Anyone in or near southern Fairfield County, CT or lower Westchester County, NY?

[jenml]

I'd love to get to get a play group going for folks who live near us... We are in Stamford, CT, but willing to travel to lower Westchester, NY and southern Fairfield County, CT.

[LisafromNY]

Funny,
I'm in Rockland County, NY I'm probably too south to split the mileage for this tentative playdate and too north to meet 1/2 way for the NJ playdate (other thread in this section). :confused:

[jenml]

Hi Lisa,
I met you at the Charlemont event... you made that awesome pumpkin that was the buzz of the room, correct? (Who can forget a name like "junkforus"?)

Rockland... hmmm... it's not crazy far, but it's not close. Let's see if we get more replys and maybe we can meet in the middle... but when I'm off from school (summer?), I would definitely make the trip and play (or have you here). How old is your little one(s)?

[Traci]

Hi,
We live way up in the Northwest Hills of Connecticut in Torrington. My daughter is almost 2 and absolutely loves ST!!

[LisafromNY]

Hi Jen,
Yes, I remember you too! Our little guys were playing at the train table at Kei's!
We could definately get something going, and I don't mind driving a bit myself. How far are you from the TappanZee bridge?
Oh, wait Stamford...then like a hour?

Anyone else in this area?

[jenml]

[QUOTE=LisafromNY]
Yes, I remember you too! Our little guys were playing at the train table at Kei's!
We could definately get something going, and I don't mind driving a bit myself. How far are you from the TappanZee bridge?
Oh, wait Stamford...then like a hour?
QUOTE]

I'm just about 20 minutes from the bridge with no traffic... I still go to White Plains all the time and that's about 15-20 minutes (it's not a science with all that traffic, huh?).

Yeah, William's train table inspired Santa, and Henry got a table and trains for Christmas!

[jenml]

Hi,
We live way up in the Northwest Hills of Connecticut in Torrington. My daughter is almost 2 and absolutely loves ST!!
I know exactly where Torrington is (up route 8... my first speeding ticket in high school on the way to skiing... that's my first knowledge of Torrington!!).
That's a bit North... bit a long drive, and certainly far from Rockland. Hmmmm... Maybe a summer play date would make the trip worth it. Let's see who else is around, too. Are you close to Dutchess County? How far are you from Kei's area?

[LisafromNY]

NO no...lol I'm like 3 hours from Kei's (the Charlemont weekend we were headed to a friend's in Vermont and it happened to be on the way)
I'm right over the Tap in Rockland County...have you ever heard of the Palisades Center Mall? I could throw a stone there....(funny how moms judge distance by malls!!) It takes me 20 minutes to get to my friend's house in White Plains.
We should meet up at the Palisades Center, ride their train, go to Jeepers etc....it's right by a ton of highways too for others traveling...

Anyone else interested? You can travel by NYthruway, Garden State, Palisades.....

[jenml]

NO no...lol I'm like 3 hours from Kei's (the Charlemont weekend we were headed to a friend's in Vermont and it happened to be on the way)
...
Right, I know... I was responding to Traci (in Torrington).
I would love to get together in the summer (when I'm off, and my time isn't restricted to weekends... though I do have an April break coming up soon...), but I find it hard to believe that we're th eonly ones in this area...
Anyone else??

Lisa, how old is your little one? I forget...

[LisafromNY]

Jason is 3 (his birthday was monday!)
and my other signer Michael is 5.5

[jenml]

Jason is 3 (his birthday was monday!)
and my other signer Michael is 5.5
Great. Henry will be four in June, but he sometimes acts two and sometimes thinks he's 8. :p
I think it will be fine :)

[LaraF]

Hi Jen, Lisa, and Traci!

Sorry it's taken me so long to find this... I need to spend more time in the ST forums! I have a 20 month old son - a bit younger than your boys, but please keep me posted if you do meet up. Maybe we'll road trip to the Palisades Mall. That place is amazing!

- Lara

[jenml]

Hi Jen, Lisa, and Traci!

Sorry it's taken me so long to find this... I need to spend more time in the ST forums! I have a 20 month old son - a bit younger than your boys, but please keep me posted if you do meet up. Maybe we'll road trip to the Palisades Mall. That place is amazing!
- Lara
Hi Lara,
Where are you in FFld County? I think we're leaning to getting together as soon as school ends... I know your 20 month old isn't in school yet! It's okay that they are of different ages... we can still sign with each other and let the kids play as they do (where there are toys, there will be children playing....).
Glad we're "finding" more people.

[LaraF]

Hi Jen!

I live in Trumbull, which is (on a good day) about 30 minutes from Stamford. Incidentally, before we bought a house, my husband and I lived in the Hoyt Bedford apartments in Stamford. I miss being able to walk downtown to all of those great restaurants, but that was a lifetime ago. :)

Our house about ten minutes from the Beardsley Zoo.

