Family Archives - Page 17 of 53

Eat & Play In Madison Square Park: Kid-friendly Restaurants And Playgrounds, New York

April 5, 2013 / Cheese, Flatiron, Manhattan Munchies, Outdoor Play / 2 Comments

Tourists love the Flatiron building. Actually, I do too. We end up in this area of town a lot, sometimes passing through with visiting friends, sometimes on our way to or from something fun like a gallery or shopping.

Popular bird sculpture – a new addition to the Flatiron area.

I’m always happy to stop at Madison Square Park, right next to the Flatiron building, because it has the key ingredients (ha!) for a successful outing with little kids. Good food, plenty of options, and a fantastic playground, all in the one block.

Best Place For Overwhelming Food Options: Eataly
Eataly is where to go when you don’t know what you want to eat. It has so many options, from eat-in restaurants to takeaway counters, that there is literally something that everyone will like, even the fussiest of kids. My personal favourite is Le Vedure, the restaurant that focuses on vegetables – it was a huge hit with miss Cheese too, who really enjoyed the cannelloni.

Eataly
200 5th Ave
New York, 10010
Phone: (212) 229 2560
Hours: Mon-Sat 11am-10pm, Sun 11am-9:30pm

Best Food To Grab And Go: Shake Shack
From its humble origin as a hot dog cart in Madison Square Park, Shake Shack sure has grown. It’s now the go-to fast-burger of choice for a lot of New Yorkers. Personally, I love their crinkle cut fries and thick, custard shakes. The Shake Shack we know, love and line up for today, officially opened in MSP in 2004. It’s in the perfect location to grab fast, decent food when you’re in the area, and sit in the park to eat it. Be warned though, keep your babies and toddlers away from the shakes – they’re totally addictive, even for the under 2s set.

Shake Shack
Southeast corner of Madison Square Park
Near Madison Ave. and E.23rd St.
Phone: (212) 889 6600
Hours: Open daily, 11am-11pm

Best Place To Let Kids Burn Off Steam: Madison Square Park Playground
Madison Square Park is a huge, beautiful area with a kids’ playground, dog run, and big grassy area. The MSP playground is large and super clean, with a dedicated toddler area as well as the bigger kids’ gym. Good luck keeping your little toddler in their designated area though! The big kid area is just too enticing for little toddlers like our Cheese.

Little Muenster and a Pony Ride; Kid-friendly Things To Do, DUMBO

March 29, 2013 / Brooklyn Bites, Cheese, DUMBO, New York, New York Food / 5 Comments

I’ve been known to travel all over the city in search of the perfect grilled cheese sandwich. There’s just something about crisp bread and melted cheese that makes my day. On the hunt for more local grilled cheese makers, we checked out Little Muenster in DUMBO – a teeny, tiny little storefront with a few stools at a bar, right next to the register and kitchen area.

Whiteboard menu on the footpath, Little Muenster, DUMBO.

Tiny storefront – Little Muenster, DUMBO.

While Little Muenster pride themselves on making “super fancy grilled cheese”, I ordered a classic, plain ol’ white cheese on white bread, with a side of tomato soup. It arrived quickly in takeaway containers – if it was nicer weather, it would have been perfect to eat at the nearby Brooklyn Bridge Park. Instead, we perched on the stools and enjoyed our lunch.

Classic grilled cheese and tomato soup – Little Muenster, DUMBO.

Kids love a good (or even bad!) grilled cheese – fact. Missy Cheese polished off half of mine and wanted more. An added benefit of the tiny store is being able to talk to the staff as they cook your grilled cheeses – they also highly enjoyed watching our Cheese inhale her sandwich.

Grilled cheese thief – Little Muenster, DUMBO.

Afterwards, we took a stroll through DUMBO, checking out the new Heartwalk installation at the Pearl Street Triangle. The massive 30-foot art installation was made from Hurricane Sandy-salvaged wood by Situ Studio, a 20 Jay Street-based design studio. You can check it out until April 30.

It’s pretty impossible for us to visit DUMBO without a ride on Jane’s Carousel. Cheese yells out “neigh!” when she sees a horse, so we can’t walk past without taking her for a ride. It’s worth noting that living in Brooklyn, Cheese’s exposure has to horses has been limited to carousels and rocking horses, so she may have a heart attack when she sees a real one in the flesh. A spin on the carousel will cost you two bucks. Well worth the small change for the amazing view of Manhattan alone.

Little Muenster
Highchairs: No.
Stroller storage: No.
Easy access: Yes.
Change tables: No.
Kids’ menu: No.

