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February 17, 2009

Fun Day at Brooklyn Children’s Museum

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President’s Day in New York City.  To some this was a day when most parents were off from work to care for their children who were beginning a week long mid-winter break from school. Aside from my husband being home from work, I saw this as another day, another opportunity to seek out adventures for her family to enjoy together.

Today we sought to adventure into Crown Heights, Brooklyn and introduced our children and myself, to the newly renovated Brooklyn Children’s Museum.  I was curious about visiting the first green building in the city and children’s museum in the world (founded in 1899), which had gone through some renovations before reopening in September of 2008 after completing an $80 Million expansion project.

The boys love visiting museums, but the 11-year-old was a bit skeptical of what he would find there. Other visits to museums focused expressly on children often leave him feeling a bit bored and left out. But because the family belief is that one never knows what a family adventure will bring, he was hesitant to stay home and potentially miss out.

We took their car for a quick ride over the Brooklyn Bridge, though commuting to the museum by train is also an easy task on the A, C or 3 trains. Parking nearby was not a hassle at all, which was nice since the museum does not offer private parking. We arrived to the museum located on a quiet neighborhood block, and entered to find a wide, colorful lobby, bustling with the sound of children at play.

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Before my husband and I had removed our coats the little ones had escaped and ran into the museum’s Totally Tots play area. This amazingly fun, colorful play area caters to toddlers and their curious and playful personalities. The first stop the younger boys made in this area was at Water Wonders, where they played with handles that made water sprinkle or bubble or squirt into the large pond full of toys and water. They climbed in and out of a tunnel which led them to the middle of the pond, and watched the water as it trickled down a small waterfall which they could control by moving the various panels. The 2-year-old refused to wear the readily available smocks to protect the him from getting wet and within minutes his Spongebob shirt was drenched. He was so busy having fun and playing that it seemed the only one uncomfortable with it was me. So, I decided to ignore it and let him play.

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Soon after, the boys moved on to the Sand Play area, where the kids found blue sand, a few shovels, small containers, and other tools to carry, move, and spread sand on the toddler height sand box. From there they moved towards the playful Toy Town, creative Little Theater, musically fun Sound Around, and artistically inclined Art Studio. One missed spot was the Reading Nook and the Baby Hub (for 18 months and younger).

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The kids were able to participate in the Lincoln’s Log Cabin activity, in honor of President’s Day.

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Another one of my favorite exhibit was World Brooklyn. Here I watched as my little ones played in the international grocery store, where they shopped for all sorts of foreign delicacies and even pretended to check things as they moved along the belt by the register. Other Brooklyn area favorites displayed here were Don Paco Lopez Panaderia and L&B Pizzeria allowing the kids to play, interact with other children, and even make their own pretend pizza.

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The kids also enjoyed Neighborhood Nature, where the kids played with a pebble pond, looked for bugs through a magnifying glass, participated in one of the museum’s scheduled activities at the Touch Tank, did some imaginary gardening, crawled through a tunnel under an aquarium, and listened to the sounds of nocturnal birds and insects.  Whew!

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The museum has tons of other activities and exhibits that we didn’t manage to get to before the little ones started to show signs of exhaustion. The library on the 2nd floor is well stocked with books, with plenty of comfortable reading corners to relax and read to your child. Also on the 2nd floor, the permanent exhibit, Collections Central, showcases cultural artifacts and natural science specimens. The boys did look around here and also were intrigued by all they touched and saw there!

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Needless to say, definitely a place where the hours can go by without notice.  Even my 11-year-old son thought the museum was the coolest place ever, “even if for a children’s museum”.

We managed to get the kids out, no fits, no fuss, just plenty of promises that we would be back to play soon. A promise I will be happy to keep.


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Carol Cain

Brooklyn native Carol is happiest when on an adventure, whether close to home or farther away. She is a small business owner and travel writer. In addition to creating Girl Gone Travel, she is the Founder and Principal of Brave World Media, a social media marketing, communications, and branding agency. She's mom to three wonderful sons and wife to a handsome Irish/Scot. She lives, works, and plays in the beautiful Finger Lakes region of NY.

