn in 5 hours being the holiday. I actually made it in about 4 1/2. The drive back was an easy and uneventful 3 hours. I was surprised there was no where near the volume of traffic I was expecting.
Anyway, here are a few pictures from my end that I think capture the fun of the weekend holiday.
One of the few pictures of Keahi pushing Jarom in the truck. Jarom was so happy to push Keahi, and Keahi insisted on being pushed. Little Jarom was drenched with sweat when we finally left for the museum.
Israel was quite the gentleman and let Cailin ride up front with me when we went to pick him up from work. He had to cram in the space between the two car seats in the back. He did bring us sugary donut goodness for our trip to the museum though.
Typical Keahi! He gets so excited about specific things that he doesn't care about all the stuff in between. The highlight of the Natural History Museum for him was the blue whale, whale shark, dinosaurs, and meteorites. Honestly, though, what kid or adult isn't excited about those. Israel did teach me that sperm whales (seen here) aren't really threatened by giant squids. The injuries they get from them are superficial... only flesh wounds.
Cailin posted a picture of the smoothie stand in her blog, but how about a picture of Cailin at the smoothie stand. In case you can't tell which one she is, she's the Asian girl waiting in line.
I was surprised how much the Brooklyn Labor Day Parade was made up of politicians and local leaders. Here's Mayor Bloomberg and his entourage. His appearance makes sense, but the Attorney General and his posse?
The first exhibit we saw at the Bronx Zoo was the Butterfly Garden. The "guards" announce as you enter not to touch the plants or butterflies. Keahi, ever the brilliant one, decides that blowing on the butterflies is not actually touching them. Notice Jarom helping a brother out.
Keahi and Jarom were hiding in the folds of a fake tree at the gorilla exhibit. I guess Keahi is making sure Jarom is really hiding. I think he was halfway choking the boy. This was just after Jarom spotted me sitting on a waiting bench and made a beeline towards me shouting, "Uncle Arron!" How can I not love these kids?
No trip would be right if I didn't climb something. Notice Israel in the back taking a picture. If you flip back and forth between the two it's like you're watching the Matrix.
Apparently 3 adults, 2 kids and a stroller is too much for Skyfari. This is Israel and Keahi ahead of us on the ride. Israel was smart and got a video of the whole ride. I just took pictures. You can hear Keahi ask about Mommy, and if the cab would split open if it falls. We weren't as concerned about them. Oh no.
Jarom and I pretended we were on a wild roller coaster. I told him, "Jarom lift up your hands!" and he did it. He didn't ask, "Uncle Arron, what crazy thing are you making me do?" He just did it. What a cool kid.Thanks Cailin and Israel for sharing your family with me.