After 2 days on the tour buses, with some experience of using the LIRR- Long Island Rail thingy, and subway, we were ready to go exploring ourselves. Before we left, we had made a list of things that we wanted to do and things that we would shop for. We said that we would let M and J do some things that were not available in Trinidad, eg- ice skating, bowling, go-karting, going to a 'show' ( Lion King, Mary Poppins etc). We were going to shops for all sorts, credit cards at the ready LOL.
So, there we were, in the hustle and bustle of Time Square, people q-ing for tickets, all the billboards blinking images at us, the theatres in Broadway, 42nd St, advertising what was on...... the kids took no notice. Offers of, wouldn't you like to go see Beauty and the Beast, Hairspray, Lion King, was greeted with no enthusiasm on their part. But we've already seen Lion King, mummy. OK, OK, what about the rest... no reply yet again, clearly not interested at all! I'm on to a winner here, credit card stays safe in wallet!
What would you like to do then? We want to go to Central Park, Ice Skate, the Natural History Museum, buy a Nerf gun , skateboard and maybe some games. We went to the Rockefeller Centre and watched people skate, we wanna do that mum, please. I had not brought any spare clothes for them and so, we compromised and said, tomorrow. Let's go explore Central Park....and go to the zoo! Off we went, I love Central Park but the kids loved it more, they felt free to roam, run, jump, climb the rocks and they did not get too hot or flustered, oh, how they have missed the parks at home, the cooler, less oppressive weather and the freedom to run and play in open spaces. The zoo was puny, by zoo standards but still great, the seal feeding show was fantastic, and they recognised the zoo clock with all the moving parts from the Madagascar movie, but there was no Alex in the zoo, nor any big animals apart from the Polar bear and seals.
After the zoo, we explored Central Park a bit and found the ice skating rink there, and said we would come back tomorrow to skate. Which is exactly what we did. The weather was getting decidedly warmer, and we could see a reflection of the buildings surrounding the park on the surface of the rink, it was a pretty picture. Due to this unusually mild weather, the ice was melting and there was a sheet of water on the rink, skates were making little waves as they moved along the ice. I looked at the rink and then Jasmine and Mitch and said, you sure you want to do this? It's very wet and if you fall, you could be soaked, yes we do, they chorused. Dave was not too sure and I said I'm not bothered about skating, I will look after all our shopping! We had gone shopping for clothes earlier and had 2 huge carrier bags full of clothes, mainly for Dave. We said, OK, you both look after each other, and at the last minute, I persuaded Dave that he needed to go too, to look after them both, esp Jasmine, who's not too great on the ice. I suspected that Jas would need Dave's help and as he was the more experienced skater between the 2 of us, he would go. I would add at this point that he was not overly delighted at this prospect, considering how wet the rink was and also the risk of falling and hurting himself, in addition, getting wet if he should fall was not looking at all appealing.
A short note on ice skating. About 4 years ago, the children had ice skating lessons at the Ice Centre in Nottingham. Lessons were on a Sunday, starting at 7.30am, we dragged ourselves out of bed on a Sunday for many months, Mitch was getting on well, Jas was very nervous and not a natural. They had borrowed skates initially and then I got some of their own from eBay. Mitch had some ice hockey skates and Jas had some white leather ones, which she assured me would make the world of difference, as the blue skates were not the proper ones. See how indulgent I am, I knew it wasn't the skates, but just in case I was wrong, I bought her the magic white skates.....they hurt less, they looked the part, they were the right skates, now the question is, will they improve her skating????
Off they went, on the wet ice, water everywhere, Jas emerged first, clinging on to the sides, not going anywhere fast. Then Mitch, skating of a fashion, gliding along but not overly confident. Then Dave, relaxed but somehow not really enjoying it as he usually does, worried about falling I guess. It was a lovely sight, all the skaters on the ice, some trying to do fancy turns, others falling over and getting soaked, all on a sunny spring day, the weeping willows swaying gently in the breeze and drooping over the rink. The skyline dotted with tall buildings, Ahhhh, I could live in this city!!!!
Skating not going too well, Jas was encouraged off the sides, falls and falls again, very wet, had to get up on her own, then she was off the ice and back to me, clothes changed, getting dry and apologetic as she felt she had wasted money on the skating. I told her not to worry, we were happy for her to have the experience and that the mild weather was unfortunate, we hugged and though she was still feeling low, she cheered up slightly.
No comments:
Post a Comment