Category — Summer

We finally made it to SPAC to see the New York City Ballet!

I’ve been meaning to go for years. They’re here, for what? Two weeks or so each summer? And every year I’m either away on vacation or it’s storming on the night I planned to go or something else ridiculous happens to thwart my cultural appreciation aspirations.

This year my clever and motivated friend invited me along to American Girl Night (sponsored by Emma Willard School). Even though we were tired from our weekend away, I couldn’t pass up a free ride with excellent company. The more the merrier! Also driving an navigating intimidates me. Because I’m a bit of a loser.

My friend was rewarded for her motivating karma with a brand-new American Girl doll, Kanani, the girl of the year, for her daughter! We weren’t even at the raffle area, but M was, along with her friends, and she ran to alert her.  It was thrilling for all of them.

New Doll, Happy Winner, and J to left

Besides the raffle, Cute W just asked me, what makes it an “American Girl” night? There were three crafts (stickers on a cardboard visor, ribbons to tie onto a ponytail holder, and a lei to assemble),  tasty treats (sugar cookies and snow cones), and terribly popular photos taken in photobooths from the Saratoga Photobooth Company. Also little bags and magazines. All included with our lawn tickets, which were $20/grown-up and $5/child.

We had an excellent time. J had her buddy L, and M ran into some friends. The actual ballet, for them, was an afterthought. But I’d go again.

If you want to go, here are my suggestions for extra fun:

• Understand that other girls will bring their American Girls, possibly wearing matching outfits doll-girl outfits, possibly very overdressed with heels, while others will be in shorts. That’s okay. Embrace it and do as you wish.
• Pack camp chairs even if you don’t want to sit in them because when people set their chairs directly in front of your blanket, you will resent them. You will wonder how they can sit directly in front of your six-year-old. Let go of this resentment and, instead, bring camp chairs or an extra blanket for a buffer zone.
• Snack in the car as you drive to arrive at 6 pm. But don’t eat all of your snacks/dinner yet.
• Snag a spot, and then, if you’re there early, head for the photobooths first, because those are the longest lines.

Waiting at the photobooths

• Then, after that, eat some free treats.
• By 7 or 7:30 pm, you will hopefully have scooped up all possible AG swag, so settle yourself down and eat some dinner on your blanket.
• The ballet starts at 8 pm, and this is when your older child will realize that she never got a string for her lei, and your younger child will think that possibly she needs to throw up, either because of snow cone excess or the desire to stay happy for her friend instead of consumed with jealousy about the Kanani raffle prize. Well, okay, that won’t happen to you, but something will happen, because the kids were unbelievably overstimulated and now they’re. . . less so. J kept saying, “They need better scenery!”
• So, really, my suggestion would be to bring along someone who doesn’t care about the ballet to take over at this point (perhaps your husband?) so that you can watch the dang ballet.
• Really, come to think of it, your husband would also be good at helping hold all those AG dolls and bags full of crafts before the show, too.
• And then coordinate with some friends and when the ballet starts, the people who are interested in the ballet can slip over to another blanket very far away from your children’s blankets.
• Also, in that case, bring wine. Hopefully you’ll have a friend who is pregnant to graciously drive the grown-ups home at the end of the ballet.
• And if you don’t plan ahead, with the division of labor and the wine and all, maybe you should all just leave at intermission (about 10 pm). Because 2 out of 3 girls who drove home with us were asleep before we hit Ballston Spa.

We extended our weekend away and only arrived home a few hours ago. I have a ton of accumulated outings for the blog, but no energy to go into them tonight. Luckily we have a couple of weeks of absolutely no travel, so hopefully I’ll be able to catch my breath and catch up with everything else soon.

Meanwhile, I recently wrote an article on area alternatives to your “home base” pool for Kids Out and About. I’ve been helping with the Kids Out and About weekly newsletter, too, so if you haven’t signed up for it, you should.   There’s a yellow box in the lower left where you can sign up.

We arrived home and noticed that it’s freakin’ hot in our house. We only have two window AC units, both downstairs. We manage okay with fans upstairs, except that it’s usually still a little too warm for the girls at bedtime. With M’s foot issue and the hot weather last week, I established what turned out to be a dangerous precedent. Usually I tell the girls to hop in the shower if it’s extra hot, but when the shower wasn’t an option, I ad-libbed. I let each girl lie down on the kitchen counter with her head hanging into the sink, then sprayed each head with the faucet sprayer, beauty-parlor-style, for a quick cool-down. I didn’t think much of it (obviously), but they thought it was the Most Fabulous Activity Ever. Apparently, it tickles.

