Quick roll of the dice..

This past weekend was pretty hectic with hurricane Irene on the way. My friends and I already had a trip planned to Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut for one of their birthdays. We opted to leave early Saturday before the storm hit and just hang out and spend the day. Usually you would think there isn’t much to do in a casino, but gamble and eat or shop at expensive places. This is partially true. We ended up going to the spa to get pedicures in the afternoon. The staff was very friendly and they did a great job on our pedicures. However, these pedicures were like 80 bucks! Crazy, but we all enjoyed ourselves and we live it up for each other’s birthdays. We have all been friends since elementary school so it’s nice to take a break and get to have a girl’s night every once in awhile away from our hectic schedules. 

After our pedicures we grabbed a bite to each at California Pizza Kitchen. SO delicious! If you’ve never been to one you are surely missing out. There spinach and artichoke dip is to die for. Anyway, after lunch we just walked around the casino for a bit. A few of us played some slot machines and some roulette. We won a coupe of bucks and decided to save it for later. We went back to the room and just hung out for a little while we all got ready for our night. We went to a great Italian restaurant in the casino called Al Dente. Excellent food once again, but of course it was on the pricey side. We then went to a comedy show in COMIX. The tickets were surprisingly cheap and the comedians were really funny. We rounded off the night with some more gambling and drinks at the center bar in the casino. 

This is a great thing for a group of friends, men or women, of any age, to plan once in awhile for a quick getaway. There is also Mohegan Sun near Foxwoods, which is about a 20 min cab ride. Mohegan has a lot more well known performers for concerts to attend. There isn’t much to do for young kids at the casino, but they do have bowling, golf, a swimming pool and other activities. The Mystic Aquarium is not far from the casino’s and I believe there are also some beaches around that area. 

A stroll in the park..

Finals and the end of the quarter have been keeping me pretty busy, so I didn’t have much time to plan anything crazy. It was really nice out the other day so a friend and I decided to just take the train in NYC and walk around Central Park. I’m a big people watcher and just sitting on a bench watching all the very interesting people in New York City can be quite entertaining.  There’s a cute little place near 85th street called BallPlayer’s house where we grabbed some salads for lunch and they have great outdoor seating. It’s located near the Heckscher Ball fields so you can watch some games if they are going on while you are eating.

After lunch we walked over to the Central Park Zoo. It’s not far from the ball fields considering how big the park is!  There is so much more do to at the zoo then one could imagine. They have a 4-D theater for kids to watch some short movies. They also have an adult education program that provides art classes, photography lessons, and so much more. The tickets for the zoo were only $12.00, which I think is pretty good for anything in New York City. Tickets for children were obviously cheaper at only $7.00 and children under three years old are free!

Usually we would take the train when we go into the city but we decided to drive since it was so nice out. Going to a local park, zoo, aquarium, or any such exhibit can be a great thing to do on a nice day, especially when you have children. You could even skip the zoo and such and just go to a local park and bring a picnic basket, or let the children play on the jungle gym. It’s a great day and you could do all of that without even spending any money! Most communities have some type of park area but if not there are sure to be some local parks you could travel a short distance and find one.

I don't wanna grow up..

My family came up for the weekend to do an unveiling for my grandmother’s gravestone. It’s not very often that I get to see them so I tried to plan something exciting. My cousin has a 4-year-old son, Seth, who has never gone bowling before. I couldn’t believe he had never gone bowling! I remember as a child going bowling all the time with bumpers and loved rolling the ball between my legs down the alley. It went so slow but as a child the anticipation could kill me, waiting to see how many pins I knocked down.

We went to New City Bowl. Seth was so excited while bowling. He was dancing on the wood floor loving his bowling shoes and how slippery the floor could be at times. After one game he got a little bored though. I guess playing with three people can take a bit of time, especially when one is a child, the game doesn’t go very quickly. So I figured after some bowling there had to be other fun activities to do, especially since the rain had finally cleared up for the morning we could find something to do outside.

There is a great place about 15 minutes from my house called Closter Golf Center that has a really nice miniature golf course. I think he enjoyed the mini golf a lot more than bowling because there were so many interesting things to see while golfing. They had big giraffe’s and water fountains. They also have go-karts but we figured he was still a little too young for that.

These types of activities are a great change from the normal everyday summer enjoyments like the pool, or the beach. It’s great to have some family time that you can enjoy and make you feel like a kid again as well! I always loved mini golfing but never think to go unless I have a child with me, but it’s definitely true that it can be fun for all ages. Not to mention it definitely tires them out and can give the adults a nice break after all is said and done and the children are taking a nice long nap.

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Although the point of this blog was supposed to be about exciting things I’m doing this summer and good ideas for other people to find things to do, this weather is really putting a damper on my excitement. However, to make up for not being able to do anything exciting this week due to massive thunderstorms and rain I decided to do the only good thing there is to do on a rainy day. I went to the movies!

