NBC4 Expo

this morning arrived a little different then expected
somehow I had anticipated the morning to deliver rain and cold
instead the day arrived pretty much dry and unseasonably warm...
yes, unseasonably warm again


tried to coordinate the day's activities with some other families on the block
there was talk of bike rides in the alley
there was talk about a trip to the skatepark
already having tentative plans to meet my brother and his kids at the NBC4 Fitness Expo we maintained our trajectory
actually I tried to guide my children in other directions
but I had done such a good job of selling the boys on the climbing wall and the snowboard game at the Expo that the boys were not ready for any substitution

lisa was at yoga so I scrambled to get the boys fed, dressed, and out the door
lucky for me a neighbor did not leting our boys play while I walked the dog
once back from the woods with the dog I tried to motivate the kids
there was no moving them
until they demanded to be moved

we decided to drive rather than the subway to allow for some post Expo flexibility
along with the the potential for a post Expo nap for my younger son

the Expo was all that I expected
lots of booths
the opportunity for key chains, pamphlets, and refrigerator magnets seemed endless
I tried to move the boys through the maze of tables with some fluidity
in no time we were in line for the snowboarding virtual reality game
the line was short and the game was moderately anti-climatic
but Dean enjoyed the experience with no criticism and no complaints
while I was proud
as the booth volunteer claimed that I was the first person to successfully complete the course

after the snowboarding game we moved towards the other side of the convention center for the climbing wall
in our travels we ran into my brother and his family
the cousins were psyched to be connected
they joined us on our trip to the climbing wall
the climbing wall line was long, not east coast ski lift line long, but long enough
as we moved through the line I fueled the kids with some snacks from my bag
once the kids were harnessed they all got an approach on the wall
the holds were too far spread for the kids to make any real progress up the wall
but... they did not complain
they enjoyed the effort just the same

after the climbing wall we were close to the WABA sponsored bike rodeo
at the rodeo we saw some familiar faces
Nick from City Bikes was there promoting commuting
while Dorcas of WABA was leading the rodeo

the line was not so long
but the line was not moving so fast
after signing the appropriate waviers we moved through the queue
the first stage of the game was putting on surgical style hairnets to be worn under the helmets
the volunteer who was trying to be helpful was not captivating the children's attention
she wanted to entertain them with some linguistic riddles
she did not meet the interest of her audience
guess she failed to see that she was chatting with a cast of kids ranging two to six
after the kids all lost interest and asked to leave that area I tried to explain to her
that the singular and plural of lice or mice may be interesting to her... but maybe not so interesting to children
but... if you want to play such games...
you may want to define the terms
as it is presumptuous to assume that the children know what lice are
or what the terms singular and plural mean
she had chased the five young boys away from the cycling experience
bummer...
I wanted the boys to get a chance to ride the bikes
just to see how my boys responded to another adult's instructions

we went to a few more booths
Home Depot had a great little section with all sorts of projects for the kids
the Got Milk Poloraid shots were cute... but I did not feel like waiting in line

my younger son had been moody
demanding to be carried when I did not want to carry
refusing to be carried or allowing me to hold his hand when I felt he should be carried or hold my hand
it was lunch time
which comes before nap time
so I said my goodbyes and evacuated

we walked the few blocks back to the car
then abandoned that parking space that we worked so hard to find
as soon as I started the car I got a call
the neighbors were ready to move
I told them we were leaving the Expo
they offered to grab Dean's helmet and skateboard
we agreed to meet them at the skatepark
but before we went to the skatepark I had to get the boys some food
all the snacks had been consumed
so I settle for two Happy Meals from the drive thru at McDonalds

of course the boys went for the toys before they went for the burgers

we gathered with some kids from the block at the skatepark
they really just run around and hang out
as they are all too young to skate
but it was a warm afternoon
and it made sense to spend it outdoors

a day well spent...
nothing really to blog about
but
needed something to do as the boys battle over whose turn it is in the Mario64 game