Posts from — May 2011

We celebrated our anniversary over the weekend with an Anniversary Eve Date, but for the day itself, we didn’t do anything special. Instead, there was quite a bit of puttering, laundering, and organizing.   Ever since my recent triumph with storing the games and DVDs, I’ve been attempting to get different sections of the house under control.

As it turned out, all of that organizing was a particularly appropriate way to spend our anniversary.

I took the girls down to the basement to help sort through boxes that contained a mix of anything I’d deemed memorable over the last few years.  They tore through the collection of greeting cards, birthday cake toppers, and piles of art: endless coloring pages, paper stiff with nursery-school glue, some very original work (including J’s pretzel, which was brown paint with actual salt glued on it: her idea!). My personal favorites are the abstract-looking art that were actually attempted figurative works. If your kids are still teensy, I highly recommend asking them about their art and writing notes on the back.

I didn’t spend much time on nostalgia, too busy trying to keep the girls on task as they sorted into “keep” and “toss” piles. It was only later, when I headed upstairs to re-make our bed, that I reconsidered the whole mess down in the basement.  Each box seemed deluged with pure kid stuff.   But there were also little notes that we’d written to each other, fragments from jobs loved or loathed and almost forgotten, pictures of our friends and their children growing older. Even the stuff that I’d saved to remember the girls as babies were artifacts of our own growing-up as parents together.  J’s photo in her pumpkin costume was taken right after we’d argued over whether to take her trick-or-treating as an infant. The little blue bear has a picture of Cute W with red-rimmed eyes because he was finally allowed to hold M at the NICU.   The story of our children growing up is our family story, as we struggled and cried and stayed awake through the night together.

Just like parenthood can seem to crowd out the love that came first, the artifacts of our romance were half-buried amid the messy jumble of ripped Chuck E. Cheese photos , crumbled macaroni pieces, glitter, and all the detritus of daily parenting life. There was plenty that I happily threw away.  Some stuff had lost its meaning over time, while other pieces foretold the future, if only I’d known. Each object with a story, part of a history together. Suddenly it wasn’t just the princess paintings that seemed imbued with romance.

Alone upstairs later, I put the summertime duvet cover on the bed. A day or two ago I’d pulled off the heavy winter comforter and pulled out the cover, only to find new, large splotches of purple marker. So sad! But after some stain-remover-scrubbing and another wash, the purple was gone and it was fresh and pretty. As I buttoned the cover over the duvet, I chuckled. I always do.  Long ago (12 years, maybe?) I’d complained to Cute W that I wish he didn’t have any opinions about home decorating, because sometimes I just wanted something frivolous and girly. “Like this!” I’d jabbed at a Pottery Barn catalog.

A couple of weeks later, that very duvet cover appeared at our apartment, although it was too expensive. When it arrived I explained that now we’d have to buy a duvet, too. Cute W was surprised and slightly appalled.

I smoothed the duvet over the bed, inspecting it. The purple spots were gone entirely, but there were other stains, faded but lasting. Suddenly all of these objects, tucked away in basement boxes or splayed out in front of me, felt like symbols of our 18 years.

Like the duvet cover. Not as crisp as it once was, with a few stubborn stains.

Still it’s cozy. And beautiful.

We all so deserved the unbelievably good weather today. I hope that you were able to spend it outside. We had a mostly-relaxing day that involved slip-and-sliding for the kids and sangria for me. Excellent. And the delightful thing about a three-day weekend, as Cute W always points out, is that it’s followed by a four-day week. Here’s what I’ve found for this week:

Tuesday, May 31st:

• Hey, Let’s Look for Signs of Turtles at 8:45 am at Moreau Lake. They say to call for reservations, but how busy do you think they’ll be so early?

Wednesday, June 1st:

• Preschoolers can be World Travelers at 1:30 pm at the Children’s Museum at Saratoga. It’s free with admission, but please pre-register.

