How Cold is too Cold?

This morning we walked in Rockefeller State Park along the Pocantico River Trail, and, while it was a bit blustery (this time it was Nola who was the unhappy adventurer--even magic crackers couldn't cheer her) it was beautiful and the kids had a ball.

In the space of an hour they gathered some big sticks, found a frozen area along the trail they deemed a pond and proceeded to chop at it to make holes for ice fishing, fished in their "pond" with the sticks-now-fishing poles, hunted with the sticks for animals whose skins they were going to use to make into blankets for "people with no homes who are cold," and hung their newly acquired pelts on the sticks for transport. They hid inside a huge, hollow tree that became their house and ate crackers and hid some for the animals.

And all the while the mamas chatted and attempted to cajole the little one with apples and pointed out creature tracks and ski tracks and little icicle colonies on the river and the three red-tailed hawks swooping, circling in the cold sunshine.


Then, before the small ones' fingers and toes got too chilly, it was time to go home.

The February Calendar is Here!

The February calendar is now complete through the 21st, though I may add an event for that last weekend (probably Sunday 3/1). There are myriad family adventures in which to participate, from simple nature walks to celebrating the eagle migration at Teatown's Eaglefest to guided walks with naturalists at the Lenoir Nature Preserve and Westmoreland Sanctuary. Almost all events are free. All items on the calendar are listed with appropriate web links to provide you with further information. I find that the biggest obstacles to taking my kids outside are planning and solitude, both of which I've tackled here. So bundle up, fill your thermoses with something warm to drink and get your kids out the door in the coming weeks!

See you on the trail...

Opportunities Abound

I am forcing myself into bed any minute after having spent the evening researching the amazing abundance of incredible state and county parks that exist in the lower Hudson Valley region. We are so fortunate to have these places of pristine beauty and wildlife in such close proximity. And many of them offer fantastic, free guided programs on the weekends. I cannot wait to share them with all of you in the weeks and months to come.

Stay tuned!

Wacky Wednesday Wash Out

Our Kids Unplugged kick-off walk was a bit damp with just the four Vercesi girls schlepping along the lakes path. While Mama was attempting a happy rendition of the Pied Piper of County Deluge, Bianca spent most of the time, when her mouth wasn't full of clementine, complaining--she was wet, she was cold, it was too hard to walk. After about 20 minutes I said, "Shall we go home and make hot chocolate?" That, at last, generated some enthusiasm.

We did get to watch the public works folks plowing off the rinks on the lake, which cheered us. I was definitely worried that the recent snow would sit there, thus ending our skating fun, considering how long it took them to get the lake open in the first place.

When we got home I was feeling a bit blue about our washed out event while sitting with 2 1/2 year old Nola on my lap. I said to her, "Bianca had a big fit during our walk." She looked up at me with her little moon face and said, "She didn't like the rain." She was quiet for a minute and then added, almost to herself, "Sometimes people don't like the rain."

Sometimes people don't. Fortunately I have a 2 1/2 year old zen guru to guide me through my more challenging mommy moments.