People always say to make the best of what’s around, right? So that’s exactly what I did. Grabbed some lunch with a friend, then we went to the movies, and even got manicures and pedicures. The movie we saw was Horrible Bosses, and it was anything but horrible. It was definitely a good comedy movie, not one of the normal plots you see nowadays. I feel like movies are always the same story, especially love stories, but comedies have taken a different turn and they always give you something you aren’t expecting. 

Going to the movies is always something good for someone of any age to do on a rainy day. Since it usually only takes a couple hours and that just isn’t enough for me, we added in lunch and some pampering. There’s this great little restaurant right around the corner from my house called Potato Republic. They are a small place but have great food. I’m a sucker for their wraps, I get the same exact thing every time I go: Grilled chicken in a whole-wheat wrap with lettuce and pesto on the side. They are known for their sweet potato fries, which are out of this world. They give you a choice of about 20 different dipping sauces to choose from, and depending on what size fries you get, you can get one two or three, or you can get as many as you’d like of course, they just charge you extra. Well my friend once made me try maple syrup with sweet potato fries. At first I looked at her like she was crazy but I gave in and tried it and WOW, it’s delicious! Definitely recommend you all go out and try it, you won’t be disappointed.

Manicures and pedicures can be so relaxing if you go to the right place. You have to find the places that have deals during the week for mani/pedi for $20, which is what I do of course. Who has 50 dollars to spend on their nails all the time, that’s insane in my opinion. The place I go to gives the best pedicures. What makes a good pedicure you ask? Simply answer: the massage. Obviously the polish needs to look good but the massage can make or break an entire mani/pedi experience. 

Each one of these things is obviously a fun thing to do on a rainy day, but putting all three together really gives you a whole day to keep busy. It’s nice for a family to be able to get to the movies, or even a mother with her daughter for her first nail appointment.  I’m sure it’ll leave some great memories for the kids on a day that seems to start off not so good because of the weather. You can always check your local movie times at Moviefone.com

Row, row, row your boat..

Well unfortunately because of the weather this weekend I was not able to go on my next adventure, which was supposed to be kayaking. I’m pretty bummed because we had a nice big group of people willing to go and I’ve been dying to go kayaking for such a long time!

There is a place near Cold Springs, NY called Constitution Marsh, which has kayaking and many other outdoor activities. To rent a kayak it’s only $25 for 1 hour, $45 for 2 hours, or $65 for three hours. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me. They also offer instructions and tours on kayaking. They have a great website that explains all of this at Hudson Valley Outfitters 

I wish I had more to say about this and hopefully this weekend or next I’ll be able to get up there and finally get to kayak. Upstate New York is really a great place for outdoor activities, there is so much to do and the scenery is just breathtaking. On September 3^rd at 7pm they will be hosting a Cold Springs Kayaking tour with fireworks. If you can’t tell from my other posts I’m a sucker for fireworks. Ever since I was a little kid I’ve loved watching fireworks.

If anyone has ever been here I’d love to hear some reviews on it, or anything you can recommend or suggest I do. Even if you’ve been kayaking before, any tips would be helpful. It can’t be too hard to just paddle around although I heard there is a bit of tides that roll through. I’ve gone white water rafting (which is AMAZINNGG) so I’m pretty sure I’ll be all set for kayaking!

Hometown Glory..

The town where I live had recently built a minor league baseball stadium for our CanAm team. I decided to go check it out last night with some of my friends. I’ve heard that the team isn’t so great and doesn’t win many games, but still thought it would be a fun thing to do. On Thursdays they have dollar beers and fireworks, can’t get any better then that!

The stadium is actually really nicely constructed. There is ample parking and it wasn’t difficult to get in or find a spot. They offer the usual baseball stadium foods, hot dogs, mini pizza, pretzels, peanuts, and cotton candy. The stadium is not very large so no matter where your seats are you feel as if you are only a few rows away from home plate. The tickets are between 12-20 dollars, which is really cheap for a baseball game!

During the game they do all the normal things you’d see at a major league game. They get the crowd involved in contests and giveaways. They also have booths set up in the stadium for local programs and businesses so that people can make donations or learn more about their program. My favorite booth, which is almost always at the games, is the Hi-Tor animal care center. They actually bring some of the dogs that are available for adoption so that people can meet them and see how they interact with other people, hoping to get them adopted. The animal care center is located right next to the stadium parking lot.

The game was awesome and they actually won! 8-0 none the less with a complete shut out by the starting pitcher. The fireworks at the end of the game were really pretty. The turn off almost all the lights in the stadium, keep the music playing, and the fireworks are set off in left field. This is definitely a great place to bring kids or go as a family for a nice night out. If you have a stadium near you I’d go check it out one game, and if they happen to be playing my hometown team, well then.. let’s go Rockland Boulders!

