Family Fun

When you sit down to eat a hot stack of freshly made pancakes, you pour real maple syrup on top, right?!  With over 2,000 maple sugar makers, New York is a large producer of pure, all-natural syrup.  Back in 1995 the New York State Maple Producers Association organized the first “Maple Sunday” to educate the public about maple syrup production.  22 years later and Maple Weekend continues!

This year Maple Weekend 2017 will be held on March 18-19 and March 25-26.  Over 160 farms and museums will open their sugar houses for tours, samples, family-friendly activities and more.  Now is a great time to see how maple syrup is made, restock your syrup supply and maybe also purchase some additional goodies like maple sugar candy. Some sugar houses are also hosting pancake breakfasts, for an additional charge.

You can read all about our experience at Crown Maple when we visited during NYS Maple Weekends in 2015.  This is a fun, family experience that we will be participating in again this year!

We recently took a family trip to the RISD Museum in Providence, Rhode Island. Since it’s a museum on the campus of the Rhode Island School of Design, I thought it was going to be a small, dinky place to spend an hour or two.  Boy was I pleasantly surprised at what a treasure trove of art is showcased in this museum!  We visited the museum on a Sunday, when admission is free.  In a rather quick, cursory tour, we were able to see almost all of the museum exhibits in a day.  After a long day of walking around the galleries, we spent some down time in the open studio where the family relaxed and crafted.

If visiting the RISD Museum with kids, I highly recommend checking out the following exhibits that will hopefully interest your kids, like they did ours.  I did not include pictures of the pieces because I think that it’s more fun to see the art for the first time in person.  I also only included pieces that are in the permanent exhibits, although the temporary exhibits have lots of interesting and fun pieces as well!

12th Century Japanese Buddha (Asian Art Galleries)

The 10-foot tall wooden sculpture of the Dainichi Nyorai Buddha is truly breathtaking.  The Buddha was originally installed in the museum in 1936.   After a 2-year, 2.7-million dollar renovation, the Buddha has a new home in the museum’s sixth-floor galleries, in a room of its own.

Egyptian Coffin of Nesmin (Ancient Egyptian Galleries)

I think coffins and mummies interest most children.  The Egyptian Coffin of Nesmin is the highlight of the museums’s Egyptian collection. Nesmin was an Egyptian priest who lived during the Ptolemaic Period.  The details on the coffin, including images of protective deities,  are unbelievable.

Gilded Frost and Jet Chandelier (Above the East Stair)

Artist Dale Chihuly helped found the glass department at RISD and taught classes at the school until 1983.  His Gilded Frost and Jet Chandelier was created in 2008 and is comprised of 196 pieces.  This is a stand-out piece of art! Before reading the exhibition description my son thought the glass tubes were snakes!

 Marble Sarcophagus (Ancient Greek and Roman Galleries)

The Ancient Greek and Roman galleries have several marble statues on display.  Be forewarned, the nudity will get lots of giggles from the kids!  The must-see piece that will interest kids is the marble sarcophagus.  The intricately carved fragments of the sarcophagus depict scenes of the Trojan War.  The museum acquired the sarcophagus in 1921, after more than 100 pieces were assembled to recreate the coffin.

Paintings from Famous Artists (Modern and Contemporary Galleries)

The RISD Museum has a small, but impressive collection of Modern art.  Although children may not be familiar with the particular pieces displayed, many will recognize the names of such artists like Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollack, Andy Warhol and Frank Lloyd Wright.

If you go to the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum:

Where: 20 North Main Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02903
You can also enter the museum at 224 Benefit Street

Parking:  Metered street parking, North Main/Steeple Streets Metropark lot, RISD faculty/staff lots on weekends only

When: The museum is open Tuesdays through Sundays from 10 AM to 5 PM.  The third Thursday of every month it is open until 9 PM.

Cost:  Admission is $12/adult, $10/seniors (62+), $3/youth (5-18), $5/college students (with I.D.), free for members.  Admission is free every Sunday, 10 AM – 5 PM,  and the third Thursday of every month from 5-9 PM.

Food:  Cafe Pearl, operated by Bolt Coffee, is located inside the Benefit Street entrance and serves coffee-based beverages, pastries, salads and sandwiches.  No food or drinks are allowed in the galleries.

Today is the official first day of winter and boy does it feel like it here in New York!  So I thought today would be appropriate to share our family’s winter bucket list.  We haven’t created a seasonal bucket list in awhile.  However, there are some things that we’ve been wanting to do for awhile.  Why a bucket list?  Because having something written down makes us more likely to do it.  When we create a bucket list, each family member chooses one seasonally appropriate activity that he or she would like to do.  We then have three months to try to complete the activities.  Although we try to have more than four family fun experiences during the winter, we only commit to the four bucket list items.  Two kids means two busy activity schedules.  Plus, winter means unpredictable and sometimes bad weather.  Here is a look at our 2016 family winter bucket list:

Me:  I would like to go snow tubing.  I don’t mean sleigh riding down the hill at our local school.  I mean visit a ski resort and go tubing down the big hills!  The kind of tubing where they have a lift to help carry the tube back up the hill!  I even bought snow pants for myself last winter thinking we’d go….but we never went.  So, it’s on the list which means we are doing it!

