Archives for April 2009

Have you ever heard of Halsey Pond? Neither had I and it is such a treasure of a place that, and I rarely say this, I hope not too many other folks find it. Obviously I am a lover of nature and natural places of all kinds. Halsey Pond, though, is truly magical. After a short, steep hike up a gravel trail at the end of a dead-end street in Irvington you find yourself on a wide, grassy path encircling this {Read More}

This past Saturday, Kids Unplugged returned to Westmoreland Sanctuary to join the naturalists there for a short trek to Betchel Lake to set the turtle traps. During our visit we learned from Sanctuary Director Steve Ricker that the traps do not harm the turtles but allow the staff to catch them and record information such as weight, length and distinguishing characteristics.The turtles are then marked for future identification and released at the site of capture. We arrived at the pond, serenaded {Read More}

Somehow these past couple of rainy Wednesdays have granted us a reprieve right at Wacky Wednesday Walks time. This week we were at East Irvington Nature Preserve, a 32-acre space maintained by the Westchester Land Conservancy.There is just under a mile of trails, past a brook, around a pond, through the woods and up a road to a water tower. Along the way there are wonderful boulder-configurations to climb and woodland nooks to explore. The little preserve is replete with {Read More}

This past Sunday Kids Unplugged was at the Lenoir Preserve in Yonkers for the County’s annual Pitch in for Parks day. Because Jon was booked to do the Bossy Frog gig, I was solo with our three gals and had images of spending the whole time chasing the small one rather than doing any concerted pitching.But, amazingly, my fears were unfounded and after about two hours, a nice group of kids and parents made a solid dent in the Preserve’s spring {Read More}

Here is the place to post your ideas for family projects and screen-free ideas for Turn Off week. Any suggestions you have for other parents on how to get away from the screens, to turn off the tube, to say “no” to the dvds and DS in the car etc., can be posted here. (Click on “comments” below). Speaking from my own experience, once the tv is turned off, the kids really stop asking for it. It simply isn’t a {Read More}

Thanks to all of you for your support at last night’s Third Friday in Tarrytown. Main Street was bustling with everyone coming out for this beautiful warm weather after the cold and damp at the beginning of the week. Many of you picked up your Turn Off Week Family Contracts at the Kids Unplugged table. There will be a link on the blog tomorrow to the Rivertowns Guide website where you will be able to download your own family contract. {Read More}

Brinton Brook Sanctuary in Croton is a great place for an after school hike. The sanctuary is the first of the Saw Mill River Audubon’s properties. It has 3-miles of trails through varied terrain, and the pond loop at just over a mile, was just right for an after school hike. The gloomy weather broke just before it was time to head out for the hike and the spring sun followed us up Route 9 to the trailhead One of {Read More}

Follow the white blazes and in less than a mile, and under 30 minutes, you will find yourself at the summit of Turkey Mountain. This really is a perfect kid-sized hike–not too steep, yet challenging enough to feel like a real accomplishment when the top is reached–and they get to say they climbed a mountain. Last Thursday was a great day for this hike. The weather was sunny and the wind at the summit was mild, encouraging a mountain-top picnic and {Read More}

Vernal Pools are bodies of water which are fed primarily through melting snows, rains, and overflow from nearby wetlands. There is no stream or creek bringing them water and, subsequently, they dry up with the summer heat. Because of their relatively brief existence, fish cannot survive in vernal pools making them ideal, preadator-free breeding grounds for our amphibious friends, namely frogs and salamanders. This past Sunday afternoon, a glorious spring day I might add, was spent hiking to and exploring {Read More}

Hello to All! I’ve got some great photos and tales from our last two Wacky Wednesdays but have been mired (in a mostly good way) in birthdayland over here as two of our girls are born April 1st and 3rd. The babe is the 18th, so I’ll have a little reprieve after this weekend and hope to start posting again. In any case, apologies for the missing hike reports. I’ll be back into the swing of things soon! Gina