I am not playground Mom.  I never enjoyed taking Benjamin to the playground and chasing him around making sure he was safe.  I found it very boring.  Thankfully, for years, we had a wonderful nanny who loved to run and play and swing and slide and (yuckiest of all) play in the sandbox.

That said, I just read an article called 10 Unusual Playgrounds From Around the World and want to get out there and play!  These playgrounds are incredible.  One is actually for adults only – it’s in Berlin and you must be 16 or older, preferably a senior citizen, to play there.  Three of the playgrounds are in the US — Clemyjontri Park in Fairfax County, Virginia, Yerba Gardens in San Francisco, CA and Teardrop Park, in Battery Park City in lower Manhattan (pictured). 

I know people who plan to visit all the Major League Ballparks in the US or all the big amusement parks around the world.  I aspire to visit these 10 playgrounds…I’ll have to also visit Japan, Australia, Sweden, Germany, Dubai and Spain along the way!!!

Today is a tough day for many of us.  I worked in lower Manhattan for years.  On 9/11/2001, I was fortunate to have been at our advertising agency in midtown when the planes hit the World Trade Center.  Many of my colleagues were in the office on the 47th floor of the World Financial Center and watched the whole tragedy unfold.  Thankfully, everyone in our group survived (although our company lost a few employees who did work in a travel office in the WTC).

I’ve struggled whether to tell Benjamin about the events of 9/11.  He’s not quite six (actually, 5 and 3/4 today) and I don’t think he’s ready to learn that the world can be an evil place.  I have told him about the Twin Towers.  One of our favorite books is called The Man Who Walked Between the Towers.  It is the true story of Phillipe Petit, a young French aerialist and street performer who dared to walk a tightrope between the towers (which stood one thousand three hundred and forty feet high) on August 7, 1974.  It’s a beautiful book and story, written and illustrated for children by Mordicai Gerstein (it was a 2004 Caldecott Winner). 

At the end of the book, it says “Now the towers are gone.  But in memory, as if imprinted on the sky, the towers are still there.  And part of that memory is the joyful morning, August 7, 1974, when Phillipe Petit walked between them in the air.”

This summer, we spent our vacation in Great Barrington, MA and pretty much visited this micro-creamery every day. It is really the best ice cream I have ever tasted, and whenever Maya saw the store sign, she would dart down the street screaming “SOCO!” at the top of her lungs and run right through the door.  We even met the guy who makes the stuff and comes up with new flavors – he even let us try the honey lavender flavor before it was perfected to get our opinion – yum! The secret ingredient is 16% butterfat cream – which gives it an amazingly rich flavor.

Alas, when vacation was over I lamented the fact that we would have to wait until next summer to have SoCo again, until my friend told me she saw it at Fairway right here in NYC. Turns out that SoCo is going to sell to restaurants and select food stores within a 200 mile radius of its micro-creamery. Thank heaven for SoCo!

This past Sunday, August 16th was my birthday.  I had a great day – the weather cooperated, I ate great food (at two of my favorite restaurants – the Fish Farm and Nick & Toni’s) and enjoyed a perfect day at the beach with my family. 

I just discovered that there are a number of famous people who share my birthday.  They range from the sublime to the ridiculous: Madonna, Steve Carrell, Menachim Begin, Timothy Hutton, Angela Bassett…both Kathy Lee and Frank Gifford and a whole host of others whose names I didn’t recognize.

You too can find out who shares your birthday at www.FamousBirthdays.com.

My sister is in town visiting and we decided to do some back to school shopping for the kids. We went to a bunch of places, but my favorite was the brand new Crewcuts on Madison Ave. and 87th Street.  I have always admired the J. Crew children’s clothing line; however, until recently there wasn’t one near where I live so I rarely shopped there.

I couldn’t believe how crowded the store was! Maybe it was the rain today, but the store was packed with moms and kids. And for good reason – this Fall collection is delightful for both boys and girls alike. The staff are very friendly, and have a great sense of style but are not pushy.

My sister and I bought some things for our kids, but my favorite is this dress I bought for Maya – the combination of retro stylying with a funky print is right up her alley!

The boys side of the store was truly wonderful.  I love their rugged, preppy style.  I found some awesome corduroy pants, and a really cool sleeveless football sweatshirt which he really loves (see photo, right).

So , welcome to the neighborhood Crewcuts.  Judging by the crowd today, you will be very successful here!

