Friday, June 26, 2009

Finger Lakes

I'm from a small town called Penn Yan in the Finger Lakes region of New York state. It's one of my favorite places in the world. It wasn't as a teen living there, but now is as an adult going back to visit! We're leaving tomorrow to camp for the week.

If you're ever looking for a nice get-away that's not too far from home-approx. 6 hours from Fairfield County, then this could be the place for you!

www.fingerlakes.org

I won't have a computer with me, but may use my parents' computer if I get a chance. So, you'll hear from me when you hear from me! Happy 4th of July!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

The Family Coach

Earlier in the year my husband's company sponsored a day of seminars by The Family Coach, Catherine Pearlman. She was wonderful! I received her newsletter today and thought I'd pass on her website in case you need some help on the homefront!

http://http://www.nyfamilycoach.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Moms EMT

When I moved here I was disappointed not to find a local MOMS Club. I had been the president of my Allentown club and found it a great way to get connected quickly to the local mom scene. I did find this group and have had fun getting to know these women. They have a monthly meeting where the kids are in the classrooms downstairs with sitters while the moms have social time and hear a speaker. There are mom's nights out, playdates and other fun outings. The one drawback is that most of the moms are from Fairfield and Trumbull and most of the outings are over that way, too. What I have found refreshing is that they're all very down-to-earth and friendly.

http://www.momsemt.com/

I had a lovely day today. I did go for my massage and then went into Old Navy to look for a suit. They're all half price, but there aren't many sizes left. I also looked for shoes in the Nine West store and they didn't have anything that I like for NYC tomorrow. I want something comfortable that's cute. I'll have to come up with something from my own closet. I also got my hair cut and highlighted. Not sure I like it yet or not. She really cut a lot and I hadn't even planned to get a haircut!

I'm hitting the big city tomorrow. Should be a fun time!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Decadence Times Two

We had a fabulous day! It started at Michelle's for playdate with Matthew. She had a delicious lunch of fried veggie rice and chicken nuggets for the kids. Then we got home to find an email from Catherine and headed to meet her and Kim and kids at the pond. We were there til 5. If you haven't been yet, Bisceglie-Scribner Pond in Weston is great! It's just a little man-made pond with a sand beach, life guards and playground. It's free for Weston residents. And, residents can bring guests for free. The kids had a ball! The moms enjoyed chatting.

Tomorrow we'll go to Pam's for her Arbonne open house, Grace will have her piano lesson (www.musika.com -the teacher comes to us!) and then the sitter will come. I'll head to Massage Envy. I joined at the beginning of the year and have really enjoyed the massages! They have a reasonable membership option:
www.massageenvy.com

Then I'll go to the salon for highlights (Ultima Thule in Westport-it's a nice, full-service salon that takes walk ins!) and then to get a mani/pedi. I'm going to try the place on Post Rd near Edible Arrangements. Mon-Wed they have a mani/pedi special for $25! In between I may even shop for that bathing suit I really need. That's the part I'm not looking forward to!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Fairfield Families

Wow! This is a great site! I scour for fun stuff to do and it's all right here!

www.fairfieldfamilies.com

While checking out the week's events you can click on Chef's Table. They have live children's music on Tuesdays from 10 am-11 am. They also have live music for adults other times. The menu looks great! This is the place that's right next to Carvel on Post Rd.

http://www.chefstable.com/home.html

I'm going to go start reading the new book club selection. I haven't read a novel in years! Yes, sad, but true!

Last day of school, 1st camp day

Despite the threatening weather we headed to Wilton after Grace got home from school. I can't believe my baby is a second grader now! Here is my "green" kid from the Weston Forum:
http://www.thewestonforum.com/ But, I digress.

We got to the library and I should have seen it coming when the parking lot was packed and there was no carnival to be seen. We did, luckily, find a good spot and headed inside. The carnival was indoors in a "large" room and overflowing into the courtyard. The first thing we did was get in line for popcorn. We waited 20 minutes and got two small bags filled half-full. After that I told Grace we'd go shopping instead!

