Well…

Yes, we all love movies, but we almost never agree on which one to watch. One daughter loves rom-com, another daughter likes sci-fi, hubby likes action, and for me, if it wasn’t made in the 80s then I’ll pass. So you would think it would take some sort of romantic, butt-kicking space pirate in a Duran Duran muscle shirt to unite this movie-loving family.

As it turned out we just needed an astrophysicist.

I was so excited to see Neil deGrasse Tyson at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at LIU Post because my hubby and I are HUGE fans. We read his books, watch his documentaries and listen to his podcast so I knew we had to see his show in person. What I didn’t expect was how much my two teenage daughters were going to love it. I had a feeling my sci-fi-loving daughter would like him but wasn’t too sure about the rom-com kid. Luckily his show was an entertaining, fun breakdown of how our favorite movies got the science right and how some got it wrong. The Wizard of Oz, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, The Lion King, and even Love Story (yup rom-coms have science in them) was explained. We watched clips, learned a little science and math and he even chatted up the audience with some fun back and forth.

The show was great but what was even better was seeing it at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at LIU Post. We usually have to trek into Manhattan for an experience like this but being only a short car ride away with plenty of parking made for a fun movie-lover night without the movie (or the traffic). The stadium seating held about 2,000 and guaranteed that there wasn’t a bad seat in the house. The show was interactive, thought-provoking, and really quite funny.

We went a bit early, grabbed a drink at the bar, and listened to a live local band playing before the show. I even got to dance a bit and totally embarrass my kids. Don’t worry if movies or science aren’t your thing, the Tilles Center really does have something for everyone. So if you’re looking for a fun date night or family bonding time (like we did) make sure to check out their awesome upcoming schedule.

Future Events:

• January 7: Space Oddity – The David Bowie Experience
• January 10: Dancing with the Stars
• January 27: America
• January 28: The Tortoise and the Hare
• January 29: Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company
• February 18: Lviv National Philharmonic
• March 7: A Conversation with Trevor Noah
• March 17: Wings Dublin Irish Dance
• March 18: The Sicilian Tenors
• March 19: Patti LuPone – Don’t Monkey with Broadway

About the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at LIU Post:

Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at LIU Post in Brookville, is Long Island’s premier concert hall. For almost 40 years, Tilles Center has been host to more than 70 performances each season by world-renowned artists in music, theater and dance. Tilles Center was the first to bring the New York Philharmonic to Long Island and Bruce Springsteen’s legendary “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” was recorded onsite.

Tilles Center is located at LIU Post, 720 Northern Blvd in Brookville, NY. For more information on how to purchase tickets, call 516-299-3100.

Tilles Center provided my family with complimentary tickets for the purpose of this review. We absolutely loved going and all opinions expressed are my own.  

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Here are some of the parks and trails on Long Island that I recommend:

• Belmont Lake State Park – There are 7.6 miles of trails throughout the park, available for hiking, walking, biking, nature observation, and cross-country skiing.
• Bethpage Bikeway – The 13.4 miles of paved trail runs adjacent to suburban roads, and the trail is broken up by 3 parks along the route: Trail View State Park, Bethpage State Park, and Massapequa Preserve.
• Caumsett State Park – This park is situated on a scenic peninsula extending into Long Island Sound, and offers miles of bridle paths, walking, jogging, hiking, biking, cross-country skiing and nature trails over acres of woodland, meadows, rock shoreline and salt marsh.
• Eisenhower Park – Located in the heart of Nassau County, here you can enjoy an easy 3.4-mile loop trail that surrounds the lake.
• Ellen Farrant Memorial Bikeway – This is a 5.5-mile asphalt trail that is a relatively straight and flat path, curving around trees here and there. This path can get quite windy and there is little shade, so it’s best to check the weather before you go.
• EPCAL Alternative Transportation Path – The experience along this 8.5-mile paved pathway is scenic with a few gradual inclines.
• Heckscher State Park – 4 miles of paved, multi-use trails attract bicycle riders, walkers, and nature lovers. You’ll be able to enjoy stunning views of the Great South Bay with Fire Island as the backdrop, and quite possibly a variety of wildlife such as whitetail deer and a variety of birds.
• Hempstead Lake State Park – This 3.1-mile loop trail is a popular trail for mountain biking, road biking, and running.
• Jones Beach Boardwalk – The 4-mile pathway offers views of the beach and the ocean. Although bicycles are permitted, pedestrians have the right of way and bicyclists should dismount in crowded areas.
• Kings Park Hike and Bike Trail – This 1.5-mile paved trail follows an abandoned railroad corridor. About half the trail is nicely shaded, making this a good choice even in warmer weather.
• Long Beach Boardwalk – As boardwalks go, this is an easy 4.3-mile out-and-back trail.
• Nassau Expressway – This is a great trail for beginners, as it’s nice and flat and just under a mile in length.
• Ocean Parkway Coastal Greenway – This paved 13.7-mile path begins where the Ellen Farrant Memorial Bikeway ends. As you ride, the vegetation flattens out in places, opening up views of the marshland beyond.
• Setauket-Port Jefferson Station Greenway Trail – This trail stretches just over 3 miles along Long Island’s north shore, and ties together scenic old-growth forest, farmland, meadows, business districts, the Stony Brook University campus, and county parks.
• Sunken Meadow State Park – Offering one of the most stunning views of the Long Island Sound with Connecticut in the distance, this 3.7-mile loop trail is open year round.
• Valley Stream State Park – Here you will find a 1.5-mile partially-paved loop trail surrounded by a wooded area.
• Wildwood State Park – This 3.2-mile loop trail will take you up to the bluffs where you will find an awesome view of Long Island Sound.