145 Front St (between Pearl St & Jay St)
DUMBO, New York
Phone: (646) 499 4331
Hours: Tue-Thur 12pm-3pm, 6pm-10pm, Fri-Sat 12pm-12am, Sun 12am-8pm

Get directions.

Prospect Park Zoo, Brooklyn, New York

March 27, 2013 / Animal Experiences, Brooklyn Bites, Cheese, Eat & Explore, New York, New York Life, Outdoor Play, Prospect Heights / 0 comment

Nestled in beautiful Prospect Park is the sweet little Prospect Park Zoo. It’s a tiny zoo – perfect for people like us with a toddler. We saw everything in an hour and 20 minutes with our 19-month-old walking everywhere herself. I don’t like zoos much – I usually find them a bit depressing. The Prospect Park Zoo, however, is filled with well cared for animals and exhibits.

Miss Cheese’s favourite animals of the day were the sea lions, whose exhibit is smack in the middle of the zoo. Make sure you catch the daily sea lion feedings at 11:30am, 2pm and 4pm, to get a really good look at the sea lions performing their natural behaviours with some help from the keepers.

Kids of all ages (including us!) will love feeding the animals in the barn area of the zoo. Cows, goats, sheep, alpacas and chickens are housed in barn-like pens, with slats and holes in some of the fences so you can feed them the designated food. Watch out for the goats and sheep – they are so used to being fed that they climb up onto the fences and reach their long necks over for better access to food – funny for us, but a bit scary for little toddlers. They’re super gentle and tame though, and Cheese had no problem feeding them with animal kibble straight from her little hand. The best bit: baby lambs, just two weeks old. Squeee!!

The other highlights for us were the baboons, housed in a large enclosure adjoining one of the visitors centers, with floor to ceiling glass, and the Discovery Trail, a winding path through gardens and scrub lands, with animal exhibits like prairie dogs and red pandas. Cheese particularly loved the ducks, including eating the duck kibble instead of feeding it to the actual ducks.

Cheese watching the ducks, Prospect Park Zoo.

What to eat: This is the sad part of our post. While the animals are well fed, the humans aren’t. There are a lot of outdoor picnic tables to sit at, but inside the cafeteria lies only vending machines. We highly recommend you bring your own lunch, or leave the park and eat at a nearby cafe or restaurant. Check out our personal fave in Prospect Heights, Gueros, or download this guide to eating in Prospect Heights for a larger directory of places to eat.

Prospect Park Zoo
450 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, NY
Phone: (718) 399-7339
Hours: Spring/summer (Mar 23–Nov 3, 2013) Mon-Fri 10am-5:30pm, Sat-Sun 10am-5:30pm.
Fall/winter (Nov 4, 2013–Mar 28, 2014) Daily 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m

The New Pier 5, Brooklyn Bridge Park; Brooklyn, New York, Playgrounds

March 25, 2013 / Brooklyn Bites, Brooklyn Heights, Cheese, New York, New York Life, Outdoor Play / 3 Comments

Something miraculous happened over winter. Pier 5, Brooklyn Bridge Park, opened to the public on a suitably arctic day, too cold for most New Yorkers to check it out.

We had a chance to take a look soon after it opened, and fell in love with the sweet little toddler play area, perfect for kids Cheese’s age (she’s currently 19 months old).

New playground at Pier 5, Brooklyn Bridge Park.

As well as the little toddler area, there is a playground for slightly older kids, with a spiders web to climb.

Not a bad view. Pier 5, Brooklyn Bridge Park.

The new pier also features a 200,000 square feet sporting field and a picnic peninsula with tables, grills and umbrellas for some much needed shade come summer.

What to eat: After Memorial Day weekend, Prospect Heights’ Ample Hills Creamery will be serving crazy flavours like Maple Baon and Ooey Goey Butter Cake at the pier. You’ll also be able to walk to Pier 6 next door and grab a slice of pizza from Fornino, who are opening up for the season. Enough of this cold already, bring on the summer!

Pier 5, Brooklyn Bridge Park
Joralemon St,
New York, NY

Ellen's Stardust Diner; Kid-friendly Restaurants, Midtown Manhattan, New York

March 13, 2013 / Cheese, Manhattan Munchies, Midtown West / 0 comment

Somehow I’ve managed to live in New York for two years and not hear about Ellen’s Stardust Diner until now. It’s totally a tourist trap – in the middle of Times Square with exorbitant prices, but it boasts something even I was willing to wade through the Times Square mosh pit for – singing waitstaff! And not just any singing waitstaff – Broadway singers between Broadway jobs, literally singing for their supper.

