When I originally heard about the Easter Fancy Hat Parade on 5th Avenue, I imagined it to be some society thing and perhaps that’s what it once was. But nowadays, anyway, the Easter Parade in NYC reminds me more of how the Village Halloween Parade used to be when I was a kid; lots of eccentric, artsy hats strolling around on top of eccentric, artsy heads. And stroll they do, rather than a regular parade where people march in one direction, at the Easter Parade people more mill about searching for cool hats, performers and other spectacles. I’m not a fan of crowds, but I am a fan of any activity in NYC kids that still maintains some quirkiness, so this one’s close, but I think probably worth the spectacle.

Want a preview of what the parade is like? To take a look at this video of the 2006 event Read more »

We’ve got a long weekend and I’m in the mood to get crafty. Preparing for holidays is always a fun time in our house when we can slow down and do some craft activities together. My kids love this and the crafts don’t have to be complicated.

Making Easter Eggs is a great craft to do with kids because it can be tailored to be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be for different ages, abilities and crafty proclivities — meaning I can really get into it with my own creations.

Below I’ve rounded up a bunch of links to great Easter egg craft ideas, but this first link is to a delicious looking recipe for some Purim Hamantaschen. If you don’t know about the Jewish holiday Purim, you can read about it on the 92nd St. Y site which tells the story. Purim is one of the few Jewish holidays that’s really a kids’ holiday.

Easter Egg Making Tips and Craft Ideas: Read more »

This week, a toy and clothing swap, a contest to name the Riverside Park Hawks, a chance to meet Mo Willems, and a fun way to learn physics. All free. Plus some cool, off-beat activities and concerts worth the price. And don’t forget the free Elf Tennis demo classes on Sunday. Read more »

Private schools just had their Spring Break and public schools have theirs coming up and as we’re waiting for the weather to warm up, we’ve got vacations on the brain.

Have you ever been stuck with a family vacation that actually seemed like more work than not being on vacation? If you are used to having childcare, a family vacation can be a shocking experience. It’s not something that most people want to admit, and of course we all love spending lots of time with our kids, but hard-working parents need some real down-time too or they’re going to have their own little melt-downs that no binky can fix.

Taking a babysitter on vacation with you might seem like a huge luxury, but sometimes luxuries are really necessities. But wanting to take a baby sitter on vacation with you and actually doing it are two different things, two things with lot of steps in between, like how much to pay and how to find a sitter who will travel with you, etc. The experts at Sittercity have shared some tips with us on how to make the fantasy a reality.

Read more »

Visited Trinity Park this weekend past. What a gorgeous weekend. Took some pictures of the paint squibbles on the bridge pillars. I believe them to be an anti-graffitti thing, but who knows. More can be found on my Flickr