Our Valentine turned "7" today...and, as planned, we headed up to New York City for his birthday adventure.
I'd like to say we headed somewhere educational which completely enlightened him and filled his sponge-like brain full of new knowledge.
But we didn't...
...and that was perfectly okay!
(I think birthdays are all about having fun and celebrating the gift of life. Life is all about learning...it's constantly happening, no matter where we are, right?)
His choice of adventures was to go to the Build-A-Bear workshop on 5th Ave. and 46th St. and then to the FAO Schwarz toystore on 5th Ave. and 59th St. He had birthday-money-dollar-signs in his eyes and a new spot in his heart for a furry birthday buddy.
Some research online revealed that this particular Build-A-Bear is the world headquarters for the chain, and it didn't disappoint any of us.
With two floors of furry friends and their apparel/accessories and even a cafe called "Eat with Your Bear Hands," it was perfect!
After Edward chose his new furry birthday buddy, Jack the Border Collie, he picked out some accessories and an outfit for him and made his birth certificate. As he paid for all of it, the staff figured out it was his birthday, and he was given a store-wide birthday serenade and a big sticker on his chest proclaiming it "his" day.
We headed down to the Bear cafe and found we had the place to ourselves since it was in between mealtimes.
Emily had brought along one of her Build-A-Bears -- a bunny she named Carrots -- who needed to have some minor back surgery. Both Carrots and Jack got their own seats right at our table. Then the waiter brought out a little plate and bib for each of them. All the attention to details made it really fun for the kids.
The food was all finger-food (as you might have guessed from the name of the cafe), and, at the end, Edward received another birthday seranade, and we each got a bear-shaped cookie to decorate. All in all, it was a little expensive, but very well-worth the fun and excitement it added to Edward's special day.
An extra-special birthday dinner, indeed.
The waiter was an absolute gem of a man. He gave us directions to Grand Central Station to catch the subway up to 59th. And, let me tell you, seeing that station was yet another treat for us.
What a place! I tried to capture the grandeur as we walked in but my camera was powerless against the vastness of it. It was fantastic!
So after we lifted up our jaws and stopped gawking/staring, we found the "#5" train and headed on our way to FAO Schwarz toystore...
...to gawk and stare some more!
The front window was filled with life-sized (to scale) stuffed farm animals. Then walk inside and you're faced with life-sized dragons and
Sensory overload? Nah. Yeah, right. *wink*
We headed to the Matchbox car section so that Edward could design his own personal Matchbox car, the other part of his birthday adventure he had been eager to do.
Very cool!
Then we explored the rest of the store, hanging out in the LEGO area for a little while and then the rest of the sections, including the floor piano where Emily got to dance along the keys.
We finished off our adventure with a trip to the FAO Schwarz ice cream parlor.
Tired and completely worn-out, we made it back to the subway and headed back to 34th St. to get the PATH train back to Hoboken.
We bid goodnight to the newly lit-up skyline of New York City and headed home, feeling happy and blessed to have enjoyed such a day together.
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