Who's a big boy now?

This weekend was Erik's twenty-seventh Birthday, so he did what any seven-year-old would do. . .rode on a bus (the wheels went round-and-round), saw the world's smallest horsie, went to the natural history museum, went to the park, ate a hot dog, drank some lemonade, ate some cookies, rode on a train, went to the beach, went to the aquarium, played with a horseshoe crab, ate some more cookies, and then fell asleep.

Let me elaborate.

Saturday morning, after a wonderful home-cooked breakfast, Katy had to go to work for a few hours, so I rode the bus across town to the American Museum of Natural History for opening day of their new exhibit, "The Horse." The festivities included some actual horses outside, including the world's smallest horse, Thumbelina, who measures in at only 17 1/2 inches tall.

After seeing Thumbelina, who had few redeeming qualities other than being small, I wandered the museum for an hour or so. It would take several days to cover the entire museum, but what I did see was really, really cool. It was so cool, in fact, that I decided to leave so that I could come back with Katy another day.

I wandered from the museum into Central Park, where I killed another hour watching various street performers --- some dancers, a few tumblers, one of those creepy paint-myself-white-and-dress-like-a-ballerina-and-stand-really-still-until-you-give-me-money ladies, and a great jazz band. After getting my fill of street-talent, I killed another thirty minutes reading The Onion over a glass of lemonade, and then I met Katy at work when she got off.

Saturday night, Katy took me to dinner for my birthday at Per Lei, a great Italian restaurant just down the street. The whole meal was great, but the fried calamari & zucchini and post-meal cappuccino were both incredible. And, for the best birthday present ever, we went home, ate chocolate chip cookies, and watched "Airplane," the best movie ever. I am serious, and don't call me Shirley.

On Sunday, we ventured off the island of Manhattan for the first time since we moved to the Big Apple, taking the F train all the way out to Coney Island. We walked the boardwalk, ate some greasy carnival food, walked on the beach, and went to the New York Aquarium. Coney Island has certainly seen better days, but there is something truly charming about it. It's kind of the anti-Disney - everything is exactly what it appears to be.

This week, we are looking forward to our second visitor, who will likely be the only visitor to show up in a boat, when Erik's dad sails the SV Kelly Rae into New York Harbor, past the Statue of Liberty, then up the Hudson River to Manhattan.

We send our love and congratulations to Kacey & Jake *and* Kim & Allan, who got engaged this weekend. . .and stole the spotlight on my birthday!

Love to all,

Erik & Katy