Gold Coast Railroad Museum's Fall Activities for Kids

Somebody at the Gold Coast Railroad Museum is really on top of things these days! I clicked over to their website to check out the info on their Free First Saturdays program, and I see that they have a lot of very cool kids activities--many of them FREE--listed on a calendar through Thankgiving.

First things first: this Saturday is Free First Saturday, and that means free admission to the Gold Coast Railroad Museum. The train rides aren't free, but your average kid will be pleased as punch with a ride on the children's train (the Link ride). The ride costs a whopping $2.50 per person, and lasts about 20 minutes. Adults and children can both ride. Here's a bonus: Free First Saturdays include free ice cream from noon - 2, while supplies last. Here are the train schedules and pricing, including the info for the Link train.

Check out their complete events calendar for October November--they are offering Story Time Tuesdays, Free Train Ride Wednesdays, Thursday Train Rides 'Til Dusk, Fun With Food Fridays, and info on Spooky Halloween Adventures for Halloween weekend.

The Gold Coast Railroad Museum is right next to MetroZoo; here are directions.

Parent Hacks and Miami for Less

I just added a few new links to my reading list that you see on the right when you scroll down the page. I love Parent Hacks for all the quirky parenting tips/shortcuts (aka "hacks") that they offer. Like using an Orbit gum container as a toddler snack dispenser. Or solving the messiness problem of Go-Gurt by inserting a straw. Miami FL on the Cheap is another good one--from free cookies to free concerts, this is a great source for all things free and discounted in Miami. Radical Parenting is great for parents of teens and tweens, and offers many thoughtful guest posts from teens and tweens, so parents can get the kids' perspective on issues.

Eat @ Miami Chili's Today: 100% of Profits Donated to St. Jude

You know you've thought about it: what if your child was sick?--I mean really sick....stop and imagine that for a moment. When I was pregnant with Elle, people would ask if I hoped for a boy or a girl. I always answered that I didn't care, I just wanted a healthy baby. I'm sooooooo thankful that both Skyler and Elle are healthy, and when I read stories like this (click on the link and scroll to pg.5), that an old friend from high school wrote (that *will* make you cry, so be prepared) I am immediately reminded that I am a very, very lucky mom.

Today (September 28), Chili's is donating ALL profits to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The kids are out of school here in Miami, so you could pop in with the fam for dinner or lunch, and do a great thing, really easily. Seriously, all you have to do is eat some fajitas or something, and in effect, you're donating the price of your meal to St. Jude, a research hospital for children where "all patients accepted for treatment at St. Jude are treated without regard to the family's ability to pay." Wow. Imagine the feeling of relief that would wash over you if you had a seriously ill child, perhaps terminally ill, and cost of treatment was taken out of the picture. *That* is what you are doing for a fellow parent by sitting down at Chili's and sharing a meal with your family today.

After years working for SYSCO and Tropical and selling directly to restaurants, I like supporting locally-owned restaurants for several reasons, but when a national chain hosts an event like this, I get really excited. FYI, this is a nationwide event, called The Big Day, so if you're a non-Miami reader, you can click here to find the Chili's closest to where you live.

I have to admit, I have a soft spot for Chili's anyway...when I was in high school, Chili's was one of the cool places to hang out, so we went there a lot. I also like they have a grilled chicken breast option on their kids menu instead of just the fried chicken tenders that most restaurants offer. Skyler likes their salmon. They have a decent "healthy" menu, and several fish selections. They're usually happy to modify their dishes to meet your needs. Of the casual chains, most of which I've sworn off for one reason or another, Chili's still gets a thumbs up for those reasons.

Photo credit: aguivan/sxc.hu

Junk Mail for Kids

I thought it would be cute to subscribe to Elle magazine in my daughter Elle's name last year. She's three. Obviously, I'm the one reading the mag (it's actually very good), but now that she's "in the system", Elle is the one that gets the affliated mail. Usually, it's a piece of junk mail here and there, but yesterday, she got THREE pieces of junk mail--more mail than anyone else in the house!

As a marketing professional, I find it interesting to see what trickles through based on her one magazine subscription. I mean, clearly that's how the mail is getting here; there's no other reason that higher end women's magazines, jewelry stores, and other companies that target higher income WOMEN would be vying for sweet, three-year-old, doesn't-even-get-an-allowance-yet Elle's attention in my mailbox.

