The Campfire Girls Earned Their Hiking Patch

George W. Child's park. Fall isn't really the best time to visit waterfalls, especially after such a dry summer but it does let you go out onto the river beds and take photos from angles that aren't possible in spring.

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Campfire Girls

Sophie and I are up in the Pocono Mountains for a mother-daughter weekend. We left the boys back in Brooklyn to fend for themselves. We will enjoy a morning hike, a visit to an historic house and fine dining in town. The boys will go to an inventor's fair and eat beans out of the can over the sink. (Probably.) (Maybe.)

The weather right now is beautiful...68 degrees, sunny.Tonight's low, though, will be 44 (!) so a campfire and hot chocolate are definitely in order. And when it is dark....a Gilmore Girls marathon. THIS is going to be great.

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Sickos

So both kids have already come down with colds since starting school, which is a record for us. They're not usually sniffing until Columbus day.

Yesterday both kids woke up complaining that they were "dying," and couldn't possibly attend school with such a serious malady.

"OK," I said. "You should definitely stay home and rest. The BEST medicine is rest, so back to bed. Avoid straining yourselves...stay off the computer, don't watch more than 30 minute of TV and definitely no Wii. Wouldn't want you to get. any worse."

Sophie was more than happy to rest and put her pajamas back on and hopped back into bed. Harry, appalled at such cruelty to the ill said "Forget it. I'm going to school." And off he went.

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Tornado!

We had not one but TWO tornadoes in New York City on Thursday evening. One went through Brooklyn and another through Queens. I missed all the drama at home but watched the storm (and the spectacular lightning) at the office.

Today, while running errands around the neighborhood, I saw lots of branches as well as whole trees ripped out of the ground or snapped in half. A neighbor a few doors down from us lost a tree, too. It is still lying in another neighbor's yard. Tensions can run a bit high between these two neighbors so it'll be interesting to see how this one plays out.

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Mobile Blogger

My cell phone was dying a slow, painful death and after a trip to my local cell phone dealer I find myself the owner of a ridiculously snazzy (but since it will be used for work wholly tax deductible) 4G smartphone. And would you look at that...there's an app for blogging...along with a Facebook app, an app for Sophie to practice math and a GPS and a camera and...oh yeah, apparently I can call people, too!

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1st Day

The obligatory first day of school picture:

It was actually last Wednesday, and because of a weekend plus one Jewish holiday, today is only the second day of the school year for NYC public school kids.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Last Monday, my mother asked me "so when are you ever going to write another blog?" It dawned on me that I haven't updated since just after the 4th of July holiday. So without further ado, for my mother Cheryl, here is a blog post on how I spent my summer vacation:

I traveled to the lovely Marlborough region of New Zealand to explore a winery I drank a lot of wine, most of it from New Zealand.

I did a culinary exploration of various ethnic cuisines. I ate a lot of Mexican, Thai and Chinese food for lunch at the office.

I studied the culture of a little known gypsy group who travel from region to region to entertain local townsfolk I went to a county fair and paid a carnie $20 to let my kids win a big prize after just one attempt at the game.

I independently studied of the ethology of mice. We had a problem with mice in our camper. We caught 10 (!)

I remodeled our bathroom. The trim tiles in the shower came up and I grouted them back into place.

I booked a trip to Muenich to attend Oktoberfest. I am chairing the church's Oktoberfest...with less money to do it with and increasing prices for everything. Oy vey!

I finished a cable knit baby blanket. I'm still knitting that darned blanket...but I'm close to finishing!

I went on safari and ate exotic game meat. I went to a barbecue and tried buffalo burgers.

School starts on Wednesday and we've been ready for weeks. School starts on Wednesday and thank god for online shopping!