Husband:  My husband would like to go to local ice hockey game.  Although my son likes to play NHL ’16 on the Xbox, neither of the kids have ever seen an ice hockey game before.  We will most likely go see a game at West Point, which is close to home.

Daughter (age 10):  My daughter’s bucket list activity is to go see Matilda on Broadway.  This is probably our first bucket list item since the show is closing after the January 1, 2017 performance.  We are hoping to go next week during their holiday break.

Son (age 8):  My son’s bucket list item is going to a basketball game.  We seem  to have a sports theme this year!  My son has been playing basketball for four years now through our local recreation department and he loves it.  He’d like to see the professionals play.  While I’m not ready to shell out $75+ per ticket for us to attend a professional basketball game, I’m happy to go to the Westchester County Center.  The venue is close to home and much more affordable!

Last weekend my family and I visited the NY Renaissance Faire in Tuxedo, New York.  It was the last weekend before school started and we wanted to spend the day outside.  This was our kids’ first time visiting the faire so they had no idea what to expect!  Since the last time my husband and I visited was 10+ years ago before we had kids, this was like our first time as well!

So what is a Renaissance Faire?  This Renaissance Faire is a recreation of a Renaissance Village.  It is filled with entertainment, food and shops where everyone is dressed “character.”  For those who like to dress up, this is the perfect time to wear your favorite Renaissance costumes.  We saw MANY people dressed in Renaissance garb as well as, pirate, elf and fairy costumes.  If you don’t have a costume, no worries!  You can rent or  buy one at the various shops.

The NY Renaissane Faire runs weekends now through October 2 from 10 AM – 7 PM.  Tickets cost $25/adult, $20 Seniors/Military (with ID) and $12/child (5-12).  Children 4 and under are free.  Tickets are available to purchase on the grounds at the box office or can be purchased online in advance.  Select Walgreens stores offer discounted tickets, which is where we purchased our tickets.  They cost $20/adult and $10/child.

The drive from our house in Northern Westchester to the Faire is a little over thirty minutes, without traffic.  We arrived around 9:45 AM for the 10 AM opening.  We parked in the preferred parking lot, right across from the fair grounds for $10 (cash only).  There are free parking options further away from the entrance gate (although we didn’t see them, so not sure how far away they are!).

We purchased a faire guide and entertainment schedule for $1 before entering the grounds.  The faire guide is a necessity because it contains a map of the grounds.  You also want the day’s entertainment schedule so you can plan your day around the shows that you want to see.  Both the map and entertainment schedule are available online and can be printed ahead of time.

The gates opened promptly at 10 AM with the Sheriff speaking to the crowd prior to the opening. The majority of our day was spent seeing shows.  There are 20 stages throughout the 65 acres of faire grounds.  We spent 7 hours at the faire and didn’t see all the shows that we wanted to.  It was HOT and we were tired so we left around 5 PM.

Besides a glass blowing demonstration that we watched for a bit, here are some of the acts that we did see:

Gypsy Geoff – Fire Circus Show – A juggler and comedian, this was an entertaining show!

Vixens en Garde – Three vixens perform Shakespeare using swords, comedy and sassiness.  This was my daughter’s favorite show!

Arsene Dupin MAGIKANA! – A comedic mime, who juggles and performs magic.

Stewart and Arnold: Knife Throwing Show – Father & son knife comedic knife throwing show.

Jamila Lotus Dance Carnivale – Dancing, acrobats and belly-dancing to a live band.

Trials by Combat Chess Match – A chess game where opponents battle it out to win the square.

The Sheriff’s Joust – One of two jousting shows, as jousters compete in different skills.  This is very similar to the Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament Show.

There are also games (like the axe throw, royal darts, and ring toss) and rides (like The Sea Dragon and The Whirly Burly) for an additional fee. You can try your hand at archery, ride a llama and participate in a pub crawl.  There’s an interactive Kidsquest and Sword Fighter training, geared especially for children.  Everything mentioned requires additional fees.

As for food, you can find everything from Steak-on-a-Stake, Turkey Legs and Dragon Wing Chips to Falafel, Pad Thai, and Burritos.  We shared a Cheesesteak Sandwich and a Sausage and Peppers Sandwich.  By the time we ate we were all starving and not very picky.  However, we weren’t impressed with either of the sandwiches.  Since it was so hot we had several frozen Lemonades.

There are so many shops at the faire!  You can find anything Renaissance including clothing, jewelry, crowns, candles, instruments, sculptures, soaps, pottery, glassware and souvenirs.  You can also get your hair braided or your face painted.