Thursday, June 2nd:

• Take a walk with some nature lovers at 9:45 am at Hollyhock Hollow Sanctuary.
• Jazz on Jay in Schenectady kicks off today at noon.
• It’s Alive at Five in downtown Albany at 5 pm–does anyone go to this series regularly? One commenter suggested this might be a bit too much of a rowdy drinking scene for families to enjoy–thoughts anybody?
• At 6:30 pm it’s Children’s Circle at the Bethlehem Public Library, a story hour designed with special-needs children in mind.

Friday, June 3rd:

• It’s about an hour’s drive, but the weekend-long Cambridge Valley Balloon Festival kicks off today.
• At noon, go on a Caterpillar Crawl for the First Friday Hike at Albany Pine Bush. $3/person, $5/family; register online.
• Clifton Park is organizing a free Nature Walk at its new Stony Creek Park at 1 pm.
• The Clifton Park-Halfmoon Library has a buy one, get one free Scholastic Book Sale from 2-5 pm today as well as during the weekend.
• It’s First Friday Albany from 5-9 pm.
• St. Basil’s in Troy has a Greek Festival all weekend, starting with 5-9 pm today.
• It’s Ballston Spa First Friday from 6-9 pm.
• At the Ghent Playhouse, they’re performing You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown at 8 pm tonight and through the weekend. $15/adults, $8/children 12 and under.

Someone emailed me today asking about the Capital District Fun Facebook page. Turns out that my link (down on the left column) wasn’t working anymore. Anyway, I thought that I’d take this opportunity to ask all of you to please, please let me know if you click a link and it doesn’t work. It’s like I’ve got spinach in my teeth–you’d tell me, right? You wouldn’t let me walk around looking stupid, would you? I don’t mind so much if the links for time-sensitive stuff on old, old listings of events, but on any of my pages (which is the stuff over there on the right, like the Big Ol’ List of Links), I’d love to know if something’s not working. Email me, please, or comment.

And as long as I’m on the FB topic, I’ll make my semi-annual plug:  if you’re on Facebook, please do consider “liking” Capital District Fun. If you already like Capital District Fun, it would be a lovely and delightful favor if you’d share or like links that you think your FB friends might find useful as those links come along, because then other folks will get a little more fun. Okay–end of FB ad.

Last night we went out on a date for our anniversary. We went to New World Bistro Bar in Albany, and it was tasty. We managed to snag a spot on the patio, which was lucky because they were booked up when we called for reservations (admittedly, like, two hours before we wanted to go). The best surprise was that everyone was right and the “No Crash Brown Rice ‘Risotto’” was actually quite scrumptious. On my first visit to New World (with folks from All Over Albany), I asked someone what I should order, and that was the answer. Inside I was screaming: seriously, people, do you realize that I don’t get out much? Because I deserve something more decadent than anything which is  brown-rice-based could possibly be. So I asked someone else. Same answer. And again, and again. Then I ignored them and went with something else entirely (Thai Italian Love, also tasty). Last night I knew that I had to suck it up and try the brown rice thing. We ended up getting three main dishes, because we couldn’t decide and I was sulking about what I considered to be my moral obligation to try the brown rice. But it was yumalicious, and it turned out to be our favorite main dish.

Here are two photos among many that I took with the little camera that I try to keep handy. I like to stockpile photos so that I can wimp out and post them instead of writing something up. But then I usually just write something up, anyway. Both of these sort of required rants. Ready?

Okay, I took this photograph in disgust, because it’s one of my very least favorite parts of our house. We don’t love this house–choosing it was all about the neighborhood for us. But this spot just drives me crazy. What you’re looking at is the place where my fridge usually goes (that’s its power cord draping across, and just above the tag on the cord is the front of our pantry). What makes me nuts is that whoever created our kitchen put in this pre-made kitchen cabinetry for a pantry, resulting in a half-foot gap of unused space behind the pantry. So first, who the hell says, gosh, I really don’t need that extra pantry space? Also, neighborhood mice like to move into this delightful area with easy access to our foodstuffs. It’s like some sort of comfy rodent resort.

