Posts from — October 2011

Happy Halloween, everybody!

We ended up skipping out on an after school Halloween party because the girls were freakishly tired. Instead, they stayed home and practiced piano/cello and then vegged out in front of the tv. By early evening the prospect of candy re-invigorated them.

Just as we were going out, M asked for eye make-up. Well, duh, she’s Cleopatra, but as you know, I never think of make-up. I don’t even own eyeliner, so I improvised by dipping a paintbrush into a container of mascara. When M saw me do this she asked, “Is that a paintbrush?!?” with this complete why-am-I-stuck-with-such-an-amateur-for-a-mom tone of voice. But I managed some passable black swoops from each eye and she looked pretty good. J had a cozy Eskimo girl costume, which was perfect for the weather.

I took them out trick-or-treating early, then they came home for a soup dinner and went back out with Cute W. Then, and this is where it gets ridiculous, they went back out, briefly, again. They’d been to a neighbor’s house who’d handed out big candy bars last year and they were disappointed because they got mini-bars. Then a friend dropped by (trick-or-treating) and reported that  he’d received a giant candy bar. So the girls, who had already trick-or-treated at this house once, changed into entirely new outfits (yes, we have an excellent dress-up section in our playroom) and walked up the street again. No dice. Apparently the neighbors were giving the candies selectively and our girls didn’t make the cut. Granted, it’s cheating to go a second time. But they were so cozy and warm at home that I could hardly believe that they were motivated enough to get up, change, and go out again. Behold the power of chocolate.

Anyway, here’s what I’ve found for this week:

Tuesday, November 1st:

• At 1:30 pm, Bethlehem Public Library has On My Own, where 3- to 6-year-olds enjoy a story time while parents stay close-but-not-too-close.

Wednesday, November 2nd:

• From 11-11:30 am, it’s Worldwide Wednesdays International Games for preschoolers at the World Awareness Children’s Museum. Included with museum admission.
• At 1:30 pm, Bethlehem Public Library has On My Own, where 3- to 6-year-olds enjoy a story time while parents stay close-but-not-too-close.
• It’s World Travelers at 1:45 pm at the Children’s Museum at Saratoga.

Thursday, November 3rd:

• Take a family-friendly hike starting at 9:45 am.
• At 1o:30 am, Bethlehem Public Library has On My Own, where 3- to 6-year-olds enjoy a story time while parents stay close-but-not-too-close.
• Elementary-school-aged kids can be After School Adventurers from 3:30-4:30 pm at Albany Pine Bush. $3/person or $5/family.

Friday, November 4th:

• Take a First Friday Hike at noon at Albany Pine Bush. $3/person or $5/family.
• Clifton Park is doing a Stewardship Walk at 1 pm at Veterans’ Memorial Park.
• It’s First Friday in Albany from 5-9 pm.
• Malta Mama is once again doing Kidsgiving at Treepaad in Malta. It’s from 6-8 pm, and it’s $12/child, $8/kids 2 and under, and the money raised goes to impoverished children.
• Go on a Star Watch from 6:30-8 pm at Grafton Lakes State Park.

It’s been a little insane this weekend. Last night J had a friend over and M was at a sleepover. This morning M had a soccer game, and I knew it would be unbelievably cold, so I scheduled a make-up gymnastics class for J, so we had a good excuse to miss soccer. Between the sleepovers and all that athletic activity, both girls took naps this afternoon (although M claims she never fell asleep. In the 2 hours that she lay quietly on a a bed in a darkened room. But whatever). Anyway, the nap was a good thing, because tonight we went out to dinner with some friends. Only grown-ups. Excellent. We had a mini-babysitter crisis, which meant that I’d recruited a babysitter to take care of 4 kids at our house. Plus, we had to fit in a shopping trip after the nappage, because M’s got a birthday party, and I felt a sudden, pressing need for snow boots. Never mind that it was fruitless, with the shelves as picked over as in that Walgreens Halloween commercial (which I could not find on the internet, but it reminded me so much of Target that I laughed out loud).

