New York State of Mind

We love our trips to New York, our "beach house," as we refer to it in the face of so many friends who enjoy vacation homes on the shore. Ours is a studio owned by the Barnes', just off Central Park West, that we use when Paul's folks are otherwise occupied. Thank you for being otherwise occupied!

It rocks: the proximity to the parks and the mind-blowingly-awesome playgrounds with water features, and the myriad toddler fascinations -- the petting zoo, enormous rocks to climb, the musicians and puppeteers, the terrific pizza and take-in (Shun Lee I still love you), the Natural History Museum with its dino bones and and dazzling exhibits (we enjoyed the live butterfly conservatory this time around -- thank you ZaZa -- terrified as I was that Harry would squash one of the beauties).

Mostly we just love being together someplace other than home where duties so easily detract from playtime. We stumbled upon a great place to grab lunch that if you're visiting with kids, you must try: the Shake Shack. There's a tee-shirt they sell inside and the sentiment is right-on -- "I waited nine months, maybe this line isn't so bad." So worth the wait for delish (trans-fat and preservative -free) hot dogs and fries. Next time, we dive into the milkshakes which looked killer.

This time we also shared germs, festering, miserable germs, that so far have resulted in fluid in Harry's ears, a spiked fever for baby Charlotte, a wicked chest cold for me, something additionally unpleasant for Harry that I'd rather not type but involves many, many diaper changes, and now a cacophonous cough that attacked me and now, the Harry. Good times.

Still, seriously, there is nothing finer than snuggling with my kids at night in the Murphy bed, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" style. Loooove it. Perhaps we should scrap the bedroom thing at home and go with a family bed.