So now I think they might want to do it every evening for the rest of the summer. It means that I have to actually finish all of my after-dinner clean-up, but their shrieks and giggles are absolutely worth it. In fact, now they like to do each other, but I still have to stand guard to cut them off before things deteriorate into a full-on water fight.  Also to keep their flailing bodies from crashing off the counter.  But they get so much joy out of it, and it only takes a couple of minutes. Also, it’s cheaper than more window units.

A reader asked on Facebook:

I would love some reviews of the pools at Saratoga State Park. Which is better? Are they typically crowded? Worth the drive from Schenectady? Appropriate for 1 year-old, 3-year-old, 8-year-old? Tips from other moms?

I’ve never gone swimming there (and won’t, of course, today)–anybody else have advice to share?

Perfect pool weather! Or beach weather! Alas, we’re not getting wet. In fact, when J was offered the opportunity to go swimming with a friend today, she refused out of pure sisterly loyalty.

So in our search for dry-but-fun outdoor activities, an obvious one was mini-golf. For the 4th of July, we decided to go with a new destination (we’ve been to the Control Tower and Glenville Sportsplex) and have lunch and ice cream.

We tried Oasis Family Fun Park in Troy. We started out with a lunch of champions, including cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers, and fries. There was a bargain deal including pizza, but the pizza didn’t look great. The cheeseburgers and hot dogs were pretty tasty. We ate in the Clubhouse, but if I were to do it again, I’d carry the food out to some picnic tables behind the Clubhouse in the shade. And if you’re wondering if you can bring your own picnic, the answer is no.

Cute W and I basically felt sick to our stomachs for the rest of the day, but I don’t think that it’s a particular reflection on their food–we’re just usually better eaters than that. Oh, yeah: except we also all had chocolate chip waffles for breakfast, too. Okay, okay. . . it was not exactly a Jamie Oliver-approved day of eating. Perhaps there was excessive pity-indulgence going on. In my defense, I’d like to offer that today the girls had spinach smoothies for breakfast and about 3 cups-worth of carrots and snap peas while watching tv.  What, your children were chomping on vegetables while playing boisterously and imaginatively outdoors?  Okay, you win. But it is very difficult to pass the time on a sunny day in the 80s without involving water.

Sorry–I’m whining. And I’m off-track. Anyway. . .

Mini-golfing was fun. It cost $6.50 per grown-up (13+) and $4.50 per kid. I particularly appreciated the holes that were shady and the occasional blowing droplets from the waterfall. Especially since I’m used to the unbelievably sweltering Control Tower. Frequently I feel like mini-golf courses seem squashed into a tiny place, but this felt pretty spacious. At a favorite hole, we hit the balls into a stream, and they were carried through the water, over a grate, and onto the next green.

Cute W's ball is carried on the current

Oasis also has laser tag, a bouncy-bounce thing called the “Defender Dome” (which was closed when we were there) and a paddle boat activity. Actually, I chuckled at the paddle boat area when I first arrived, because it really looked basically like a glorified pool. But after the mini-golfing, we watched folks happily paddling and splashing around. You can go under the waterfall to get completely wet if you’d like.

We finished off the outing with some ice cream. The staff were friendly and quite patient with the girls as they pondered flavor choices. They have hard (Perry’s) & soft ice cream, frozen yogurt, and smoothies.

Oh, and yes: they do birthday parties, as well as season passes.

First, a little art camp news to pass along to you. Someone wrote to tell me (well, us really) about Omi International Arts Center in Ghent and its art camps for kids from ages 5 to teens. I also heard from the Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy that they have so many art camp scholarships for kids ages 6-16 that they need folks to apply, pretty please, so that they can give your kids some free camp. It’s need-based, but you don’t have to be eating ramen noodles every day for dinner to qualify (check the application here, but an example guideline is families of 4 with annual income of less than $60,400).

As for our vacation, there was rain and more rain, a trip to the emergency room, an ill-conceived camp-out, numerous pirate wars, a tragically burnt campfire dinner, and outings that were met with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Really, the kids all had quite a bit of fun, although M is currently denying that she ever had any fun at all. [Sigh.] It’s a long story. Honestly, I think I need a decent night’s sleep before I fully debrief everyone. Nothing like a bit of emotional distance to make misadventures seem comically entertaining.

Still on vacation, and here’s another guest post, this one from Kelli. Thanks for writing and for sending along the great pictures, Kelli!

Monkey mama with baby nursing

Come on! Let's go camping!

Happy Summer, everyone!

Did you know that this Saturday is the Great American Backyard Campout? I actually wrote an article encouraging people to try a little backyard camping, and you can read it at Kids Out and About here.

