Your Guide to Family-Friendly Day Trips in New Jersey, New York…and Beyond
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”
As you probably know from your mailbox (especially all those charities), today is #givingtuesday. It’s a way to call attention to helping others at this time of year. I’ll be posting many giving opportunities this month, but wanted to highlight a few for today. If these don’t work for you, consider finding some way to get your kids involved in giving today, explaining how while we’re shopping for ourselves and our loved ones, that we can take a day and think about others who may not be on our lists.
It doesn’t have to be buying things either. It can be volunteering or sending holiday cards to troops overseas. It can be baking something tasty to take to the elderly person in your neighborhood, or calling Grandma to say hi.
You can win fabulous prizes donated by sponsors like Schoola and Breathometer, as well as many others, through this contest and fundraiser. Continue reading “Giving Tuesday: Helping Others this Holiday Season”
This is part of a series on New York City holiday windows for 2014. You can also see posts for Barney’s windows, Macy’s windows, Sak’s windows, Lord & Taylor windows and Bloomingdale’s windows.
Bergdorf Goodman’s theme was the arts.
Continue reading “New York City Holiday Windows – Bergdorf Goodman”
This is part of a series on New York City holiday windows for 2014. You can also see posts for Barney’s windows, Macy’s windows, Sak’s windows, Bergdorf-Goodman’s windows and Bloomingdale’s windows.
See the 2015 Lord & Taylor windows here.
For Lord & Taylor’s 2014 holiday windows, they chose a journey through the imagination, and mansions filled with creatures like mice, cardinals and other animals – plus an enchanted fairytale garden. Check it out.
Continue reading “New York City Holiday Windows – Lord & Taylor”
This is part of a series on New York City holiday windows for 2014. You can also see posts for Barney’s windows, Sak’s windows, Lord & Taylor windows, Bergdorf-Goodman’s windows and Bloomingdale’s windows.
Macy’s theme this year is about a boy too excited to sleep on Christmas Eve. So he takes out his telescope and sees Santa visiting other planets. So the windows revolve around planets and Santa/toys.
This is part of a series on New York City holiday windows for 2014. You can also see posts for Barney’s windows, Macy’s windows, Sak’s windows, Lord & Taylor windows, and Bergdorf-Goodman’s windows.
The Bloomingdale’s main windows were technology focused.
Continue reading “New York City Holiday Windows – Bloomingdale’s”
This is part of a series on New York City holiday windows for 2014. You can also see posts for Macy’s windows, Sak’s windows, Lord & Taylor windows, Bergdorf-Goodman’s windows and Bloomingdale’s windows.
Barney’s theme is a Baz Dazzled Holiday, with windows designed by Baz Luhrmann, costume designer Catherine Martin, and Barney’s Dennis Freedman. There’s live performance in several of the windows, which we missed because they weren’t doing any on Thanksgiving (what kind of holiday spirit is that?)
To catch the live performance, see the schedule here. You can also see videos of the performances here.
To present the windows for the first time, they had a huge live performance in front of the store, partly shutting down Madison Avenue. They even had a little ice rink out front for performers. Continue reading “NYC Holiday Windows – Barney’s”
In my many years going to Disney parks, we’d never been on a ride when it broke down. Sure, we’d be in line when it broke down, but not actually on the ride. How did we get so lucky on this trip? Not only did we experience five ride breakdowns, but we were evacuated from Grizzly River Run at Disney California Adventure. Do you get your FastPass back if you’re stuck on a ride? If you’re in line but it closes? If you’re evacuated? Read on for answers below (this is part of a series on Disney/Disneyland):
The day our stranding on Grizzly River Run, we spent the day at Disneyland. For periods ranging from 1-10 minutes, we got stuck on Astro Blasters, Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean (Indiana Jones broke down while we were in the FastPass line, though fortunately cleared before we left).
On the Pirates ride, we were surprised to play bumper boats as we approached the waterfall with Blackbeard talking. He talked, and talked and talked until we could repeat his conversation by heart. Fortunately after about 10 minutes, we moved on. Continue reading “What Happens When a Disney Ride Breaks Down”
