Your Guide to Family-Friendly Day Trips in New Jersey, New York…and Beyond
When I went to check out the new Discovery of King Tut exhibition at Premier Exhibitions for a press visit, they said we could also go to the Saturday Night Live exhibition. Woo hoo! I hadn’t realized that was even a thing (shame on me). It was like a super guilty pleasure that turned out to be fascinating as well. And so much fun I brought my family back the next week to get their take.
Before going into the faux Studio 8H, Continue reading “Review: Saturday Night Live Exhibition with Kids”
I saw the King Tut exhibit in the 1970s, traveling from Arizona to San Francisco just for the occasion. That exhibit brought 50 of King Tut’s tomb items around the country, causing mob scenes (well, a lot of people anyway) in the form of record attendance. I saw a fair amount of Tut goods in Cairo’s Egyptian Museum when traveling there in 1995. And then when another Tut exhibit came through in 2010 (with 50 moretomb items), and I saw it again in San Francisco AND New York (the advantage to living in both places during their run). Read more about that King Tut exhibit here.
So when I heard that King Tut was back in the Big Apple, with a new kind of exhibition, of course I jumped on the opportunity. I went for a press preview of the Discovery of King Tut, and then took the family back this past weekend. The big difference between the exhibits is that this exhibition focuses on the discovery of Tut’s tomb, and displays only replicas (more than 1,000 of them, versus the 50 genuine artifacts brought over previously). While it sounds a little disappointing that they’re reproductions, rest assured, you will not feel cheated. Here’s my review – King Tut exhibition with kids. Continue reading “Review King Tut Exhibition in NYC with Kids”
I got an early look at the Lord & Taylor windows last week, and wanted to share them with you! It’s easy to spot the store, with the greenery and lights.
After seeing the Rockettes perform, I was interested in learning more about them. Here are some fun facts:
Rockettes must be at least 18 years old by August 31 to perform that holiday season
They start working late September or early October and work through December. It’s a seasonal gig. Continue reading “Interesting facts about the Rockettes”
Every year we talk about going to see the Rockettes Radio City Christmas Spectacular, and then we don’t get plan ahead and the tickets are too expensive. Or the reasonably priced tickets are at 9 a.m. or 10 p.m. – or on a weekday while the kids are in school. (Info on discount Rockettes tickets at the bottom). This year my husband’s company got a block of tickets and we scored with reasonably priced tickets to a weekend show, so we finally got to see the iconic Rockettes.
This review contains spoilers. It’s also the review of someone who did not research the show before seeing it and did not grow up in this area. Think of me as someone dropped into Manhattan from far away, for the Christmas show. It’s not part of our family history and the only thing I really know about them is that the dancers have a height requirement and they do precision dancing. That’s about it. Continue reading “Review: Rockettes Radio City Christmas Spectacular With Kids”
We’re part way through the Passports with Purpose fundraiser. Have you checked out the great prizes you can win? Have you seen what good you can do for only $10?
Passports with Purpose is an all-volunteer fundraiser founded and run by travel bloggers, and supported by some great companies like TBEX. Each year, we find sponsors to offer prizes – you get one raffle-type entry to the prize of your choice for each $10 donation you make. This year we’re supporting Worldreader, and with the money raised, we’ll be donating e-readers to five libraries in Kenya. The donations will help at least 6,500 kids and adults have access to 50,000 books – both fiction and nonfiction, in Swahili and English.
What prizes can you win? Continue reading “Win prizes and support literacy in Kenya”
Jersey Kids likes to do its part helping others, which is why we’ve been participating the past few years with Passports With Purpose. This blogger-run (and all volunteer) fundraiser chooses a new organization and project every year to raise much-needed funds for great projects.
This year we’re working with Worldreader, and we’ll be raising funds to bring digital readers (like Kindles) to five libraries in Kenya. Each library will get about 50 e-readers each, providing 6,250 children, teachers and parents with access to more than 50,000 books. The books will be in Swahili and English, with fiction and nonfiction books.The Worldreader program trains the librarians, and also provides field-tested solar chargers to keep the e-readers charged if electricity is scarce. This one speaks to me because I love reading, and so does my son. I can’t imagine not having access to books.
So you’re probably dying to know who is providing an amazing prize for this fundraiser, and what you can win. You probably got a hint from the photo above. The answer is:
Thousand Trails Campgrounds and Encore RV Resorts, who is giving away a week’s stay at any of Thousand Trails Campgrounds and Encore RV Resorts’ 180 campgrounds across the country. You get to pick! Continue reading “Passports with Purpose: Win a stay at one of 180 U.S. campgrounds with Thousand Trails”
I don’t think I’ve posted race tips before on my site, and don’t plan to in the future. BUT we don’t usually travel for races. My husband and his running group ran the Hershey Half Marathon this weekend, and while it’s fresh in my mind, I wanted to share some tips for runners and spectators to make it easier should you run this race.
We spent a lot of time figuring out logistics for where to park the car, where to meet up after the race and how to plan our morning as spectators. Here are my Hershey Half Marathon tips: Continue reading “Hershey Half Marathon Tips for Runners and Spectators”
We thought we had our 15 minutes of fame when we were on Good Morning America in 2011. But I am now on their email list, when they’re looking for families to feature for other segments. So when I got an email from a producer last week saying they needed 10 kids to appear on Good Morning America with Jeff Kinney about his 10th book Old School, it took me about one minute to respond. My son was at the tail end of their cut-off age, so I signed him up. He’d only miss 2.5 hours of school (granted, that meant we had to wake up at 5:15 to get into the city – and no they didn’t send a car for us, but that would have been nice), but it was a live studio segment. I put out a call for others on Facebook, and one friend made it in before they filled the quota two hours later. Turns out people came in from further afield – like Massachusetts and Maine. I’m glad I didn’t have to travel that far for the four minute segment! Continue reading “What it’s like to go on Good Morning America with Jeff Kinney”
I didn’t think it would be possible to get sick of chocolate. But after spending 27 hours in Hershey, drinking milkshakes, eating s’mores, drinking hot chocolate, eating chocolate cookies, eating candy bars, making candy bars and smelling pumped in fake chocolate aroma, my daughter declared “I’m sick of chocolate.”
While I’m not giving up on the treat any time soon, she had a point. And being immersed in Hershey land for 27 hours does make you a little jaded and longing for a salad.
Here’s our Hershey Chocolate World with families review!
Free Chocolate Making Tour Continue reading “Hershey Chocolate World with Families Review”