For the most comprehensive list check out the Long Island Bikeways and Trailways Map from the New York State Department of Transportation.

The post My Favorite Bike Trails on Long Island appeared first on Living Clean and Dirty.

Hi, my name is Emma and I’m a 14-year-old 8th grader at Oceanside Middle School. My mom loves to tell the story that while she was pregnant with me she saw Wicked on Broadway with her parents and my dad. Legend has it that this was the moment when my love of all things Broadway began.

On what started as a completely normal school day, a friend of mine walked up to me and started telling me about a show called Hadestown. I was intrigued and after doing some background research, I knew this was a show I wanted to see. I asked my mom about getting tickets and a few short weeks later I was on my way (with my dad) to see the marvel that was Hadestown. The musical was fantastic and I highly recommend it for any Broadway fan.

The songs were well written, but what made them spectacular was the actors singing them for all the audience to hear. They were all so talented and there wasn’t a single song I didn’t enjoy. The choreography mixed with the music so well and gave life to each number. If I had to pick a favorite character that I connected to it was Our Lady of the Underground, Persephone.

Persephone was an interesting and charming addition to the cast and wowed the crowd with her humor and love for humanity. As the goddess of Spring, I thought she would be sweet and innocent, but her time with Hades made Persephone into a wonderful woman full of fire and contradiction. Her character was brought to life by Amber Gray, who did a wonderful job of approaching the character with the mindset of someone who is beautiful and kind, but with a bit of a dark side. I loved her interactions with the other characters. I won’t spoil anything for you but her scenes with Hades (played by the wonderful Patrick Page) and her scenes with Orpheus and Eurydice’s situation (played by Reeve Carney and Eva Noblezada respectively) show such an incredible range.

She is an absolute wonder and I left the theatre singing her songs excited to tell my friends what an amazing experience I had at Hadestown. But NOW you don’t have to take just MY word that this is an amazing show. Hadestown received 14 Tony Award nominations which made it the most nominated show of 2019 including Best Musical.

To purchase tickets click HERE.

Hadestown provided my family with two complimentary tickets for the purpose of this review. My daughter LOVED this show and said, “This is my favorite show of ALL time.” This is saying A LOT and all opinions expressed in this review are her own. Hubby had a great time and loved the daddy-daughter bonding experience. 

The post Hadestown…A Hell of a Good Time appeared first on Living Clean and Dirty.

For me, that’s WICKED.

Years ago, when I was seven months pregnant with Emma, my dad surprised my hubby and me with tickets to see it on Broadway. It wasn’t my first trip to Oz. I’d been obsessed with The Wizard of Oz since I was a little girl. My fifth birthday was Wizard of Oz themed, complete with my prized collection of dolls. So when the lights dimmed at the Gershwin Theatre that night, I felt like I was coming home.

I fell in love with the show.

Years later, when it was time to introduce my daughters to Broadway, there really wasn’t much debate. Their first Broadway show had to be WICKED.

Part of me wanted them to experience the music and the spectacle.

But an even bigger part wanted to share something that had become special to me because of my dad.

As we sat in the audience, I couldn’t help but think about that first performance years earlier. It felt like he was sitting right beside us again.

If you’ve somehow managed to avoid spoilers all these years, WICKED tells the story of Oz long before Dorothy arrives. Instead of following the famous yellow brick road, it asks what really happened between Glinda and Elphaba before one became “Good” and the other became “Wicked.”

The music is phenomenal. “Popular,” “Defying Gravity” and “For Good” are the kinds of songs that stay with you long after you’ve left the theater.

Apparently they stay with husbands too.

Mine spent the train ride home singing “Popular.”

I consider that one of the show’s greatest achievements.

This summer I had the chance to return for a third visit, this time as part of a group of mommy bloggers. Before the show we were invited to lunch where we met the actresses playing Elphaba and Glinda and learned about WICKED‘s partnership with BullyBust, an organization working to prevent bullying in schools.

The highlight of the day, though, belonged to Emma.