Recently we were visited by a mouse who had the audacity to poop on our counters. I completely freaked out. Cute W’s response was, “What’s the big deal? We had horrible mice problems in that apartment in Brooklyn.” Okay: yes. Years ago we lived in this dump, and there was a hole where the mice would push aside the steel wool, and once a mouse ran over my bare foot while I was standing at the sink washing dishes.

So, sure. It’s not like mice are a foreign concept. But now I am 40. And I live in the suburbs. So that phase of my life should be over, right? And, yes, yes, I know. I am fortunate. My life is wonderful. This is a teensy problem. It’s just that mice still crapping on my counter was not my Vision of Glorious Adulthood. As a child, I thought that I would grow up to have slender, elegant fingers like my mother. I thought that I would fully understand my place in the world and make good money in a rewarding career. I thought that there would be a long golden age between my last pimple and my first wrinkle. I was woefully wrong on all counts. Which, you know, is okay. I’m good.

Yes, I could rebuild the cabinet myself. In theory. Except that I really don’t have the skills. I mean, I could try, but Cute W, who is Super Handy, would no doubt be dismayed by my pathetic efforts and have to step in. I mean, yesterday I was screwing fans back together and I forgot to put the screw into the hole. I was just sort of poking the hole with the end of a screw driver. No, I am not kidding.

It’s not like I don’t try. In this case, I missed out on both Nature and Nurture. So any attempt that I might make to start this project myself would just be a passive aggressive means to get Cute W. Which leads one to wonder, isn’t blogging about it passive aggressive? Yikes, Cute W just walked in and I started giggling nervously and was forced to Confess All. No:  I know that there are many more pressing structural integrity issues that are ahead of  the Rodent Resort in our home maintenance queue. But due to my handiness deficiencies, I would only recognize a structural integrity issue if it literally fell around my ears.

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Okay, one more picture, this from the local grocery store. There’s a whole new line of “healthy snack” products. Carrots and ranch dip: sure! Hummus and pita crisps: yum! But. . . pickles and bacon ranch dip?

What the hell kind of snack is that? Or am I crazy? Is this some weird Upstate New York thing that I’ve missed up until now?

We created the Best Pretend Game Ever this afternoon. It’s called “Spa.” Two people flop out on a big bed while a third person alternates between walking on their bed and giving a full body massage. Then the massage-ees flop over and get more massaging. Then everyone rotates once. What’s wonderful is that my kids could walk on my back endlessly. Which is excellent, because I can lie on my bed endlessly.

Of course, I eventually had to take a turn giving a massage, but we decided it was best to skip the back-walking. Actually, M wanted to go for it at first. Then she paused and said, “Wait, how much do you weigh?” I assured her that I weighed at least a hundred pounds, and she hastily thought better of it. Anyway, that’s one possible career: masseuse.

As for J, there’s always the decorator possibility. I’ve mentioned before that J is a pint-sized Martha Stewart, and recently she decided that the ugly concrete stairs to our back door are simply too dreary. So she chalked on a lovely faux runner. Nice, right?

Meanwhile, M asked me if she would be dissecting frogs in her future academic career. “Well. . . probably they will have that as part of a class,” I answered gently, not sure if her reaction was more like to be: A) Gross, that will be yucky, or B) Oh, no! The poor adorable frog! I mean, within my world, those are pretty much the two possible reactions. Instead she said, “Yay! We’ll be able to look at their guts and stuff!” Encouraged, I told her that it was likely that she’d encounter a fetal pig or two as well, and she was even more excited. I couldn’t believe it. Especially because if I ever try to, say, explain how digestion works, she says, “Yuck! I don’t want to hear it.” I shared my surprise and she put on her my-mother-is-a-dimwit face and patiently explained, “Mom, I don’t want to hear about humans. But those are frogs and pigs.” Oh, right. So, veterinarian-not-doctor? Today’s talk reminds me of the time she was in preschool and asked me how a hamburger was made. I (a somewhat guilt-ridden omnivore) explained in a brief and neutral manner, then followed it up with, “So. . . what do you think about that?” And she swallowed with and replied, “I think this sure tastes like a good chopped-up cow!”

