Our second day in Orlando for our Holiday vacation took us to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Although we have been to this theme park a couple of times as a family, this would be the first time that both our son and daughter would be able to enjoy most of the “big kid” rides. Emphasis on most!
I know many of you couldn’t imagine forsaking home during the Christmas holidays. It’s certainly a frustrating and expensive time to travel. But for my gang, taking off during the holidays has become as much of a tradition for our interfaith family as lighting the menorah and hanging stockings over the fireplace. We’ve skied in Colorado and sailed in the British Virgin Islands where one year my husband and son became certified scuba divers. This year my daughter Mel will learn to dive at a tiny resort on Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos and I can’t wait to share a sport I love with her….
Whenever kids are part of the equation—whether they’re four, fourteen or 24—let go of all your expectations for that perfect family bonding experience. It won’t happen. You’ll be lucky if you get a few of those can’t-believe-we’re-here-together moments. And if your kids are like mine, they won’t want to stop then to take a picture.
The Sitzman family (cousins of Eileen’s) from snowy Golden, Co., decided to let someone else decorate the tree this year and headed for Orlando, Fl. First stop: Universal Orlando and Breakfast with the Grinch!
Wherever you are this holiday season, take some time to see the lights with the kids. In most cases, it won’t cost anything (except for a hot drink afterward). If your family is anything like mine, you are guaranteed memories that will last for years — though they won’t necessarily be the ones you anticipated. (We still talk about that Chicago “ice kiss” every winter.)
I was thinking of the trips that went right and those that went wrong as I perused our Christmas Tree ornaments—the Eiffel Tower when I took my daughters to Europe right after 9/11 (we spent more time at the flea market than at museums); the moose-on-skis from Colorado (that was the trip when the kids officially declared me “too slow,” to ski with them)
If you were super-organized, you might have squirreled away “surprises” from your last family vacation — those souvenirs the kids wanted but you nixed — and can now present with appropriate fanfare. I wasn’t that organized this year and my kids wouldn’t let me buy even one more ornament for the tree. (“Enough already!” They said in Hawaii and Colorado.) But I’ve got a fall back plan: A photo book for each of them comprised of vacation shots taken over the years. (Hopefully, my picks won’t embarrass them too much.)
Today, you’ll find groups and women’s clinics like this at large and small resorts across the country. Each program is a little different. There are clinics for snowboarders and skiers, for beginners and experts, with a focus on technique, conquering fear or new equipment testing.
You’re missing a lot if you ignore easy-to-reach Puerto Rico in favor of more exotic islands. And you’re still in the United States here — Puerto Rico, of course, is a U.S. territory — yet you have the opportunity to explore a rich culture that dates back more than five centuries.
Thanks, Mr. Bean. If not for my pink flowered rubber boots from L.L. Bean (a far cry from the first hunting shoes Leon L. Bean sold in Maine in 1912), I would have had awfully wet feet the week in spent in Alaska last year. That got me thinking. Instead of rushing around trying to find the perfect gift for my favorite family travelers, I’m going to get them what I find most helpful to have with me when I’m traveling with my gang