http://pinterest.com/aupairinamerica/camp-au-pair-outer-space/
On Sunday, June 3rd the Suffolk APIA Au Pairs gathered at their Community Counselor’s beach house to learn about Summer & Water Safety. 
Everyone also had a chance to enjoy the beautiful Long Island Sound beach and spend time with each other. New friends arriving, old friends nearing their time to return home to their countries!
A fun free event good for all age groups. Walking around in Port Jeff, visiting the harbor to see the boats is always a fun thing to do. The weather looks great this weekend. This could be a good activity to do with the kids on Saturday or fun after Mother’s Day brunch with your host family!
Address:
Main St.
Port Jefferson, NY 11777
Phone: 631-418-6699
Website: portjeff.com
Description: In celebration of the harbor and its rich maritime heritage, dozens of boats are on display inluding jet skis, kayaks, inflatables and paddle boards. There are live demonstrations and children’s activities including boat buiding and sailing demos, a touch tank, and pirates.
On Saturday, the moon will be up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than the other full moons of 2012, according NASA.That’s because it will reach perigee, its closest point to Earth in its elliptical orbit, at 11:34 p.m. ET and become full just a minute later. When the moon is on the perigee side of its orbit, it’s about 31,000 miles closer to Earth than the apogee side. The only effects expected are slightly higher tides and many beautiful photos. The annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower, which is associated with Halley’s comet, will coincide with the coming perigee moon. Its light will likely dim all but the brightest meteors. It should be a gorgeous display if the weather cooperates. The moon will appear largest and most dazzling when it’s near the horizon, as seen in this photo gallery showing last year’s super moon.
(Photo courtesy of Garden City Bird Sanctuary)
Long Island is celebrating Earth Day this weekend in a big way! Hopefully the weather holds out for the outdoor events, but either way, there are lots of activities going on this weekend, including many free ones, to entertain the family with. There’s an EcoCarnival at the Seatuck Environmental Center, a festival at the Rolling River Day Camp in Oceanside, and a festival in Islip, just to name a few. Plus several local museums are offering Earth Day programs for kids. It’s also Kids’ Day at Stony Brook University, and the Kids Kloset consignment sale is back on Long Island.
Happy Earth Day!
The Long Island Clusters of APIA saw Priscilla Queen of the Desert this past Sunday!The show is so much fun and filled with songs we all knew! Kristina Heinze from Germany said this on Facebook “Woop woop funnnnnnnnnn day!!! My 4th broadway show…Priscilla Queen of the Desert – I have to say, best musical i’ve seen so far! amazing! love it! yummy dinner at planet hollywood on times square and BEST company anyway!” Patty Minetto from Brazil said “Amazing show! One of the best musicals I’ve seen so far! So much fun!”
The day is generally observed by tricking someone. Think of a silly and harmless trick to play. Work with the children to write a silly story to read to the parents. Try serving breakfast food for dinner or some other harmless way to trick the children.Alice Polzin, Au Pair from Germany with Au Pair in America, Watermill, NY
That feeling to cross the finish line is indescribable. The whole stress drops from me and I have tears in the eyes. My legs are shaking and I have the feeling I can’t move any further but my friends are there, hugging me and I have a medal around my neck. Yes, I’ve made it . I smile. This is an experience what I will never forget!How everything started …
On the first weekend in November, I applied for the New York City Half Marathon. When I had filled in the application on the internet, I already thought it would not come true. I had to fill in which races I did before and I had nothing to put in. I was worried, but also motivated to give it a try. I didn’t really start with my training at this point because I wasn’t accepted yet. But the day of the lottry was coming closer and I was getting nervous.
When the day of the lottery came I couldn’t stay away from my computer for longer than 10 minutes. I was so excited, checking my online profile everytime it was possible. I also entered in a Facebook group for that race, so I was able to see how people commented that they were accepted and other ones wrote that they didn’t get a chace to run this year. My heart was beating really fast. After a looooong while I could read the word “ACCEPTED”. I was so happy that I jumped on my bed. But I also realized that I have to start running now.
Running support…
I couldn’t stop telling everyone that I am accepted for the race and immediately my dad who’s a runner made me a run-schedule. But the really big support for the whole time were my friends. Even if they had to work too and everyone has a different schedule they were my personal trainers. Whether with the bike next to me or also running there was always someone with my on the roads and beaches of the Hamptons. Thanks to Ane, Nina, Paulien, Catrin and Eva.
The Day of the race…
After a short night with two of my support girls in a hotel in Chinatown I woke up with a stomachache. I was so nervous, anxious and thinking that I couldn’t run the whole 13.1 miles. But my friends were all the time with me. They dropped me off in Central Park where the race started. The whole Central Park was crowed, 22 000 runners and their supporters.
The race started at 7:30 am and I waited in my running group for 40 minutes to cross the start line. These 40 minutes felt like 2 hours! Then I was running in Central Park for like 7 miles and it was amazing! Everywhere people along the edge smiling at your face. I was just running. My friends were waiting for me at mile 6 and I got new motivation after I saw them. The next big “stop” of the race was Times Square and then to the west side and all the way down to Ground Zero.
The finish was Water Street at Maiden Lane. And again were my friends waiting for me. The smile in my face was getting more broadly when I saw the finish line. I crossed the finish line in 2 hours 37 minutes 49 seconds. I am so proud of myself and I’ll never forget that day in my life!
Taxes aren’t much fun, but they have to be done, even by au pairs. On Sunday, March 18th, Cindy Garruba Senior Community Counselor in Suffolk County for Au Pair in America helped the au pairs prepare their tax returns. Cindy handed out the forms, directions and provided the steps to complete the returns provided by Au Pair in America’s Stamford office. Taxes done, they will mail them in on or before the April 17th deadline date!
Since Spring has sprung early here on Long Island, we reviewed playground safety. Tips on safety can be found on the APIA website http://www.aupairinamerica.com/resources/safety_tips/ . Au Pair in America considers the safety of the children in our au pairs’ care of the utmost importance. The au pairs also viewed a video about playground safety
We also shared how important friendship is in the Au Pair program. “Strangers are just friends waiting to happen.” Lifelong friendships are formed as au pairs. We exchanged friendship bracelets to remember to reach out to each other when we need a friend!