But, while I was there, I checked for The Ten Year Nap and was able to check it out! Yay, that's for the new book club that's meeting in July.

We then headed over to Krik-it. They're having an amazing sale. I let Grace pick whatever she wanted from the 75% off rack and then she tried it all on. She got lots of summer clothes for a great price! Lola had a ball playing with the blocks, piano and watching Pinky Dinky Doo!

We hit Stop and Shop for dinner essentials and headed home. Now, I've got to get moving on these chicken shish kebabs. The recipe came by email from Self today and sounds great!

The girls are now watching The Little Mermaid and I'll have some time to cook!

Tomorrow will be a playdate in the morning and anything goes in the afternoon! If you're doing something fun and want company, let us know! :)

More Library Fun

The Wilton Library also has a fun-filled summer planned! Today is their carnival to kick-off the summer reading program! I had planned to go to Westport for storytime later today, but if the weather holds we'll head to Wilton instead!

http://www.wiltonlibrary.org/childrens/

I tried to sign up for the marine animal activity and we're on the waiting list.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

NY Aquarium and Coney Island

Started the morning off with Rich's parents here and a Father's Day breakfast. After they left we headed to Brooklyn to the NY Aquarium. Since we're members of the Bronx Zoo we also get into the aquarium for free and get free parking. They had a special mermaid day and a real live mermaid made an appearance at the sea lion show along with some synchronized swimmers. It was the best sea lion show I've ever seen. The mermaid Grace insisted was someone with a tail covering her legs.

We ate lunch in their cafe, which was standard cafeteria food. Did get a 10% discount for members.

After looking around at more fishies we headed out to the boardwalk. The kids got Italian ice and Rich and Grace got some dogs at the original Nathan's. We'd heard that Coney Island was pretty seedy now, but it's really not so bad. It's definitely a mix of people, which we rather enjoyed.

The trip home was tough with traffic and the GPS taking us a screwy way. It took just about 2 hours to get home. It took about an hour and 20 to get there. I don't see going back often or by myself with the kids, but would go again at some point.

Grace's last day of school tomorrow and "Camp Milliman" officially starts! Lord, give me strength! haha

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Lockwood Mathews Mansion

I really must go to sleep, but found www.fairfieldcountychild.com and have been reading through and clicking links and the time just flies by!

The mansion near Stepping Stones is offering monthly storytimes. This would be neat-too bad none of the dates work for me-how 'bout you?

www.lockwoodmathewsmansion.org

Danbury Fair Kidz Camp

The Danbury mall is having a Kidz Camp this summer. It sounds pretty good with entertainment and crafts. Unfortunately, it looks like you have to sign up on June 30 in person. I may call in our registration as we'll be out of town that week.

http://www.danburyfairmall.com/assets/danburyfairmall/Sales_Promotions/KidzCampFlyer.pdf

The mall has a kids play area-and says they have a new play area. So, don't know if they added another one or just updated the existing one. Anyway, we have fun just going to the mall for a junky dinner and carousel ride. If we can pair that with camp, that would be a nice outing!

Day recap

This morning Grace was up by 7:30, which didn't give me much sleeping in time! My little Lola is a champion sleeper and got up around 9:15.

Spent the morning just cleaning up and doing laundry. Rich's parents called and said they had gotten lost. So, they didn't get in til around 12:30. Rich had gotten the requisite Gold's Deli stuff and the table was set. We all sat down to eat as soon as they got in.

We sat around for a while chatting and then Rich's mom suggested seeing UP. We hurried to get ready and headed to Fairfield. Lola fell asleep in the car and woke up in the theater. She did well and sat for the whole movie-her first movie at a theater-besides IMAX.

What a sad movie! Grace and I were sobbing through a lot of it. Me because I just found it so sad and touching and she for the same reason and because there were some scary, intense parts. She didn't like it much and wanted to go home. If you'd ask her now if she liked it, she may say she did!