Okay, without being too obnoxious about it, does anyone think that we’d do well to–I don’t know–consolidate some of these freakin’ parades? I mean, there are a ton of parades. And I missed a couple that were tonight.

And now suddenly it’s hot! Hooray! I know some people hate the crazy switch from chilly to hot and humid, but I’m just so grateful that we’ll finally take the extra blankets off the beds and get on with some late spring-early summer already. I even enjoy a good thunderstorm.

Thanks to those of you who’ve emailed or commented with more concert ideas. I’ll add them to the list–I’ve just pretty much overdosed on fun with the parade hoopla.

Here’s what I’ve got for this weekend:

All Weekend/Starting Summer:

• It’s GottaGetGon, a Family Folk Festival at the Saratoga County Fairgrounds in Ballston Spa. Tickets are $50/weekend or $26/day for adults, kids 18 and under free with an adult.
• A bunch of museums are offering free admission for active duty service personnel and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day. For information, check out the Blue Star Museums Initiative.

Friday, May 27th:

• From 5-6:30 pm, there’s a pre-basketball (see 7 pm) Chinese Street Festival in front of the Times Union Center. Food, culture, crafts, and more.
• It’s Troy Night Out from 5-9 pm.
• Starting at 5:15 pm, it’s Kids Night at Albany-Saratoga Raceway. Stock car rides, fireworks, and kids can bike on the raceway. Admission $10/adult, $3/kids 5-12.
• Go on a Twilight Kayak from 6-8 pm at Moreau Lake. Kayaks are available for rent in limited supply. Call to reserve.
• The South Glens Falls Memorial Day Parade steps off at 6 pm. Not to be confused with the Glens Falls Memorial Day Parade on Monday at 10 am. Uh. . . seems excessive.
• Parade at 6:30 pm in Maplewood/Colonie. Last year I listed this even though I couldn’t find a link at all. This year I managed to find an Examiner post listing this, too.
• At 7 pm, there’s an exhibition WNBA basketball game at the Times Union Center. It’s the New York Liberty vs. the Chinese National Women’s Team. Tickets are $5 for kids 2-12 and range from $12.50 to $29.50 for adults.
• The Stillwater Memorial Day Parade steps off at 7 pm.

Saturday, May 28th:

• The Ballston Spa Memorial Day Parade steps off at 9 am.
• At 10 am, there’s a Wildlife Program at Thacher Nature Center. Get an up-close look at animals that are being cared for until they can return to the wild, and find out what to do if you encounter an animal that seems to need help.
• Take a Hudson River Kayak from 10 am to 1 pm at Moreau Lake. Call to pre-register and reserve a kayak to rent.
• From 11 am to 1 pm, kids can bike through an outdoor obstacle course in celebration of National Bike Month at the Children’s Museum at Saratoga. Bring your bike and helmet, free with museum admission.
• Go on a Karner Blue Butterfly Walk at 11 am at Albany Pine Bush. Pre-register; it’s $3/person, $5/family.
• At 1 pm, kids ages 4 and up can learn about Popsicle Science at the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology. Pre-register; it’s $2/non-member.
• At 1 pm, go on an Aquatic Adventure at Up Yonda Farm. It’s $4/non-member.
• Learn How to Compost with Worms at 2 pm at Five Rivers.
• Go Stargazing at Thacher at 8:30 pm. Cloudy skies will cancel the program, with Sunday as the rain date.

Sunday, May 29th:

• Take an Easy Nature Hike at 9:30 am at Moreau Lake State Park.
• From 10 am to 3:30 pm, it’s Sunday at the Farm at Schauber Stables in Ballston Lake. Many activities–like touring the farm, feeding horses and a petting zoo–will be free, while others won’t, like riding a pony ($5) or making a special craft ($3-5).
• The City of Rensselaer has its Memorial Day Parade. Opening ceremonies at 1 pm, and the parade steps off at 2 pm.

