Day One of a 12-day idyll through French Polynesia
DAY ONE (June 25, 2009) — Our captain is straight out of central casting — or a Gaugin painting. He’s tall with a big smile,…
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Disney | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Travel Diaries
A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE AT DISNEYLAND
The kids, three-D glasses on, are laughing at the Muppets very funny antics and all of the 3-D Special effects at the Muppet Show at Disney’s California Adventure. But these two kids aren’t four. They’re 18 — newly minted high school graduates. Yet they are having as much fun at California Adventure and later at the iconic Disneyland (which opened in 1955) as any kid.
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A SNORKLERS AND STINGRAY-LOVERS PARADISE
DAY FOUR (June 14, 2009) — Ready to kiss a Stingray? Eight year old Timmy and 13 year old Miles Singer are game but 12…
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SKATEBOARDING WITH A CHAMPION
Douglas Cameron, the Canadian who manages the park and oversees the camp — just in its second year — says it’s as much for local kids as visitors. It has 64,000 square feet of ledges, boxes, v-hips, banks and stairs and half pipes, which to the uninitiated look like a lot of hills built into the cement.
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Beach Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries | Volunteer & Service
CHECKING OUT THE BEACHES AND THE RESCUED IGUANAS
DAY THREE (June 13, 2009) — Finally, a Caribbean beach that’s everything a Caribbean beach should be — quaint, with hammocks strung in the palm…
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TO THE CAYMAN ISLANDS WITH TWO SKATEBOARDERS
The skate park is amazing — all kinds of dips, jumps — the boys got there around one and didn’t quit until it got dark just after 7 pm. (More about the camp tomorrow).
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LAST DAY IN ARIZONA — Meet Lance, Bailey and Sonora
DAY SIX (April 4, 2009) — Lance is a Hawk, Bailey a turkey vulture and Sonora a two year-old Bald Eagle. The kids’ eyes are…
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HARD AT WORK ON VACATION AT CAMP HYATT
DAY FIVE (At the Hyatt Scottsdale) — The kids are hard at work — on vacation. They are crafting elaborate sand creations at the small…
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SWEARING IN THE NEW JUNIOR RANGERS
“This is Grand Canyon National Park, not Jurassic park,” she says, holding up a plastic dinosaur. “This is the closest you’ll get to a dinosaur!”
We’re about to go on a ranger — led fossil hunt and there are thousands of fossils to be found, she tells the crowd that includes at least two dozen kids. But there are no dinosaur bones here — these fossils are a lot older! -
AT THE GRAND CANYON
I look around and see all kinds of families — from around the world here to experience what is widely considered one of the wonders of the world. It was set aside as a national monument by Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 and became a national park in 1919. It remains one of the most visited parks.
