The Franklin Diaries - Part Four

On Tuesday Sarah had to work late so Franklin and I set off on our own.....ummm what to do, I know let's go play in Central Park!!!! Well, the first thing up we took the subway to Columbus Circle at 59th and crossed over to walk on the southside of the park. Like all good tourists, you MUST do the cheesy horse drawn carriage through the park (the funny part is that you think you are getting this great tour of the park but in reality you aren't, you actually on see a very, very, very tiny section!).....



First, Franklin fed the horse a carrot! He thought this was really great! I was thinking it's a good thing sweet hubby isn't here because all I would hear would be how that horse is going to bite his hand off or how nasty it is......sweet hubby can be a little overprotected of Franklin (wait, that's harsh, not a little overprotective.....a TON overprotective).






We are all set for our ride through the park!










So much fun for Franklin!!!



We drove past the large play area, the carousel, and Worman skating rink. So when we came to the rink, I asked the driver to stop and let us out there (I really didn't want to finish the ride and then walk once again back into the park)........I had been hearing on the news about a crazy man hanging upside down for 60 hours so hey, we are gawky tourists and really what do gawky tourists do? They go see crazy men hanging upside down in the park!!!


This David Blaine hanging upside down for the 60 hours (at this point he has about 20 more to go). Franklin wasn't really impress with this.











Franklin was more interested in eating his snack!




At least I wasn't as much of a gawky tourist as some....I didn't get my picture made with him or get his autograph, I mean I do have some self-respect....I keep my gawky tourist to a minimum!!!






Once we (I mean, urr, I, when I) got my thrill seeker gawky toursity thing out of the way we managed to make our way through the large mass of other gawky tourists to find the big playground. And we played, and played, and then we played some more, and wait, we played a little more.....I mean it isn't every day you get to play in Central Park!


King of the mountain!






Baby slides....


Baby swings......

Then on to the big slides and the big swing.

Franklin was fasinated with the tire swing ......he stayed on it for a long time going round and round then proceeded to stagger instead of walk!


He also enjoyed a little rock climbing as well.....

I finally convinced him that we really needed to go and do some other things..... you know like ride e carousel!!!!

After the carousel ride we ate hotdogs in the park.....then Franklin wanted to chase the pigeons again. He was so wired from his day that I wasn't sure I would make it through.....maybe there is a reason people are always asking me if he is my grandson instead of my son!!!!! I AM TOO OLD FOR THIS!!!!!! BUT DARN'T, IT IS A LOT OF FUN!!!!!!



Once we finished our hotdogs it was time to walk again......did I mention that I lost 20lbs walking across the Brooklyn Bridge.....well I did, and now I am working on losing another 20 lbs walking through Central Park.....I am sure that is how it works......So when that bicycle taxi came along and asked us if we needed a ride, I didn't hestitate to say yes......I mean I don't want to lose weight too fast......so we ended up at 59th and Madison to visit a little toy store that I heard about a long time ago.....I actually used to visit this store to buy Sarah bears when she was growing up.......so I thought it would be fun to introduce Franklin to FAO Schwartz.........



As you can see we are considered diplomatic guests since we were greeted at the door by the doorman (stop smirking - I know they greet everyone but I can dream can't I?)


This small toy store is 3 floors! YES, 3 wonderful, glorious floors of heaven for all children who enter with their wallet holding parents. First things that you see are life size elephants, tigers, horses, etc ranging from $350 and up! Pocket change......

Of course we had to look at everything!!!!! I mean it is a toy store.... Unfortunately for us we had a budget of what we could spend so we had to really look hard to find the things in our budget......but until then we did a lot of playing!

This is the King's chair so that you can sit and read books! We were in a book area where Franklin picked out a new book and a puzzle to purchase.....oh, yeah, my baby is intellectual.....who needs toys to play with when you can stimulate your brain...uh, huh.... (Ok, I am really joking here, but I was truly amazed that this kid picked out a puzzle and a book for his treat instead of another toy that he really didn't need!)

You can't go to FAO without playing the big piano (this is the piano that Tom Hanks danced on in the movie "Big") Franklin was a little hesitant at first but once he overcame the shyness I couldn't get him off! He really enjoyed playing the music with his feet.

After we finished with the piano we made our way downstairs to the candy store area where Franklin bought his teacher some m&m's and himself a large lollipop and starbursts. Did I mention this was a small toy store and that we spent about 2 hours in there!!! I am so tired at this point I absolutely must rest before going on so we sat out in front by the water fountain to watch people and birds.

We headed back home so that Franklin could work on his puzzle and read his book.

As you can see there isn't much floor space for him to play on in Sarah's room!

All in all it was an absolute FUN day for both of us. One thing I have noticed since we have been here is that for some strange reason Franklin has a tendency to go to bed at 6:30 most nights....still trying to figure that one out (NOT).

For now the doctor is out.....wondering what tomorrow will bring....