Red, white, and blue

Independence Day in New York City and out east means lots of FabULyss fireworks, BBQs, beaches, DeLysscious picnics, and more that make this summer holiday one of my family’s favorites. Not to mention my 6-year-old son’s birthday is July 3, and he loves that he will always have fireworks on his birthday. We usually spend the holiday weekend at the beach. The boys love to swim, play ball, and, of course, we stay up late to watch the fireworks. This Fourth of July I am going to put my new beautiful baby girl in a red-white-and-blue bathing suit. The Fourth of July in New York City is amazing! The weather is almost always wonderful for our family celebrations.

One of our favorites of course is the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks, which, by the way, this year makes its return to the East River and will light up the night from one of the city’s most famous landmarks, the Brooklyn Bridge! Also note that you can enjoy the gorgeous fireworks over the East River with your choice of boat cruises.

If you can watch the fireworks from the water, it can be a truly amazing experience. The Circle Line Harbor Lights Cruise is a great choice, as well as City Sightseeing Independence Day Cruises. The best outdoor free spots will be: Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brooklyn Promenade and some areas of the South Street Seaport. We also love a great rooftop at a lounge, hotel, and or friend’s building to watch the fireworks. If you are lucky enough to live in a building that has a roofdeck, invite some friends over and throw a party. The kids will also love to help get ready for the party, and you can bake red-white-and-blue cupcakes together and make fun colorful patriotic decorations. My boys love making spangled fruit smoothies (strawberry, blueberry, cream) and patriotic pudding pops.

Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks on the East River. July 4, 9 pm. The best viewing spots will be from Brooklyn Bridge Park and the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, and along the east side of Lower Manhattan.

Now don’t tell my boys that I am suggesting this (they are the biggest Mets fans), however, what better way to celebrate Independence Day than with America’s favorite pastime? A ball game, with, of course, a good old-fashioned hot dog, and crackerjacks. There’s a Mets vs. Rangers game at 7:10 pm.

Mets vs. Rangers at Citi Field [123-01 Roosevelt Ave. in Willets Point, Queens, (718) 507–6387, newyork.mets.mlb.com/ticketing/singlegame.jsp?c_id=nym&y=2014&mlbkw=ma-s-2Kv4oDqv] July 4, 7:10 pm.

Since a lot of families might be out of the city for the long weekend, it’s a great time to go see a Broadway show. Perhaps get tickets to see “Aladdin,” “Matilda,” and or “Rocky.” These are three shows that I know the entire family will enjoy (and you might be able to get excellent tickets).

One of the funniest Fourth of July traditions in New York City is the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. At this fierce Fourth of July event, 20 able-bodied competitors will fight to see who can consume the greatest number of Nathan’s hot dogs in under 10 minutes. Famous world-class competitors such as Joey Chestnut and Kobayashi have ensured that this Coney Island competition will have an attendance in excess of 40,000. My boys think get a kick out of this.

Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog-Eating Contest (Corner of Stillwell and Surf avenues, www.nathansfamous.com/index.php/hot-dog-eating-contest). July 4, noon.

Whatever you decide to do on this special holiday, we hope that you get to spend some extra quality family time and don’t forget to power down and unplug.

Of course, make sure to take lots of photos of the beautiful fireworks and post them on Instagram. Happy family memories will be made this holiday weekend.

Lyss Stern is the founder of DivaLysscious Moms (www.divamoms.com).

Long Island Speech

At Long Island Speech, we recognize the value of every person and are guided by our commitment to excellence. We believe that everyone has the right to better communication in order to improve their quality of life. Our mission is to provide exemplary speech/language and feeding services for each of our patients by our highly qualified clinicians, making a positive difference in the lives of our patients so that they may achieve their highest potential. Through the commitment of our staff, we can maintain a quality of presence and tradition of caring; which are hallmarks for Long Island Speech. Our vision is to be the absolute best speech therapy service provider throughout both Nassau and Suffolk counties. We aspire to be the provider of choice in our industry.&nbsp;We have 9 affiliated offices across Long Island, all participating with most major health insurance companies. We also offer evening and weekend hours. Call 844-5-SPEECH to schedule your first appointment.

Enabling Devices

Enabling Devices is a family-run business that designs, manufactures and sells adapted toys and accessible devices that make life more joyful and fulfilling for children and adults living with disabilities. &nbsp; It started with a train set, a mercury switch, and a young boy whose therapist thought he couldn&rsquo;t play with toys. In 1975 our founder, Dr. Steven Kanor, walked into a room at United Cerebral Palsy/Long Island and saw a boy sitting in a wheelchair, his head resting on his shoulder. When he asked where the toys were, the OT said, &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t have the motor skills to play with toys, and he can&rsquo;t lift his head.&rdquo; But Dr. Kanor was not interested in what the boy couldn&rsquo;t do. He was interested in the boy's potential. The next morning, he was back. He&rsquo;d brought a train set, which he&rsquo;d connected to a mercury switch. The switch, the first capability switch he&rsquo;d designed, was attached to the boy&rsquo;s ear. When the boy raised his head, the switch made contact and the train ran around the tracks. After several weeks of playing with this toy, the boy was holding his head up straight, even when the train was not running. Dr. Kanor was elated. Since that day, he never stopped innovating, never stopped trying to make our products better, never stopped designing new devices. Today, our design team is just as passionate, just as creative, and just as committed to innovation as the man who founded this company. Enabling Devices is the place to find toys, devices and tools that help build more joyful, fulfilling lives. We have an extensive selection of adapted toys, capability switches, Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices, adapted electronics, mounts, iPad products, sensory items and products for the visually impaired. Over the years, the important constants remain. We&rsquo;re still the same small, family-run company Steven Kanor founded in 1978, with the same values of personal connection and deep product knowledge. We&rsquo;re still committed to providing caring, individualized service to each customer. And we&rsquo;re still grateful for the privilege of sharing in your journey.

Camp Lee Mar

A private 7 week residential summer program offering a unique curriculum incorporating a strong Academic and Speech program with traditional camp activities. Our campers flourish at Lee Mar due to the structured environment we provide which allows our campers to feel comfortable and secure. Careful study is made of parent input, school (IEPs), camper interview, etc., so that the interests and needs of each child can best be determined for suitable grouping prior to the camper arriving. At Lee Mar the children find comfort and friendship with children of similar age and functioning level. From this foundation we encourage our campers to embrace and learn new skills and have new experiences which they can build upon on their return home. We also focus on building friendships which last throughout the year, as well as learning how to cope with the dynamics of group situations. Development of the whole child is our goal. We work hard at improving the daily living, social, and life skills of our campers, while giving them the happiest summer of their lives!