We went home and then went back out to The Red Barn http://www.redbarnrestaurant.com/ for dinner. It's not really my type of place-typical continental cuisine-steak and seafood. The place really was an old barn, which I love. Some day I want to live in a barn house. The decor is rustic and filled with antiques. The food was pretty good. Everyone liked their food. I was very disturbed by the iceberg lettuce salad. I mean who serves that kind of pedestrian salad anymore? I'm not a big fish person, but decided to try the fish with BBQ sauce served over lentils. I adore lentils, but what a weird combo. Just didn't work for me.

The kids had the chicken fingers and fries. I tried the chicken finger and it had a lot of bland batter on it and just wasn't very good. Neither ate much. Most likely because they had filled up on bread. The bread was good, but can't usually be messed up too bad.

We skipped dessert and ate the eclairs that Rich's parents brought from Perkins. Well, that made my night!

Now, what to do tomorrow?!

Dinner out with the grandparents

We're trying to decide where to take Rich's parents for dinner. Of course, must be kid-friendly, have a nice ambiance, good food, etc. Rich immediately mentions Bobby Q's, which he loves, but where we've already taken them! One time we had a lot of family visiting and made a reservation for 9 at Bobby Q's. Little did we know they have a large, private room upstairs. It was like having our own banquet!

Hmm, was thinking The Beach Cafe. I went there on a girls night out once and liked it a lot. I don't drink, but had a pomegranate cosmo-yum! This place has a fun, beachy atmosphere, that reminds me of the Beach Club in Disney World. They have movie nights for kids Thursday and Friday nights. So, I'm thinking since it's Saturday night we should go somewhere else and head there on a Thurs or Fri!

http://www.beachcafefairfield.com/

We've never been to Cobb's Mill Inn, which is debatable whether it's kid-friendly. I read a blog about a woman who went there with her husband and had a lovely time and then with her in-laws and kids and didn't have such a great time. Our decorator went for Mother's Day and said their ovens weren't working and the food was cold. I do want to try it sometime, but may wait for a date night or one of these many ladies nights out I may try at some point.

Rich ate at The Red Barn recently and said it was pretty good. It was your typical continental cuisine, but a Westport landmark-as the Inn is a Weston landmark. That's a possibility. He said he did see a kid's menu, which is always a good sign.

The Georgetown Saloon is a place I keep thinking we'll take my parents. I think it's a bit too honky tonk for Rich's parents. We went on a Sunday night for family night and had a ball. They had a guy playing kid's music and singing and the kids were all up dancing. Rich and I stopped in one night and immediately walked out and headed across the street to Donna Marie's. That was quite good, but didn't have great accoustics. That's also a place I'd hesitate to go with kids. Although, they do have kids' nights, I recall reading.

Rich's parents have already been to Orem's Diner. This is by far our favorite diner in the area. We'll probably go there for breakfast before they leave in the morning. The Sherwood Diner is ok, but is small and the food isn't as good.

I love the carmelized onion pizza at Bertucci's and love how they give kids dough to play with. But, it's not much on atmosphere.

Toozy Pasta in Wilton is fun. We went and sat outside one night and had pizza. It was quite good. There is another place next door that shares the same patio that also looked cute. It's tricky finding these places as they're behind the CVS.

Portofino in Wilton is also good and surprisingly kid-friendly. Hmm, that's an idea for tonight! Remember that when you go it's cash only!

Another place I'd like to try is Coco Bongos. I don't think that would be good for the grandparents, but maybe for Father's Day. I read that dads get a free entree tomorrow!

I could go on and on as we eat out way too much, but I must get ready for our guests! Oh, that also requires that Rich go to Gold's Deli for "deli" for lunch! If you haven't been there, they've got real NY Jewish deli food-it's across from Trader Joe's in Westport. It's also very expensive!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Quassy Recap

Before I hit the hay with a cotton-candy induced tummy ache, I had to take a minute to report on our adventure.

We hit the road by 5 and took the Merritt. Of course, it was backed up so we didn't get to Quassy til 6:15-would take around 51 mins without traffic.

We purchased $10 worth of tickets and headed in and just started riding rides. It was a gorgeous night and the park is right on a small lake. We enjoyed the carnival, small-town feel of the park, but most of the clientele left something to be desired. Let's just say there were lots of tattoos and smoking.

