How I spent my summer vacation part 3...

We left DC none the worse for wear, safe in the knowledge that NYC was only a few hours away, Silverfox and I decided to challenge ourselves on the mean streets of Baltimore by trying to find Duff Goldman's Bakery, Charm City Cakes. We're both big fans of Ace of Cakes, but had no clue where to even start looking. After several wrong turns, and giving serious consideration to calling the place and asking if they knew their latitude and longitude (Geocacheing GPS units know no address...) we pulled up on the corner across the street for a few choice shots...
and of course I had to get one of Duff's Vespa...
Silverfox was a little dissapointed that the windows were all blacked out, but I explained that that's probably because of the film crew needing to white balance their cameras. Still, it was neat seeing the place in person. Short Stuff of course was in the back seat wondering why on earth we were wandering aimlessly around a strange city when Papa Rob's house was only a few hours away. (sigh)

Before long, we pulled up in front of my Dad's house and immediately ordered pizza. ( I so miss New York Pizza) Pint Size surprised us all by eating two whole slices, before quietly falling asleep on the love seat.

We woke early the next morning, and went into the big city for some sightseeing:

Even though I'm well versed in the geography and history of New York, we decided that it would be better for the kids if we took one of the double decker tour buses (Silverfox had never been on one) Gray Line had a hop on/hop off for three days deal that worked into our budget nicely. While waiting for the buss to arrive, a Cop let Short Stuff know that he shouldn't chase pidgeons in the Big city:
You can see just how much I care. Pint Size is telling the officer to feel free to use excessive force. Seriously, this had to be the nicest NY cop I've ever met. He was really paitent with Silverfox while she got the pictures of the boys she wanted. Before long, our bus arrived and off we went to see the sites and sounds of the Big Apple. Pint Size adjusted really much better than we expected:

In fact, he was loving every minute of the bus ride and the city. We had been worried that he would react badly to it all, but he was a little trooper. The same goes for Short Stuff, who didn't really whine at all on the tours, and dutifully posed for all of Silverfoxes pictures:
Of course, it helped that the Toys R us on Times Square was one of our stops... Pint Size really freaked out at the sight of the giant in store ferris wheel, but I took him into the Sesame Street section and he was cool. Short Stuff was facinated by the largest Lego section he had ever seen:
He kept calling me over to show me something else made of Legos, (Like the Statue of Liberty and empire state building in the background) but I really had my hands full making sure Pint Size didn't see the ferris wheel. (SERIOUSLY! Instant Freak out!) It shocked me though when Pint Size, who really hasn't started talking yet pointed at a shelf and yelled "ELMO!" I handed him the toy and he smiled up at me, as proud of himself as he has ever been. It was a really cool toy, I had to admit... A small Elmo doll that talks when you shake it. Worried that Pint Size's sudden verbal ability was a fluke, I called Silverfox over immediately.

"Elmo?" she asked, taking the toy from him.

"Elmo!" He said confidently, reaching for the doll.

I thought for a moment that my wife was going to cry with happiness. We bought him the toy as quickly as we could, and a Spongebob Squarepants Lego set for Short Stuff.

We are such soft touches when we get the kids in a toy store.