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What to Do on September 11 in New York City

copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan

This year, the 10th anniversary of September 11, falls on a Sunday. Given that the kids won’t be in school, it’s a good chance for the family to reflect on what happened, its impact on our lives, remember those whose lives were lost, and join with with the community. I posted some events here which you can consider attending. NYC.gov has a list of activities on its calendar.

9/11 Memorial Site – official opening is on 9/11/11 for families who lost someone in the attacks.  The ceremony for family members starts at 8:30 a.m. and all the names of those lost will be read after the city-wide moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. There will be a second city-wide moment of silence at 9:03 a.m. and then affected families will be allowed to access the memorial to see their loved one’s names in the bronze plaques.  Continue reading “What to Do on September 11 in New York City”

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Treat of the Day: Je and Jo Ice Cream

My daughter and I were poking around the Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market on a day when it felt like, well, hell. You remember that 100 degree (plus) day? Oh yeah, there were several recently. Well we were sweating buckets while looking at crap used items, and we came upon a very sweaty vendor with an adorable sign and tiny ice cream cart. It was Je and Jo’s organic ice cream. We had the good sense to stop and fork over $4/each for a scoop. Well, I forked over $4 for both of us ($4×2=$8) so we could each have our own.

Here’s what we had to choose from:

it’s tough to choose just one. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan

Continue reading “Treat of the Day: Je and Jo Ice Cream”

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Lakota Wolf Preserve – With Kids

Did you know that those magazine photos of wolves in the wild usually aren’t taken in the wild? They’re not, because wolves can smell you a mile away and they want no part of you. Those photos are usually taken at a wolf preserve, like the Lakota Wolf Preserve in Columbia, NJ.

We stopped by there recently for a tour, chock full of interesting information not only about wolves, but bobcats and foxes, which they also have there. I thought the 1.5 hour tour might bore my 10 year old daughter, but she paid rapt attention, possibly because the caretakers told us interesting stories and facts about the animals, and she got to watch them being fed.

Lakota Wolf Preserve. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan

Continue reading “Lakota Wolf Preserve – With Kids”

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Review: Mamma Mia on Broadway – Appropriate for Kids?

Okay, let’s start with the question most families with young kids have. Is Mamma Mia appropriate for kids? Well…..it depends.

THE PLOT

Let’s start with the plot, in case you’re in the dark ages and haven’t heard of it. A young woman (Sophie) is getting married and wants to figure out which of the three men her mom slept with (in a short time span), is her father. Therein lies the problem for kids. Continue reading “Review: Mamma Mia on Broadway – Appropriate for Kids?”

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Review: Maritime Aquarium, Norwalk CT – Taking the Kids

MARITIME AQUARIUM

We had the good fortune to do a sleepover in Connecticut’s Maritime Aquarium. We didn’t get much sleep, but we enjoyed the experience! The aquarium focuses on the marine life of the Long Island Sound.

Copyright: Deborah Abrams Kaplan

SHARK TANK

The big draw for a lot of kids is the shark tank – it’s the largest tank in the aquarium, holding 110,000 gallons. It has 8 sharks. They keep the temperature constant at 63-65 degrees, so the sharks don’t know about seasons, for mating. The sand tiger sharks are around 8 feet long. Boy sharks have claspers near the anal fin (guess why?).

Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan

Continue reading “Review: Maritime Aquarium, Norwalk CT – Taking the Kids”

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The Tenement Museum – with Kids

In its day (1832-1935), the Lower East Side (LES) was the largest Jewish community in North America. The Lower East Side is defined as from the East River to South Street Seaport, from Broadway to Lafayette to 14th Street. This was in an era where there was no Tribeca, no SOHO. The LES has always been an immigrant neighborhood, and is also associated with the Irish, Chinese, Poles, Ukrainians, and many others.

The Tenement Museum is a unique place where you’ll learn about the lives of actual families who lived (and sometimes worked) here. I’ve been to the Tenement Museum twice, once with and once without my kids, who are 8 and 10. I’ll share a lot of information here, and give you the thumbs up or down for the kids at the end. And if you disagree with any of the history I mentioned, feel free to leave a comment. The information came from my tour guide.

TENEMENT MUSEUM HISTORY

In 1988, Ruth Abram and Anita Jacobsen wanted to create a testament to immigration. They couldn’t find a worthwhile place, while looking for something that had deteriorated naturally and hadn’t turned into a crack house. The finally found this, where they also found 9,000 artifacts from some of the 7,000 people (from 20 countries) who lived here over 100 years. They later bought the buildings next to the museum and are converting those now as well. Read more about this history here. This is the first tenement to be individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Continue reading “The Tenement Museum – with Kids”

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Jersey Kids on Good Morning America’s Sneaky Teacher

The kids and I were filmed Monday for a segment on Good Morning America, called Sneaky Teacher. One of the beautiful things about living close to New York is that they need “talent” (in this case known as middle-American families) to film once in a while in their features, and if you’re within driving distance, you too can be considered. I can’t figure out how to embed the video here, so here’s the link to Good Morning America’s Sneaky Teacher segment with Jersey Kids.

Want to know how we were chosen? What’s it like to be filmed by Good Morning America? Read my personal blog post on how we got onto Good Morning America and what it was like shooting. 

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Ocean City – Highlights with Kids

Just got back from a few days in Ocean City, which gets accolades as the most family-friendly town, and best boardwalk on the shore. I don’t have much to compare it to, but we had a great time and indeed, it was a great boardwalk. Thought I’d do a photo highlight of the boardwalk.  Of course it rained while we were there, so the boardwalk photo is gray.

We didn’t make it all the way down the 2.5 mile boardwalk, but we made a dent. Continue reading “Ocean City – Highlights with Kids”

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