Museums – The Mothners

Around Westchester

You might have noticed that Brittney still likes to go on adventures in Manhattan frequently. But we’re also trying to explore Westchester more. On one of the last days of winter break, we checked out the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers. We saw the Sesame Street planetarium show and some cool exhibits.

Admiring photos of dancers at the Hudson River Museum.

Listening to the sounds of the Hudson River.

We also saw an elaborate doll house in a Victorian mansion — An elaborate doll house in a Victorian mansion.

We also made stamp art by painting fish (rubber, not real).

Another day we went to the Lego discovery center, also in nearby Yonkers. We made earthquake proof buildings.

Played wrecking ball.

And (sort-of) did karaoke. They didn’t know any of the song selections; we’re still mostly listening to (cool) kid CDs, classical and show tunes.

This photo is a good example of the kids’ differing artistic sensibilities. With the same program, Julie used every color available, Max stuck to a minimalist palette.

We are exploring further afield with our first family trip to Disney World tomorrow…photos coming soon.

Click here for more photos

Fall Day in NYC

One weekend, Brittney convinced Mark to take the kids to the city for multiple adventures. First Julie and Brittney went to a puppet show of favorite books Goodnight Moon & Runaway Bunny (we have been getting lots of free press tickets lately through Kid On The Town). Julie was very interested in learning how the puppet demos after the show.

Mark and Max hung out in Washington Square with colorful dogs and chess masters. Max lost but impressed everyone with his skill.

Julie has lived in the (cleaner) subrurbs long enough to lose any fear of rolling down strange hills.

The girls visited a trendy vegan cafe while the boys scarfed down Artichoke’s Pizza.

Mark took Julie home to nap and Max and Brittney continued uptown to pay tourist at Rockefeller Center ice rink, both the real one and the (perhaps more exciting) LEGO version.

No trip to Manhattan is complete without a visit to an overpriced chocolate store.

Then we took a family ‘Assemblage’ workshop at MoMA. We looked at Picasso’s sculptures and made observations about how they were put together, then made our own assemblage creation.

Max often works slowly, and sometimes at first I think he’s not doing the assignment, then he comes up with something unique and brilliant (and least it seems so to his mom). This creation has a movable piece that can swing on a string or be contained. He did a great job explaning it to the rest of the class. The extreme height was hard to engineer, but with my help we got it to stay standing.

Making wishes in the MoMA fountain, something we’ve loved to do for a while. Here’s a photo from a visit we had right before Julie was born. Glad we can still have special Mommy & Max adventures together.

click here for more photos

Tap Dancing & Folk Art

One August Saturday, Julie and I revisited our old neighborhood. First we went to the Lincoln Center Atrium (where we used to hang out so much we became friends with the manager) to make tap shoes that Julie enjoyed testing out during a tap/swing show.

Then we met up with Max’s school friend Zayanna – who Julie thinks is her friend – and her little brother for a workshop at the American Folk Art Museum. As always, Julie held her own with the older kids, making a yarn-covered bumble bee she flew around the museum.

They were so cute their photo made the museum website.

Then we went to a Lincoln Center Out of Doors performance of Latino music & poetry but Julie was mostly interested in sticking popsicle sticks in her bumble bee, drawing in the dirt and being BFF with a 5-year-old.

While we miss living blocks away from cultural meccas, we still visit often. But for weekends like these when our cultural plans get foiled by spring snow and sniffles, it’s nice to have a big house with a toy room and pirate ship to relax in.

Click here for more photos

Summer at Bartow-Pell

Recently Brittney helped plan a winter event at the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum, a historical house nearby, on a cold snowy day. We had lots of fun there last summer at a vintage baseball game and First Friday celebrations with live music. We loved romping around the gorgeous gardens.

Lots of pretty paths to wander.

Max learned how to tell the age of a tree.

And Julie fell on the ground many times on purpose.

Seeing if anyone’s home at a structure we later found out is the carriage house.

We couldn’t figure out what this was, but we liked going under it.

We had a delicious picnic with Julie’s favorite – prosciutto.

Followed by a wrestling match.

A big upside of suburban living has been more time in nature. We became members and look forward to many more visits to this special place.

Click here for more photos

Hip Hop Julie

One day Julie kept asking to watch the ‘hot video’ on the computer. I couldn’t figure out what she was talking about, then she said ‘where I have band-aids on my knees. And I’m dancing.’ So here’s the video, along with the backstory:

One August morning while Max was in camp, Julie and I met a friend at the Museum of The City of New York to see the cool exhibit City as Canvas: Graffiti Art. She loved the crazy street art (and didn’t want to stand still for photos).

Outside we discovered some break dancers. Julie joined in.

The group was on a hip hop tour of NYC that included dance lessons. Julie crashed.

But really she just wanted to jump.

Word.

Then we had a picnic in Central Park with some city friends and a cute puppy. Julie may act tough, but she threw the dog treats on the ground, too scared to get close.

But she’s not afraid of city dirt.

Click here for more photos