Author: jerseykids

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Review: Hotel Giraffe in NYC

My daughter and I do a girls’ trip to NYC every summer to see shows and exhibits. This is the first year we’ve stayed over, and we’re so glad we did. We were guests of Hotel Giraffe, a boutique hotel on 26th Street and Park Avenue South, very close to Madison Square Park. Rated number four onTripAdvisor, out of 433 hotels in Manhattan, we had high expectations. And they were met.

Hotel Giraffe on 26th and Park Avenue South, NYC
Hotel Giraffe on 26th and Park Avenue South, NYC

Hotel Giraffe is part of a family of hotels in the Library Hotel Collection, four unique boutique hotels in Manhattan. I reviewed Hotel Elysee last summer. Hotel Giraffe has 72 rooms in a corner building, each room with a with small balcony. Unfortunately for us it was pouring rain while we were there, but we could still keep the windows open. We stayed in a king suite, which is the type of room I like to stay in when traveling with my kids. The kids get the living room, and my husband and I get the bedroom. It was quite spacious.

The king suite at Hotel Giraffe. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan
The king suite at Hotel Giraffe. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan

This place had more closets than Continue reading “Review: Hotel Giraffe in NYC”

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Cicadas in New Jersey – part 2

The cicadas have reached a threshold. You can now hear their constant hum outside. It sounds like a constant rubbing of one of these frog instruments.

frog

This may give some of you nightmares, but it’s a beautiful movie: 

The kids were privileged (!) to see two cicadas mating yesterday- at least that’s what I think they were doing – right there in the Bank of America sidewalk in their parking lot. In the 20+ minutes we were in there (exchanging U.S. dollars for Canadian dollars for my trip to Toronto – yay!), they stayed at it, though moving slightly to a different part of the sidewalk.

cicada sex
cicada sex. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan

We’re hearing that some areas of NJ – even some areas of our town – still haven’t seen any.  So here are some pictures for those of you who are missing them. Continue reading “Cicadas in New Jersey – part 2”

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Brood II Cicadas in New Jersey

You’ve probably heard about the cicadas taking over New Jersey and other parts of the country. It’s part of the 17 year cycle. I read all about their lifecycle on Wikipedia.

Last week we spotted the first few nymphs emerging from the ground. A block away there were reports of massive molting, and a few started appearing on our block. For us, the change was last night/this morning. On the walk to school there was a definite change. You have to look down if you want to avoid stepping on them. They were littering our front walk way. I’ve heard this will get much worse. They aren’t making noise yet and the ground isn’t undulating with the creatures.

The nymph shell.
The empty nymph shell. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan

Apparently these are called nymph shells. After the bug crawls out of the earth (almost a foot down), they shed their skins and become adults. You can see those skins everywhere, from the ground to the grass, to tree trunks and telephone poles to tires. Continue reading “Brood II Cicadas in New Jersey”

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Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve

Last summer we had the opportunity to go through Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve on our way from Washington Crossing Historic Park back to New Hope, PA (read all the things you can do with kids in the Lambertville/New Hope area here).

Unfortunately for us it was past the peak spring flower season, which is why I urge you to go now! Even without the maximum number of flowers, though, it’s a beautiful place I’d like to spend more time. The best views for us, ironically, were at the entrance – ironically before we entered to pay. See what’s in bloom before you go.

We saw a ton of butterflies.

Lots of butterfiles at Bowman's Hill Preserve. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan
Lots of butterfiles at Bowman’s Hill Preserve. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan

Continue reading “Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve”

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Tips for traveling as an unaccompanied minor

My kids do a lot of traveling, but they’ve never traveled on the plane alone. Until now. I just booked my daughter on a cross-country flight to stay with her best friend for a week.

If you’re considering sending your child on a flight alone, here’s where to start.