She finally got to meet Elphaba, her favorite character.

When I asked her why she loved Elphaba so much, she didn’t talk about the songs or the green makeup.

She said she admired that Elphaba stood up for what she believed in, even when it wasn’t easy.

I don’t know if there’s a better lesson for a kid to take away from a Broadway show than that.

The older I get, the more I realize experiences become family traditions before you even know they’re happening. One surprise from my dad eventually became my daughters’ first Broadway show, and now every time I hear the opening notes of “Defying Gravity,” I think of all three generations sitting together in that theater.

That’s a little bit of Broadway magic you can’t buy with a ticket.

My dad treated me to my first performance of WICKED. More than a decade later, WICKED provided my family with complimentary tickets for the purpose of this review after I reached out because I genuinely wanted to share the experience with my daughters. As always, all opinions are my own.

The post The WICKED Magic Through Generations appeared first on Living Clean and Dirty.

I hate the idea of a bucket list, it’s so depressing.  Instead I keep a constant “Life to Do List” running in my head.  High up on that list was a visit to Mystic, Connecticut. If you are like me and have started to get some AARP literature in the mail then you’ll remember the film Mystic Pizza where I was first introduced to Julia Roberts before her stint as the hooker with a heart of gold (I’m referring to the film Pretty Woman, not her actual private life). Mystic is a short road trip, about 3 hours, but I’ve never seemed to get there…until now. My BFF from childhood has 2 daughters and I have 2 daughters and being busy moms we were all in need of a fun (and educational), overnight trip, with no boys allowed!

We arrived at the Mystic Marriott Hotel and Spa and checked into our AMAZING suite (check out the video of our room by clicking HERE).  We wanted to stay at this hotel for all the amenities you’d expect from a Marriott, especially the indoor pool.  This let the mommies relax and catch up while our four not-so-little fishies swam the afternoon away.  The hotel was a quick drive from historic downtown Mystic where we ate dinner and walked around the waterfront town.  Grabbing homemade ice cream ended our night on a sweet note.  

Breakfast inside the hotel at the beautiful Octagon Restaurant was exactly what we needed to start our day of learning, exploring and feeding the marine life.  We visited Mystic Aquarium during Mystic Spirit Week which included all the regular aquarium activities plus many extras including craft tables for the kids and even live music. Our girls loved the interactive 4-D Theater where we got to see, feel, hear and even smell the elements of the movie creating a real life experience.  I especially loved the Sea Lion show and was thrilled to learn about their animal rescue program which was right up my alley.  

Here’s a look at our girl’s trip.Keep it in mind for your next day (or overnight) trip

Click HERE for more information about Mystic Marriott Hotel and Spa.

Click HERE for more information about Mystic Aquarium.

Mystic Marriott Hotel and Spa hosted my family for an overnight stay at their hotel and Mystic Aquarium hosted my family for the day for the purpose of this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

The post Our Mystic-al Girl’s Trip appeared first on Living Clean and Dirty.

For us, family camp combined the fun things about an outdoorsy vacation with the amenities of an indoorsy vacation.  My husband called it “camping without the camping” and I called it “high-class summer camp for the whole family”, but we both summarized our entire week long vacation at Family Camp in 5 words. “We can make that happen.”  Let me explain…

My gang has taken a fair amount of family vacations over the past decade but I never felt as pampered and catered to as I did on this trip.  We still refer to it as the “We can make that happen” (WCMTH) vacation.  From the moment we arrived I received strict instructions from the counselors and staff: “This is your time to relax, not have to cook and not have to worry about your kids…we got this”.  And you’d better believe I followed those instructions to a “T”.  The service at Family Camp was OUTSTANDING.  Anything we wanted we got (WCMTH).

• You loved the couscous at dinner last night and want it on the menu every night…(WCMTH)
• My daughter wants to learn how to skateboard…(WCMTH)
• I’m interested in improving my golf swing…(WCMTH)
• I always hear about Vermont and their cheese, how about a cheese tasting night…(WCMTH)
• I’m not sure if there’s time but I’d really like to take a personalized yoga class…(WCMTH)
• My kids didn’t like the dinner choices, any chance of getting some pizzas…(WCMTH)
• Another camper had a birthday during vacation, can we get her a cake and all sing…(WCMTH)

My husband joked that we should ask for a dinosaur dance group with laser beams on their heads just to see what would happen.  I could go on and on about the wishes granted by the genies of Family Camp and it’s for that reason we already have plans to go back next summer.

Now make no mistake, just because it’s called camp doesn’t mean that we roughed it by any stretch of the imagination.  I’m not the type to sleep in a tent so I was thrilled with the two bedroom, two bathroom condominium with fully-equipped kitchen, laundry and living room…all the comforts of home.  We were a short walk from “home base” which is the Sundance Base Lodge near the Grand Summit Resort Hotel.  We had access to all the amenities of the property including an indoor pool, outdoor pool, hot tub, basketball court, health club, steam room, sauna, arcade and fitness classes.

