The Summer Adventures series focuses on affordable summer fun for families in Westchester and the lower Hudson Valley. It’s all about exploring our own backyard and is the perfect resource for planning a killer staycation or finding something awesome to do this weekend. Interested in more local love? Head here.

Last weekend, my husband and I surprised the girls with a trip to the New York Renaissance Faire in Tuxedo, NY. Huge fans of anything theatrical, we had a feeling they would love it. We were right, of course.

Open on Saturdays, Sundays and Labor Day between August 6th and October 2nd this year, the Renaissance Faire is a summer/fall staple for lot of families in the Hudson Valley. If you’ve never been, you absolutely have to check it out. Tickets regularly cost $25 for an adult and $12 for a child (5-12), but there are definitely sales and coupons available if you look hard enough.

The Summer Adventures series focuses on affordable summer fun for families in Westchester and the lower Hudson Valley. It’s all about exploring our own backyard and is the perfect resource for planning a killer staycation or finding something awesome to do this weekend. Interested in more local love? Head here.

I’ve been completely obsessed with visiting a waterfall this summer. Maybe it started with our adventure at Croton Gorge Park. The water rushing over the dam is so damn beautiful (see what I did there?). The girls and I were completely entranced by it.

Still, I wanted to feel like we found some hidden gem in the middle of an enchanted forest.

After a couple of friends posted about visiting Indian Brook Falls in Garrison, I knew we had to check it out. Hidden right down the road from Constitution Marsh Audubon Center and Sanctuary, it was everything I had hoped for.

The Summer Adventures series focuses on affordable summer fun for families in Westchester and the lower Hudson Valley. It’s all about exploring our own backyard and is the perfect resource for planning a killer staycation or finding something awesome to do this weekend. Interested in more local love? Head here.

While exploring the walk along the Peekskill Riverfront one day, the girls and I noticed the little building for Trinity Cruises down by the Peekskill Yacht Club. It was immediately decided that we absolutely had to go on a cruise on the Hudson River as quickly as possible [Please, mommy! Mommy, please?!].

Luckily for all parties involved, Trinity Cruises has special one-hour family boat rides in the summer on most Fridays and Saturdays at 3pm. I felt much better about taking two (dramatic) little ladies on a boat for the first time for one hour as opposed to three. Three hours made me see nausea, a little boredom and a lot of whining in our future. One seemed much more manageable.

In the end, I didn’t have anything to worry about. We had so much fun! Ellie was nervous at first because it was her first time on a boat and the swaying and rumbling of the engine freaked her out. Once we were out on the river though, she totally forgot about any fear and soaked in the gorgeous scenery.

The Summer Adventures series focuses on affordable summer fun for families in Westchester and the lower Hudson Valley. It’s all about exploring our own backyard and is the perfect resource for planning a killer staycation or finding something awesome to do this weekend. Interested in more local love? Head here.

This weekend we packed the girls up to head down to Brooklyn Heights to visit my brother-in-law and his girlfriend. They live within walking distance from Brooklyn Bridge Park and, let me tell you, we fell absolutely in love with the area. Samantha is still insisting that we need a summer home there. If a summer home in Brooklyn was the sort of thing we could afford, we would completely agree with her.

It’s not surprising that we love the area. We’re big fans of waterfront parks and Brooklyn Bridge Park is a tough one to beat. It’s huge and full of gorgeous gardens and greenery, lots of spaces for fun (like playgrounds and splash parks, volleyball courts, soccer fields and more), and absolutely unbeatable views of Manhattan.

I went to the circus for the first time ever a couple of weekends ago. It was definitely a lot of fun. But I learned a valuable lesson: I am absolutely not cut out for life in the circus.

As soon as we walked into the Big Top at Lincoln Center, my stomach fluttered with nervousness. The tent is tiny. We had seats in the third row, but even if we had been seated all the way against the back row we would have been impressively close to the action. The girls were ecstatic and full of This. is. awesoooooomes.