While this blog is primarily meant to share our favorite gifts, experiences and products related to kids and family, sometimes it’s fun to post about something entirely adult – or maybe a “break” from the kids…

We share a beach house with my brother.  He has become quite the mixologist and has introduced us and our guests to some really delicious drinks.  Some of our favorites are Dark & Stormy, Pimm’s Cup, and a great Mojito.

Most recently, he dramatically improved the classic iced tea/lemonade combo.  He “brewed” tea using vodka…kind of like sun tea.  He filled a mason jar with vodka, added a black teabag and steeped it in the sun for a while (the longer you do it, the stronger the tea).  Then he mixed it with lemonade (our preference is the Simply Lemonade brand).  Truly delicious and incredibly refreshing.  Enjoy!

I love our gift bags.  They are so much easier to use than wrapping paper, I don’t have to go searching for a suitable bag to carry the gift to a party, they are adorable and they are reusable.  I get really excited when I see one out in “circulation” and know someone else appreciates our bags too!

This past Friday, Benjamin and I attended kid’s Shabbat on the beach at Main Beach in East Hampton.  It was a wonderful way to end the week - peaceful, spiritual, relaxing and the beach is one of the most beautiful in the US.  As I was decompressing from the work week, a beautiful blue (not the ocean) caught my eye.  There it was, a GIFT HERO gift bag hanging from the arm of someone’s beach chair.  I was so psyched to see it, I snapped a picture with my phone for everyone to see.

Looks like we have a new “It” bag for the back to school season

We fell into a breakfast rut recently. Benjamin, who doesn’t have a lot of time to eat in the morning, said he was “bored” with everything I offered. Ordinarily, I don’t put up with food fatigue but I really need to make sure he is full before going to camp. He doesn’t get a morning snack and lunch probably isn’t until noon (the bus picks him up at 8:18).

I hadn’t baked banana bread in awhile – kind of felt too hot out to bake. But, we agreed that he would eat it…if it had lots of chocolate chips. I forgot how easy it is to bake and how healthy it can actually be (even with the chips). This recipe makes enough for 2 loaves – which if only Benj eats it (I keep it in the freezer to reduce temptation), gives us more than 2 weeks of breakfasts.

Here’s our recipe:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour (I use one whole wheat and one regular)
2 eggs
1 tbsp baking soda
1/2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp vanilla
3 ripe bananas (but I throw in 4 to make it healthier)
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

I put all the ingredients in my Kitchen Aid mixer and it is done in just a couple of minutes. Makes 2 loaves.

Bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Note: you can also make muffins, just bake for about 25 minutes.

It isn’t too late to plant an herb garden with your kids this summer. Most herbs are easy to plant and grow like weeds. Earlier this summer, Benjamin and I planted basil, parsley, mint, rosemary, chives, cilantro and dill (ok, cilantro and dill were a bust – they too quickly go to seed…but the others are fabulous). I feel kind of like the Barefoot Contessa going out into my yard to clip fresh herbs for dinner. This weekend, I made pesto, a chimichurri sauce for steak and used some chives in an omelette and some mint for cocktails.

If you have a yard, just find a patch of dirt that gets sun and buy some small herb plants from a local nursery or garden store. If you are an apartment dweller, a medium sized planter on a sunny windowsill will also do the trick. You don’t need many plants because most of these (especially mint which is a perennial and should come back next year) grow quickly and spread. You can plant more than one herb in the same planter.

Benjamin loves to fill up a watering can and go out and water the herbs (and snack on some of the leaves). At GIFT HERO we sell an adorable Kid’s Watering Can Kit from ToySmith that makes a great gift for boys and girls ages 5 and up. It comes with a colorful and durable watering can plus a rake, a trowel, a shovel and gardening gloves.

Last weekend, Lisa and her family spent the weekend at our house. We all had a wonderful time – especially the kids. In the morning we went to a fabulous family fundraiser at CMEE (Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton). After a yummy lunch of dosa at Hampton Chutney in Amagansett Square, the kids swam, ate popsicles, had Jedi light sabre fights, and made s’mores in our makeshift firepit. As a special treat (while the grown-ups drank champagne to toast GIFT HERO), we let them go night swimming. I think that was the highlight of their weekend — although 7.5 year old Josh said it really wasn’t dark enough yet to be night – next time he wants to stay up later so it is pitch black out!