Beach bummin'..

So I finally got to the beach yesterday for the first time this summer. It was a gorgeous day, a little cloudy at times, but still nice. I’m not a big fan of swimming in the ocean so the clouds were a nice break from the sun to cool off for a bit! Luckily we got there really early because by 3pm the storms were about to roll in and we had to book it out of there!

We went to Belmar Beach in NJ. It’s only about an hour away from where we live. Belmar is one of my favorite beaches around. It’s always very clean and a good place to bring a family. They have many options of surfing, boogie boarding, and even kayaking. They also have a great boardwalk to stroll down and a marina. 

I haven’t been to the beach in awhile, other than when I go on vacation to Florida or such. When I was younger I had a bad experience at a beach. Who thinks to wear shoes while walking on the sand. Well, I recommend you always do! I was walking back from the boardwalk, holding my flip-flops in hand, and I stepped on something in the sand. Picked up my foot and it was gushing blood. Ended up having get 5 stitches in my foot because some inconsiderate person left a broken bottle of glass in the sand. Luckily this wasn’t at Belmar and I will never go back to the beach were it occurred. This is why I think Belmar is a great place; they take pride in their beaches and clean them thoroughly every night. 

If you’re looking for a great local beach to take your family this is it. It’s much better then going to Seaside Heights or down further. Those beaches have a much younger crowd and can get very rowdy. I don’t believe Belmar has many great hotels or places to stay right near the beach so it might be a bit of a hike to walk with children. Make sure you bring a stroller or at least be prepared to pack up the car and drive a few blocks to the beach. You can find lots of great information at the Belmar website.  A beach is always a nice way to take a day to relax and enjoy the summer. But always make sure you remember to put on that SPF!

Going for a dip...

Boy was this place AWESOME! A friend and I had heard of this place from another one of our friends that went up last summer. We decided to make a day trip of it since it’s not that far from where we live. It’s called Split Rock Falls. It’s located in New Russia, NY in the Adirondack Mountains. The entire place was so beautiful, although I’ve been known to be a sucker for nature. There’s something just so peaceful about it. 

Of course I didn’t bring my camera with me, which would be my iPhone, I couldn’t risk ruining it, so I failed to take pictures. Next time I go I’m going to take my regular digital camera with me and snap lots of photos. There were so many things I wanted to take pictures of. The water was a bit cold when you first jump in but after that you warm up to it, a little.

I would definitely recommend this place for anyone in the New York area looking to take a day trip if you enjoy hiking or nature. There’s not much to do other then that but it’s fun. There was a guy up there that said he lived not far from the falls and has known it to be very dangerous at times. A few years ago a few teenagers were actually killed when they drown in the water. New York State owns the land and had put up fences in the more dangerous parts but people have avoided them and still go as they please. I can see how it can get pretty slippery even getting in and out of the water on the rocks.

This may not be a place for young children but it’s definitely a cute place for couples to go, or like I said just a nice day trip for some friends to cool off in the mountains. Here’s a website for other swimming holes and hot springs in New York that you can check out, depending on your location. Swimming Holes

DMB Junkie!

Well today is not about something I did, but something I will be doing. I bought my ticket last night to go see the Dave Matthews Band Caravan at Governor’s Island in New York City on August 26th I am beyond excited. I’ve always been a huge Dave fan and I’ve heard this festival is absolutely awesome. It’s a 3 day event (although I’m only going on Friday) and there are so many different groups/bands playing besides Dave Matthews Band. It’s bound to be a good time.

Dave makes the best memories..

I remember the first Dave concert I ever went to at Giant’s stadium back in 2001. People still talk about that concert till this day. As soon as they came back on for the encore, the skies just started absolutely pouring rain. The vibe in the entire stadium went wild. Nobody cared that it was raining they were enjoying every moment of it.That one stands our more than any others. I can't even count on two hands how many Dave concerts I've been to.

Anyway, back to the caravan. They have already played two other times, once in Atlantic City, NJ and once in Chicago, IL. It’s an entire weekend of awesome music and I would recommend anyone to go check it out if you are in the area. It’s a full days worth of stuff to do so even if you have to travel it may be worth it if you like this music. After New York they will be leaving the East Coast, heading out to Washington.

Did you go?

Did you go to any of the other shows in NJ or IL? If so I’d love to hear how they were! A few friends of mine went to NJ and said it was simply amazing, which made me hop right onto the Internet and buy my ticket for Governor’s Island! I mean what could be better then taking a ferry to an island and listening to music that you love all day? I would say this is not so much a family event, although I do know some hardcore lovers of Dave Matthews that take there three young children to these shows. I’ll keep you posted after the show and let you know how it was.