Best of 2021

Family Adventures (from Mommy Poppin's 100 Things to do in NYC with Kids Before They Grow Up List):

January - 239 Play and Juice Bar on City Island & Skyline Drive-In Toy Story 4 Movie
February - Staten Island Greenbelt Hike

March - New York Chinese Scholar's Garden in Snug Harbor Cultural Center

April - Pier 2 Roller Rink in Brooklyn Bridge Park

May - Totally Kid Carousel at Riverbank State Park

June - Central Park Lake Rowboat & Brooklyn Cyclones Baseball Game

July - Rockaway Beach, NYC Ferry & The Beast Speedboat

August - Washington Square Park Fountain, Little Island, & The Wizard of Oz outdoor movie in Fort Tryon Park

September - Giant Piano in FAO Schwartz in Rockefeller Center

October - Blessing of the Animals (Cookie & Cocoa!) at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine

November - Horse Riding at Bronx Equestrian Center

December - Skyscraper Museum

 

Sharon's Best Novels (Sharon only read female writers this year)

(1) Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

(2) Separation Anxiety by Laura Zigman

(3) A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline

(4) Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler

(5) Becoming Jane Eyre by Sheila Kohler

(6) Severance by Ling Ma

(7) Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Sharon's Best Nonfiction

Just Liet Me Lie Down: Necessary Terms for the Half-Insane Working Mom by Kristin van Ogtrop

David's Book - Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Books Read Aloud by Our Entire Family - Half Magic by Edward Eager, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and Harry Potter and The Cursed Child by Jack Thorne

Book Read Aloud by David to Mateo - The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

Books & Stories Read Aloud by Sharon with Mateo - A Warrior's Daughter by Zitkala-Sa

Best Family Art Exhibits & Public Art

Sharon shared her love of art with Alexi and Mateo by taking them to see different art exhibits and/or public art every month:

January - Luminocity on Randall's Island

February - Celestial by ARTECHOUSE @ Chelsea Market

March - Talking Heads by Viktor Vicsek, C/C by Angela Chong (both in the Financial District) & El Dorado - The New Forty Niners by Cecile Chong @ Snug Harbor

April - King Nyani Love the Last Project by Gillie and Marc Schattner in Bella Abzug Park in Hudson Yards

May - Doors for Doris by Sam Moyer @ Public Art Fund in Central Park

June - Ghost Forest by Maya Lin @ Madison Square Park

July - Trumpeter Swans Mosaic by Juan Carlos Pinto and John Sear, sponsored by the Audobon Mural Project, @ 163rd and Broadway

August - Church and The May Room by Shantell Martin on Governor's Island and Upstream/Downstream Augmented Reality in Re-Growth in Riverside Park

September - Kusama: Cosmic Nature at the New York Botanical Gardens

October - As Long As The Sun Lasts by Alex Da Corte @ Met Museum Rooftop Garden & Metropolitan Museum of Art Highlights Tour

November - A Fountain for Survivors by Pamela Council in Times Square & Tomb Effigy of Margaret Corbin by Zaq Landsberg in Fort Tryon Park

December - The Fifth Season Holiday Sculpture Trail along Fifth Avenue

Best Public Art Seen by Sharon - Re:Growth, A Celebration of Art, Riverside Park, and the New York Spirit in Riverside Park

Our Favorite At Home Grown-Up Movies

(1) Another Round
(2) Better Days

(3) Collective

(4) Phantom Thread

(5) Here Alone

(6) In the Name of My Daughter

(7) Nomadland
(8) Sarajevo

(9) Tenet

(10) The Piano Teacher

(11) Last Christmas

(12) The 12th Man

(13) Despite the Falling Snow

(14) Promising Young Woman

(15) Vivre Sa Vie

(16) Judas and the Black Messiah

Our Favorite At Home Family Movies

(1) Harry Potter (Mateo read all the books so we re-watched ALL the movies)

(2) Vivo

(3) Monsters Inc. and Monsters University

(4) Bend It Like Beckham

(5) Oliver!

(6) Jumanji, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level

Best New Year Activity - LuminoCity on Randall's Island

Best Baking 

Sharon, Alexi & Mateo baked a different type of cookie every month from recipes in the Cookies for Santa cookbook:

January - Peanut Butter Chews

February - Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheels

March - Goodnight Danish Drops

April - Oatmeal Cookies

May - Choco-Chip Bars

June - Peppermint Pinwheels

July - Iced Chocolate Cookies

August - Chocolate Butterscotch Pinwheels

September - 7 Up Cookies

October - Dream Bars

November - Applesauce Cookies

December - Santa Claus Cutouts

Best NYC Film Festival - NYC International Children's Film Festival (virtual edition watched at home this year)

Favorite People/Places/Publications to follow on Twitter

1. MORE-UFT - @MOREcaucusUFT

2. DOE - @DOECorruption

3. PRESS NYC - @safeschoolsny

Best Birthday Party - Mini Golf @ Pier 25 in March (outdoor birthday party in the winter due to COVID-19) 

Best Museum for Families - Skyscraper Museum

Best Family Event - Blessing of the Animals at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (outdoor edition)

Best Yoga  - Hatha Yoga and Soundbath with Anthony (RIP Bread and Yoga)

Best Family Cycling  - I Pedal NYC (first family bike buy Glen ride!)

Best NYC Park - Fort Tryon Park

Best Concert/Live Musical Events - Handel's Messiah at Riverside Church

Best Family Member Performance -  Mateo performing Bach & Beethoven (masked) on the piano in Merkin Hall

Best TV Series - Versailles

Best Travel Destinations 

* Surry, Maine

* Somersworth, New Hampshire

* Raleigh, North Carolina

* Richmond, Virginia

* The Hamptons, Long Island

Best Camping - beachfront cottage for fall foliage camping in Heckscher State Park

Best Halloween Event - Trick or Treating in Dumont

Best Vegetarian Restaurant - Bodai Vegetarian Restaurant in Brooklyn

Best Restaurant - White Barn Inn in Kennebunkport, Maine

Best Pick-Your-Own Fruit - The Orchards of Conklin (apples)

Best Holiday Event - Manhattan Christmas Shopping and seeing the Rockefeller Tree (finally back) 

Best Christmas Surprise - All of us being home together for the week of Christmas due to both Alexi and Mateo's classrooms being closed due to COVID-19

Best View of NYC - Uptown Manhattan on our monthly family bikerides

Top 5 Reasons to Love New York City at the End of 2021

(1) POLITICS - We are getting a new mayor

(2) PUBLIC HEALTH - It is easy to get a PCR or Rapid COVID-19 Test in any neighborhood in the 5 boroughs

(3) SOCIAL LIFE -  SantaCon brought Omicron

(4) CYCLING - Plethora of Citibikes downtown mean you are SOL to get a Citibike uptown

(5) EDUCATION - In person schools have now returned to virtual Zoom classes due to rising COVID-19 positivity rates