Last Saturday

My thoughtful and loving husband thought it would be nice to get our friends together for one last picnic and playdate before our departure, unbeknownst to me. He and my friend Claire had been conspiring to get all the kiddos together, a feat that is nearly impossible with everyone's conflicting social calendars! 

We had plans to meet our friend Brooke and her family Saturday morning down in the Brooklyn Bridge area, so when Claire emailed about a play date in the park, I said we'd stop by afterwards if we had time. Well, suddenly our plans got canceled (read: Andy contacted Brooke to ask her to cancel so we could all go to the party, ha!). So imagine my surprise when I showed up in the park to a picnic spread, a farewell cake, and a group of beloved friends who all wanted to spend some quality time with us. Watching Gabriel play with all of his best buddies was such a great way to spend our last Saturday here in NYC. To top it off, everyone gave Gabriel his own Camelbak, the most fitting gift. In fact he spent the remainder of the day wearing it around our apartment and drinking water ... and taking potty breaks every 20 minutes!

After the picnic party, it was time to get the boys home for naps, and Andy and I had scheduled to meet our friends Eric and Kim. Eric and Andy met when we first moved to NYC, as they were in the same teaching fellows training. Eric and Kim were some of our first friends here. Ironically, they are moving out of NYC tomorrow and today is our last day to see them. Although it was short, it was great to spend an hour or so with them.

Next up, a quick trip to the Met! Our friends Ian and Dawn had offered us some guest passes, so we glady accepted and spent an hour and a half or so walking through the Met, seeing exhibits we had not seen before. I really love that place, it is so peaceful and full of more history than I know what to do with. It  makes my brain hurt to think about how old some of the original artwork and sculptures are. While gazing at a Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet or Picasso it was surreal to think that these were the actual canvases they painted on. Our culture is so inundated with prints, knock offs, replicas and the like that when I look at an original piece of artwork I have to stop and exercise an almost forced appreciation. 

Anyway, speaking of Ian and Dawn, we had plans to meet them for dinner after we toured the Met. We had originally planned to meet at a newer place on the UWS called Say Cheese (a grilled cheese joint), but it closed earlier than we thought, so we ended up a Jacob's Pickles. It was a great dinner and a nice way to  say goodbye to these friends. We walked back to our place after dinner and said goodbye to them at the very spot where we met them nearly four years prior.

Whew, what a jam packed day! Thanks to Aunt Steph and Mr. Matt for staying with the boys for the latter half of the day so we could spend time with friends.