Monday, May 30th:

• The Downtown Albany Memorial Day Parade steps off at 9:30 am.
  
• Decoration Day activities from 10 am-7 pm in Schuylerville  at the Old Stone Fort.
• The Berne-Knox-Westerlo Parade is at 10 am.
• The Watervliet Parade is at 10 am.
• The Hoosick Falls Memorial Day Parade is at 10 am.
• The Castleton Memorial Day Parade starts at 10 am.
• There are guided tours at the Schuyler Mansion starting from 10 am to 4 pm. $5/adult, kids 12 and under free.
• It’s the Glens Falls Memorial Day Parade at 10 am.
• The Lansingburgh Memorial Day Parade steps off at 11 am.
• The Bethlehem Memorial Day Parade is at 11 am.
• Learn how to Build a Bird’s Nest at 11 am at Albany Pine Bush. Pre-register; it’s $3/person, $5/family.
• It’s the annual Sand Sculpture Contest at Grafton Lakes State Park at noon.
• From 12:30-1:30 pm, go on a Nature Scavenger Hunt at Moreau Lake State Park.
• The North Greenbush Memorial Day Parade steps off at 1:30 pm.

I’ve been looking into free events this summer. There’s all sorts of stuff available, but there are tons of concerts. I think I’m going to compile them into a page that you can click onto on the right. For those of you who are new to the blog, I’ll plan on adding these concerts into the weekly/weekend listings to remind you, but it’s nice to know about stuff ahead of time, too, right?

I’m sure that I’m forgetting some series, so feel free to leave me a comment or send me an email, okay?

Here’s my pep talk from last year: Pack yourself a picnic dinner and enjoy the great outdoors.  Even when the music doesn’t captivate them, there’s likely to be other kids and dogs to make things more interesting.  You can always bring along a ball or bubbles to guarantee some playmates on the sidelines.  If you’ve got big kids, pick a nearby concert and bike there–a nice little destination.  Get some friends to meet you and let them create their own little camp separate from the adults.  Or if the kids are extra little, run them around, wipey the dirtiest limbs, and pop them into pajamas before the car ride home—you’re golden!  Take the rest of the night off!

And here are a bunch of concerts:

• Freedom Park in Scotia has tons of concerts, often several days during the week. Concerts begin June 22nd.
• The Colonie Town Band will be playing at a variety of parks and libraries through the spring and summer.
• The Town of North Greenbush has on Sundays at 6 pm from July 10th to August 14th.
• At Cook Park in Colonie, there are concerts on Tuesday at 6:30 pm
• The Town of Halfmoon has concerts, usually at 6 pm on Wednesdays (but not every Wednesday), from June 8th to August 24th.
• On the other side of the river in Troy, it’s Rockin’ on the River Wednesdays at 5-8 pm.  It’s starting June 22nd and ending August 24th.  I haven’t seen who’s playing when listed anywhere yet, but I’ll update it when I do.
• The Town of Niskayuna has concerts at the gazebo on Wednesday at 7 pm from June 15th to August 10th.
• The Jazz on Jayseries of concerts in Schenectady runs on Thursdays from noon to 1:30 pm from June 2 to August 25th.
• Ballston Spa does Concerts in the Park from 6-8 pm on Thursdays from June 23rd to August 25th.
• The Alive at Five concert series is Thursday nights at 5 pm at Albany Riverfront Park.  It runs from June 2nd to August 4th.
• There are concerts at the Crossings in Colonie on Thursdays at 6:30 pm from July 7th to August 25th.
• Guilderland has a series of concerts that are usually on Thursdays at 7:30 pm. Family-oriented concerts from June 23rd to August 25th.
• Troy has a Powers Park concert series.  Concerts are generally 6-8:30 pm on Saturdays  starting July 9th. They haven’t listed the specifics yet.
• Argh, Central Park in Schenectady generally has its Sunday night Music Haven series, but the website isn’t updated.
• At the Commons in Clifton Park, they have concerts on Sundays and a Performing Arts Family Series on Wednesdays. Concerts run from June 26th to August 21st.

