Double the Aunts, Double the Fun!

Finley slept wonderfully in his closet paradise and after breakfast and a nap, we headed over to the Central Park Zoo to meet Ellie.

None of us had ever been there and it turned out to be a nicely laid out, interesting place to walk around. We saw sea lions, a polar bear, snow monkeys, too many bats, a snow leopard, and a variety of birds. Finley and I especially enjoyed the penguin exhibit and seeing the red panda (remember the panda hold from Fin's newborn days?).

With our zoo ticket, we also go to go into the Children's Zoo, which was a big petting zoo across the way. Finley liked the sheep and alpacas the best, but I was a little too nervous to put a piece of food in his hand to feed them, but maybe next year!

This next picture is just awesome, aren't Finley's Aunts cute?

After zooing it, we walked over to get lunch at Serendipity, but sadly the restaurant not only had a wait but didn't allow strollers in (tight space). Ah well, Patsy's Pizza was just across the street and Caitlin had heard good things. They welcomed us (and our stroller) and we had a delicious thin crust pizza. Finley ate his lunch in his high chair, but wanted to get out and have some fun with his Aunts, too.

We got the check and skipped dessert since our next destination was just across the street, Dylan's Candy Bar!! Candy as far as the eye can see, and then a little bit farther. Multiple floors filled with both classic and innovative treats. Finley rode in the beco since it was fairly tight getting around all the other candy connoisseurs and candy displays. We must have spent at least forty-five minutes walking all around and filling our little bags with sweets for ourselves and our respective significant others. Even the stairwell was full of candy!

While the weather was gorgeous, we'd done a lot of walking and needed to take a break indoors. So we walked over to Caitlin's new apartment to hang out for a while. Caitlin has 2 cats and Finley was enthralled by them! He sat there and let them check him out and was soon smiling and squeaking happily at them. The cats, however, were less impressed--in fact they were FREAKED OUT!! Their hair was all spiked up on their backs and their tails puffed out like Caitlin had never seen. Finley didn't get their vibe and continued to "play" with them, which really amounted to crawling towards them and cornering them.

We felt bad for the cats, but I was impressed that Finley was being so brave, I didn't have the heart to pick him up. The cats would growl or hiss a bit, but that didn't deter Finley at all. Our baby, the cat bully! Oh and Finley enjoyed tasting Caitlin's new employer's frisbee.

We walked back to the Hilton and Finley had some more quality time with his two aunts.

Soon he had to said goodbye to his Aunt Ellie, who had to catch a train to NJ, and then we headed back out for one more activity before dinner. Caitlin and I are both still kids at heart so with a baby in tow, a giant toy store was on our must do list of the weekend. Hello, FAO Schwartz! We toured the whole place (3 giant, packed floors) and picked out a wooden fire truck for Finley (it is his 9 month birthday tomorrow after all). Not surprisingly, a few blocks into our trek back to the hotel, Finley conked out.

We had a relaxing evening: Finley went to bed, Caitlin picked up Chinese food, we watched the Yankees beat the Royals while playing cards, and then we went to bed. Not as flashy as the Radio City Music Hall show the night before, but just as enjoyable :)