Unleashing your family’s inner Olympian at the North American sites
This year, do a lot more than just watch the Olympians as the Winter Games get under way in Sochi, Russia on Feb. 6. Tap into the Olympic spirit right here at home.
This year, do a lot more than just watch the Olympians as the Winter Games get under way in Sochi, Russia on Feb. 6. Tap into the Olympic spirit right here at home.
On a recent Tuesday, a group of pre schoolers were busy carving out what looked like pieces of water from the surface of Mars — at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
Everyone visiting Denver—and Colorado should stop at this downtown museum that makes Colorado history relevant and gives those families visiting a way to connect with Coloradoans past and present.
It turns out that some 20 years ago, the Denver Art Museum was the first in the country to not only embrace families but to introduce backpacks-to-borrow as a way to engage kids.
It’s dumping snow on Breckenridge Mountain and we’re above tree line at the new Peak 6 bowls. Some of the terrain is hike-to expert — some of the most extreme at the big resort — but all of the buzz here has been about the above tree line blue terrain.
The mountain—it’s huge, even larger with the newly opened Peak Six that has added 543 new acres of terrain, the biggest ski resort terrain expansion in over a decade. There are Kids’ jumps and small trails through the trees and kids terrain features with names like Rip’s Ravine and Dragon Trail.
With much of the nation covered in snow this week, and temperatures well below freezing, this is a great family cabin-fever-reducing activity. But here in Breckenridge, snow carving is a huge event each winter.
In the Turks and Caicos, most hotels here are condo-style and kid-friendly. Most visiting families, however, opt for the gargantuan, all-inclusive Beaches resort, one of Sandals’ family resorts in the Caribbean.
We’re fans of including cooking classes in our travels, learning to make mole with our kids in Oaxaca, Mexico and pasta with other young travelers in Lucca, Italy. We learned to make crab cakes on a Windstar cruise ship, after following the chef to a local market in Croatia. Wherever we go, at the very least we make sure to visit local food markets.
I like that Turks and Caicos is not only safe and that beachfront hotels are just 15 minutes from the airport but that there are so many options—from the all inclusive huge Beaches with over 750 rooms to the Somerset with less than 60.
Families come to Turks and Caicos to relax, but also to enjoy the fishing and water sports, like kite-boarding on South Beach.
It’s not even a holiday week but the Beaches resort on Turks and Caicos is fully booked, including 841 kids running, jumping, splashing and sliding down the water slides at the water play area. “So worth the money,” said Greg Vogel, from Baltimore.
Turks and Caicos is made up of 40 islands and Cays just 575 miles from Miami. Providenciales, where we’re staying, is famous for its beaches, diving, snorkeling and fishing. There are a growing number of resorts catering to families here, including the giant Beaches resort.
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After years of Taking the Kids, on this trip we’ve followed our 22-year-old daughter Melanie here to Nicaragua, which many say is fast becoming the next eco tourist’s must-see destination, offering volcanoes, cloud forests, rain forests, pristine beaches and a growing number of eco resorts.
In our family, an afternoon away from the resort is fundamental. A 20-minute taxi ride from the luxurious Iberostar Playa Mita brings you to the sleepy fishing village of San Francisco, known locally as San Pancho. In this tiny seaside town, you will find Entre Amigos.
An afternoon visit to laid-back Sayulita, a few minutes drive from the Iberostar Playa Mita on Mexico’s Pacific Cost. The crescent-shaped beach is fringed with tall palms. Fishermen sharing the beach with surfers and hippies.
If you think all-inclusive resorts are nothing but rowdy sun-seekers, conga lines, mediocre buffets and cheap liquor, meet the new Iberostar Playa Mita. A vacation here should do wonders to change any preconceived notions you may have about all-inclusive hotels.
Snow sports can be more than about fun in the snow. They’re about persistence and courage, trying something new (just ask the cold-hating Los Angeles boy who was with us) and empathy for those who may be struggling more than you might be.
In the Bahamas, they start ringing in the New Year on Boxing Day with the annual Junkanoo Festivals, with cowbells, goatskin drums, conch horns and incredibly colorful costumes.
The holiday season is an excellent time to visit Colonial Williamsburg and see firsthand how 18th Century Virginians celebrated.
If you arrive at night, you might not recognize Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia. The millions of lights that cover 1,500 Christmas trees give the theme park a fantastical holiday makeover and transform it into Christmas Town.
In New Hampshire for the holidays, we sleep and hike with the Appalachian Mountain Club, visit the historic Omni Mt. Washington Hotel, tour the treetops at Bretton Woods Ski Area and are pulled by a sled dog team that includes a pair of amazing canines.
Taking the Kids correspondent Allison Tibaldi and her teen-aged son Alec enjoy their last day on the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas with a port of call in St. Thomas, USVI, and ride on the Kon Tiki Sightseeing and Beach Cruise.
Day three aboard Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas starts with the Dreamworks character breakfast for Taking the Kids contributor Alison Tibaldi, and ends with Italian food at Portofino.
Taking the Kids contributor Allison Tibaldi visits the gym on Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas and first port call at CocoCay in the Bahamas.
Taking the Kids contributor Alec Tibaldi describes his first cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas and provides another excellent video.
In Paris with a “Paris Greeter,” one of 360 volunteers who offer some 3,000 free tours every year. There’s likely a Greeter organization in any big city near you and all over the world.
Taking the Kids Contributor Allison Tibaldi finds Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas to be huge, but easy to navigate with interactive screens all round.
Taking the Kids contributor Alec Tibaldi, who joined his mother on a Royal Caribbean cruise and visit to Universal Orlando, describes his first visit to the theme park and provides an excellent video.