macy's flower show

I could write today about how Garrett woke up at 3:30 last night terrified of what turned out to be a "tiny, flying bug" and how Copycat Caleb woke up, too, because he wanted in on the action. I could write about how the only way to calm Garrett's fears was to let him sleep in Caleb's bed with him (since there really wasn't room -- or a desire -- for him, and ultimately his brother, to join Blake and I in our bed), but how that, even though it helped Garrett, it created a few new problems because Caleb was by this time wide awake and ready to play with (i.e. poke) his new temporary bunk mate. I could write about how once we finally figured out that sleeping them head to toe was the only way to make the bed sharing work, Caleb got up again to use the potty, which set the tucking in process pretty much back to square one. I could write about how, between dealing with the boys, the loud cat fight going on in the street below, my inability to find a comfortable position to sleep in, and a baby kicking both my ribs and my bladder, it took me nearly two hours to fall back asleep.

But, you know? I'm too tired to write about all that, so instead I'll write about the Macy's Flower Show.

Yesterday I had a quick errand to run up on 34th Street in Manhattan. To make our trek into the city more worth the effort it takes to get there, after we were finished, I took the boys across the street to see this year's Flower Show at Macy's. Because of some renovations going inside the main entrance, this year the show was held in a tent outside, which, even though it made the flower arrangements feel far fewer than in year's past, worked out pretty well as far as crowd control goes.

The theme for 2012 is "Brasil: Gardens in Paradise," which translated to exotic blooms in a tropical rainforest setting. The boys were particularly enamored with the water fountains and man-made waterfalls, but even they could appreciate the beautiful and sweet-smelling bouquets. I did, however, have to avert their eyes away from the scantily clad female mannequins displayed in the storefront windows that we passed as we waited in line to enter the tent ("Mom! That girl have shiny underwear!" "Ummmm...why don't we look over this way, Garrett...").

The images below, with the exception of the two featuring Garrett and Caleb, are not my own (it was too dark in most of the tent for my camera to produce pictures that weren't dizzyingly blurry). If you'd like to see more, the photographer at Time Out New York Kids got some great shots that you can scroll through HERE.

Watching out the window as we cross the Manhattan Bridge via the subway.

Happy and stunned by all the flowers on display.

image source

image source

It was a fun, albeit brief*, excursion -- just about as much as all of us could handle. Next up will be a trip to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to see the cherry blossoms once they're fully blooming.


*And speaking of "brief," this morning, after running around with Caleb on the sidewalk as we waited for the school bus, Garrett paused to rest, telling me in between panting breaths that he "needed to take a brief breaf." Say that five times fast (with or without the correct pronunciation of the "th" sound) -- and I dare you to do it without laughing as hard as I did when that phrase came out of Garrett's mouth. Where does he get this stuff?