So I barely managed to get into the door before 6 pm, when both the babysitter and the pizza were scheduled to arrive. Cute W was in the shower, and I had aspirations to apply mascara, so I was upstairs when a daughter summoned me to the front door to see the pizza guy. They’d answered the door, then abandoned it, so he stood shivering on our front step, door swung wide open, while the girls stared slack-jawed at some figure skating competition on tv.  Pizza Guy warned me that I had a hazardous, slippery walkway and accepted some rumpled singles, and meanwhile the babysitter, who was a new one, was driving up. As I ferried the pizzas to the dining table, I told the girls that the babysitter had arrived and J ran to the (still open) door. I thought that her attention span could hold out for the next 90 seconds, but I was wrong. Instead she lost interest and wandered away, and I realized that once again I had someone shivering uncertainly at my front door, which was wide open to the cold. So I made my apologies while the babysitter literally stumbled in. And as I was loudly reminding my children that we have to pay money to heat the house, I looked back and J was standing at the wide-open backdoor. “Close the door!” I yelled, and she promptly slammed the door in the faces of our friends who were delivering the Extraneous Children in Need of a Babysitter.  So I told her that she could open the door again, and she hastily opened the door, informed them that they were allowed to come in, and shut it quickly.

Phew.

But after all that we had a very fun night out with our friends at the Water’s Edge Lighthouse. And yes, I struck out on the snow boots entirely. So tomorrow, if you see some overtired kids playing in the snow in their rainboots, you’ll know that you’re at our house.

Oh, and did I mention that I helped provide helpful hints in case of a Zombie Apocalypse at All Over Albany? You’re welcome.

Okay, this whole Disney trip is quite a bit to process, really. We were there a full week and we did a good two-thirds, at least, of each of the four major parks. One thing that most of us didn’t do was go to Downtown Disney. You know I’m not a shopper, and any pre-departure urges for a date were vanquished by sheer exhaustion, so the oh-so-appealing sounding clubs were more than I could handle. Ssshhhh. Don’t tell me that I should have gone. It’s too late. I’m back to our snow-forecasted reality.

M pushes a cousin at the Magic Kingdom

So, the basics?

We stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort, which worked out well for us. This is a big, spread-out resort, and I think, depending on exactly where you’re placed and when you’re there, it could be a bad place to stay. We were fortunately quite close to Old Port Royale, where the restaurants, fancier pool, and concierge are located. I can imagine that the shuttle buses here would be quite time-consuming in the busy season, but in mid-October that wasn’t a problem. The room was absolutely fine, although they had no Wifi and you had to pay $10 to plug yourself in for 24 hours, which is why I neglected the blog.  It’s really a beach-like setting, with sandy spots with hammocks where you’re not supposed to swim. But honestly? The kids loved the little beach. The pool was super-fun, with two water slides, a zero-entry area, and a water park-ish pirate ship for the toddler-preschool set. We allowed the girls to walk around the resort, and they appreciated that freedom, so that was also a perk.

M & J enjoy some down time at the resort

We did the Disney Dining Plan. Many of our “Table Service” meals were very yummy, and the “Quick Service” meals were fast food. If you eat fast food regularly, you’d be quite happy. We don’t eat fast food much at all, so that was difficult, and the dining plan was smart budgeting, but it sometimes made for challenging choices. All the various meals deserve their own post, really, so we’ll come back to that.

Anyway, I spent much of my writing time today working on a review of the  Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, but that’s not at all presentable for you at this time. Instead, I thought that I’d give you a list about our favorite and least favorite rides.

My princessed-up daughters wait while their cousin gets her hair done at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique

Individual Winners:

• Katie’s favorite rides: Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom & Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios
• Cute W’s favorite rides: Toy Story Midway Mania! and Star Tours at Hollywood Studios (Prior to leaving for our trip, Cute W thought that we might not want to bother going to Hollywood Studios. Thank goodness I went into my guidebook frenzy and prevailed upon him to reconsider).
• M’s favorite rides: Splash Mountain at Magic Kingdom and Toy Story Midway Mania! (actually, these are my best guesses–M’s sleeping over at her friend’s house tonight)
• J’s favorite rides: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Haunted Mansion, both at Magic Kingdom

Individual Losers:

• Katie’s least favorite ride that others loved: Star Tours (ugh! the motion sickness!) and Toy Story (3D glasses + spinning + shooting at video screens=bored, queasy Katie)
• Cute W’s least favorite ride that others loved: Spaceship Earth at Epcot (the girls wanted a repeat, Cute W found it nap-inducing)
• J’s least favorite ride that others loved: Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (she loves the rollercoasters, but up & down was too scary)
• M’s least favorite ride that others loved: pretty much every rollercoaster that didn’t involve water

Group Winners & Losers:

• Single Lamest ride overall: Tomorrowland Speedway at Magic Kingdom (like a local carnival, except that the line was much longer, and the car in front of ours kept stopping from, it seemed, sheer exhaustion)
• Whole-Family Favorite at Animal Kingdom: Kilimanjaro Safari (morning=excellent views of all kinds of animals)
• Whole-Family Favorites at Magic Kingdom: Splash Mountain & Haunted Mansion (both a teensy bit scary without being actually, you know scary)
• Whole-Family Favorites at Epcot: Soarin’ (fun & lovely without inspiring nausea) & The Seas with Nemo & Friends (cute & fun with some learning snuck in)
• Whole-Family Favorite at Hollywood Studios: Toy Story Midway Mania! (part ride, part video game, so people want to do it repeatedly. And by people I mean everyone except me.)

J and I prepare for the Toy Story ride

 Snow? SNOW!?! Are you freakin’ kidding me? I am so not ready for this.

Okay, plenty going on this weekend. Almost all of it Halloween-y. In fact, I just went ahead and went through Monday so we’d have it all in one place.  If there’s something I didn’t catch, please feel free to add it into the comments.

For those of you who missed it, here’s this week’s Kids Out and About newsletter. 

Here’s what I’ve found:

All Weekend:

• The Schenectady Theater for Children is doing a Haunted House at Rotterdam Square Mall. It’s “very scary” on Friday & Saturday nights, or “kid friendly” during the day on Saturdays and Sundays. It’s $5/adult, $3/child.
• The Not So Common Players are presenting Zombie Prom at Shen High School East Little Theater. All performances are free.
• Ten Broeck is a Haunted Mansion this weekend. Friday & Saturday night are supposed to be very scary, with more kid-friendly activities on Sunday afternoon.

Evening of Friday, October 28th:

• At 4:15 pm, it’s the annual Halloween Parade at Clifton Common Park.
• It’s a family movie night at Ballston Spa Public Library at 6:30 pm. They’re showing Winnie the Pooh.
• Go on a Star Watch at Grafton Lakes at 6:30 pm.
• There’s a Witch Walk at 6:30 pm in Ballston Spa. Participating witches pay $20, but sounds like fun to just watch.
• At 6:30 pm, Bethlehem Public Library is hosting a Halloween Bash for grades 6 to 12.
• From 6:30-8 pm at Albany Pine Bush, go on a Halloween Howl Prowl. $3/person, $5/family. It’s tomorrow, too.

Saturday, October 29th:

• At 10 am it’s Family Fun: All About Bats at Five Rivers. Call to register.
• It’s Play for All from 10 am to 5 pm at the Albany Institute of History & Art.
• At 10:15 am, it’s the annual Howl-o-ween Canine Costume Parade in Saratoga Springs.
• It’s Time for Tales at 11 am at the Bethlehem Public Library.
• From 11 am until 4 pm, it’s The Monster Mash and Bash at the New York State Museum. Wear your costume!
• At 11 am, onedotzero is showing Sprites at EMPAC in Rensselaer. $6/adult, kids in free with an adult ticket.
• It’s the Children’s Guide’s 3rd Annual Halloween Bash at Afrim’s from 11 am to 2 pm. $4/child.
• From noon to 2 pm at Mine Kill State Park, celebrate fall with a hayride, apple-bobbing and other activities. It’s free, but they’ll be taking donations for Schoharie County farmers.
• Take a Potter Point Hike from 1-3 pm at Moreau Lake. $2/adult, $1/child.
• From 1-3 pm it’s a Halloween Spooktacular with Radio Disney at Colonie Center Mall.
• It’s the First Annual Mamatoga Monster Bash from 1-4 pm at Irish Times Pub & Restaurant. Tickets are $20/adult ahead of time, $25/adult at the door, and kids are free, and it’s to benefit the Children’s Museum at Saratoga. Mamatoga offers listings of things to do in Saratoga, so if you’re a bit north of me, you should check them out.
• From 2-4 pm, there’s a Halloween Open House at Five Rivers.
• It’s Boo to You: Trick or Treating in Glens Falls from 2-4 pm. Entertainment, kids’ activities, and flashlights distributed to kids.
• From 3:30-9 pm, there’s a Falling Leaves Festival at Kelley Park in Ballston Spa.
• It’s Trick or Treat Street from 4-7:30 pm at Guilderland High School.
• Go on a Trick or Treat Nature Trail at Grafton Lakes State Park  from 5:30-7:30 pm. For ages 5-10. $2/person.
• From 6-8 pm, it’s Halloween in the Hills at Albany Public Library‘s Arbor Hill/West Hills branch. For elementary schoolers and their families, the party will have dancing with a DJ, a magician, snacks, crafts, and a costume contest.
• From 6:30-8 pm at Albany Pine Bush, go on a Halloween Howl Prowl. $3/person, $5/family.
• The Boys & Girls Club of Albany wants you to Thrill the 518. Participate in a world-record attempt of most people dancing thriller simultaneously. The world-record attempt will be at 10 pm. Haunted house, block party, and dance lessons. Free. Meanwhile, they’re also doing this at the National Museum of Dance.

Sunday, October 30th:

• From noon to 4 pm, it’s Rollarama’s Creepy Crawly Halloween Party. $6/admission, $3/skate rental.
• Go on a (costumed) Family Fun Hike at 1 pm at Albany Pine Bush.
• There’s a Halloween Sculpture Family Program at the Hyde Collection between 1 & 3 pm.
• From 3-4 pm, there’s a Halloween Parade in Niskayuna. Cider donuts & glow sticks for the kids. Please bring a canned good to donate.

Halloween–Monday, October 31st:

• From 3-6 pm, it’s Mall-o-ween with Radio Disney at Crossgates Mall.
• You can do Trick-or-Treating from 3-7 pm at Clifton Park Center.
• There’s Trick-or-Treating at Rotterdam Square Mall from 5-7 pm.
• From 6-7:30 pm, it’s a Cemetery Walk with Ghost Stories at Grafton Lakes State Park. $2/person.

Halloween 2006. You know what I like about this picture? That lovely green grass.

Alright, the truth is that we’ve been home almost two days already, but I’m finally “home” to the blog.

Disney World was super fun and unbelievably exhausting.

On our last night, children and adults were both practically nodding off into our dinners, and while the rest of our relatives left first thing in the morning, Cute W, the girls and I jam-packed some more fun into the last day before finally dragging our exhausted selves to the airport for our afternoon flight.

Just in time to learn that the afternoon flight had changed to an evening flight.

So we settled in.

We did a sit-down meal just to chew up time. J ordered perhaps her 8th corn dog of the week.

The girls watched a movie on W’s laptop:

M loved riding the little train between concourses, and W and I took turns doing so. Repeatedly.

We dropped still more cash in the airport gift shop.

J attempted sleep, with minimal success:

Tempers flared. There was intermittent sobbing, a terribly messy spilling-of-an-overpriced-yogurt incident, and marital discord. Really, there wasn’t nearly as much whining as I think was warranted by the situation. The girls weren’t bad at all, and graded on a curve, they were Superstars.

Once on the plane, the pilot tried so hard to make up for lost time that the descent into Albany was crushing to small ears. One infant wailed constantly, and poor J sobbed pitifully, although later she had no recollection of the incident. We touched down a little past midnight on Saturday night/Sunday morning.

