Bruna from Brazil enjoys the Rocky Point St. Patrick’s Day Parade!
Yearly Archives: 2011
St. Patrick’s Day Parades in Suffolk County
62nd Annual Friends of St. Patrick Parade
Rocky Point, NY 
Sunday, March 11 at 1:00 PM.
Route 25A Rocky Point, NY
Parade starts steps off at Harrison Avenue in Miller Place travels east on Route 25A to Broadway in Rocky Point, then north to Gracie’s Restaurant (Broadway and Prince Road), viewing stand at corner of Broadway and Route 25A. 2.5-mile-long parade route includes at least five marching bagpipe bands, fire departments from six surrounding communities, Stony Brook University marching band, cheerleaders and mascot Wolfie, Peconic Warpipes Bagpipe and Drums, Longwood and Rocky Point high school bands, Irish step dancers, 25 floats and nearly 50,000 spectators.
Sunday, March 11
Long Island’s oldest and largest parade of its kind, the 77th Annual Huntington St. Patrick’s Day Parade starts at 2 p.m., north of the Huntington Station along New York Avenue, then turns west onto Main Street, and ends at Saint Patrick’s Church.
Annual Westhampton St Patrick’s Day Parade
Parade includes six pipe bands, Samba de Escola Boom, Irish step dancers, Wells Fargo Stage Coach, Rough Riders Calvary of the Nassau-Suffolk Horsemen’s Association, Civil War re-enactment groups, floats and the ever-popular Coneheads satirical float.
A few more parades:
Mardi Gras Fun With Kids
March 8 Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras, French for “Fat Tuesday” marks the end of Carnival and the beginning of the Christian fasting of Lent. The biggest Mardi Gras celebration in the US is in New Orleans, Louisiana. Rio de Janeiro in Brazil also has a huge celebration. Find a Brazilian au pair in your cluster and ask her to tell you all about it.
Make Mardi Gras Pasta Necklaces
Coloring pasta is easy to do and gives kids something bright and beautiful to work with. Once the pasta is colored and dried, necklaces can be made by stringing on yarn.
Supplies for Colored Pasta:
- Dried Pasta – any pasta works, but for stringing you will need tubed pasta. I used macaroni, penne, and wheels.
- Food coloring
- Rubbing alcohol
- Plastic baggies
- Paper towels
- String or Yarn
Place your dried pasta in a zip plastic baggie. Pour in 3-4 drops of your food coloring. Pour in 1 Tablespoon of Rubbing Alcohol. Now seal the bag and shake it all together. Make sure each piece of dried pasta gets coated.
Pour your colored pasta out on paper towel lined trays. Food coloring can stain, so be careful. You’ll want it completely dry before you start to work with it again, as you don’t want any color to drip. I put mine out in the sun to dry faster.
Get out your string or yarn and cut the length of a necklace for your child. Then tie a knot at one end, big enough that the pasta will stay there. I like to tie pasta in my knotted end so the others won’t fall off. I also like to put a little tape around the top of the string so it won’t fray as you string.
Have your child string on pasta, all sizes and shapes. You can introduce patterns or do counting with your child. Once they’ve hit the end of their string, tie the two sides together for a necklace around your child’s neck.
Make Mardi Gras Paper Plate Masks
Supplies for Masks:
- Paper plates
- Color construction paperPlastic baggies
- Markers and/or crayons
- Glue
- Stickers
- Glitter
- Craft feathers
- Hole punch
- String
Cut a paper plate in half (you can make two masks per plate this way).
Cut eye holes in the half plate.
Shape the mask by cutting around the edges–scallops, points, curves or whatever suits you. Be sure to cut a curved groove between and beneath the two eye holes for the nose.
Place a line of white glue around the eye holes and along the edges of the mask. If you want, you can also create swirls or other patterns with glue on the mask.
Sprinkle glitter on top of the glue while it is still wet. Allow the glue to dry.
Decorate the mask as you see fit once the glue is dry. Use markers to color the white paper plate; glue feathers, beads or cut-out construction paper shapes to the mask; or add anything else that might make the mask colorful and festive.
Punch one small hole on each side of the mask and tie a string into the holes.
Beach Snowman
This was in the Sunday Parade Section of the newspaper. What a great idea!
