Travel with kids: NYC Day 2

Do you remember our NYC adventure from a couple weeks ago? Here’s a quick recap from day 2.

Our first stop that morning was at  Madison Square Park. Our plan was to eventually go to the American Museum of Natural History but after an eventful and busy previous day, we wanted to take it easy and enjoy some outdoor time since it was yet another beautiful day in September. We left our hotel in midtown and walked over to the park. The girls spent some time on the swings and then we walked around and made some new furry friends and took pictures. Years ago when I lived in Manhattan, I used to walk by the park everyday since I went to school in the neighborhood. It was nice to show the girls my old stomping grounds and reminisce about my days in the city.

Meanwhile, my cousin Varun who lives in the city spontaneously decided to join us for our museum visit, which was such a pleasant surprise. The girls and I took a cab to the museum, where we met up with my cousin. It was close to lunch time and we were all getting hungry so we stuffed ourselves at a nearby, and very busy, Shake Shack before heading to the museum.

The American Museum of Natural History is huge so we decided to pick 1-2 exhibits to visit. This way it wouldn’t be too overwhelming for the girls. I consciously stayed away from my phone to fully enjoy my time with my cousin and the girls. We enjoyed the Hall of North American Mammals, the Hall of Ocean Life, and finally the Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs.

The girls had several questions about the animals, inquired how they died…”did they get hurt? was it like the way bad guys were trying to stuff Paddington Bear” (we had recently watched Paddington). We also discussed the difference between various pinnipeds - sea lions, walrus and seals. (I did have to look that one up on my phone!). By the time we got to the dinosaurs’ exhibit, the girls were beginning to get tired and as a result were not very into the exhibit. It was time to get a sweet snack for the girls and coffee for the adults at the museum cafe to finish up our visit!

We were supposed to drive back to Boston that same evening so after goodbye hugs to uncle Varun, we took a cab and headed back to the hotel to meet up with daddy. This concludes our two eventful days in NYC filled-with a little bit of art, a little bit of science, and a lot of outdoor time walking around and exploring!

We would definitely like to visit this museum again. We will  start earlier and cover a few more exhibits. If you have a museum adventure coming up, here are our 7 tips to make the most of your museum visit with kids.