Thanks to Stonyfield, we had a terrific time Saturday attending Arthur Ashe Kids' Day at the U.S. Open in Flushing, NY. This was our first visit to see the Unisphere and the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center as a family, and it was a beautiful blue-sky day for all 23,000 people attending.
The day started with all sorts of tennis fun for kids: target practice, obstacle course, speed tennis, etc. with prizes sponsored by Hess, Olympus, Nike, American Express, Wilson Sporting Goods and others (They gave 200 kid-sized racquets out to the first 200 kids, but we arrived too late for 'em.). Li'l Boo was ecstactic to be a part of the event and raced from activity to activity doing a phenomenal job given that it was his first time holding a racquet and stepping onto a tennis court.
We appreciated having the option of healthy food choices as we checked out the new Stonyfield Cafe in the midst of a stadium sporting event. So often we're limited to stadium hot dogs, chicken fingers, pretzels and nachos to choose from, and it was refreshing to eat an organic salad, sandwich, chips and yogurt on such a sunny outdoor day when the last thing you want is some heavy greasy food! When we were at Walt Disney World earlier this year we were saying how it'd be nice to have more fresh, healthy, organic options for snack vendors and cafes in the parks. I'd love to see Stonyfield Cafe appear in a Walt Disney World Park or on a family-oriented cruise, or along the PA or OH turnpike driving I-80 from NYC to Chicago. ;-)
I know some may see a menu sign listing a sandwich for $9.50 and think it's expensive, and head over to the hamburger/hot dog/chicken tenders line where you can get a kids meal for $5, or a hot dog and garlic fries for $10 or $12. I'd prefer to eat healthier as long as we're going to spend about the same amount of money, and a $9.50 sandwich is too much for Li'l Boo to eat anyway, so we usually split it with him. Plus, $9.50 doesn't seem expensive to us in NYC for organic ingredients, when it may cost that much for a processed sandwich at a NYC diner or deli. The salad I had was great, and cost less than I usually pay for a salad with blue cheese, chicken, raisins, croutons, balsamic vinaigrette, etc.
There's Li'l Boo with Gurt the Stonyfield Cow...
After all that, we headed into Arthur Ashe Stadium for the Kids Day show (it was broadcast on CBS the next day). The Jonas Brothers kicked off the festivities, and it was Li'l Boo's third time seeing them with Demi Lovato. I'm sure he thinks they're relatives of ours or long distance friends or something. Little does he know that they're kind of a big deal. ;-) We laughed at The Bryan Brothers' "Autograph" song, and danced along with Shontelle, David Archuleta and AllStar Weekend (we saw them perform at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration back in February) and all the while Li'l Boo was clapping those thundersticks.
We had fantastic courtside seats, right next to my bloggy friend @MacaroniKidNYC and to top it off, one of Li'l Boo's friends was there sitting in the next section! Of course, the real icing on the cake for me was getting to see Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, Kim Clijsters and Rafael Nadal on the court up close during their Kids' Day competitions. I asked Li'l Boo if he wanted to play tennis on a court like that, and he enthusiastically nodded. "Yeah, and I can wear my crocodile shirts like Roddick." Lol.
Li'l Boo asked when he could learn tennis, so I looked up lessons at the tennis club near us. The only thing I dislike is that they only have indoor courts and I prefer for Li'l Boo to play tennis outdoors during the summer. l guess we'll just have to look for a different place to take lessons and play tennis around Ridgewood next summer...after we head to Modell's to pick up a racquet for Li'l Boo.
Sounds like you had a fantastic day!
Posted by: Becky | September 02, 2010 at 01:53 PM