Since then, it’s been laundry, catching up on homework, and catching up on sleep. The poor girls have been through the ringer: M has taken 4 tests (spelling, vocab, geography, reading comprehension) and run a mile in gym in the last two days. J’s sleep schedule is out of wack after so many late nights, and she spends the evenings fretting so much about the next morning that she can’t fall asleep. I’ve finally managed to plow through everything in my three different email accounts, and the main living areas of the house are no longer filled, tornado-style, with unpacked items. But both girls’ rooms are terribly messy and I just don’t have the heart to make them clean them up yet with everything else on their plate.

Still, slowly but surely we’re recovering. Soon I’ll have more cheerful posts about our many Disney adventures.  I have notes, I have pictures, but all of it requires more thought than I can handle tonight.

Thanks so much to all the guest post writers! I appreciate it!

Here’s a guest post from June, my colleague at Kids Out and About. She occasionally (and it’s very occasionally lately–ahem!) writes a blog called My Name is June. I Like to Cook. She also wrote the post about making pancakes. Thanks, June!

Do you order pizza on Halloween to scarf down while you pass out chocolate to the trick or treaters? Really? Lame. Really lame. If you plan ahead a little, you can make this stew in advance and then just pop it into the pumpkin at the last minute. You still have two weeks to plan and cook it, because since you’re a good parent like me, you have abdicated all responsibility for the young ‘un’s costumes to the young ‘uns. It’s good for them. Makes them use their little noggins to come up with something original using only duct tape and the leftover tulle from their sister’s wedding. Can you say “Mummy”?

So, while the little ones thrash about desperately trying to complete their costumes before sundown on Halloween, pop this fun stew into the oven and you can pull it out just as the first little monsters show up at your door and demand protection money in the form of chocolate. And let’s not even get into those of you who are too cheap to spring for anything better than a mini tootsie roll. Puhleeze. It’s once a year. But then, who am I to judge? We live so far off the beaten path that I have never had a trick or treater darken my door. I have to go sit on a friend’s porch, but not before we eat the traditional Halloween pumpkin stew. Grandma Foodie used to make it every year when I was a kid. But I’ll bring a pumpkin roll and a bottle of wine with me to my friend’s house, so she’ll be happy to see me. I might even bring her a bowl of pumpkin stew.

Pumpkin Stew

3 T vegetable oil
3 cloves minced garlic
2 chopped green peppers
2 chopped onions
2 lbs beef stew meat
2 chopped tomatoes
1 T sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 pkgs frozen corn
3 diced potatoes
3 smallish sweet potatoes, diced
2 C beef bouillon
8 peach halves
1 medium pumpkin (if you can find  a pretty large pie pumpkin, they are sweeter and not stringy)
3 T butter
11/2 tsp salt

In a large dutch oven, brown garlic, peppers, onions, and stew meat in oil. Add tomatoes and salt. Simmer 20 minutes. Add corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, bouillon, and peaches and simmer 40 minutes.

Brush inside of pumpkin with butter and sprinkle with salt. Add stew and put lid on and bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees or until pumpkin is tender.

Hey! We’re home! Our flight was delayed, so we didn’t get in until after midnight tonight, and today was unpacking, laundry, & homework all day. Which means that I haven’t added anything to these listings since I pre-scheduled this post more than a week ago. For more ideas, you can always check What About TODAY or the Kids Out and About site. And of course I love additions in the comments. When I see them early enough, I’ll put them up in the main post.

More details on Disney later in the week. For now, here’ what’s going on around here:

Monday, October 24th:

• There’s a Meet the Doula event from 6-8 pm.

Tuesday, October 25th:

• Take a Red Oak Ridge Hike from 10 am until 1 pm at Moreau Lake State Park.

Wednesday, October 26th:

• At 10:30 am, it’s Rain or Shine, It’s Reading Time at the New York State Museum.
• It’s a Hoot at 6:30 pm at the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Library. For ages 4-9.

Thursday, October 27th:

• Learn about Cunning Coyotes at 7 pm at Albany Pine Bush. $3/person, $5/family.

Friday, October 28th:

• It’s a Moreau Lake Bike Ride from 10 am until noon.
• Go on a Star Watch at Grafton Lakes at 6:30 pm.
• From 6:30-8 pm at Albany Pine Bush, go on a Halloween Howl Prowl. $3/person, $5/family. It’s tomorrow, too.

