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🧔🏽♂️ Dad Thoughts: The Fire Pit
This past weekend I was at a close friend's place for a Labor Day barbecue with our old crew. Some of us have been friends for twenty years. A few even longer. We went from single and going out to all of us having kids, from infants to middle schoolers.
Late into the night, we all ended up around the fire pit in the backyard, the way these things always seem to go, and sitting there I noticed how similar our kids are. Not in personality, but in how they carry themselves. They're happy to see each other no matter the age gap. They come say hi to us, the uncles and aunties, ask how we've all been (you know, actually talk!). Then they turn around and pull the little ones into whatever they're doing.
That similarity isn't an accident. It's a reflection of how we're all raising them. The friends who last aren't the ones you bonded with over a favorite show or two-for-one beers at Applebee's. They're the ones who share your values.
I didn't know that at nineteen. We were just having fun. But twenty years later, the ones still around the fire are the ones who saw the world the way I did. I just didn't know it yet.
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🚗 FAMILY FUN FIELD TRIPS
Dad-approved outings.
This Weekend → 🎡 Port Washington Italian Festival (45th Annual)
A waterfront Italian feast at North Hempstead Beach Park: carnival rides, games, live music every night, a pastry tent with fresh zeppole and cannoli, and Saturday-night fireworks over the harbor. One of Long Island's best feasts, and the setting on the water makes it. Kids ride free Sunday 12:30-1:30 PM.
💰 Free admission; $5 parking; pay for rides/food
📅 Thu Sept 10–Sun Sept 13
🔗 patch
🏮 Long Island Water Lantern Festival at Eisenhower Park
One of the most beautiful nights of the year: decorate a floating lantern, then launch it onto Salisbury Lake alongside thousands of others glowing across the water. Music, food trucks, lawn games, and a scavenger hunt lead up to the 8 PM launch. Kids love the decorating, everyone loves the launch. Buy in advance, it sells out.
💰 Tickets from ~$32 (under 8 free, no lantern kit)
📅 Sat Sept 12, gates 5 PM, launch 8–9 PM
🔗 waterlanternfestival
🍂 Hicks Nurseries Fall Festival
The 51st annual, and it's completely free: thousands of pumpkins and mums, an animated Halloween walkthrough story (Otto the Ghost), a new Skeleton Estate Garden, lawn games, live music, and photo ops. A gentle, little-kid-friendly kickoff to fall.
💰 Free admission and parking
📅 Daily 10 AM–5 PM (through Nov 1)
🔗 hicksnurseries
Next Weekend → 🥒 46th Annual Pickle Festival at John Gardiner Farm (Suffolk)
Exactly the kind of quirky, old-fashioned day kids remember: handheld pickles, fried pickles, pickle sandwiches, and roasted corn, plus hay rides, historic Lollipop Train rides, live music, a craft market, a farm stand, and a pickle history display on an 1842 farm. Cheap, charming, and a little weird in the best way. All proceeds support the local historical association.
💰 $5 non-members / $3 members / free for kids under 12
📅 Sat Sept 19, 10 AM–4 PM
🔗 greenlawncenterporthistorical
✏️ PENCIL IT IN
Future you will be glad you read this.
🌾 The Long Island Fair at Old Bethpage Village Restoration
The real deal: an old-fashioned county fair running since 1842. Trick horse riding, high divers, an animal stunt show, glassblowing, live music, competitive exhibits (pie contests, livestock, giant pumpkins), rides, and fair food, all inside the historic village. One of the best full-day family outings of the fall.
💰 $20 adults / $15 kids 5-12 / free under 5
📅 Fri Sept 25–Sun Sept 27, 10 AM–5 PM
🔗 lifair
🎃 Fall Fun Fest at Sands Point Preserve
Pumpkin painting, puppet shows from Wonderspark Puppets, up-close animal presentations, and live music on the Gold Coast grounds. A full autumn family day with the mansion and trails as backdrop.
💰 Free with park admission ($15 per car; free for members)
📅 Sun Sep 27, 12 PM-4 PM
🔗 sandspointpreserveconservancy
✈️ Long Island Family Day at the Cradle of Aviation
A free, high-energy day: bounce houses, face painting, interactive games, raffles, and giveaways, plus local schools and family resources. An easy no-cost afternoon on Museum Row. (Free event; museum galleries and planetarium are separate admission if you go in.)
💰 Free
📅 Sun Oct 4, 12 PM–3 PM
🔗 cradleofaviation
Two Things:
Forward this to Nassau County parents you think would appreciate it.
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See you next Thursday,
Akash