There is just so much to see and do at the Renaissance Faire!

Some tips for visiting the NY Renaissance Faire:

Get there early! – We arrived right at opening and the grounds were pretty empty.  A few hours later the place was packed!

Pack and apply sunscreen.  All stages are outdoors and shade is limited.

Bring cash.  Parking and food vendors are cash only.  There are ATMs located throughout the grounds, but save yourself time!  Besides the shows, all games and rides cost additional fees.

Bring hand sanitizer.  There is one bathroom with flushable toilets located at the back of the park.  Otherwise you are left using a port-a-potty.  At one point, we visited three different areas to find one that actually had soap in the dispenser.

Get to the joust early for seats!  There are only two jousting shows (2:20 and 5:50).  By the time we arrived, the bleacher seats were full.  We sat on the grass so far back on the hill that the kids weren’t able to get a good view of the show.

Bring extra money for show “tips”.  After every performance that we saw, the performers collected tips.   It appeared that most performers travel the Renaissance Faire circuit and this is how they make their living.

My family has become big fans of geocaching.  It is a fun summer activity and we’ve recently been doing a lot of it.  Geocaching uses navigational techniques, or in our case, a phone app, to find hidden caches.  In other words, it’s a scavenger hunt in the great outdoors.

If you’ve never geocached, then read this post and you and your family can get started in as little time as it takes to download the app.   Yes, it’s as easy as downloading the free geocaching app and creating a user profile.

Now, let me preface this tutorial by noting that my family and I are recreational geocachers.  We have only been geocaching  a couple of times and as of today have found nine caches.  We do it for the thrill of the hunt and it’s free outdoor family fun!  If you want more detailed information, check out geocaching.com. 

So, now you have the app downloaded and you’ve created an account.   The app will identify your location, noted by a blue circle, and load the caches near your location.  The free caches are identified by a dark green circle.  You will also notice dark blue circles (mystery caches), orange circles (multi-caches) and locked dark green circles (noted as premium), which are only accessible with an upgraded premium membership.  We recently upgraded to a premium membership, which cost $9.99 for 3 months, as we found there to be a limited number of free geocaches in our area, and thought the price was worth it.

Choose the geocache you’d like to find by touching a green dot.  You will then see information at the bottom of the screen like in the image above.  Each geocache has a name, given by its creator.  The distance from your current location is noted in miles.  The bug icon indicates if there is a trackable item in the cache.  (We have yet to find a trackable geocache).  Once you are ready to begin geocaching hit the green start arrow.

An orange line will show the path from your location to the cache.  A compass appears along the bottom of the screen as well.  As you walk, use the compass as your guide.  You want to keep the orange compass needle centered on your screen.  As you walk, the needle will move and the distance in the bottom right will change, hopefully decreasing.  Once you get in about 30 feet of the cache it will alert you and let you know that you are close.  The GPS on the app isn’t exact, so once we get in approximately 10-12 feet we start looking for the cache.  

You can swipe the screen up to get additional information about the cache, like its difficulty, the terrain and its size.  From our experience, extra small (XS) caches are usually camouflaged film canisters, while small and medium caches have been lidded plastic containers.  We have not done any geocaches higher than a 2.0 terrain rating, and the 2.0 cache required us to climb up a steep incline in a forest.  In the about section you can also view hints, if there are any, as well as owner photos, if provided.

Once you find the cache, sign and date the physical log.  Be sure to hit the log geocache bar at the bottom of the screen as well. (We weren’t able to find this particular geocache!).  It’s nice to comment when you log the cache.  A simple “TFTC” will suffice, though I usually add if it was easy/difficult to find. Your info will then appear in the activity log.  The green dot will turn into a smiley face icon once you have logged the cache.  The app keeps track of your caches.

Depending on its size, some caches have trinkets.  The kids especially love finding larger-sized caches so they can trade trinkets.  We have seen small toys, pins, shells and more.  We only take a trinket if we have brought something to leave behind.  Otherwise, we just sign the log.  Be sure to place everything back in the container and return the cache back where you found it before leaving.

And that is a quick overview of geocaching that will get you started!  We learned all of this through trial and error and are continuing to learn as we go.

Beware though, geocaching is addicting!  Once you have found your first cache, you will then want to find your next one!

Some helpful info:

We have dedicated a small book bag as our geocaching bag.  We keep it in the car along with several pens, some small pieces of paper and a bag of trinkets (goodie bag toys) to trade.  With the app, you can geocache anywhere so we are always prepared!

The two most used acronyms that we have found helpful are:
BYOP – Bring Your Own Pen (as seen in the “about section” of several caches, to be able to sign the physical log)
TFTC – Thanks For The Cache (a way to say thanks to the creator of the cache)

Please share any geocaching tips or tricks that you have!