Here’s a guest post from Danielle, a mom of 2 in Schenectady. She writes on Examiner.com as the Albany Acting Examiner.  Thanks, Danielle!

Recently on Facebook, I read a comment on a friend’s thread asking if his current show, Spotlight Players’ The Producers, is okay to bring kids to. After discussing tap dancing Nazis, the seduction of little old ladies and gay stereotypes, the mom decided that her 12 year old could handle it.
I was glad to hear a parent ask that question. As a mother of two kids under the age of 7, I ask the question “Can my kids handle it?” almost every time we go out. But live theater can be tricky with kids.

Start small and free or inexpensive. The capital region boasts a wide array of opportunities to introduce kids to live performances. Community theater, outdoor performances, library special events, middle school, high school and church productions tend to be more kid friendly venues. Gailsez.org lists everything produced by theaters- and has a page devoted to free or pay what you will listings in our area. Local papers cover almost everything else.

My biggest reason for free or inexpensive shows is that you have to be willing to leave. Potty emergencies, meltdowns, boredom, and fidgeting all happen at some time or other. My son started feeling feverish when we saw a show at Sand Lake middle school, and we had to leave shortly after intermission because he threw up. If you have kids, you probably have a story like that. And it’s a lot harder to walk out of a show in which you’ve invested fifty or a hundred dollars.

See shows they would like. Action, bright colors and music are always a hit. My daughter, at age two, sat through the entire Nutcracker at Proctors this December. I had planned an exit strategy, anticipating her behavior would be the same as it is in the movies or church where she gets up, walks around, and talks to everyone. But she stayed still with her little eyes glued to the stage, mesmerized by the movement and costumes.  Shows that kids might like, including Park Playhouse’s High School Musical and Seussical Jr. are great choices. It’s outdoor, and lawn seats are free.

Know your kids, and ask questions. The box office of almost any theater will happily let you know whether a show has adult language or situations. You can check their websites or just look up the show itself on the internet. Wikipedia has plot summaries of most shows, or you can find another company that produced the same show in Idaho or South Carolina if you just type the title into a search engine.

Don’t be afraid of the classics. They are a lot more accesible on stage than they are when reading in English class. I’m sure most parents have never seen a Greek tragedy or Shakespeare play live. When the kids are ready, you’d be surprised how much they grasp from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which can be seen for free in various venues around the capital region this month, produced by Hubbard Hall.

My developmental psychology teacher always stressed modeling behavior to the very young. If a child grows up seeing you respecting the theater, making it a big deal, dressing appropriately, sitting quietly and clapping when the time is right, they will learn to do the same. My kids made me so proud when we went to see Titanic this summer. They were mostly quiet, paid attention (especially my six year old) and had such joy on their faces whenever there was an opportunity to clap. They looked to the adults around them for cues on how to behave.

Remember, if it doesn’t work the first time, don’t give up. There is value in live theater that can not be gained through film or television. Don’t let your kids miss out on the experience.

Here’s a guest post from June, my colleague at Kids Out and About. She occasionally (and it’s very occasionally lately–ahem!) writes a blog called My Name is June. I Like to Cook. Thanks, June!

Last Sunday Hannah and I decided to make pancakes for breakfast. Now this is not a rare occurrence; we make pancakes fairly frequently for Sunday breakfast. I had bought some blueberries the day before just for this purpose. I did forget to get buttermilk, though. However, this day, Hannah decided she wanted to make them because we had eggnog in the fridge and she wanted to make eggnog pancakes, and so I said she could and I would go behind her and clean and make the bacon. She started gathering her ingredients while I started the bacon. As she pulled out the baking powder, she asked me what the difference between double-acting baking powder and regular baking powder was. “Oh god”, I thought to myself, “I can’t quite remember why they call it double-acting, I know I used to know, and I, the goddess of food, can’t let my offspring know that I don’t know everything!” Or something like that. Actually that’s really not true, I am fine with admitting that I don’t know everything to my kids, and a few others, but I will NEVER admit that to my hubbie. Or to you. I am the final authority on all things culinary! I am the goddess of food! Don’t forget it. So I mumbled something about people how in the olden days people had to make their own baking powder which consisted of a few ingridients mixed to gether in a certain proportion and when commercial baking powder became available ‘double acting’ connoted that it contained two active ingredients, only one of which I could remember at the time.

