Hi friends of iKidNY! I hope you’ve had a nice summer!! We had a great one – we took advantage of our awesome (and often empty!) city and visited museums, classes, street fairs, restaurants, food carts, and countless playgrounds. But as this chilly weather rolls in (you actually need a jacket today!), we are getting excited for fall! Right now, here at home, we are focusing on back to school. My just-turned-two-year-old is starting pre-school this week, (along with a barage of other classes) and will be separating for the first time, even if just for four hours a week. Along with the excitement has come cleaning out his closet (putting away all those cute clothes that are just tooooo short), labeling, scheduling, cooking, talks about school… the whole megillah. We look forward to hearing back to school stories from all of you (please post in comments below)! Good luck and may the force be with you.

I am so excited to giveaway a family four-pack of tickets to Kiddie Cruise, a cruise around NYC for the small set and their parents! I literally can’t think of anything better to do on a hot summer Sunday in New York City. Kiddie Cruise takes care of feeding your kids (and you!) a healthy lunch and entertains them with face painters, magicians, storytelling, live music, raffles, games and more. And as for you, well you get to enjoy spectacular views of the Statue of Liberty and the New York City skyline aboard the Queen of Hearts, a Louisiana-style paddlewheel boat. The boat departs from Pier 40 at West Houston Street on select Sunday throughout the summer. Boarding is from 12pm-12:30pm and sailing 12:30pm- 2:30pm. Tickets are $35 for adults (13 & up) and $30 for kids (12 months – 12 yrs) – under 12 months ride free. Click here to buy tickets.

In order to enter the contest to WIN a family four pack of tickets on a Kiddie Cruise of your choice (pending availability) post a comment on this blog post telling us what fun things you are doing this summer in the city with your kids. Contest ends July 6th at midnight.

Remaining cruise dates this summer are:

July 11th – Princess & Pirate
July 25th – Super Hero & Fairy Princess
August 8th – Princess & Pirate
August 22nd – Super Hero & Fairy Princess
September 12th – Back to School Safari
September 26th- Rock Star
October 17th - Princess & Pirate
October 31st – Halloween

Disclaimer: Tickets for giveaway were provided by Kiddie Cruise.

SCORE! The Cooking Channel is hitting the road this summer in an Ice Cream truck and giving YOU free Ice Cream! As if that wasn’t cool enough they are bringing some of the network’s biggest stars along for the ride, and coming to a city near you. You and your kids will be treated to a scoop or two of your favorite Ice Cream flavor and will be able to meet the stars of Chuck’s Day Off, Everyday Exotic, FoodCrafters and more!

The kick-off will be THIS weekend in New York City! Here are the details:

Friday, June 25
12 noon- 4pm
Chelsea Market
75 9th Ave. (between 15th and 16th Streets)
Special appearance by Chuck Hughes from 1pm – 3pm

Saturday, June 26
12:00 pm- 10:00 pm
NYC FoodFilm Festival’s “The World’s First Food Truck Drive-In Movie”
Under the Brooklyn Bridge, DUMBO
Special appearance by Chuck Hughes from 1pm – 3pm

If you are not in NYC and would like to catch the Food Network’s Ice Cream Truck in your city here is the NATIONAL TOUR SCHEDULE:
(Dates and locations subject to change)

June 25-26 New York
July 1 Boston
July 4 Washington D.C.
July 17 Atlanta
July 19 Knoxville
July 20 Nashville
July 23 Cincinnati
July 28 Philadelphia
July 31- August 1 Atlantic City
September 4-5 Los Angeles
September 7 San Francisco
September 11 San Diego
September 19 Dallas
September 21 New Orleans
September 25 Chicago
October 7- 10 New York

Check out www.CookingChanneltv.com, Cooking Channel ‘s Facebook page and Twitter.com/CookingChannel to see the most up to date tour schedule.

Bank Street Bookstore bills itself as “New York’s best bookstore for and about children”, and they are not kidding. Bank Street is heaven on earth for New York City kids that love books (and their parents too!). A little two-story space tucked away on Broadway and 112th Street, this charming shop reminds me of what bookstores USED to be like before they all became chains. Bank Street caters to kids of all ages and offers rows and rows of carefully selected and well-organized books, games, DVD’s, and countless learning tools for kids. Bank Street’s very best asset is its amazingly knowledgeable and helpful staff. The staff knows the inventory inside and out and are willing to make suggestions or help you find whatever you need.

Bank Street boasts more than 60,000 titles in 17 languages and offers events throughout each month.

Bank Street Bookstore
Corner of 112th & Broadway
(212) 678-1654
www.bankstreetbooks.com

Last week, I had the privilidge of breaking bread with some pretty amazing moms (massive understatement). Adina Belloli of the new uber-cool online kids boutique, Little Lunalu (who we’ve featured in the past), was in town visiting from London and had the brilliant idea to get some moms together that she had connected with on Facebook and Twitter through her new mommy business. On a hot Friday afternoon at Bar Pitti, we became fast friends. Luckily for us it was all documented by the awesome Krista of The Momtographers.

Check out these amazing mom-mavvens and let them inspire you too! LOVE ya ladies!!!

Adina Belloli – Little Lunalu
Julia Samersova Adler – Planet Awesome Kid
Lyss Stern- Divalysscious Moms
Elina Furman Landauer – Mamaista
Liz Gumbinner – Cool Mom Picks and Mom-101
Holly Brown and Hadley Longstreth Peterson – Tada! Shop
Krista Njapa – The Momtographers
Jodi Nelson Call – Pistols and Popcorn