Good Choices, Poor Choices, but All Made in the Name of Magics!

We frequently talk about how we live so close to "The Big City" and yet we hardly ever go there, but when we do we always have such a nice time.  MAK has made a couple of trips and LOVED it.  The newness, the novelty, the enormity of all things "Big City" are magically captivating to little ones and not so little ones alike.  Sy-B on the other hand had not yet experienced the wonderment of "The Big City." This weekend we decided it was high time we leveled the playing field.  Plus my sister was in town and therefore we carried with us a 3:2 ratio.  The odds were in our favor.

All we told the kids was that we had fun things planned for the day and we needed their cooperation to make it happen.  After a quick lunch at home we loaded up in the car, took Adventure by the boot straps and threw caution to wind.  The kids tried to guess our destination with such ideas as the zoo, the beach, David's house, and even one guessed "The Big City," but once they saw trains... LOOK OUT... Sy-B may have blacked out there for a moment.

Trains are magic, I think we can all agree on this point.  Sy-B was absolutely beside himself and girlfriend could not sit still to save her life.  Then out of nowhere came a hero in disguise, a man dressed in ordinary clothes walked past the kids and to the front of the train (we were in the first car), turned around and said, "Do you kids want to be engineers?  Would you like to sound the train whistle?" Wait... WHAT!?  Did he just... say whistle?  YES, YES, YES!!  You would have thought he offered them a trip to the moon!  They were so proud!  I don't know if that gentleman has any idea the magic that he performed that day, but magic it was!  Good people, doing great things = magic!

Another video that is worth your viewing: Train to the Big City

We had full intentions of riding the train up to the city and making our way to the lake and just hanging out playing in the sand and getting good and dirty, then grabbing a bite to eat and heading back home.  Though, like I have said before, "over planning kills magic."  We surfaced from below ground (as the 3 of us carried them up the stairs in the jogging stroller) and were beckoned by that beautiful, bazaar bean thing.

Where's Waldo?

Up to this point we had been on roll with good parenting choices for the day.  Though as is often the case, all good things must come to an end--for our travels took us south of The Bean, to the twin digital-face-water-spity-things.  The spawn were unbuckled from the stroller and released into the watery world found between those two faces (I realize the description sounds just shy of truly creepy, but really it's not, it was awesome-sauce, for sure!) The poor parenting came in the combination of wet kids and temperatures in the 50s.  It was a beautiful day, but a bit brisk if wet.  When we asked MAK if she was cold, she yelled, "but we're having SO MUCH FUN!"  They must feel nothing when they're having the time of their lives.

These two young fools were giddy with joy, and though we tried for a brief moment to have them "try" to stay dry we quickly 'took Adventure by the boot straps and threw caution to the wind' and said "let them have magics!"  They were, by no means, the only people in the water... not even the only kids in the water.  But they were the least careful, most adventurous, and most awesome duo that side of The Bean!  They ran, and ran, and ran through the water and dipped their hands in the spray.

I will have you note the little girl in the background with a winter coat and scarf... that was overkill if you ask me!

Then it happened... the second time the spray began pouring out of "the mouths", MAK took a different approach and apparently her brother followed her.  Let's just say different approaches sometimes have different results.  Though I did not see, nor capture the second approach, the effects were clear... it was a poor choice--a lesson learned.  In order to fully realize the lesson learned, their father, with incredulous laughter, had them shamefully approach their mother (quite a distance away), walking through the masses of people who either witnessed the act, or upon their visual of the children realized the act that had been performed and there-by provoked gasps and laughter from near and far.

Side note: look at that precious train ticket tucked away in his lapel pocket.

Their/our decision-making not only resulted in entertainment for many but these two quickly became a tourist attraction.  A group of men visiting from Egypt found the events hysterical and asked to take pictures with the kids.  Surely muttering as they walked away something along the lines of "stupid Americans."  I can surmise this based on the questions they were asking: "Is this okay?  Where are the mother and the father?  It is cold, is this okay?"

All was awesome because this mama had brought a warm change of clothes.  So after a quick wardrobe change, we were off to dinner.

We choose to eat al fresco for the lack of wait time, but we quickly realized the reason for the lack of popularity for outdoor seating... it got real cold, real fast once the sun dipped below the buildings.  We ate, and we ate fast.  Then the kids were loaded back up and under a blanket as we raced back to the train and made our way back home with two tired, punchy kids.  I believe that MAK even said to me at one point in a public restroom, "Isn't it glorious... not taking a nap?!"  Well, it's not my first choice of adventures--not napping, but at times it is worth the increased amount of whining that ensues.  This day, it was worth putting up with the end of the day madness.

Surprises, trains, beans, 50 degree water parks, stroller rides nestled amongst skyscrapers, freezing al fresco dinners, races to catch departures, and screaming car rides home... MAGIC!