“Look how long this bridge is. Have you guys ever seen such a long bridge?”
“Wow, this is so long.” SJ
“No. Are we still over the water?” BR
“Yup. We are crossing over the Henry Hudson River.”
“Who’s Henry Hudson?” BR
“He was an explorer. You should look him up.”
“This the longest bridge ever.” SJ
“How long is it daddy?” BR
“I don’t know. Look it up. Guys, look to your right. You see New York City? You see the tall buildings?”
“Wow, I can see it. That’s amazing.” SJ
“How far is it to Manhattan from here?”BR
“I don’t know. Look it up.”
Amazed and curious – these are my children.
—
On Sunday afternoon, we strolled into the Discovery Museum in Connecticut. Well, it looked good on the website. My wife paid the entrance fee – $36 – as I distracted the boys. I hoped it would the rest of the museum was more impressive than the entrance.
Ninety minutes later we left the museum. Amazed, or SJ as I refer to him here, for some reason loved the color house. Curious, or BR as I refer to him here, was fully engaged with the simulated outer space mobility feature.
While my wife and I thought the museum was mediocre at best, the boys were content. And that’s all that matters.
Later, we arrived at the hotel. My children love staying in hotels. I can’t quite pinpoint what it is about hotels they love, but I think amazed and curious are happy to be in a new place. Unfortunately, amazed and curious’ love for hotels does not translate into their care for hotel rooms. In fact, their decibel level and trashing of the room would have made you think that amazed and curious were some pompous rock band or star duo had been the hotel guest and not two young children.
I thought the hotel and room were standard, not memorable.
On Monday morning, we went to a water park. Amazed and curious splashed away for two hours enjoying each of the water attractions.
I thought the water park was a bit small and was disappointed when the children were done after two hours.
Next up was the arcade. Off amazed and curious ran. They spent a good half hour playing games, collecting tickets, and picking out prizes.
As they went along, I questioned, “Don’t you want to try this game, no, do it like this, why don’t you get one big prize? I think you would have more fun if you did.”
Advice not needed.
By 1:30, we were on the road home. Amazed and curious were occupied in a game of seek and find with my wife before eventually employing various electronic devices.
While they were involved with their gadgets, my wife turned to me and asked, “Did you have a good time?”
“The museum was kind of lame, the hotel was okay, the boys were done so quickly at the water park and what is up with those prizes BR picked out. What about you?”
“I really enjoyed getting away.”
“I’m glad. It is nice to get away.”
“Yup. Besides the boys enjoyed it – you know BR actually wanted to go back to the museum, and SJ thought the hotel was awesome.”
“Really? Okay then.”
I’ll take SJ and BR any time. It’s good to be amazed and curious. It’s good to have a great trip.