It gets better. I opened one envelope today because it was labeled "Market Development" on the outside, which made me curious. Inside was a discounted subscription offer for Harper's BAZAAR, and a little blurb on the letter read: "In an effort to attract readers who fit various demographic profiles, Harper's BAZAAR is pleased to offer you a special discounted rate." Umm, what demographic profile are you shooting for in this case, the 2 - 4 year olds?

Mostly, I think it's funny, and like I said, interesting from a marketing perspective. Then again, should I be worried about identity theft? I mean once you're "in the system", you become fair game, right?

Photo credit: lusi/sxc.hu

Everything You Wanted to Know About Disney on Ice: Princess Classics in South Florida. AND!! Discount Ticket Info

Last night, Elle and I made the trek to BankAtlantic Center near Ft. Lauderdale to catch the opening night of Disney on Ice: Princess Classics. Uh, wow. And I'm not just wowing about the seemingly endless procession of princesses onto the ice for, oh, 2 HOURS. There was also the seemingly endless procession of princesses into the arena--the place was crawling with little Mini Princesses! It was adorable, and I have to admit that I decided on the spot that the next time I return to any large-scale Disney event, Elle will be dressed in costume (I love any excuse for a costume...) So that's my first thumbs up to the show--any event that inspires public dressup is A-OK by me.

Now on to the next important factor--the snacks. As expected, they were plentiful, delicious, and of course, pricey. I think Elle had more sugar in one sitting than I've EVER allowed her before, but I'd have to know more about the chemical makeup of cotton candy to say for sure. Seriously, the place was crawling with sugar-pushers (cotton candy, sno-cones, and a full-on mini candy store) and the resulting sugared up kids. Some handled it well, by dancing around maniacally in their princess costumes at intermission, others not so well, like the little boy I saw running away from his mom during intermission...he might have been successful, but his pants were around his knees, and he was stopping periodically to hurl himself to the floor to tantrum. Bizarre. Anyway, Elle did well with the sugar overload--dancing around, and smiling broadly at me and asking repeatedly for more cotton candy, which she announced was "like a yummy puffle ball."

Now, on to the show. This was Elle's first exposure to A. Ice Skating B. Disney Princesses C. An Arena Setting D. Cotton Candy (but we've already talked about that.)

So, she was mesmerized for the first hour. The structure of the first half of the show is pretty fast-paced. They zip through six famous Disney stories (Aladdin, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Mulan) in an hour, with great special effects and some audience participation. Even though Elle didn't know the stories, she enjoyed the obvious drama, and I was there to fill in the blanks; her favorite was Snow White. While she's not really familiar with the Disney stories, she is a total girly girl and LOVES princesses, so she was really into the pretty costumes and all the skating princesses. At intermission, we stocked up on more treats, and headed back in to see an hour of Cinderella. This didn't hold her interest as well, I think because the newness of the event was wearing off, it was getting late (the show ends at 9:30), and the poor thing was perhaps the only three-year-old in the stadium that didn't know the story of Cinderella. Basically, because she didn't know the story, it wasn't as entertaining for her, and trying to explain the nuances of Cinderella in whispers to a preschooler is harder than one would think. So my advice would be to either prep your kid with repeated readings or viewings of Cinderella before you go, or pull a REALLY sneaky one, and pretend that intermission is the end of the show, and leave an hour early. I know--now you're thinking I'm the most awful mommy on the planet: "She doesn't read her kid the Disney stories, lets her eat half a bag of cotton candy, AND wants to lie to her! Call the mommy police, ASAP!" I'm just saying, the thought crossed my mind....and crossed it more than once during the second hour. I feel like she got her fill of the total Disney on Ice experience in the first half of the show, and wouldn't have missed out by skipping the second half.

What was my impression of the show? Totally enjoyed it. I don't just mean the performance--I loved seeing Elle's eyes light up when she saw all the other little girls dressed as princesses, I loved sharing cotton candy with her, I loved watching her ooo and ahh over one of her favorite things in the world (pretty princesses) skating magically on the ice, and I loved having a mother/daughter night out (Erik & Skyler had tickets too, but Skyler had been home from school for 2 days with sore throat, and Erik quite eagerly volunteered to stay home with her. Skyler was not too distressed to be missing out; she was only going 'for the nachos'--she's anti-princess these days and is quite disturbed by Elle's obsession with princesses, pink, and sparkle jewelry.) I was impressed with the special effects, the costumes, the set changes, the ice skating stunts, and of course, the snacks. But most of all, like many things, it was a "first" for Elle, and that made the night particularly wonderful.