The outside isn’t much to look at. It looked so dodgy in fact, that Alec waited outside with Cheese while I poked my head in to make sure it wasn’t a total dump. What I saw, however, was this …

As you can see from the photo, the diner was packed. It’s two floors so there’s lots of room, and when we arrived at 2pm we didn’t have to wait at all for a prime table.

A word of warning, this place is loud. So loud I had to point at the menu to my waitress after she dropped by once her number was over (she was excellent, by the way. I would totally pay to see her in a show).

The menu is huge – and really overpriced. Be prepared to get totally fleeced in this diner. You will however, in return, get a solid, decent meal, and an amazing show of constant, extremely high quality, singing. Also, take note that you’ll have to tip the staff twice – once to your individual server for their wait service, and once for the entire team for their singing, as they only get paid minimal wage ($5 an hour – WTF?!) and don’t get paid to sing. Whoever is running this joint is making a FORTUNE.

Our visit however was well worth the expense. All three of us enjoyed the singing immensely, as well as being happy with the food. Cheese spent the majority of our time there standing up in the highchair and dancing. She just couldn’t believe all of the live music – when various singers walked straight up to her and sang to her, I thought her little head was going to explode with joy.

This was not a relaxing lunch experience by a long shot – but it was so enjoyable that we will definitely be back. Note to dairy lovers who order shakes – they will bring out the shake in a glass plus the leftovers in the metal cup it was spun in, so unless you can stomach two shakes in a sitting, be safe and share with a friend.

Highchairs: Yes.
Stroller storage: Yes – bring a folding stroller if possible though.
Easy access: Yes.
Change tables: No.
Kids’ menu: Yes.
Baby-friendly rating: ♥♥♥♥-

Ellen’s Stardust Diner
1650 Broadway (at 51st st),
New York
Phone: (212) 956 5151
Hours: Mon-Thur 7am-12am, Fri-Sat 7am-1am, Sun 7am-11pm

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Afternoon at Brooklyn Bridge Park; Kid-friendly Things To Do in DUMBO, Brooklyn, New York

March 11, 2013 / Brooklyn Bites, Cheese, DUMBO, New York, New York Food, Outdoor Play, Snack & Play / 2 Comments

With an unseasonably warm forecast, we head down to DUMBO for lunch at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Since we’ve been craving sunshine for months, we decided to pick up a sandwich at Foragers City Grocer and head on down to the park to eat and let the Cheese run free.

Foragers have a great range of locally-sourced breads, groceries and snacks, as well sandwich and smoothie bars. While you can perch on stools and eat in, we prefer to take everything to go.

The area of Brooklyn Bridge Park directly under the Manhattan Bridge has possibly the best views of both bridges and Manhattan that you’ll see anywhere. It also has a huge grassy area, so bring a ball for the kids to kick around, or a blanket to sit on. The pirate playground that sits in this area of the park was severely damaged during Hurricane Sandy – we were thrilled to see that it has been repaired and is due to re-open next month.

Brie and Granny Smith apple with watercress on a baguette.

Foragers City Grocer
56 Adams St,
Brooklyn, NY
Phone: (718) 801 8400
Prices: $$
Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-9pm Sun 9am-8pm
Get directions.

Raising a Little Aussie

February 24, 2013 / Australia, Family, Kids / 0 comment

Something I think about frequently is identity, specifically through nationality. The full identity issue is a much larger discussion and blog post than I’m tackling here. My national identity is pretty simple – I’m a Australian – at least fourth generation if not further. No matter how long we live abroad, I will always think of myself as an Australian. My parents are 100% Australian, as was my childhood home and education.

So where does that leave Eloise? Is she American or Australian? Will she feel American because she lives here? If we move back to Australian in a few years, then what will that make her? Technically she’s an Australian born in the US, with dual citizenship. I often wonder what she will feel like as she grows up. As she starts school she will pick up an American accent (nooooo!!!) and identify with her friends more than with us. Whereas Alec and I yearn for things like Cadbury chocolate and Gippsland yoghurt, will she prefer (god forbid) Hersheys and Chobani?.

How do we help Eloise embrace her Australian heritage and nationality so it forms part of her identity? Read her Playing Beatie Bow, serve her Vegemite, make her watch The Man From Snowy River? Will she even care?

The point is we do care, even if she won’t for what will probably be a long time. I hope that by constantly going back home to visit and by surrounding her with global experiences that she will embrace an identity of being more than just an American.

