Grand Central and Metro-North

Ian and I ventured on our own through Grand Central Station to hop a train upstate to visit my mother. Ian was a little overwhelmed in Grand Central in morning rush hour, but we managed okay.
Ian rode for free and made fast friends with the train ticket taker.

Ian: Hey, how are you?
Ticket Guy: Hey little guy, how you doin'? (yes, inflect Joey from Friends accent)
Ian: Good. Just trying to earn money here. (he is sitting doing absolutely nothing)
Ticket Guy: Yeah? Me too. You workin' really hard there?
Ian: Yes!
Ticket Guy: You got the right idea.

Ian marveled at the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, which I didn't think about it, but we don't have any true bridges here in Arizona. I explained to him that I used to run back and forth across the bridge for exercise. He thought that was pretty funny.

My mom picked us up and Ian treated her to his famous peanut butter and jelly cracker sandwiches. She hung out with Ian while I visited Stacy and Dan and their new baby girl. She is so precious and soooo tiny! I don't know that I have ever held such a delicate, little 6 lb baby before-my boys were both bruisers at 8.5 and 9.4 lbs!

Following that, Ian, my mom and I went to visit our friends Shannon and Ryan and their two children for dinner. Ian was very shy at first, but luckily Shannon's daughter has such a friendly personality that she and Ian became fast friends and accomplices pretty quickly. Later that evening, they decided to wrap my mother up in a jump rope and told her, "Don't move!"

And my mother, just sat there, gabbing with Shannon and me, while her hands and feet were bound and the kids were busy bringing toys to her. She is one good sport.

I didn't take a lot of photos upstate. We watched Dancing with the Stars (who knew I would like that show and who knew Ian would like it too?) and got some rest before leaving in the morning for the city once again.

Unfortunately, we decided to leave on St. Patrick's Day, with the big parade going on in the city that afternoon. On the 8:30 express train, Ian and I sat in a quiet car for about two stops. Then the revelers came on board. A sea of teenagers wearing green hats, green makeup and carrying all kinds of party items on board. Every car was filled with them and each stop added more and more partiers.

The party folks loved Ian for whatever reason. ("Hey, Little Dude! Look, it's a little dude! Hey, be cool, there's a little dude right there! Gimme a high five, little dude!" "Hey, little dude-you're the coolest and don't let anyone tell you different, okay?" ) Someone smack me if I ever call my kid or any kid "Little Dude". One kid suggested that I move my seat because they were rowdy and then rethought that as all of the train was rowdy.

So, amidst drinking, smoking and general loud and obnoxious behavior, I put the iPod on for Ian and he also played his Leapster game for a good while. The express train-only one hour-seemed to be the looongest hour of our trip. I certainly felt my age, maybe even older-how could any of this seem remotely fun or cool seems beyond my grasp now.

In Westchester, the police then boarded the train, deciding to enforce some civility. They brought a drug-sniffing dog on our car and searched several bags and took a few off the train. An official was brought on the train to maintain some order until the train reached Grand Central, where several revelers were greeted by NYPD. It was all very exciting. Ian was disappointed that he missed seeing the dog, but he was happily engrossed in Leapster. Thank God.

Back at Grand Central, we listened to some Irish bands playing on the stairs before meeting Aunt Sooz for the next adventure.

Mom-thanks for such a nice visit! It was so good to see you, even for a short time.