We paid extra for trips to the hotel spa and alcohol, but aside from that everything from drink refills to day long excursions were included.

So here’s a fact that’s funny but true.  I’m not outdoorsy and my husband doesn’t like meeting new people.  If I gave you the criteria of our dream family vacation, this trip would not have been on the top of the list.  We took a chance on something new and I can honestly say this vacation has been one of the greatest experiences we ever had as a family.  We absolutely loved it and CANNOT recommend it enough to everyone we know.  We met 4 other families and spent the week talking, laughing and watching our kids play together.  My husband got along great with the other dads and I had a great time biking in the fresh air amid the beautiful Mount Snow scenery. At the end of the trip, all five families agreed on two things:

1. The service at Family Camp was beyond what any of us ever experienced.  Two of the families (they were sisters) travel every summer together and they went to a different family-style camp the previous year.  They both agreed that this camp was monumentally better.  Like me, they raved about the personal touches and now would accept nothing less than the experience they had at Mount Snow Family Camp.
2. All 5 of our families linked up on Facebook and exchanged information.  We all are coming back next summer TOGETHER.

My husband’s favorite activity was the downhill mountain biking.  My 10-year old, Emma, loved sailing through the trees and ziplines at Ramblewild aerial park.  My 8-year old, Chloe, couldn’t decide what she liked more, tubing and swimming in the lake or kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding.  As for mom, while I’m not too outdoorsy I loved hiking down one of the Mt. Snow trails with my hubby and another couple.  The weather was perfect, the scenery was beautiful and the pace was my own.

Before this trip I knew next to nothing about Family Camp at Mount Snow but I figured we would take a chance and try a new experience.  This turned out to be an unforgettable adventure that we still talk about today and are excited about returning to next summer.  I can’t remember a vacation ever having that effect on me before so thanks everyone at Family Camp for “Making That Happen”.

Click HERE for more information.

Mount Snow hosted my family for a five-night stay at Family Camp for the purpose of this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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My husband is very picky about where we go on vacation as a family.  He says his criteria are simple.  We must go somewhere that has something for everyone, must be all under one roof because constant traveling is not a vacation, and most importantly the kids can entertain themselves so we’re not always “on” and have to keep them occupied.  Now you know why we stay home a lot.  It’s tough to find vacation spots like this but I’m happy to report that we found it and it’s just a short road trip away!

We were invited to the Grand Opening of Kalahari Resorts & Conventions in the Pocono Mountains and this trip even put a smile on my picky husband’s handsome face. Kalahari is Pennsylvania’s largest indoor water park measuring in at 100,000 square feet (that’s almost 2 acres) and it kept my kids busy for a full two days.  Kalahari is an authentically African-themed experience with all the amenities of an upscale resort.  It’s also privately owned by the Nelson family who created it with the idea of “protecting an endangered species—family time”.

For almost 6 hours on our first day, my kids were going down water slides, body surfing, relaxing on the lazy river and making new friends, while my husband and I got to spend a few precious hours at the swim up bar talking to friends and just hanging out…together.  I cannot remember the last time we had such a fun day like we did in Kalahari.  When we weren’t on our “date”, we went down water slides as a family.  I’m a bit of a scaredy-cat so I put on a smile and went down the HUGE water slide because my 8 year old daughter batted her eyelashes at me and begged me to go down with the rest of our clan. How could I say no?  The first time I screamed it was out of fear, after that all the screams were from fun.  I have never been on water slides like this, not even when I was a kid. Sitting in the raft with my daughters and my husband, I was overwhelmed with the feeling of gratitude for the opportunity to reconnect as a family. Not a single electronic device or TV was turned on once while at Kalahari.

Our days were full of water park fun, but the nights were reserved for the 30,000 square foot Family Entertainment Center.  My girls spent hours in the arcade, went mini-bowling and even played a round of black light mini-golf.

After breakfast on the second day of our trip my 8 year old was vibrating in her seat waiting to get to the water park.  “Chloe” my husband told her, “relax, it’s open for another 11 hours.”  To which she replied, “I know Dad, I want to make the most of it and not run out of time.”

This trip was such a huge hit with my family that Emma has already planned her 11th birthday later this year at Kalahari.  Before we even checked out of our room she declared, “I love Kalahari, it’s my favorite resort. If we come back for my birthday I don’t need any other presents.”  As you can imagine, that’s high praise indeed for any family destination.

So what are you waiting for?  If you love an all-under-one-roof vacation experience with something for everyone then update that summer bucket list and book an adventure at Kalahari by clicking HERE.  It gets the thumbs up from this mom, an 8-year old, a 10-year old and a picky husband.

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