Eloise – 18 months

February 23, 2013 / Cheese, Kids / 0 comment

I turned around and suddenly my little squirmy noodle hit another 6 month notch.

Since turning one, Eloise has developed into a real little kid. Running everywhere at top speed, dancing, play pretend with her dolls and her toy kitchen. She’s so physical, and is getting really agile. She loves walking on the balance beam at kids club and swinging on the parallel bars like a little gymnast. Put on music and she taps her feet, sways and shakes her head to the beat. The independent streak she’s shown since she was born is still at the forefront of her character – she’s so physically brave.

One of the best developments is the physical affection. We now get hugs and kisses and real interaction. It’s so magical. Eloise understands so much of what we say to her now, following directions and replying to questions we ask her. She also speaks! Lots of words where she says the first syllable, like cheese, water, milk, duck, more, cheddar bunnies, dog, ball. Some words she can say two syllables, like bubble and baby. She’s also started to string words together, like “hi dada”, and “bye becky” (becky is a butterfly).

Eloise has gotten really attached to a little toy mouse, who she’s called Mimi. If she can’t find Mimi she gets hysterical.

All of her baby teeth have come in, with the exception of the 2 year molars. We had a brutal few months while they came through – hopefully now we’ll get some sleep again. Eloise’s sleep in the past few months has been terrible – a big remission to waking multiple times a night again. Bad, bad news.

Eloise has started to love drawing with crayons, and particularly loves books. From when she wakes up in the morning to when she goes to bed, it’s all about “books, books, books!!!”. She likes to have them read to her, and also likes sitting in the armchair in her bedroom looking through the books herself, particularly books with animals in them. If we point to animals she can either make the noise they make, or says their name. It’s co cute! She also refers to herself as “Cheese”, which is a parenting fail, but incredibly adorable.

She’s also started to play pretend with her toys – feeding her dolls, making us tea in her kitchen. It’s so adorable, even if she’s making some dubious recipes like carrot-flavoured tea.

In Defence of Toddlers

February 18, 2013 / Family, Kids / 0 comment

I feel like toddlers get a pretty bad rap for being out of control maniacs. And there is definitely some truth to this – most days Eloise spins through my life like mad squirrel, leaving total destruction behind her. Even though some parts of this stage can be trying (mind-numbing exhaustion at the end of each day!), it’s actually my favourite stage yet. Here’s why:

1. Hugs and kisses. I get them ALL THE TIME. Open mouth French slobbers, little pecks on the mouth, and little hands that grab me from behind and nestle in for a snuggle. Ahhhhh this is the best thing of all.
2. Words! Finally, she is communicating! True, it’s still hard to understand what she’s saying a lot of the time, but hearing this little baby-child wrap her lips and tongue around words like bath, dog, duck, flower just fill me with awe at seeing tiny changes happening every minute of every day.
3. Pretend play. Eloise holds up any phone-sized object to her ear and conducts a deep conversation with it, complete with the correct intonations. Kill me now, I’m dying from the cuteness of it all.
4. Dance moves. The little girl has her own groove going on. Put on music and she’s swaying and tapping her feet out of natural instinct.
5. She can feed herself. Here’s the food, off you go, baby.
6. She’s not that screaming, refluxy infant anymore who made me doubt my ability to do this parenting job. Compared to the first ten months of her life, toddlerhood is a breeze so far.

January Blues

February 17, 2013 / Cheese, Family, Kids / 0 comment

I won’t lie, January was hard. Bitterly cold, jet lagged baby, sick family over and over again, plus a case of the blues that just wouldn’t budge. I’ve been struggling to find room for myself again now that Eloise is getting older and doesn’t need me quite so much. I’ve been feeling time slipping by me in all directions. In Eloise’s little face as it slims and grows, in my friends’ careers as they get promoted and start their own businesses. I’ve been feeling torn in a way I never thought possible between choosing myself or choosing to spend my time with Eloise.

It’s a fine line to walk. I love hearing every word for the first time, seeing every new trick she throws out daily. I also feel like I’ve been living my life entirely for someone else, and that I’ve completely lost myself.

So what’s the answer? I’m trying hard to get some freelance and part-time work going that I can do with some short babysitting stints for Eloise, and during her naps. So far it’s going well, but it’s also hard! Hard to focus, hard to spend all my free time working rather than resting up for the next tornado Eloise. It’s better than the alternative though, and I still get to spend most of the week with my crazy, wilful, adorable toddler.