Scooting at the Pier

Meanwhile, as Mack slept all swaddled and cozy...

... Nate and I took his scooter to the pier for some scooting and waterfront exploring.

Despite the chill, Nate had room to stretch out on his green scooter (in front of Roebling, he only had a block of sidewalk to ride) and that made him happy and free. Seeing 3 big kids with scooters near, Nate scooted up to them, joining the pack. They took him in. No one said a word; no one had to. They were all on scooters and there was nothing else to do but scoot to the end of the pier near Northside, a long stretch of renovated pier extending out towards the east village like a finger.

Soon, the scooter pack was off, thundering west towards the end of the pier, towards manhattan, towards the sunset. Little Nate in his green jacket was right in the mix.

At one point, he passed the tall girl and the boy in brown.

He couldn't catch the boy in the black coat but that didn't seem to bother him.

When the foursome hit the end of the pier, the 3 big kids looked at each other, then at Nate, then at each other. They were breathing hard from the ride. Nate looked up at them. No one said a word. No one had to.

Canarsie Pizza Trip

Nate and I hopped the subway to Canarsie, Brooklyn on this chilly Saturday to check out what the last stop on the L train looks like. Let's just say it's rough over there, not much to take in aside from the Canarsie Pier (we hopped on the Rockaway Parkway bus loop to get there), which overlooks Jamaica Bay (and on the other side of that, Far Rockaway where my parents grew up). The Pier was all stark and battered, with only 4 fishermen giving it a go. Nate couldn't get over the word "seaweed", laughing his ass of each time he or I said it. I didn't get the joke but I laughed when he laughed.

After that, Nate and I went to Original Pizza, a morose and cavernous pizza joint that's stood its ground since the 70's. Nate kept eating the paper plate that sat below the slice. But I gotta say, that slice was tasty. When I asked Nate if he was done with his slice (so I could finish it up), he smiled his big smile and said, "Noooooo..."

Funny moment of the trip was at 10:30am, waiting in the cold at the bus top on Rockaway Parkway near the Canarsie Pier and the entrance to the Belt Parkway, when Nate tells me he wants to go "night night". "You aint CLOSE to goin' night night my man," I laugh. Night night?? Anyway, he rallied, had a delicious old school slice of pizza, and gazed out of the L train window as we bounded home, westward towards our Williamsburg. Back at the apartment, Nate napped for 3 hours...

Waterfront

Here is Nate on a warmish morning by the East River in Williamsburg. We threw rocks into the water and watched the boats and ferries. We played with a tennis ball.

Waterworld

As the family dives into summer, a morning pattern is developing. More or less, while I exercise (mostly tennis) Shana has Nate until about 8, whereupon I take Nate out to a playground until about 10, whereupon Nate naps and I go to work. As June already has seen some scorching hot days, NYC's playground's fountains have come to life. Nate darts in and out of the water and mostly gets soaked. One of his words is "weh" for wet.

It is often empty at the playgrounds in the morning, which is why I think I enjoy it so much. It's peaceful and Nate can explore without big kids having water balloon fights around him.