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1 Comment
  • Natalie
    February 17, 2009

    Love this blog…wish I had gone =P

    Reply

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About me

Hi! I'm Carol! I am an award-winning travel blogger, a keynote speaker, and the Principal and owner of Brave World Media, a social media marketing, communications, and branding agency. I a wife to a handsome Irish/Scot and a mom to 3 sons. Welcome to my blog where I share stories of my travels and professional public relations insights and advice. Thank you for reading and for your support!

Carol Cain

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A message about yesterday’s event: Happy Monday A message about yesterday’s event:

Happy Monday, y’all. Woke up in time to enjoy the soft glow of sunlight that shines its way around our house in the morning, and sipped on a cafecito without being rushed for anything. So already today is a win. 

Yesterday we worked our longest day yet for our little coffee cart that could (7 hours!!!) at the Heritage Fiesta in Ithaca, NY. 

Though we were ready for a crowd, the reception was also unexpected because there was a popular coffee shop just steps away. 

But we had Cómodo Fam stop by, family (who also fed us 🙏🏾), and soooo many members of the Latinx and BIPOC community who were just excited to see a small business like ours representing. 

I want to share that we were ALL worried about potential harassment and assault by 🧊and fliers were handed out to prepare us. And you would think that it would’ve intimidated the community enough to not come out…BUT WE DID. In numbers. 

And for hours that little parking lot next to Press Bay Alley was packed with all sorts of Latinx and non-Latinx community members, eating, laughing, dancing, singing, and drinking all the cafecitos and refreshers we had to offer. Literally. We went home cleaned out!

All this to say that we are all aware of the threats but we also understand the power and importance of coming together as a community and a people. By no means are we all the same, and Lord knows a lot of Latinos have a lot of self-reflecting to do based on the choices they made, but yesterday was a testament to the best of us, and I thank @yenospina and @lcatompkins for putting together such a wonderful event, for inviting @cafecomodony to be a part of it, and to all the friends, old and new, who came out to support us and la cultura. 

#fingerlakes #newyork #cafecomodo #coffeelover
Finally taking a break to enjoy one of my favorite Finally taking a break to enjoy one of my favorite lazy day pastimes of the season: market shopping for fall goodies - which in the Finger Lakes is especially bountiful. 

📍Joseph’s Wayside Markey, Naples, NY

#fingerlakes #newyork #octobermood #fallday
Our neighbors are harvesting the grapes. The proce Our neighbors are harvesting the grapes. The process is busy and noisy but also exciting and fun to watch. 

This cloudy morning seems to have calmed things down a bit, but not for long I am sure. These families work hard!

Bonus: they set up roadside stands so we can purchase and taste them 🍇 I highly recommend picking some up if you see some in your drive. 

#fingerlakes #lifeinthecountry #newyork
The rain has been so good. More, please. ❤️ The rain has been so good. More, please. ❤️
I want to take moment to send out love to my fello I want to take moment to send out love to my fellow Latinx and immigrant community. 

To send strength to my community of glorious misfits who are out in the world making good trouble and emboldening us to not give up hope on our dreams, our livelihoods, our future, our country, our people. 

The country our parents worked so hard to get to so that we could fly. A country they helped build and bring to prosper. A country our communities help to feed and house and care for. 

I am my immigrant parents dream come true, and my children are a continuation of that dream. 

I just want to remind all of us who represent the targeted, of our worth. Of the value of our contributions. In our languages, our culture, our insights, our work ethic and skills and knowledge. Of the things we bring to the table.

I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, or to us. But, as someone whose family lived through a dictatorship, I have an idea of how this story will end. And all I can advise is that we remain on the right side of it, our convictions unaltered, our core values untethered. Our spirits unbroken. In these stories, the monsters might scare us, and even harm some of us, but they never, ever win in the end. 

I am living proof of that. ❤️ And every time you succeed and feel joy, you are too. Pa’lante, mi gente.
Signs of autumn 🍂 in the Finger Lakes. Signs of autumn 🍂 in the Finger Lakes.

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