Thursday night when Cory got off work we decided to go on a walk. Let me start by saying that Halle came down with the sickness Luke had, she had been feverish and just not feeling good. But she was doing good at the moment and Luke wanted to get out so we headed out. I had Halle in the Baby Bjorn and Luke was in the umbrella stroller. It was a really nice night and once we got walking we decided to head up to Times Square and check it out since we hadn't been there yet. So we walked up through Times Square for awhile and soon we were about halfway to the entrance to Central Park, so we decided to keep walking up there so Luke could see the horses.
We got up the Central Park (almost 20 blocks up from where we started off the subway) and realized we were getting pretty hungry. So we decide to head over to a restaurant we heard about that wasn't too far from there...or so we thought. We ended up at the Lincoln Center which was a bit away from the Park and realize we didn't know where the restaurant was. We finally found what we were looking for and it WAS the address we remembered but it was the wrong restaurant! The one we found is a fancier place that some people at work had told Cory about and it was way too nice to take kids in, kids probably wouldn't even be allowed.
So, we decided to walk another 10 blocks down to a Mexican place I remember from coming here last year with my friends called El Centro. When we went there last year it was lunch time and I remember it as being pretty casual, not too crowded, so in my mind I'm thinking this would be a great place to go and take kids. Ummm, lets just say it's a whole other story at 8:30pm at night! We got there and the place was packed, but one table had just opened up. The hostess looked at us with our two kids and was nice and said she might be able to find a highchair for us. I took this a that they are kid-friendly. We started to get seated but the restaurant is tiny and our little umbrella stroller barely fit through the walkway. So we had to fold it down and were doing this while trying to get the kids situated, all while it is totally packed and waiters and people were speed walking past us on both sides of the table. Halle was getting fussy so I let her play with a sippy cup and she of course dropped it, so I had to scoot my chair out and bend over to pick it up. The chair next to me got scooted out a little while doing this and the manager walked passed and literally slammed it into our table out of the walkway. This was my first clue they were not happy with us being there! After this I started getting really tense and uncomfortable. The place was hopping full of people around our age drinking and having a good time, not one child or family in there. I was so engrossed in our kids that I hadn't noticed before, but I started to realize everyone in there was staring at us like we were crazy. I don't know if it was because we are as young as we are with two kids, or the fact that we dared bring our two kids out to a hotspot a restaurant! Come to find out now from Lindsay Smith, she is surprised they even let us in because she has been turned away when she went with some people who had a baby and they told them no kids allowed!
Anyway, Halle was starting to get fussier and Luke kept yelling "Num nums, beans, rice, beans! rice!" over and over and standing on his highchair and wouldn't stay sitting down (he has a new found love for Mexican food and LOVES beans and rice) and we were trying to settle him down so we could concentrate and order. Chips and salsa came and Luke started shoving chips down so fast and trying to feed fists full to Cory while I was holding Halle who is squirming like crazy and grabbing for everything on our table. Halle was still being fussy and I suddenly realized I hadn't fed her since 4:00pm! No wonder she was ornery! I am still nursing her and she still doesn't take formula yet, so I start panicking....where in the HE am I going to find to feed her?? I was seriously so stressed out. Cory even said "Lindsay, it's usually me who gets stressed and you that keeps your cool...settle down!" But I couldn't! She was getting fussier and fussier and Luke was out of control and people were staring us down.
Then, they came with our food. They brought a plate of a couple small frilly looking decorative things that I thought must be sides for Cory's Steak Fajitas, but then the waiter said "who ordered the Mahi Mahi tacos?" That would be me. He sat them down in front of me and Cory and I looked at each other and were thinking the same thing...are you kidding me? The tortillas were seriously a circle the size of if you traced a shot glass around with two little pieces of fish in each folded, and a little bit of fancy sauce stuff and guacamole, which was actually really good if I could have had more than two drops. I was starved but sort of relived because I realized I could eat my whole dinner in two bites and then take Halle outside because by this time she was bawling and at least I could get her out of there quick ! I gave Halle to Cory and started eating, but Luke's side of beans and rice came and he started flipping out wanting to eat. So I was trying to eat while also trying to spoon Luke beans and rice. We were doing pretty good, until I took my eyes off of him for one second and the next thing I knew he had flung rice all over the floor! I was so mortified, I seriously thought they were going to kick us out right then and there. I finished my second taco and took Halle from Cory and booked it out of there to let Cory deal with Luke! Outside poor Halle was hysterical and after about five minutes I had had it, I felt so bad and figured there had to be some alley or something I could go to find a place to nurse her! But I had nothing to cover up, so I went back inside to get my jacket but it was folded up inside the stroller and there was no way we were going to be able to open it up in that tiny restaurant. So I told Cory to hurry as fast as possible and I would be out there with Halle.
Another five minutes of bouncing a screaming Halle outside and people staring at me like I was a madwoman, Cory and Luke finally emerged! We decided to head back up to Central Park which seemed like the best place to find a somewhere to nurse. So we turned around and booked it up another 10 blocks back. By now it was dusk and almost dark, so I was able to go to the first bench we found and feed our poor girl! Wow, what an experience. From now on we are not taking the kids out to eat unless it is by 5pm (we figure we won't hit the night crowd and places aren't busy yet) or, just get take out!!
Luke shoving down chips at the resturant
At times square
At the Lincoln Center
I found an awesome park close to our apartment that we played at for hours on Friday
View from our balcony
Saturday at Central Park
