why we don't go to museums

adam had president's day off and we just purchased a membership to the Museum of Natural History for our nanny (it's her fave), so we decided to make the pilgrimage to the Upper West Side to make use of it.

i am very close to calling myself a new yorker, but not quite. i remember upon moving here some random person told me you had to live here 10 years in order to make that claim (it'll be 9 for me in june). however, everyone who doesn't live here always asks if we go to the MOMA, the Met, etc., all the time (and we don't). it makes me wonder why we don't do more museum stuff in our illustrious city. the events of this past Monday explain why:

The Museum of Natural History:

1. although there were no signs, we got yelled at for trying to carry the stroller into the main entrance
2. then we got yelled at b/c adam almost went in through the out door at the rose space center entrance (god forbid you are handicapped here; the handicapped entrance is about 1/2 mile from the main entrance)
3. the museum was so packed, there were literally a dozen strollers waiting for the one tiny elevator down to get tickets, so we carried the stroller down three flights of stairs
4. okay, tickets scored. coat check line is approximately 50 people long. not sure if they check strollers...it's also 60 degrees--no exaggeration. we are sweating like pigs but decide to put our coats in the stroller and put alexandra in the ergo carrier on adam's back instead of wait in that line.
5. several people bumped into alexandra on adam's back as if she were a backpack. adam gets miffed. baby could care less.
6. we enter the exhibit (finally), but then decide we need a map to try to find a small corner of the museum less full of tourists and B&T folk (that's Bridge & Tunnel folks for you non-NYers)
7. we make our way back to membership (like salmon swimming upstream) and get a damn map
8. we carry the stroller back upstairs (again, elevator line too long) and make our way through to get out of the space exhibit and hopefully into a less-crowded space
9. we get to entrance #2 into the main museum and its even more crowded than the space section. the stroller is being kicked around by rabid kids whose parents have obviously abandoned them. security guards stared at the ceiling and pretended they were somewhere else.
10. adam and i look at each other, abort the entire mission, and go share a peanut butter chocolate milkshake at EJ's.

and that, ladies and gents, is why we don't go to the museums!
the moral of this story is: Don't leave brooklyn on the holidays! For real!

ps: the best part of our day was the dog run in prospect park...the photo is of a pup who was cooling off in a mud bath.