The City!

I had planned to take it easy today--it has been a long week for all of us, and the kids have flu shots this afternoon--but the lure of a fall morning in The City was too strong, so that's where we headed.

This was the first time that both of them were in town together. Andres has been to the Children's Museum and the Aquarium (and the TD Garden too--for a very loud Celtics game!), and Celia has been to the Public Gardens before, but this was a new experience...especially with me toting both of them.

We drove into town and found a good parking spot at the Common. From there we toured the Public Gardens, Andres running ahead and pointing out the ducks and the footbridge. I kept telling him that he was in the city, but I'm not quite sure he got it...I still think he imagines The City as a mystical place far, far away.

Andres pushed Celia in the stroller for a little bit and then they both played around at the Make Way for Ducklings statues. Lots of tourists stopped to mention how cute they were (especially Celia), but getting a good photo of both of them together, smiling, facing the camera, and without snot running down their faces proved to be too difficult of a task. I did try, though, for about 15 minutes...possibly to the aggravation of a few people there who just wanted a photo of the ducks, thanks you very much, without any children RUINING the scene...but I didn't feel too bad.

Good friends.

We headed to the Common next for some more running (Andres)/standing (Celia) around. I was foresighted enough to have brought a mini soccer ball, so while Celia cruised around her stroller and made faces at passers-by, Andres and I did big kicks. It was a lot of fun...just hanging out with the kids on the Common on a crisp fall day, no pressure to stay, no pressure to go anywhere else.

Playing with leaves on the Common.

But we did end up tiring of the walking/kicking, and it was nearing lunchtime, so it was time to move on to the truly Big Event of the day: riding the T.

This adventure required the most amount of planning. With either child alone it would have been a breeze, but with two of them the complexity seemed to quadruple. I decided to put Celia in the stroller and packed the diaper bag full of snacks, camera gear, and extra clothes, intending to transfer her to the Bjorn (and thus fold up and carry the stroller) when we had to get on the train. We walked to Arlington station without event (Andres was starting to get tired at this point but managed to tough it out) and then it was down the stairs, underground, into the T. Though he had been looking forward to this moment all morning Andres was apprehensive. Where were we going? What was that breeze coming up the stairs? What was all the noise?



At this point I looked like a sherpa. I had Celia strapped to my front, a big diaper bag and lunch bag on my back, a stroller hanging from my shoulder, and a 3-year old in tow. It all seemed to work out, though; we purchased our CharlieCard, made it through the gate without event, and waited on the platform for the train. We let one pass before we hopped on--I wanted Andres to see where the trains were coming from and going to, and also to get used to the noise that they made. He did great--though his hands were firmly planted over his ears, he didn't seem scared about anything. Celia was also having a great time looking out at everybody and absorbing all of these new experiences.

Finally the train came and on we went. I got some funny looks from people--I definitely stuck out among all the commuters--but a few people stood up to offer their seats to us, which I thought was nice. Andres sat (I was a bit surprised that he did) and I stood. There was no way I was going to make it down safely with everything on my back.



Two stops later we got off at Park Street. Not a huge ride, I know, but long enough for a toddler who had never experienced the train before. (I had thought about going to Hynes/ICA for ice cream, but we needed lunch first, and I didn't want to shell out $9.85 for a slice on Newbury St.) We walked through a packed Downtown Crossing (definitely a fun city experience) and had lunch at Sbarro in the Corner Mall. Andres enjoyed pizza, apple slices and chocolate milk, while Celia had her yogurt and cereal. Everyone was calm and everyone was happy.



We walked a bit more after lunch but I was not sure that they would both be able to handle another train ride, so we walked across the Common to the car (this also assured us of being back at the car within about 2 minutes of my meter running out, so it probably saved us about $35). On the way we took some pictures, fixed Celia's sock issue, and saw some bizarre fashion statements.

Posing for pics...saying "cheesestick."

They were both doing very well--no tantrums from either one all morning--so I decided to chance it and drive to Newbury St for ice cream. We lucked out, finding a parking spot very close to Emack and Bolio's. Andres walked, Celia was in the Bjorn again, and the big boy capped his exciting day with some chocolate ice cream.





Some possibly sad news to report, though...my camera may have photographed its last image. As we were walking back from ice cream I tried to take a shot of Andres crossing Newbury St but the shutter would not fire. I checked all my connections, batteries, switches, etc and tried again--still nothing. I suspect there is an electrical problem somewhere in my beloved 30D but at this point I doubt whether it makes financial sense to fix it. (Though one could also argue that it makes less financial sense to purchase either of the cameras that are on my want list.) So I'm not sure what to do...but this probably means that there will not be any photos for a little while until I figure out what's going on, and either how to fix it or what new camera to buy.

Oh--and did you know that Boston.com recently published a list of parent bloggers and I was not included? Horrendous, I know! The 4 of you who read my blog religiously should be outraged.