I'm curious to see how much signing my son will do around other kids who sign; he's mostly picked up spoken words from ST and only signs certain words (plus his fine motor skills aren't that great yet, so aside from "more" and a few others, they're approximations). But we'll have fun!

- Lara

ps - if Norwalk isn't too far for Lisa and Traci, maybe we could do a day at the Aquarium or Stepping Stones...

[jenml]

Hi Jen!

I live in Trumbull, which is (on a good day) about 30 minutes from Stamford.
Our house about ten minutes from the Beardsley Zoo.
ps - if Norwalk isn't too far for Lisa and Traci, maybe we could do a day at the Aquarium or Stepping Stones...

My sister and her family live in Bpt right near the Trumbull mall (Lake Forest area), and my family grew up in Black Rock, so we know all about Beardsley Zoo!
I'd love to go to SSM or the aquarium. How about anyone else? Nice outing.. and we all know the signs for the things we'd see there!! We are actually members of both places (we live so close to both).

[cheryl]

Hello, my 3 1/2 year old has been doing the signing time videos for a while now and loves them. We live in Norwalk. I see this thread hasn't been active for a bit but if anyone wants to meet up, I'm interested.

[c01dunlap]

Hello, my 3 1/2 year old has been doing the signing time videos for a while now and loves them. We live in Norwalk. I see this thread hasn't been active for a bit but if anyone wants to meet up, I'm interested.
Welcome, Cheryl!

As you can see from my siggy, I'm not in your area, unfortunately. In starting up our playgroup, one thing that I did was to also email anyone who expressed interest too (some people share emails in their profiles, some don't), because often people will forget to re-check the playgroup forums for their area. Just a thought.

Happy Signing!

[jenml]

Hello, my 3 1/2 year old has been doing the signing time videos for a while now and loves them. We live in Norwalk. I see this thread hasn't been active for a bit but if anyone wants to meet up, I'm interested.
Hi Cheryl,
Thanks for emailing me... I emailed you back, but for the others near us.... We left it as doing something in the summer when I can travel further (someone is from Rockland, I believe, and someone else is northern CT... I'd have to check again). But you are super close to me. We can play nearby at a park or something and then still hook up with others next month. Email me, and we'll set something up.
And when I get finished with school (June 23), then we can plan something with everyone who responded to this thread.

[jenml]

Oh, Lara is not far... Trumbull... so please feel invited, Lara!! We can do something in Norwalk or Westport (middle for us)... Henry is happy even at a local park, or school yard park, so it doesn't have to be maritime (though we're a member and would be happy to go...). It just doesn't take much to entertain him, and he will play with anyone he meets at the park, so for him, any setting would be fine.

[jenml]

Okay, summer is here!! I'm off for the next 6 weeks or so, and all my visitors have left (my folks and then Nick's folks). Wanna set up a date for those of us in this area? I know we have Lisa in Rockland, a Norwalk friend, a Trumbull friend.... any suggestions? I certainly could offer my house if I'm in the middle, or we could do a park or anything...

[jenml]

Hello? :)
Wanna play? Summer is here!! But the back to school specials have already been popping up, and that is not great for me (as a teacher who LOVES her summer time....)!

[jenml]

Drove past the Palisade's Mall today on my way home from Penn... anyone want to play?

Boy, it took us a LONG time to get over the Tap... is the traffic ALWAYS that bad???

[ASLReBecca]

Have you posted in your local paper? Some papers will have little blurbs, free of charge. Have everyone meet at the mall or a park or something. I've been tempted to do so myself, but have been in the "hubby coming home soon" mode, so I haven't done it yet! Call me on that one peeps! ;)
ReBecca

[jenml]

Have you posted in your local paper?

Good idea.. but that might require slightly more energy than I have or am willing to expend (lazy me!).

:p

[ASLReBecca]

Do it via internet...keeps you from having to move from your computer! :p

[3girlsmom]

I am just a hop-skip-and a jump away in Riverside. My middle daughter was four in April.

[cheryl]

Hello, sorry I haven't been in touch, the summer is zooming by fast. Clara always points Henry out when we watch Zoo Train :-) We're up for a get together, Clara's been quite outgoing lately, talking to everyone. She showed the clerk at the UPS store the sign for turtle the other day, lol.

As for the Tapenzee, we go that way to visit my brother-inlaws family, it's not always bad, but it sure can be.

[jenml]

I am just a hop-skip-and a jump away in Riverside. My middle daughter was four in April.

Oh, yes... close! We're just in the next town over, and Henry turned four in June.
Clara is in Norwalk... maybe the three of us can find a place to play (after this HEAT WAVE breaks... we canceled a trip to the Bronx zoo today and plans for tmw due to this weather).
Thoughts?

We met Clara at the SSM park in Norwalk... that was fun. Any park will do. How about Twin Meadows in the middle of Stamford... sadly, we've actually never been there!! But I have heard such nice things...
After Memorial day, we can go to Cove Island (Henry's absolute favorite place...).

