I loved taking the beans to the New York Public Library. We were walking across town from Grand Central Station, and when the library first came into view, I asked them if the area reminded them of any of the stories we’ve been reading at home. “Madeline,” Abigail said. Not exactly, but it is a metropolitan area similar enough to Paris, so she wasn’t too far off. Lucas was stumped, too. “A book about how sometimes it’s okay to break the rules,” I said. They looked at each other, then up at me, then at the statues of the LIONS on the steps of the library, then back up at me, their eyes wide. “Library Lion! Library Lion,” they cheered. I felt as if I’d just been lit up from the inside, watching their excitement. “Can we go inside?” We hadn’t planned this trip, which is perhaps the best way to navigate a city, so it was even more of a delight to find ourselves inside the New York Public Library, reading one of our favorite books, Library Lion.

A long-awaited dinner with family at North Hills. It’s so good to be home.

Last night we went to Piccola Venezia in Astoria, Queens to celebrate Phil’s mother’s 70th birthday!