Au Pair in America Partners with AAA
The most trusted choice for live-in childcare, Au Pair in America has partnered with AAA, the nation’s most trusted name in driver safety and instruction, to offer a custom course specifically designed for au pairs. This course differs from those offered in your community, in that AAA has taken the best of several of their courses, adapted them to be the most accessible to the au pair population, with special focus on driver and child passenger safety. Key components of the course include:
- Driver Safety
- Child passenger safety (car seats, communication, expectations)
- Communication and traffic devices
- Vehicle Awareness (understanding what your vehicle is “telling you.”)
- Reducing Risks while Driving (includes defensive driving techniques, phone/texting issues, and drinking and driving awareness)
This AAA course designed exclusively for Au Pair In America. Course includes a combination of lecture, group exercises, video/other media to ensure the maximum understanding to speakers of other languages or newly arrived to the US participants.
All Host Families with au pairs arriving into the USA in 2011 will receive more information about this new course and how their au pair can be enrolled!
Au Pair February Meeting About Taxes in USA
We may not want to pay taxes: those of us born in the USA, or those who live in the USA for a short time. But if you earn money in the USA, then you owe your fair share. At the Suffolk County Au Pair in America February Cluster Meeting the information on how and when to pay taxes was reviewed by Senior Community Counselor, Cindy Garruba. “I am not an accountant, but I need to give the information to all of you,” Cindy stated. “It is important to review the information available on www.aupairinamerica.com and file appropriately.”
A link to the information is available under the Link “Life in the USA” on this blog.
The meeting included egg rolls and fortune cookies to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Cindy discussed why we celebrate President’s Day in the USA and that the host children would be off of school for a week in February. Several au pairs mentioned they were tired of the long winter, and Cindy gave them a handout with some activities to do with the children on winter days.
It was Super Bowl Sunday and Cindy explained how most Americans wil watch the Super Bowl, making it the most viewed show of the year. Many people watch with friends and family, even if just for the commercials and half time. Everyone received a Valentine goodie bag, too!
Happy Chinese New Year
Winter Fun For Au Pairs and Host Children
ABC’s of Winter Fun
A is for Art – try drawing, painting or gluing
B is for Baking – bake a dessert together for dinner
C is for Clay – Use non-hardening clay or play dough to shape and mold
D is for Dance – put on a lively tape
E is for Exercise – be sure to get some everyday
F is for Friends – invite some over
G is for Greenhouse – find a local greenhouse to visit to enjoy the sights and smells
H is for House – make a playhouse from a large appliance box
I is for Ice skating – take the children to a local rink
J is for Jigsaw puzzle – be sure to pick one that isn’t too difficult
K is for Kitchen science – try a safe experiment
L is for Library – borrow some new books
M is for Movie – make one with a video camera, or watch one
N is for Necklace – make one out of cereal or macaroni
O is for Origami – learn to make simple paper creations
P is for Puppets – socks make easy and fun puppets – put on a show!
Q is for Quiet Time – everyone needs some of this
R is for Reading aloud – choose a good book and a comfortable place to sit
S is for Seeds and Suet – put out food for the birds and watch them eat
T is for Tent – make one from old blankets and chairs
U is for Unplugged – do a day with no TV
V is for Variety – try something new everyday
W is for Walk – take one in any weather (be sure to dress appropriately)
X is for Xylophone – make your own with glasses, water and a metal spoon
Y is for Year – make a calendar or scrapbook to remember the year
Z is for Zoo – play zoo, pretend to be animals in the zoo, what noises do they make?
What is an Au Pair?
“Au pair” means “on par” or equal. Au are international visitors who travel to the United States on a J-1 Visitor Exchange Visa to acquire a better understanding and appreciation of American life while living with an American family and caring for their young children.
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Hosting an au pair provides a rewarding experience to both the au pair and the family. You and your children will learn first hand from an international visitor and you will share our culture with your au pair. Give your children childcare “with a cultural flair.” It is very affordable. Take a look at our website at www.aupairinamerica.com for current fees and promotions!
Long Island Au Pairs at Bryant Park Ice Skating
CitiPond in Bryant Park offers free skating, just rent skates and enjoy. The rink is set up for the winter months and is the Long Island clusters of Au Pair in America met on a Sunday in January to skate and get together. The Community Counselors arrange cultural activities for the au pairs each month with quarterly childcare safety meetings. Lucky to be near enough to visit New York City several times a year, the Community Counselors try to plan an activity at least a few times a year in the city.
