as luck would have it...

Today I took the time off of life to spend time with the middle child - little B, Bugaboo, Bryson Jr. He needed a Mommy & Me date, and I had a Groupon that expired today. After an explosion last night with this temper (which shall be recounted later in a dramatic story telling....), I realized this child needed some one-on-one attention.

I told him that the two of us would head out to the NY Hall of Science and let him explore and discover. Oh his excitement was what I had hoped for! Instant smiles, a huge hug and the excitement that this was going to be his day!

After my Visiting Teaching appointment, I came home and we packed up snacks and went out to the car and buckled in for our adventure. Thankfully the museum is out in Queens and a much easier drive than a subway ride...at least it would have been an easy ride if the navigation system had worked completely, but after a few loops around we finally made it and I was impressed that we were arriving within a short time of 10 o'clock - the museums opening time.

As we drove into the parking lot Bryson commented, "Mom, there aren't a lot of cars here". I looked out and only thought how nice it was to find a spot near the front and that for whatever reason the Ticket Booth to pay for parking wasn't open. Hmmmm...must be an old ticket booth I thought.

We got out of the car and put the bag together to take in. I finally had my camera loaded with a full battery and the card reader so I could take pictures of this great day with little B. We walked up to the door - enjoying the bright sun on the crisp fall day. It has been freezing over the weekend with the crazy winter storm that came through on Saturday - so to walk with just a sweater on and feeling the warm sun beat down made my heart so happy. Bryson looked up at me and a big smile cracked across his face too. He started to skip and our hands swung together up into the blue sky. I thought to myself - this is one of the best days I've had in a long time ---- we both needed this day to do something different and just enjoy time away!

We were nearing the entrance when a big guy in the white uniform from the museum walked out.

"Ma'm - we're closed today."

"What? It's Monday - why would you be closed?"

"We're always closed on Monday."

"Really? Because it's not just Monday -it's Halloween! How can you be closed on Halloween? (which the holiday has nothing to do with science, but it made sense to link them together at the time) And I have this coupon - it expires today. It's good for the two of us to come into the museum - we've been planning on this!"

"I'm sorry. We are closed."

"Can he at least play out on the science playground for just....a....b...."

The man was shaking his head a BIG NO, and said, "No way! Are you crazy?"

I wanted to say - YES! Yes, I am crazy! That is why I planned this amazing day to have with my son, and didn't think to check the website. I only knew my Groupons expired today and that I needed to have some time with my son. Can't he just run on your playground for 5 minutes?!

Instead, we turned around and walked to the car. I apologized to Bryson and told him I was so sorry that it was closed - and that we would come another time. I felt terrible - he had been so excited for this day! Surprisingly - he was not drastically upset. I thought he would be screaming and throwing a fit (recent experience assured me that it could be a crazy one!).

When I told him he was a good sport for not getting upset, he told me "Of course I'm a good sport - I'm good at just about every sport I play!"

We spent the rest of the afternoon running errands - talk about a really good sport! We went to Aldi's - a favorite grocery store that was in Virginia when we lived there. We returned some things to the mall and then we came home and he sat on the couch and read for over an hour!

All in all, it was still a great day. We spent time together and we enjoyed doing something different for the day....I think he just needed a break from school - and I needed a break from school/PTA as well.

Even though it turned out well - I still felt a bit like Clark Griswald (played by Chevy Chase) in the movie 'National Lampoon's Vacation' when he takes his family to Wally World, only to drive up and realize it is closed. I haven't seen the entire movie, but I remember watching it on TV and the part where he drives up the theme park that they drove all the way across the country to visit.

I only drove across part of Queens - but I wanted that Hall of Science to be open! Next time....oh next time I'll check the internet and be sure to double-check the days & hours of operation!