THALALO

Brand new and fresh out of the box – a beautiful playground just opened in Brooklyn (june 2010) and it is worth the commute over this summer.  We visited Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 6 playground last weekend, and despite drizzling rain — who cares in a water park — the kids went crazy for it.  It’s unlike any playground in the city.  It is vast, designed, and built into the landscape over 1.6 acres.   Also, which other public playground has a climbing teepee, super-sized rope swings, and a 6000-square-foot sand box?   The crowning glory is a water lab, complete with a stream, wading pool, fountains, and a slew of interactive water contraptions.

(Click here to see the interactive map to the pier.)

The only caveat to our visit was that we weren’t able come anywhere close to covering the park in three hours, so I had to promise to go back another weekend — for the entire day.  Good thing it’s shady.

This last Sunday the forecast was bleak – overcast, cold, chance of showers – yup, a perfect opportunity to go to the Bronx Zoo.

In general, attempting a weekend visit to the world-renowned Bronx Zoo in the spring/summer is a tough proposition.  Battling both tourists and locals, it’s tough to even get into the zoo parking lot much less into any popular exhibits.  So a dismal, gray day was our chance — and it worked out impeccably.

We arrived around 10:30am and the Southern Boulevard lot (the closest to the Children’s Zoo) was only about a tenth full.  We didn’t even have to wait in line for lunch or for the Bug Carousel, which never happens.  Our Sunday highlights – tons of random peacock spottings, Madagascar (the gorillas are so human it’s shocking), the giraffes (I just love them), and the Wild Asia Monorail (half tour, half amusement park ride).

Everyone knows about the Bronx Zoo, so here are just a few tips:
1.  The Zoo Shuttle, unlike at most zoos, is not a tour, it’s just a useful way to get little legs to the other end of the zoo.
2.  Plan to spend the day – it is HUGE, so start at the zoo, end at the zoo, don’t make other plans.
3.  Bring snacks, for adults as well as kiddies- there are acres and acres to explore, and it gets you hungry.
4.  Lastly, even if you have to drag your stroller out of storage, bring transport.  Those kids that are too old for the stroller are unfortunately not too old to be carried.  Come prepared.

If you or your kids have never experienced Cirque de Soleil, this might be the year that you need to splurge and go visit the big blue and yellow tent residing on Randall’s Island.

Ovo, this year’s show, is called “an immersion into the teeming and energetic world of insects”.  It is a mind-blowing experience combining (in no particular order) breathtaking acrobatics, clowns, contortionists, jugglers, tumblers, aerial performers, haunting music, and astounding costumes.  My favorite moment was the finale. Dozens of acrobats dressed as crickets bounce off trampolines up thirty feet onto a giant sculpted wall, in an insane, intricately choreographed insect ballet — I really cannot describe it properly, and as you are not allowed to take photos inside the big tent, I can’t show you either.

I’ll just say that for some odd reason (perhaps the state of the economy?), we were able to get great seats this last Friday for Saturday (but FYI there is never a bad seat in the house).  So grab the New York Water Taxi, try a family discount package, and go see Ovo on Randall’s Island.  We see the Cirque show every year, and this one, (perhaps due to it being directed by a woman?) may be the best one in memory.  You cannot compare it to a Broadway show, a circus, or any performance that you have seen before.   Run, with or without children, as the show ends on June 6th.

Last night we had a very civilized Sunday dinner at Colicchio and Sons, the new-ish restaurant in West Chelsea which takes the place of Kraftsteak (another family favorite).  The front Tap Room is a relaxed, elegant setting that is also casual enough for families.  Many of the tables are interspersed with small, comfortable couches – great for squirmy little bodies.  And the servers were endlessly patient with our kids, spreading out the crayons and paper, humoring their many requests, and putting maraschino cherries in their water.  My son even got a tour of the wine vault from the sommelier.

The dinner was delicious.  The kids devoured the herb-roasted poussin and the rigatoni.  My five-year-old later stated that ‘from now on this is the only place I ever want to eat pasta’.   And my grass-fed skirt steak with ramp chimchurri was some of the best steak I’ve had.   The final touch -  little cakes that were given as parting gifts, a tradition carried over from Kraftsteak.

We walked home along the High Line, where swarms of locals were taking advantage of the end of that rare perfect New York spring evening.

On rainy Sundays we always seem to find ourselves in New Jersey at the Liberty Science Center.  If you like science, gadgets or large snakes, this is the place.  Compared to many of the other local kiddie museums, this one is a step above (FYI also a bit pricier than the others).

Here are our favorite exhibits.  IExplore is a must for the 5 and under set.  Kids can build and race their own car, shoot balls through a crazy pulley system, paint with water, climb scaffolding, and play with rice (crazy but that’s actually the crowd favorite).   At Our Hudson Home, see lots of wildlife from the Hudson river (turtles, sharks, horseshoe crabs) and build your own dam.   And do not miss the live science demonstrations – in ‘Subzero:  States of Matter‘ they produce an actual cloud and we all learn that there are four states of matter.  Who knew?  I’m pretty sure that there were only three when I was in grade school…

Their latest exhibit, Diabetes: A Deeper Look, did not sound at all compelling, but was actually quite informative for those visitors who read.   For those who can’t, there are still some of the most entertaining high tech/interactive exhibits that we have seen.  There were carnival-like games,  an obstacle course with moving platforms, and a rapping refrigerator — need I say more?

This last weekend in New York, spring came in unprecedented glory.  So I decided to take the children to my little secret spot, the Prospect Park Zoo.  I should have realized that the reason that the zoo was so ’secret’ before was that I always took the kids in the dead of winter.  And curiously, nobody was ever there.

Anyway, despite the crowds, I have to say that this is my zoo of choice in the city.  The Bronx Zoo is amazing, but gargantuan in scale, and takes an entire day to even begin to explore it.  The Central Park Zoo is also small and intimate, but the Prospect Park Zoo just has a flow that works perfectly for kids.

A few highlights:
1. They have several buildings with lively indoor exhibits (think meerkats and baboons) — which makes the zoo still a great option in inclement weather.

2. The Petting Barn – docile sheep and goats hang out and are easily fed even by two-year olds (bring lots of quarters in case the change machines are out of order).

3. The Discovery Trail (my favorite bit) – it takes the kids about an hour or so to wander along this scenic path while exploring various habitats — pretend to be a prairie dog, climb a spider’s web, feed the geese, see a kangaroo.  It’s a really nice bit of organized micro-wilderness where my kids can run, climb, and generally get a bit crazy.  And I personally like to see an otter every once in a while.

4. Lastly, the zoo ends at the historic Prospect Park Carousel — opening this year March 27th — always a crowd-pleaser.