Long hot summer day

The air was dump from early morning's rain when we left the house Sunday morning. The sun was getting strong, but we head out on our impulsive bike trip. Taiyo was letting out his funk reserve this morning after a week of excellent behavior. He cried and screamed that he couldn't wear his shoes (and he would not let you help), screamed as if I left him in the middle of a desert when I had to put him down to open the gate of the store downstairs, and fussed around that I wasn't putting him in the bike seat immediately when we walked into the store. So I was fine slowing down a little when he decided to just stomp around in a rain puddle making his little footprints at the Seaport. It's so beautifully fascinating how this little person can discover and enjoy simple activities. He jumped around a while, then of course complained that his feet were wet. So we got on the bike again and I let him go bearfoot. We continued to the West side but the air was getting really hot. We decided to take a refuge in the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center. Oh, yes, this is like the greatest indoor playground with shiny floor and big trees and so much space above and all the stairs to climb up and down and escalators to get on and off. This time he also tested the echo by shouting some amazing baby prophesies into the air. (No, I didn't understand what he was saying.) He ran around, danced around, and got some more pictures taken by strangers.

We enjoyed viewing the drawings of Jules Feiffer at the Couryard Gallery. The spacial gallery was pretty empty, and the drawings of dancers inspired Taiyo to do some more dancing around. After 15 minutes of dancing around, Taiyo go to the corner and poo. Fortuantely the gallery was empty, and we found a changing table right downstairs in the restroom. However, it was a real baby size-one and Taiyo's head laid uncomfortably on the edge. After cleaned up Taiyo danced around the restroom some more.

Next door, we stopped at Yushi for lunch. This was just another overpriced fast-food sushi takeout kid of a joint. They also offered hot food, but I just felt like grabbing a quick bite, so settled for a maki-sampler, sitting ready in the refrigerator. The rolls looked pretty, but rather tasteless. After just a little bite, Taiyo decided that looking around the ceiling was more of interest to him. The booth was clean and comfortable, and food was nothing impressive, but edible. It's not the best choice but not the worst. Having so many chopsticks to mess with is a plus.

Before we left we had to have a treat from Ciao Bella. A bunch of indecisive tourists hovered around the showcase that contained douzens of colorful gelato choices, but I quickly made my aim and called out, "Green Apple!" The heat was much more bearable with a little cup of gelato outside. To my surprise Taiyo let me finish half of it. What's wrong with this gelato, Taiyo? He fell asleep on the bike seat just as we left the Battery Park City. I was hoping for a few hours of downtime, but my day was doomed to be the long one. When we got home and put Taiyo down on the bed, he opened his eyes. I told him I had to go take a shower, and he quickly decided to go into a tantrum, so I offered him beautiful golden yellow watermelon I just picked up at New Amsterdam market on the way home. He happily accepted the bribe. It was amazingly refreshing fruit. Just sweet enough.
Two hours later, we were back out in the heat. This time I was ambitious heading to 'MoonDance' at Piar 84- this was the last one of the season already! Taiyo fell asleep before we hit Union Square. My plan was to have a bite before the dance, but I decided to keep on riding in the heat. Because he was asleep, I took my bike helmet off. It was just too hot. I went past Intrepid, Trump Place, and wanted to stop and relax a few minutes myself, but realized stopping was even hotter and uncomfortable. Eventually reached Riverside Park. I was tired. I was sweaty. Taiyo was finally kind of waking up. We headed down back to the MoonDance by Intrepid. When I took Taiyo down from the bike seat, he was just in the funkiest mood. He decided to fuss, whine and cry, not wanting to watch the dance lesson that was just starting, not wanting to get down on his feet, not wanting to sit on my lap on the lawn. He twisted around on the lawn crying for 10 minutes. I had to give up. I put him back on the bike, and he calmed down. Just at the end of the Pier, he began chanting, "Gohan(food)!" And right there, it was PD O'Hurleys.

No, I didn't think we would find decent food there, but it was just too conveniently located with outdoor seating and even an entertainment- a guy with a guitar! Of course Taiyo wanted to take a seat and I ordered $13 cheeseburger. When my beer arrived, Taiyo proposed a toast with his water. The singer was not horrible, doing John Denver, Eagles, Tom Petty, and such, and I liked it when a kid shouted out, "Star Wars!" when he asked the audience what he should play. Taiyo rocked to the music and made him happy. The burger that arrived 10 minutes later was just as sad as I expected. A slice of cheese was kid of dried not melted on the also quite dried out piece of meat. Did they just recover this sad item that was sitting under the heat lamp for 30 minutes? At least the fries were done to the right crispness, and Taiyo did eat some of the burger. He was totally out of the funk at the end of the meal, we went back to the MoonDance and he enjoyed seeing and listening some more music. The ride back home was still too hot and long and heavy. I realized we didn't see fireflies anymore. Only three more weekends left in August.