A quick trip to Yosemite National Park
DAY 4 — Five year old Rivers Klopson is turning cartwheels on the rocks next to Yosemite’s famous Vernal Falls. It’s sunny and everyone sitting…
-
-
To the historic ships in SF where Reggie works
Here’s the chance to give your kids a lesson — without them even realizing it — in San Francisco’s seafaring past and the people who made their lives sailing in and out of San Francisco Bay, hauling lumber, canned fruit and more. Five vessels — the Alma, Balclutha, Eureka, Hercules and C.A. Thayer are designated National Historic Landmarks.
-
Learning About African-American History at Colonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg explores the lives and complexities of free and enslaved blacks during the Revolutionary Era, highlighting personal and unified contributions, sacrifices and decisions made by 19th-century blacks in securing their freedom
-
At the Cal Academy of Sciences
We’re at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco which in the year since it has reopened has emerged as San Francisco’s top cultural tourist attraction, drawing more visitors than even Alcatraz.
-
Visting San Francisco with my grown up daughter
The Hotel San Francisco atop Nob Hill was getting ready for its grand opening when the city suffered its devastating earthquake April 18, 1906. The hotel survived and a year later, opened, celebrating the city’s renewal. The hotel has hosted celebrities and presidents. Tony Bennett first sang “I Left My Heart in San Francisco “here.
-
Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Weekly Column
To an Exotic Place That Loves Kids!
Who says kids and romance don’t go together? Even in a place as famous for honeymoons as Bora Bora, families’ rule, especially as Air Tahiti Nui continues to offer kids free deals on flights. There are also great hotel deals
-
Getting Up-close and Personal with Animals at Zoos and Aquariums in the Fall
It helps to have the kids read up on the animals before you go, as long as it’s fun and doesn’t turn into something “completely boring and educational!”
-
When Everyone Else is Back in School
So what if you’re toting a stroller and diaper bag or home-school assignments, while everyone else is waiting for the school bus and arranging car pools
-
Families & Groups | Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Food and Dining | Travel Diaries | Volunteer & Service
New York — a foodie paradise
It’s impossible to go hungry in New York—not with vendors selling hot dogs, pretzels, kabobs and more on every corner. It’s also impossible to get bored eating in New York, whether you want to head to China Town or Ninth Avenue for good ethnic eats, great burgers, pasta, pizza or more gourmet fare.
-
Central Park through a preschooler’s eyes
We saw the penguins and the puffins, the sea lions and polar bears Ida and Gus, the Red Pandas and the Snow Monkeys. The Snow Leopards — new to the zoo — seemed to be hiding. The Wildlife Conservation Society, which oversees The Central Park Zoo as well as the Bronx Zoo and others in NYC (www.wcs.org), is a leader in the care and conservation of these creatures.
-
Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Lodging | Travel Diaries | Volunteer & Service
A few days in New York with a preschooler
This is my four year-old cousin Hannah Sitzman’s first Broadway production and she loves every minute of it — from the costumes and sets to the music to the black tee shirt which spells out “Shrek” in pink sparkly letters. I especially loved the magic of the costumes.
-
Should resorts ban kids?
A Denver Post reader told me she was “seething” when she read the column I wrote about Bora Bora being a good bet for families…
-
Taking the Kids — To College
Like the 3 million other families taking freshman to school this year, I knew the weekend would be stressful, not to mention an emotional rollercoaster
-
Meeting Some Bears in Alaska
It appears we’ve picked the perfect time to visit. Vermillion, who’s called Verm, explains there are more bears than there have been in years, including three sets of triplets and three sets of twins all born this spring
-
Taking the Kids — And Myself to a Spa
My mom never took me to a spa — I don’t think she’s ever been to one herself — but I’ve taken my wilderness-loving daughters to spas from the Caribbean to Colorado, from Arizona to Austria
-
To Mexico Where You’ll Find Great Deals
Whether you want adventures with your kids, want to learn about endangered sea turtles or if you simply want to hit the beach, there’s no better time to visit Mexico.
-
On an ‘uncruise’ Alaskan sea adventure
Unlike the big cruise ships, we can take our time in Glacier Bay, which offers 3.3 million acres of glaciers that calve right in front of us
-
Grandparents and Kids Take on the Big Apple with Elderhostel
Elderhostel is known for their affordable, educational programs for seniors. But what many don’t realize is that there are 200 different grandparent-grandchild programs with almost 400 departures
-
Cheering on the humpback whales
“HONK! HONK!” They are really whales—eight to 10 of them right in front of the boat alternately spewing water high in the air, honking and “fluking”—diving for food and showing us their magnificent tails. We watch them “blow” spewing water high into the air. It’s fun to watch them!
-
Snap…crackle…BOOM! Kayaking among glaciers and ice bergs
We are in the middle of Glacier Bay, paddling through the ice — big icebergs, little icebergs. One looks like an alligator. “I thought they were cool — they were so little on top and, oh wow — they were huge underneath,” said 14-year-old Xander Majercik.
-
Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Parks & Outdoors | Volunteer & Service | Weekly Column
Sailing Around the Tahitian Islands
Tahiti is closer than many think — just a little over seven hours from Los Angeles, about two hours farther than Hawaii — and Air Tahiti Nui is encouraging more families to visit with kids-fly-free offers and discounted hotel rates.
-
Learning how to kayak among ice bergs
“Our aim is to keep your wilderness experience from being impacted by the cruise ships,” says Kimber Owen, who found her way to her boat and Alaska from a Texas horse farm after she was widowed in her early forties. “It was too sad to stay,” she explained.
-
Day 2 in Alaska — the joys of fishing
DAY 2 — “The fish must hate us,” moans 13 year old Miles Singer. We are on the world-famous Kenai River in Alaska with one…
-
Back the to the bush — Day One of a new Alaska adventure
DAY ONE (July 15, 2009) — Bears on the runway? “Routine,” says Gerry Winkler, the pilot of our six-passenger Cessna. Routine, that is, when you…
-
Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Disney | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Weekly Column
On a Trip Down Memory Lane at Disneyland
Ignore those office emails, forget all about the economy and for an afternoon focus instead on what’s really important, especially on vacation — making memories with the kids at a place where you made your own childhood memories
-
Seeing More Than the Typical Sites in NYC
Visitors to New York have their pick of world-class and iconic sites…But there is a lot more to New York than the tourist track
-
Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
One last stop — and beautiful and historic island of Moorea
We hopped a short flight from Bora Bora to the French Polynesian island of Moorea that is spectacularly beautiful with its crystal clear lagoon and the green cliffs. This island is known less for its manicured resorts than for what there is to do here — taking a hike, passing by ancient marae (ancient temples excavated by archeologists), checking out the spinner dolphins and humpback whales, playing with the stingrays in the crystal clear water.
-
Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
The life aquatic on Bora Bora
We’re diving in an area called Muri Muri just north of the island of Bora Bora and nearly as soon as we get under the water, our dive master Benoit Gratas introduces us to a Hawksbill Sea Turtle (like Crush, the character in “Finding Nemo”), showing us how to feed him a piece of sea sponge. He’s so big — more than two feet in diameter.
-
At the Four Seasons Bora Bora
I’m sitting in an over the water bungalow, the ceiling fan whirring, with a thatched roof and expansive deck with its own swimming dock and outdoor shower? Did I mention that gigantic tub big enough for two with views of the lagoon as well?
-
Cruises & All-Inclusive | Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
Our last day on the catamaran with Turo
DAY 8 — Sad! It’s our last day on our Catamaran with our captain Turo Aritu, who for the past week has regaled the girls…
