If you know us, you also know that we rarely venture into the city - the driving, the tolls, the paying for parking or, alternatively, the driving around looking for parking, the kids incessantly asking where the driveways are and why we can't park in them. We just don't do it. We briefly entertained the thought of taking the train into the city but the below freezing temperatures combined with the prospect of dragging the double stroller through the train station was just too much for me.
So we drove*. We ventured into the city with all the kids the other day - and it was totally worth it. The chocolate making class at Chocolate Works was the most fun I've had (um, I mean the kids have had) in a while.
Each kid had the opportunity to wear an apron, which for my four year old, was almost too exciting in itself. The child was unable to stop smiling from the moment we entered the store. I couldn't stop smiling either once one of the chocolate ladies came over with a sample tray. Yes, please and thank you very much, I will have another, thanks for asking.
While the chocolate was hardening in the molds, each kid had to make the very difficult decision of whether to choose an Oreo, a salted pretzel or a graham cracker to cover in melted chocolate. It's hard to choose - and my kids had some difficulty understanding why they couldn't have all three, but eventually, we wound up with 3 Oreos and a pretzel. Josh and I had no trouble choosing at all - he went with a graham cracker and I went with a pretzel. Sweet and salty, a no-brainer.
Our chocolates and treats were packed up in pretty paper bags and we were on our way.
The classes are a little expensive, but we grabbed a groupon for a class good for four kids. If you see one, grab it, it's so worth it.
*When did parking on the street in the city become so expensive? And where did all the parking meters go? They've all been replaced with muni-meters, which, while a nice and tidy concept which negates the need for many many quarters, also have a down side. Parking meters used to live next to each parking spot. Insert quarters, grab the kids and go.
Now, you park, bundle everyone up with gloves, hats and scarves, get the stroller out, walk everyone all the way down the street, pay at the muni-meter and then walk everyone all the way back to the car to put the tiny little receipt into the car window. All I can say is that it's a process. And an expensive process - when did parking on the upper west side become 50 cents for 10 minutes? Because I have to say, it takes us ten minutes to get out of the car. Muni-meters: possibly not the most family-friendly parking option around. And now I'm done complaining.