Hannah and I really are starting to enjoy cooking together. She is becoming enthusiastic about learning about cooking and willing to try new things. And really, isn’t that about all it takes? Oh, and learning that people who like food and care about it do not serve cheese in a can. Or a jar. (have you ever eaten that stuff? Disgusting!) So I find the times when Hannah wants to cook to be times when she will let her teenagerish attitude down and just be a nice girl again. She respects my abilities in the kitchen and sincerely wants to hear what I have to say about cooking. And so I may slip in a word or two about values, or things I care about, what I want her to know about life. Cooking together gives her a way to let down her defenses. I treasure that time together.

So, as we talk and cook, and drink coffee, (yes, I am a terrible mother. I let my fourteen year old drink coffee. Sue me.) we start to cook the pancakes on the cast iron griddle. I had a banana on the counter that was too ripe to eat, but perfect to cook, so we sliced that and added it to some of the pancakes as we laid them on the griddle. We made some with blueberries, some with banana and some with both. Oh, and don’t forget the eggnog. I wasn’t sure how the combinations would be, but hey, I am always up for experimenting. As we started eating them, with some really great maple syrup from Vermont provided by my friend Gi-gi, we started noticing that the texture was a little waxy, and flat. Maybe it was the eggnog? No, that wouldn’t have done it. Why were these so different? And then I realized: Hannah had forgotten to put in the baking powder. After our long discussions on the origins of baking powder. The pancakes had the consistncy of crepes or clafouti, and they were still quite delicious. We ate them all. We decided to call them pancrepes. It was fun.

Here’s another post that I put together way ahead of time, so there might be updates on other events at Kids Out and About. Do you miss me? What? You didn’t notice I was gone?

(Sigh). If you’ve commented before and have an addition, please share. Here’s what I’ve found:

All Weekend:

• Ragtime is playing at Schenectady Light Opera Company. Tickets are $22-$28.
• On Friday and Saturday from 6-9 pm, it’s Haunted Trails and Barns at Up Yonda Farm. It’s $8/person. On Saturday from 5-6 pm there will also be a No-Scare Trick-or-Treat Trail.

Evening of Friday, October 21st:

• From 4-4:45 pm it’s Jane Austen’s House Party at Bethlehem Public Library. Tea and old-fashioned party games for kids K-8 and families. Dress up if you’d like. Sign-up required.
• At 7 pm, they’re showing a one-hour documentary on climbing giant redwoods at Five Rivers. Pre-register.

Saturday, October 22nd:

• Take a Halloween Haunted Walk at Moreau Lake State Park. Fee is $5/car.
• At 9:30 am, join members of Albany ADK for a 7-mile hike at Thacher.
• At 10 am, it’s Family Fun: Make Your Own Solar Cooker at Five Rivers. Pre-register.
• From 10 am ’til 5 pm it’s Play for All at the Albany Institute of History & Art. Today it’s Play-doh Sculptures.
• There’s an Autumn in NY Walk at Wilton Wildlife Preserve.
• From 11 am until 4 pm, it’s The Monster Mash and Bash at the New York State Museum. Wear your costume! This repeats next Saturday, too.
• From noon to 6 pm, it’s the Hoosick Valley Community Harvest Festival at Schaghticoke Town Hall.
• At 1 pm, Learn to Read a Map and Compass at Five Rivers. Call to register.
• Learn How to Draw Cartoons with Stan Burdick at 1:30 pm at Crandall Public Library. For ages 6 and up; call to sign up.
• There’s a celebration at Clifton Park Center, with Radio Disney from 1-3 pm and trick-or-treating from 3-7 pm.

Sunday, October 23rd:

• Celebrate the Erie Canal’s Birthday from 1-4 pm at Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site.
• Learn about Spectacular Spiders at 1 pm at Albany Pine Bush. $3/person, $5/family.
• At 1 pm, make a Basket of Bird Berries at Thacher. Pre-register & bring a basket and $3 to cover the cost of materials.