The Adirondack League Club, summer '13.

 

 On one of our last days in NYC this last trip, we had dinner down in the old Wall Street district with dear Nathalie and her family. Q bonded quite quickly with Nathalie's younger son. 

 They found some common ground playing with static electricity and some (unfilled) water balloons.

 Nathalie and her older son had recently returned from a humanitarian trip to India and Bhutan. Besides raising money for a local hospital, they also came back with a Tibetan singing bowl, which her son demonstrated for us after dinner.

 Q, fascinated, listening to the bowl sing.

 Naturally, after a couple of demonstrations, she had to try it for herself.

As for the water balloons, they had a greater purpose. 

The kids were waiting until everyone was done with dinner in order to retire to the rooftop patio, where they proceeded to try out the balloons filled with actual water. 

This was March in New York City, mind you. Not usually the time to spend the night playing with water balloons on the roof in shirtsleeves. But this year was different. The weather was fine, dry and warm. Perfect weather for water balloons. 

Thanks Nathalie and family for the best homemade ribs in town, along with the water-balloon-fest for the kiddos!

 After the Met, Q and daddy took a cab back down to Rivington for a much-needed nap. 

But I had other business to take care of.

Very important business, involving oodles and oodles of macarons.

 So, in the fine weather, my mum and I strolled down Madison in search of NY's version of Ladurée.

 It was worth the wait, and we spent the rest of the afternoon ambling around the periphera of the Park, trying out all our different flavors of heavenly macaron.

 When I finally returned to Rivington, this is what I found, a fast asleep Q after her long day of museum-going and park-playing.

 As tired as she gets on the high of the big city, it took her a while to wake up, even at the mention of sweets.

 But once she saw the box, you can believe she sat bolt upright in bed!

 Her favorites? Predictably, the pink ones.

I did not see that box of macarons again once she had it in her hot little paws! 

Ah well. Next time.

 More of the Met, because it's my happy place.

 

I love this picture of my friend Carol Silverman, who is set decorator for HBO's wonderful Boardwalk Empire, sharing photos with my mum on the iPad. 

It's nice to have family and friends together in a place as magical as this. 

 

 

Q happily occupied with her sketching notebook while the rest of us chatted. 

 Q and her beloved LaoLao.

 

 

Apparently my mum and I have similar scarf-wearing styles. Funny, that!

After the museum we met up with our friend Anne and her family at a nearby playground to let the kids run it out in the spring sun.