Ideas?

[jenml]

Clara always points Henry out when we watch Zoo Train :-)
The hippo! :) Henry always runs out of the room when he knows it's coming on!! haha... a phase, I hope!

[3girlsmom]

Jenml-

I have only lived here a year, and don't know much about local parks and such - meeting at the park in Stamford is fine. Is the weather supposed to be better next week? Do you know if Twin Meadows is well shaded? You will have to tell me about Cove Island - I have never heard of it. Now that my little one is older, 14 mos, hopefully I am able to get out of the house more :)

[jenml]

Jenml-

I have only lived here a year, and don't know much about local parks and such - meeting at the park in Stamford is fine. Is the weather supposed to be better next week? Do you know if Twin Meadows is well shaded? You will have to tell me about Cove Island - I have never heard of it. Now that my little one is older, 14 mos, hopefully I am able to get out of the house more :)
Really, any park is fine... Twin Meadows is the new "Boundless Playground" that was constructed (for wheelchairs and such... I have just never been there.. shame on me, I'm a sped teacher!!). :rolleyes:
Cove Island is the beach park that is close to our house (in Glenbrook/Stamford... right on the Darien line). We bike there, play at the playground/whatever. I say after Memorial day because you need a permit to park, and you and Cheryl wouldn't have one since you live in neighboring towns.... But really we can go anywhere. I mention Stamford because I'm in the middle of you and Cheryl.

[cheryl]

According to the extended forecast, it does look like next week the weather is improving, yay!

Twin Meadows, or anywhere else, sounds good to me. We've never been there either. We are going to be out of town for 5 days starting next Wednesday (the 9th.) So next week I can do Monday or Tuesday. Does either of those days work for you two, or anyone else who wants to come?

See you soon,
Cheryl

[3girlsmom]

Mon. or Tues. is fine with me. Let me know. I checked out the webpage for the park and it looks really nice. - Wendy :p

[jenml]

Monday is good anytime after 1:00 or so.
Tuesday is good all morning up until 3:00 (Henry has dance class at 3:30).

[3girlsmom]

If it is not too crazy for Cheryl, can we shoot for Tues? I would rather meet in the morning before it gets too hot for my little one. :cool: -Wendy

[cheryl]

Well, we are free all day Monday. On Tuesday morning, Clara has a swimming lesson in Westport. That's done at 11am. We could get to the park around 11:30 or a bit after I'm guessing.

[3girlsmom]

OK- It looks like you two are the ones with the busy schedules, so you decided and I will just show up :p -Wendy

[cheryl]

Well, is Monday afternoon, or late Tuesday morning better? Heatwise, according to the forecast, it's supposed to be high of 83, which sounds heavenly right now :-)

If an earlier in the morning time is better for the two of you, maybe the two of you can meet, and we can do another playdate with all of us another time.

[jenml]

The weather is supposed to be better...
We're usually not this busy :) but Monday morning we are rendez-vous-ing with a teacher friend who moved away, which is why I am only free after 1.

You guys decide... otherwise, we'll have to play when Cheryl gets back.
We're around Saturday, too, if you wanted to do that morning.

[3girlsmom]

Cheryl-

Would Mon. be less crazy for you since you are leaving Wed.? If we met at 1:00 (when Jen can meet too) at least I know my kids would be fed. Either is fine, let us know. -Wendy

[cheryl]

Lol, we're usually not that busy either. It turns out that Tuesday is actually better for me, since I had forgotten to write on my calendar a Monday afternoon appointment at 2pm.

How about Tuesday afternoon at 1pm, that way you can feed your kids, I can feed mine, and we'll have time to play before Henry goes to his dance class. Does that sound good too everyone?

[3girlsmom]

:D We will be there! Looking forward to meeting both of you and the kids. -Wendy

[cheryl]

I marked it on my calendar :)

[jenml]

How about Tuesday afternoon at 1pm, that way you can feed your kids, I can feed mine, and we'll have time to play before Henry goes to his dance class. Does that sound good too everyone?

Okay, see you then... Twin Meadows Park in Stamford, Tuesday at 1pm. See you then!!

[jenml]

Cheryl and Wendy,

Since I have never been to this playground, I was searching the web for its address. (sorry so late)... it's actually on the grounds of Still Meadow Elementary school in Stamford. This site has a spot that could give you directions.
I taught summer school at Still Meadows in 2001, but this was built in 2003, apparently.

And... Henry's dance class has been cancelled by the teacher (got this call during dinner)... so we're in no rush tomorrow.

http://www.boundlessplaygrounds.org/findplaygrounds/CT/stamford.php

[3girlsmom]

My girls wanted to go to the playground on Sun, so my husband and I took them to Twin Meadows for something different and to check it out. They really loved it. We will see you there at 1:00. -Wendy