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 I woke up and the girls were hungry for an adventure. It wasn’t too hot and it wasn’t supposed to rain until later in the day, so it seemed like the perfect day to try out a hike at Croton Gorge Park. I’ve shied away from hikes with the girls in the past because they can be divas. That’s actually an understatement. They’re just about always divas. But a post on Wee Westchester convinced me that the trails at Croton Gorge Park would be a great place to start.

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 sister and I brought our (not-so-little) babies to the Strawberry Jammin’ Festival at Fishkill Farms. We’ve been huge fans of this sustainable, eco-friendly fruit and veggie farm since we went apple picking there last fall. It’s sprawling and beautiful and has a great farm store—plus they have a grill that serves up hot dogs, hamburgers, and a house Jamaican jerk chicken.

For as long as I can remember, I have loved a good road trip. From driving a couple of hours to the Jersey shore with my grandparents every summer to driving to Florida on spring break while in college, I have always found road trips incredibly exciting. Killer playlists, hilarious conversations, and a whole lot of open road is my kind of adventure.

And then I had kids.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still the first to jump at the idea of adventuring to a new place by car, it just takes way more preparation now. Like, way more. And along the way, I’ve become pretty good at keeping my kids entertained on road trips. In fact, I have a list of five tips that I consider essential when road tripping with kids.

A few months ago I wrote about our visit to the Jacob Burns Film Center and what an incredible day the girls and I had there. We can’t wait to go back next month to catch Matilda.

Because we love the place so much and I think you will too, I wanted to let you know that JBFC is currently in the midst of their May member drive, where they’re giving new members two extra month’s membership for free!

In case you’re unfamiliar with JBFC, it’s a nonprofit movie house located in Pleasantville, NY that screens new releases, foreign and documentary films, unique series, and special events. Even more exciting, you can meet filmmakers and actors like Richard Linklater, Billy Crystal, Ryan Gosling (!!!), and Meryl Streep, or learn to make movies of your own with classes in animation, screenwriting, and filmmaking at the JBFC Media Arts Lab. They also throw one heck of a party.

Getting dressed around here is quite an event. In fact, some days you would swear that these girls of mine were prepping themselves for the Academy Awards. There are wardrobe changes, spritzes of perfume, lip gloss application, and lots of twirling in front of their full length mirror.

I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a struggle to get to this point where I just let them be. In fact, it was really, really hard to let go of my control freak tendencies and my desire to have my girls look like they came skipping from the pages of an expensive catalog.