The winner of the soccer camp giveaway is Judy R!

I’m beginning to think that there’s a particular little season that runs from about mid-May through the first week of June.  It’s when both of my girls feel like they’re ready to be done with just about everything that they do. Their art class, which they loved  from September to April, is greeted with profound indifference. In J’s dance class, the teacher resorts to bribing the kids with special days–today it was bubble gum.

In a week or so, the festivities will set in. A dance recital, a piano recital, the 3rd grade play, classroom parties. But for now, they’re still expected to learn, and frankly? Their brains are full. This morning J took what amounted to a mental health sick morning at home. In the afternoon, M was sobbing over her homework. Homework which was strikingly similar to stuff she’s been doing all year long. They’re toast. It was a long day.

And Cute W is out of town. I’d originally pondered treating ourselves to dinner out somewhere, but after all of the drama, I opted for grilled cheese sandwiches at home. Then I felt guilty about such a grease-a-licious meal and attempted to ply them with carrots as an appetizer. They packed in a dozen baby carrots each and still managed to eat more dinner than I expected. Unfortunately for everyone’s health, I make an excellent grilled cheese.

So, is it only at my house that we experience a horrible little end-of-the-school-year before the end-of-the-school-year limbo? I guess we’ll just have to be patient.

One bright spot today (literally): in the middle of a conversation, J suddenly froze, gestured for me to hush, and gazed out the window with rapt attention. “What is it?” I asked, “Is it a bird? A butterfly?”  “Sssshhhh,” she whispered. “You’ll scare the sun away.”

Oh, my gosh! I just realized that this weather has turned J into the girl from that Ray Bradbury story All Summer in a Day!

Speaking of summer, if you’ve been thinking that I’m a little lax because I haven’t started doing my Free Summer Events Previews, you’re absolutely right. I’m getting on that soon.

I am so done with this weather.

J contemplates the gloom while carbo-loading.

First of all, am I the only one whose entire house is overtaken by the smell of soggy shoes and socks? Everywhere I turn I find something crumpled and cultivating mildew. I have never been a kicky-spring-rain-boot kind of mother. I’m just cheap and not enough of a shopper. They wear their snowboots while it’s chilly, and once it isn’t, their feet tend to get wet. Most years it works. This year? Not so much.

This weather’s just so disorienting. Over the weekend it struck me that usually at this point we’ve spent quite a bit of time biking (like my early March Trail-gator post, which I recommend if you have a pre-bike-rider). But this year we’ve still barely gotten into the groove, with leaky tires and slightly-too-small helmets. Because it just keeps raining. We’ve biked a couple of times, but our outings have been so spaced apart that in between we lose track of the updates that we need to make.

While I was putting together the weekly post, it occurred to me that it’s almost time for the state park beaches to open (that’s right: Memorial Day Weekend). But walking around today, it feels like we’re a million years away from sunning ourselves on the beach. Ah, doesn’t that sound delightful? Surely someday soon. . . .

Then I was pondering our summer accidents and injuries (because of poor J’s tootsies, which I mentioned in the last post), and I realized that last year at this time I was puzzling over J’s hideous bug bites. In fact, it was a year ago this week that it was so hot that I was able to create a bug-exterminating sauna upstairs.

We’ve spent time outside in spite of the weather. Just yesterday we were turning over soil in the garden. In fact, M was naming every worm she encountered “Herman,” and I advised her that with the same name the worms’ mom would have a tough time chastising them when there was Worm Misbehavior.   Then I said, “Actually, I’m anthropomorphizing the worms–do you know what that means?” M said, “Yeah.” I was impressed but suspicious, so I asked, “What?” And she answered, “Ummmm, trash-talking?”

In fact, during the watering portion of the gardening, the girls ended up soaking each other with the hose, so I’m waiting for the pneumonia to set in.

