A Birthday Trip

For Nico's birthday last year, we planned a trip to Philadelphia in place of a party. We spent a night at a swanky hotel near Rittenhouse Square, visited the Please Touch Museum, and hung out with some good friends. Lee goes back to our college days and he couldn't be a more thoughtful guy and gracious host. He sends cute cards to our kids, remembers our wedding anniversary, and once put photos of us on his fridge right before we came to visit, a good trick that I need to try. We met April and Josh through friends and and now they feel like family. They have an adorable daughter named Hudson who Nico likes to call Hummus and together we've taken many trips and shared more memorable meals than I can count. Thanks to all of them, I'm now a fan Paesano's sandwiches, Yogorino's frozen yogurt, and Metropolitan Bakery's almond croissants. I'm still not sold on Philly cheesesteaks though.

Nico turns 3 in a few months and I want to make birthday trips a ritual. He's an adventurous little guy and I'd like to think he'd prefer visiting a new city instead of being the center of attention for two hours and getting tons of gifts. I'm sure he'll beg for a party some day, and should he demand a celebration this year, we can always have some of his Brooklyn buddies over for Blue Marble ice cream cupcakes.

If I could take him anywhere, I'd pick the Ballyvolane House, a country B&B in Ireland that's run by a young family. I read about it in Cookie Magazine a few years ago and it sounds like such a cool place for adults and kids. The house itself looks beautiful and all of the food comes from the family's garden and surrounding area. They're also near one of Europe's most important salmon rivers and offer fly fishing. It's not an option this year, but maybe some day.

A road trip is more realistic, so I'm thinking that a spring weekend in Boston would be nice. Nico would love riding the T, we could eat lots of sweets at Flour and hang out with our friend Tara, a teacher, yoga instructor and one of the most calming people I know. Nico loves her and flirted big time when she visited us a few months ago.

Another idea would be to rent a house in the Catskills with a big backyard and kitchen where we could play and cook all day. Daniel and I spent our anniversary in Saugerties five years ago and it'd be fun to go back with two kids in tow. I still have a few months to decide and am not sure where we'll end up. If anyone has any ideas for places that aren't more than four hours from Brooklyn and would be good with a baby and toddler, I'm all ears.