We had dinner, which consisted of mac and cheese and chicken nuggets. I just ate what the kids didn't eat. That all came to around $16.50-with a soda for Rich. The kids meals do come with Quassy frisbees, which is an added bonus. Although, I got tired of carrying them around!

Rich got several 50 cent hot dogs for himself. The park wasn't too crowded, but we did have to wait for the hot dogs (and later, cotton candy) and for some of the rides. They didn't have enough staff and some of the rides were handled by one person, which meant they took turns running the different rides.

Later we got the 25 cent cotton candy-5 bags per family, which we did take advantage of. Ugh-I ate two whole bags before we got home. Rich had fried dough and Lola had a lollipop. Rich said the dough wasn't that good.

Overall, it was a pleasant experience and we would do it again. We did spend about $40 for the night (including $5 for parking), but have about $3 left in tickets to use another Friday night. The worst part was getting home so late and having hungry kids that had napped either going or coming and then getting them to bed. Lola was in bed by 10:45. Hopefully they'll both sleep in tomorrow!

Quassy Deal

I was just reminded about this great deal. Since we're not having our BBQ tonight because of all the rain, maybe we'll head to Quassy! It's 25 cent night!

http://http://www.quassy.com/about_press_detail.asp?id=189

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Shout Out

I just joined a mommy book club that starts this summer. I met one of the moms on email that also blogs. Hers is so good I should just give it up! A shout out to you, Catherine! I'll ask her if I can share her link.

Whole Foods has a bunch of recipes to do with kids. Check it out!

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/search-results.php?convenienceId=1


A while back I posted about the summer free movies. Here are a few more links to other theaters with free summer kids' movies!

http://www.bowtiecinemas.com/pdfs/Kids_Flyer_2009_Marquis.pdf
http://www.regmovies.com/nowshowing/familyfilmfestivalschedule.aspx?state=CT

For other free summer fun, don't forget to check the libraries! Weston has a few summer programs and Westport has a whole bunch!

http://www.biblio.org/weston/summerprogram.htm
http://www.westportlibrary.org/children/index.html

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Hammonassett

We just returned from a fabulous camping weekend at Hammonassett Beach State Park. It's only an hour from Weston up I-95. The campground is within walking distance to the beach and is flat with huge spaces. They have a camp store, nature center, jetties, boardwalk, snack bar and trails.

We love the town of Madison. It's very quaint with shops and restaurants. There is a really fun restaurant we found today where we had lunch, ice cream and a carousel ride!
http://ljfishtale.com/page/2683-Home

This trip could also be done as a day trip. We checked out the park several months ago to see if we'd want to camp there and are so happy we found it! We're going back two more times this summer/fall.

Nearby are the Tanger and Premium Clinton Crossings outlets as well as at least three movie theaters. We went for a ride and went through Old Saybrook and Essex. Connecticut is such a beautiful state! We really felt like we were on vacation-and so close to home!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Guilford

Daily Candy sent this info today about Guilford. Looks like a fun day!
http://www.suzysaid.com/westport/index.php?page=stories&family=momtomom&display=5827

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Photos










































A nice playground.

The little restaurant across the street.










I take lots of pix and then Rich uploads them to the computer once a month. I thought I'd post some here of The Dinosaur Place. If your kids love dinos, it's worth checking out!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Splashdown

I just remembered a sign for Splashdown USA that we've seen on the highway a few times. Mapquest says it's 1h 11 min from our house. Here's the link for a waterpark not too far away
http://www.splashdownbeach.com/index.html

Amusement Parks

I signed up for the Lake Compounce email newsletters and was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of coupons included!
http://lakecompounce.com/

We haven't been yet, but have heard it's a nice park. If you go, check out their website for online ticket purchase deals.

Another park within an hour drive is Quassy Amusement Park. Check them out at http://www.quassy.com/ I just signed up for their email newsletter and hope they offer coupons, too. Their website has a few deals.

Finally, here is another park to check out http://www.ryeplayland.org/default.htm

I'd love to hear your experiences with any of these parks!