Bayport Blue Point Library in the future

The Bayport-Blue Point Library is zooming into the future. It may be good and may be bad. For their children's programs registration is on September 12th at 10am, but instead of parents lining up outside of the library at 9am to get into a class - it is going to be done on-line from the comfort of your home.

Each child that you are registering must have their own library card to get into the classes. You cannot register them under your own card. This creates the problem of - what if you are registering two or more children? Who do you want to get the first choice of classes? But I guess everyone else registering is in the same boat. Also with all these people registering at the same time is the system going to crash?

At the library, in the children's department, there are instructions you can pick up on how to register for the children's classes. There are 13 steps to register - too much to list here, but here's a start. Go to the library homepage. On the left side click onto Children's Programs and select the classes you want. Hopefully it is easy to do.

This little inconvenience is well worth getting all these programs for your children at no cost. It is a waste not to take advantage of the Bayport-Blue Point Library. Get your children a library card today, go on-line and set up their password, so you can register for classes on the morning of September 12th.

One other note - the Bayport-Blue Point Library is starting to issue in October photo id library cards with a key chain option. This will be a good thing because your library card will be on your key chain.

The Bubble Is In The Battle On The Bay

Power boaters with families, this weekend in Patchogue is The Battle On The Bay Miss Geico Triple Crown. It is a huge boat race on The Bay just off Patchogue and it's free. The events start on Friday, August 21st on land in Patchogue. There is music, food, vendors and you can view the race boats. On Saturday there are the time trials in the water and more fun on land. Sunday is race day. There are three separate races, starting at noon.

There is a viewing area in the Sandspits of Shorefront Park in Patchogue. If you have a boat, there is a viewing area just off Shorefront Park in Patchogue in The Bay. It is sort of tailgating with your boat in the water! Check out more detailed info at The Battle of The Bay website http://greatsouthbayracing.com/index.html

Even if you do not make it to the races - living in The Bayport Bubble - you will hear the boats!
=)

Don't Buy Birthday Cards - Make Them!

Once your children start school, they are always getting invited to birthday parties. It's not a big deal to buy a gift, but buying all those birthday cards gets so expensive. Mostly because they just get thrown away.

Try this - get some construction paper or pull some paper out of your printer. With crayons or markers, have them make a birthday card for their pal. Let their imagination flow - you will be amazed at what they draw for their friend. Keep it simple or get really fancy with glue, cutouts and stickers.

Always make a note on the card of what the drawing is and have them sign their name too. The kids feel like they made something special for a buddy and you save money. If the card does get tossed in the trash, it will not be a waste of $3. Who knows, maybe the friend will keep the special card and bring it out again in high school for a laugh!
=)

Free By The Sea

The National Park Service has free Seaside Stories and Crafts at Talisman on Fire Island. I plan on doing it with my kids, since most Saturdays we are at Talisman anyway. You meet at Talisman Picnic Area at 2pm and it is geared for children ages 5-7, but all are welcome. They also hold free kid events at Watch Hill too. Call 631-687-4750 or check it out at http://www.nps.gov/fiis/upload/FireIslandNationalSeashore_SpecialProgramsThisMonth_August-2009.pdf

* August 8th Whale Day - listen to stories about the seashore and learn about the environment of Fire Island
* August 22nd Catch of the Day - discover marine life in The Great South Bay as you use seine nets and dip nets. You must wear water shoes.

=)

Scream For Your Own Ice Cream

I got this recipe from a library class for making fast and fun vanilla ice cream with the kids. You will amaze them!

1 tablespoon of sugar
1/2 cup of milk
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla
6 tablespoons of salt
1 pint size zip plastic bag
1 gallon size zip plastic bag
ice

Fill the large bag half full of ice. Add the salt and seal the bag. In the small bag put milk, vanilla and sugar. Seal this bag and put inside large bag and seal it too. Shake bags until mixture is ice cream - about 5 minutes. Wipe off top of small bag really good and then open. You will have enough ice cream for a small bowl.

Just make sure you really clean off the small bag - if you don't your ice cream may be a bit salty, but still good. Make some now - you know you have all the ingredients! =)

Volcano In The Backyard

Something to do with the kids! We got a book about volcanoes out from the library and in the back there was instructions on making your own volcano. You may remember this from when you were little, but it is so fun to do again and so simple.

Do it outside. It really does not make a big mess and does not stain clothing. We used plastic water bottles cut in half and the kids put clay on the sides to make their volcano. You do not have to get that fancy - any container will do.

Fill the container with some water. I forgot the measurements, but it really does not matter because the kids will just kept pouring it in. Add some baking soda then pour in white vinegar. When the vinegar goes in, your volcano will bubble and foam and overflow. The kids love it!

When it dies down and just kept adding more white vinegar and baking soda to make more bubbles. This combination is also a great cleaning solution and so cheap to buy. I now have the cleanest outside table in the Bayport Bubble! Any white residue just cleans up with water. It was a nice project that kept them busy for a few hours. Try it!
=)

A Lumpy Crab On The Bay

JT's on The Bay on Corey Creek Canal in Blue Point is yummy! We went on a Friday night at 7pm and were seated right away - there was only two of us. Guess we hit it right. The atmosphere is excellent! There is a huge outside deck with tons of seating. You can look at The Bay or the canal and the boats going by. This is what Long Island in the summer is all about. The food is pretty good. We had the crispy fried calamari with cherry pepper rings for an appetizer. It was a total rip off of Harbor Crab's fried calamari, but it was good. For dinner I ate broiled stuffed shrimp with lump crab stuffing and sherry lobster sauce $23. This was really good and it was real crab meat - no imitation stuff here. Delicious! And I would recommend JT's watermelon margarita on the rocks to everyone - excellent! Good meal, great drinks, terrific atmosphere! And I believe they have transient docking. http://www.jtsonthebay.com/dinner.html
=)