Syndicate

Uncle Lance came to visit and we had a whirlwind trip. He flew in Saturday night. On Sunday, we went to Manhattan and saw the “Top of the Rock,” and the Central Park Zoo. Chloe’s favorite part of the “rock” was the Target light room. I guess it was motion activated, but the entire room it up and Chloe refused to leave. We eventually had to trick her to get her out of there. Then we went to Central Park Zoo, but, along the way, Chloe fell asleep. So, we wandered through uptown and Lance tried to get me to “poke” a doorman. Of course, I wouldn’t unless he did it first, I mean, come on!

When she woke up we went back to the zoo. Chloe loved it. It was the perfect size for her, the animals were close enough that she could really see them. She got a real kick out of the penguins. From her vantage point, she could only see them underwater, so she kept calling them, “Fish.” They also had a petting zoo, and I am proud to say, she could tell me that a cow says, “moo” and a sheep says, “baa.” Of course, now when I ask her, all animals say, “baa.” I think it is more fun to say.

On Monday, Lance, Chloe and I went to Philly. We ate at the Old Tavern (excellent food, a bit pricey, though) and visited the Ben Franklin Museum. It had a room full of phones where you could dial a number and listen to what Franklin’s contemporaries thought about his inventions. Chloe, lover of all things phone like, was in heaven. They had row after row of phones! It took some convincing and a seriously stinky diaper to get her out of there. Then we went to Liberty Hall and say where the Continental Congress was held and where the Declaration of Independence was signed. I don’t think Chloe understood the historical significance. We couldn’t hear the tour guide over her lovely singing voice. She and I spent some time in the lobby. She crawled around on an historically accurate bench. As far as she was concerned, this was the whole point of the trip! We went to the Liberty Bell next. Again, I don’t think Chloe quite understood….but she’s young, we’ll explain later. Finally, we took her on a Philly Duck Tour. She enjoyed waving to people as we drove by. The duck travels on land, and water. When we got to the water portion, she tried to climb out of the boat, saying, “bath, bath.” Needless to say, I was holding on to her for dear life!

On Tuesday, we went to Atlantic City. Its like Vegas, only smaller. Excellent outlet mall. We walked along the Boardwalk and Chloe had a grand time chasing the pigeons. We were trying to get to the Atlantic City Aquarium, which was quite a walk…eventually we had to put her back in the stroller. The birds weren’t cooperating anyway. They didn’t seem to understand that Chloe only wanted to play! While we were walking along the boardwalk, we saw a move or tv crew. Lance doesn’t believe me, but I SWEAR, one of the actors was Christopher Walken. Those of you who know me, know that I am really good at picking out faces when it comes to actors. However, I am not so good with getting the “money shot.” So this picture is all I have as proof.

In order to get to the Aquarium, we walked through the ghetto at Atlantic City, which was, surprisingly, very close to the Boardwalk. I was amazed that there were all these abandoned and run down houses with an ocean view. In most places, this would be million dollar real estate. The Aquarium was also the perfect size for Chloe. We were in the off season, so we had the place all to ourselves.

On Wednesday, I had my mom’s club book club, so Lance took Chloe to the mall, then we went to Seven President’s beach. Then we drove Lance to the airport. When we put Chloe in the car to go the airport, she started to protest. I think she was done with the car, and quite frankly, I don’t blame her! It was one hour to Stanton Island to take the fairy, and one hour home. Little over an hour to Philly, and back again. An hour and a half to Atlantic City. Thirty minutes to the beach and then forty five to the airport and back. She spent A LOT of time in the car. She continues to prove herself as a good traveler, though. She did a pretty good job, overall.