Meanwhile, if you want to venture beyond your backyard, here are a few suggested campgrounds that are close (or, you know, close-ish) to the Capital District. Some of them have extra comments that I stole from a discussion from my moms’ group:

• Luzerne Campground at Fourth Lake  is wonderfully piney and cool…camping there is wonderful. The lake is small and quiet (only non-motorized boats allowed). There are horseback rides nearby.
• Thompson’s Lake is right near Thacher Nature Center. The lake is nice and has a good beach (great sand for making sand castles). They have a small play area for kids, and a canopy over picnic tables for shade. This is a busy camping spot, but it’s a good one for first-timers.
• Pine Hollow Campground in Vermont is about an hour’s drive. The kids will love the spring fed pond with a sandy beach.  There are paddle boats, shuffle board, horseshoes and fishing.
• Glimmerglass State Park near Cooperstown has swimming and fishing, and you’re allowed to use canoes and kayaks. Plenty of nature trails to explore.
• Lake Durant in the Adirondacks
• North-South Lake in the Catskills
• Rollins Pond near Saranac Lake

Do you and your family ever camp in the backyard? Do you have a favorite camping spot that I didn’t mention?

We’re gearing up for M’s birthday tomorrow. We used to always store wrapped presents on top of this huge cabinet that housed our tv, but since we upgraded the tv, the cabinet’s gone. Today I realized that I could store presents on top of our built-in china cabinet. I wrapped and piled them there, where they just barely fit. Cute W’s presents had to go someplace else, but it was okay that they were lower since I trust him not to peek into gift bags. I said this out loud, and M said, “What?!? You always put my presents up high because you don’t trust me?!? That’s very offensive.” She was so serious that I stopped to look at her, and she relented, “But also probably a good choice.” Indeed. Anyway, gifts are wrapped and cupcakes are baked. Now we’ve just got to hope that the weather’s decent tomorrow.

I already shared a bunch of free concerts, but I know that you need even more summer fun. When I was looking at last year’s posts about free and cheap stuff for the summer, I re-read what I called my parental advisory against trying on swimsuits with your children present. Pretty amusing if I do say so myself!

Here are some free and cheap summer programs for families:

• Bowtie Cinemas in Schenectady is once again doing free movies for kids. It’s on Tuesday and Wednesdays (same movie both days), starting June 21st with MegaMind, which is actually a pretty fun one. Doors open at 9:30 am, movies are at 10 am.
• Regal Cinemas in Crossgates is also doing movies on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (different movie each day) at 10 am starting on June 28th, but this year they’re doing it for $1/person. I thought that Clifton Park was Regal, too, but I couldn’t find information about it. . . are they renovating or something?
• They’re doing Kids Bowl Free again this summer at several area bowling alleys.5
• 15 Love is once again offering free tennis lessons for kids (ages 4 and up) and adults at a variety of area parks. They’ll even loan you a racket. We’ve taken lessons with 15 Love and had some serious fun.
• Colonie Library, near the Crossings Playground, always has a ridiculously huge number of summer programs.
• A concert series that I missed before is the Tuesday night series at Cook Park in Colonie.

First, the health report. J appears to have shaken her fever, although she’s not at her best. She took a huge nap this afternoon, so she’s currently lying in bed at 10:20 pm wide awake. I think that we’re going to do a modified schedule tomorrow, hopefully sleeping in, heading to school late, taking a nap, and then attempting the recital. Meanwhile, M decided to yank my chain and feign illness. And I panicked because she’s singing a solo part in her third grade play on Thursday night. She sounds surprisingly great (although this is the mother speaking), so I would really like her to actually be able to do it. Plus, I admire her fearlessness. So, fingers crossed, and thank you for the healthy karma.

Anyway, since I put together that Summer Camps post, I’ve heard about some more camps, classes, and programs that you might be interested in. They are:

Candyland Activity & Enrichment Center in Schenectady has camp for (potty-trained) kids ages 3-7. It runs Monday to Friday, with session from 9 am to noon or 1-4 pm. $95/week.

There are Summer Art Classes for kids entering grades 1-6 with Heather Hutchison, an art therapist. They’re on Wednesdays from July 13th to August 17th, either 1:30-3:30 pm or 3:30-5:30 pm in Schenectady. It’s $70 if you do the full 6-week session. Contact Heather at heatherarttherapy@gmail.com or 729-7153 by June 27th to enroll.

The Language Learning Institute has summer camps in Latham for kids to learn French, Spanish, Italian, or Russian. They’re generally 3 hours a day Monday to Friday for $175/week. They have other programs for kids and adults.

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.