But meanwhile, it’s just starting to feel like we’re in the weird early-spring time warp. And I want out!

I was too exhausted by the extravaganza that is Niska-Day to post last night. Seriously: a parade, a birthday party, a carnival, a pig roast, and fireworks. Almost entirely fun. Except when M pushed J in one of those big plastic Flinstones-styles cars and J put her toes down and got the tops of her big toes scraped off. This, after we’d spent half an hour watching little boys crash in the most insane and frightening ways without physical trauma of any kind. But J’s in the car for 2 minutes and she’s driven to hell in a handbasket. Really, she was okay. It was just particularly horrifying to watch, because we saw J’s face transform from joy to agony. She recovered and rallied for the fireworks.

Part of the parade tradition is candy-throwing, and with our house early on the parade route, the girls got quite a haul of durable, throw-able candy. After dinner tonight, M tasted her first Mary Jane candy. I hadn’t had a Mary Jane in years, so I told M to just take a little nibble, because I would gladly finish it for her if she didn’t want it. On the contrary. She thought it was yummy, and she proceeded to tease me by moaning with delight at its delicious Mary Jane goodness. And moaning. Way too much moaning. We both tried not to giggle and Cute W said, “Please, M. Don’t do that any more. No father wants to hear that.”

Now the clock is ticking: how long will it take until I break down and buy myself a whole bag? Because, you know, I remember it being tasty, but from what I heard tonight, it sounds even tastier than I remembered. I’m only kidding. It’s really the Bit o Honey that’s causing me to pine. Because she wouldn’t share that, either.

It’s kind of a slow week, really. Yikes. So, having exhausted my various options, I thought that I could check the weather and console you that we could all spend plenty of time playing outside. Then I checked the weather, and frankly, it’s not looking pretty. So bleak and rainy, in fact, that I decided to check all the malls to see if there were any lame-ass events for inside. Nope, nothing. Sigh. Well, there’s always What About TODAY?, right?

Also, don’t forget that you have until Monday at 5 pm for the soccer camp giveaway.

All Week:

• Joyful Jumpers will be closed Monday to Friday due to a construction project.

Monday, May 23rd:

• Learn how to use a compass at Moreau Lake and play some games. Call for time–it doesn’t say on the website.

Tuesday, May 24th:

• I didn’t find anything. Sad, right?

Wednesday, May 25th:

• From 10-10:45 am it’s Kids at Work at the Bethlehem Public Library. Stories about tools and trucks for kids ages 2-6.
• Sling Babies is hosting a Sling Out at North Bethlehem Park on Weds at 10 am–just added based on comment below.
• Rain or Shine, it’s Reading Time from 10:30-11:30 am at the New York State Museum. Free. And that’s why we love them.

Thursday, May 26th:

• At 9:45 am, go on a hike with other families at W. Powell Bird Sanctuary.
• It’s Children’s Circle from 6:30-7 pm at the Bethlehem Public Library. Stories and activities planned keeping special-needs children in mind.

Friday, May 27th:

• The Children’s Museum at Saratoga will be closed this morning and open at noon.
• At 3:30 pm, kids ages 5 and up can learn about Wacky Water Bugs at the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology. Pre-register; it’s $2/non-member.
• From 5-6:30 pm, there’s a pre-basketball (see 7 pm) Chinese Street Festival in front of the Times Union Center. Food, culture, crafts, and more.
• It’s Troy Night Out from 5-9 pm.
• Starting at 5:15 pm, it’s Kids Night at Albany-Saratoga Raceway. Stock car rides, fireworks, and kids can bike on the raceway. Admission $10/adult, $3/kids 5-12.
• Go on a Twilight Kayak from 6-8 pm at Moreau Lake. Kayaks are available for rent in limited supply. Call to reserve.
• At 7 pm, there’s an exhibition WNBA basketball game at the Times Union Center. It’s the New York Liberty vs. the Chinese National Women’s Team. Tickets are $5 for kids 2-12 and range from $12.50 to $29.50 for adults.