Perfect Moment Monday -- The Big Apple!

Strawberry Fields in Central Park -- a dedication to John Lennon.
We took the boys to Strawberry Fields to mark the third
anniversary of the death of their father (my ex-husband), who
loved that era of music. The boys sat on a bench listening
to a great musician playing Lennon's music, and had a
few minutes to remember their Dad.

Each week I participate in Perfect Moment Monday, sponsored by the blog, WriteMindOpenHeart.com According to Lavender Luz, "Perfect Moment Monday" is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect Moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between." And so, here is a Perfect Moment for this week.

Over Labor Day weekend, we took the train to New York City and visited Tom's brother, Mike, and his family. Their family is VERY accommodating (and appreciated for being so). Even though they live in a two bedroom apartment on the east side of Central Park, they invited us to stay with them. With all four kids (our three and their one) sprawled out in the living room, and Tom and I in KK's room, we felt quite welcomed, if not a bit cozy.

The famous Nathan's Hot Dogs was our
first stop at Coney Island.

Friday we had great weather and spent the day at Coney Island. No trip to Coney Island would be complete without stopping at Nathan's. My question, "Hey -- where is the vegetarian hot dog???"

We hung out on the beach and relaxed. Tom and the kids got into the water (which had been quite stirred up from Hurricane Irene), and amongst all of these already perfect moments, KK asked me to show her some yoga poses.

Authentic Chinese restaurant in Chinatown
where they hand pull the noodles. Shown
above is the cook throwing the dough,
preparing it for hand-pulling. Delicious!!

We spent at least 30-minutes doing yoga poses together -- experimenting, playing, enjoying our time on the beach. She gave me some tips and showed me some of her own "poses" from her extensive gymnastics background. I felt like I was 12-years old again! It was a great bonding moment for me and my niece. Perfect!!!

Saturday we walked through Central Park and made our way to Hell's Kitchen to find the delicious sushi restaurant we visited last year. Lo and behold...it was all boarded up! So we went to another sushi restaurant just down the street and found a new favorite.

That night Chinatown offered some great shopping and bargaining. KK had previously learned about an authentic Chinese restaurant that hand-pulls the noodles...so we checked it out. We were all amazed that there was a open doorway into the kitchen and we could watch the cook preparing (slamming the dough down onto the counter) the noodles for our delicious meals.

The next morning a walk in a park near Mike and Holly's house was so beautiful and peaceful. It's amazing how the city can be SO loud and within a couple of steps be so quiet and peaceful.

Sunday's excursion was to Times Square (for some more bargain shopping), a Broadway musical, The Addams Family, and dinner at Patsy's to celebrate James' 16th birthday. Do I really have a kid that is 16 years old???

The only caption needed: DELICIOUS!!!

Monday we headed back to Penn Station to get back on the train to head home. The train was very relaxing and provided a great atmosphere for studying, reading, sleeping and relaxing.

The entire weekend was FULL of Perfect Moments!

Here are some additional photos from our trip:

A statue of Peter Pan in a nearby park.

Tom and Holly enjoying our walk.

Boys sleeping on air mattresses in the living room.
We had awesome accommodations and enjoyed (and appreciated) GREAT hospitality.

A quick lunch at Nathan's at Coney Island before hitting the beach.

If you'd like to check out more Perfect Moment Mondays go to WriteMindOpenHeart.com by clicking here.