Kayak.com has a list of airline fees, which includes unaccompanied minor fees. You’ll see that the fees vary a lot according to the airline, ranging from $25 on Alaskan Airlines (one way), to United’s $150 fee one way. That’s in addition to the airline ticket. Some charge by the kid, some charge by the family, and some change the rate depending on the flight length. Of course you’ll want to confirm the rates with the airline as well.

 

 

 

When you start looking into flights you’ll want to ask yourself these questions: Continue reading “Tips for traveling as an unaccompanied minor”

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Review: Pippin – appropriate for kids?

pippin poster

With 10 Tony nominations and a positive New York Times review, I was glad I had tickets to see the Pippin revival the day after its official opening. I’ve not seen Pippin before so I can’t compare how this revival is different, though the circus theme is new, and the lead player is a woman instead of a man. And her arms are so buff that Michelle Obama’s look downright flabby in comparison.

pippin leading player

Let’s start with the million dollar question for my family-friendly theater-goers:

Is Pippin appropriate for kids? Continue reading “Review: Pippin – appropriate for kids?”

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Hidden Mickeys at Disneyland and California Adventure

To make the days at Disneyland and California Adventure even MORE fun, I bought the book Disneyland’s Hidden Mickeys: a Field Guide to Disneyland Resort’s Best Kept Secrets (see Hidden Mickeys on a Disney Cruise here. See the rest of this Disneyland/California Adventure series here.)

Note that the book is a few years old so it’s a bit outdated (Cars Land isn’t in there and it covers the time before the renovation of Buena Vista street and the main entrance). We had fun reading through the scavenger hunt and additional clues to find the Hidden Mickeys. We found the scavenger hunt way too difficult and preferred to just read the hints and look for them (we would have missed everything otherwise!). There’s also a Hidden Mickeys book for Disney World.

Like in the book, I’ll separate these out between actual Hidden Mickeys and mere decorative Mickeys. Unfamiliar with a Hidden Mickey? It’s a representation of Mickey in a place you might not look for it or expect it. Y

Here are a few we saw at Disneyland and California Adventure:

This one is in the exit area of Astro Blasters, the Buzz Lightyear ride, on a larger picture.
This one is in the exit area of Astro Blasters, the Buzz Lightyear ride, on a larger picture.

Continue reading “Hidden Mickeys at Disneyland and California Adventure”

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How to use a FastPass at Disney parks

Disney parks have the most awesome thing since all-inclusive tickets: the FastPass. While parks like Six Flags and Universal Studios charge for these “get to the front of the line” passes, everyone has access to FastPasses at Disney for no extra cost. Read on for using a FastPass at Disneyland. Disney World changed its FastPass system – you can read more about it here.

Can you see the difference in lines? We waited about 5 minutes to board our space craft inside. The others? Oh, about 90 minutes.
Can you see the difference in lines? We waited about 5 minutes to board our space craft inside. The others? Oh, about 90 minutes.

What are they?

A FastPass is a timed ticket to get you into a special, faster line during a one hour period. Otherwise you ride “standby” which is Disney lingo for “huge long line.” The FastPass line sometimes get you in immediately, but more likely you have to wait a few minutes (though we’ve never waited more than 15-20 minutes unless the ride was broken down). Continue reading “How to use a FastPass at Disney parks”

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Tips You Won’t Read Elsewhere – Adventures in Disney

I did a lot of reading before heading to Disneyland and California Adventure (and even more for our Disney World trip). Some might say too much reading. But since it was going to be crowded (spring break) and I wanted to maximize our time there (and minimize lines), it was totally worthwhile. Here are some tips you likely won’t read in other Disney guides. This is part of a Disney/Disneyland series.

princess jerseykids

 

FYI – this is part of a Disneyland/California Adventure series. See the bottom for links to other posts in the series.

Being nice pays off

Twice, being nice to the Disney cast member during a problem (a ticket purchase snafu, and a ride breakdown) caused the cast member to give us an extra “readmission pass” Continue reading “Tips You Won’t Read Elsewhere – Adventures in Disney”

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