While the 2-hour showtime was too much for my Disney-deficient three-year-old, I would think an older girl (4, 5, 6?) and a girl really into Disney not only wouldn't be phased by the running time, but would love every minute of it and be bummed when it was over. As for little boys, meh, they'd like it too for the skating stunts, the special effects, and DUH--the snacks!

You can see the show in South Florida through the 27th, either at BankAtlantic Center or American Airlines Arena. ****If you buy your tickets through Ticketmaster, use the coupon code MOM in the "MC promotion” box to get four regular tickets for $44 for Mon-Friday matinee shows, or $4 off any weekend show. (FYI, you HAVE to buy at least 4 tickets or the code won't work, and obviously you can't use the code for Front Row or VIP.)

Bank Atlantic Center Shows:
Thursday, September 17: 7:30pm
Friday, September 18: 7:30pm
Saturday, September 19: 3:30pm, 7:30pm
Sunday, September 20: 1:00pm, 5:00pm

Miami/American Airlines Arena Shows:
Wednesday, September 23: 7:30pm
Thursday, September 24: 7:30pm
Friday, September 25: 7:30pm
Saturday, September 26: 11:30am, 3:30pm, 7:30pm
Sunday, September 27: 1:00pm, 5:00pm

***For the sake of full disclosure/so I can sleep at night--I was given free tickets to the show by a promoter, and was encouraged to review it and offer the coupon code to my readers. Which I did, with pleasure. I mean, the sugary snack extravaganza alone would be worth the ticket price, right?****:-)

photo credit: drasta/sxc.hu

Grapeland Water Park's Newer New Fall Hours

Just a heads up--Grapeland Water Park has newer new fall hours. At least now they are actually posted on the website correctly. I scheduled a get together there for my Hip Moms Meetup Group one morning shortly after school started, only to find that they had reduced their hours to afternoons and weekends only. I scheduled another one earlier this week, only to find that the hours had changed again, to weekends and school holidays only. At the time, the info was not posted on the website--you only found out once you got there and found the note taped up on the ticket window. Bummer. Needless to say Elle was not happy that there would be no water park adventure.

Considering how broke Miami is right now, I think the reduced hours are a good move. The water park was a ghost town last year on school days, so they were paying lifeguards to be on site when there were very few people there most of the time.

A sort-of alternative would be the little Splash N Play at South Pointe Park on South Beach. It's no water park, but it's cute, has a little playground right next to it, and perfect for younger kids especially (older kids would be bored.)

New Grapeland Water Park Hours: Saturday and Sunday: 10am - 6pm
we will be open on Teacher Planning Days and School Holidays 10am - 6pm
except for Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Years Day.

In2Books: Busy Miami Moms Can Volunteer Via Laptop

Lately, I've been trying to make volunteering a priority again. Along with partying until dawn and getting regularly scheduled bikini waxes, it's one of the things in my life that has fallen by the wayside since having a kid. I know, I know--there's really no excuse, but I'm just saying that having an infant/toddler/preschooler permanently attached makes it a tad more difficult to zip across town for regularly-scheduled volunteering.

A couple of days ago, I started by browsing a great website, All for Good, which is a volunteer clearinghouse website with pages and pages of listings for Miami volunteer opportunities. I found several that I am pursuing, but one of the easiest for busy but wired moms to participate in is In2Books. They organize a nationwide pen pal program for third - fifth grade students and adult volunteers, who over the course of a year read 5 books together and correspond via email to discuss the books. How cool is that?!?!According to their website, "from its inception, In2Books has focused especially on under-resourced neighborhoods where many students come from low-income, culturally diverse backgrounds." The organization has grown since its founding in 1997, and today, they are all-digital (except for the actual books, of course), and in 2009, "In2Books expands to all classroom nationwide and, with underwriting from the ePals Foundation and national sponsors, In2Books is offered free to the first 1000 Title I classrooms enrolled for the 2009-2010 school year."

Sign up is easy and fast. (FYI--you do donate $6 when you sign up to cover the cost of your background check, but considering you are working with children, isn't that a good thing?) Minutes after you sign up, you receive an email instructing you to write your welcome letter and watch a short video tutorial, and then you just wait to be contacted by your pen pal and his/her teacher.

Pen pals and students are matched and begin reading in September, so if you're interested in joining, do so ASAP here.

photo credit: nkzs/sxc.hu