Destinations the whole family will love!

at these prices we can go, and bring all our friends!

As if it couldn’t get any better, it did. YMCA of the Rockies have these unbelievable 2+1 rates for the season:

Estes Park Center – November 1, 2009 to May 27, 2010 – Stay 2 nights and get the 3rd night free!  (excludes holiday periods and March 2010)
Snow Mountain Ranch – October 1, 2009 to May 27, 2010 – Stay 2 nights and get the 3rd night free! (excludes holiday periods and March 2010)

Free activities for guests include: mini-golf, swimming, roller skating, guided hikes, age appropriate family programming, fishing, horseshoes, library, museum, basketball, sand volleyball, tennis, ice skating… and more.

Activities with a fee include: zip line, climbing wall, horseback riding, challenge course, high ropes course, craft center activities…

YMCA OF THE ROCKIES WEBSITE

yeah, it’s that kind of amazing…

THE VILLAGE PEOPLE WERE ONTO SOMETHING (BESIDES AWESOME COSTUMES). THE YMCA OF THE ROCKIES HAS IT GOING ON.

YMCA OF THE ROCKIES
Two locations (excluding the camp) both about 1 hour 1/2 outside Denver, CO

It’s winter ski season again. And before you start bracing yourselves for the high price of high-altitude fun, wait. Put away the Amex Black card and get set for one of the best ski bargains around.

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This was originally written for Cookie, but didn’t make it before the poor Cookie crumbled and the publication folded. Please send me your holiday survival tips and I’ll post them! 

The holidays are always a bit of tricky détente. How to keep your parents and in-laws happy, keep somewhat to your kids normal routing, keep your sanity, all while making the days merry and bright.

Here’s the big secret: Lower your expectations.

Not your expectations that you won’t be happy to spend time with family—maybe it’s family you don’t get to see that often, or maybe it’s just a chance to spend time with family that’s not crunched into a 48-hour weekend—but just keep in mind that’s the most and only important thing.

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Lookout Point Resort, Maine
LOOKOUT POINT WEBSITE

WE’VE GOT CABIN-FEVER FOR THIS MAINE RESORT.

Cleverly disguised as a spot for faddy-duddy conventions, we’ve uncovered Point Lookout’s alter-ego as a perfect getaway for rip-roaring family fun. Ah-ha, Point Lookout, we are on to you!!  (more…)

island inhabitants

QUICK, CALL THE TRAVEL AGENT—WE’VE GOT CABIN FEVER FOR NORTHERN MINNESOTA’S LUDLOW’S ISLAND RESORT

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to write about Minnesota. As a former resident of this jewel of a state, I have to say Minnesota summer is a little slice of heaven. Wait…Hawaii is a little slice of heaven…Minnesota is a little puff of honeyed sweetness. And Ludlow’s Island Resort is here to prove it. At least from June-September.

LUDLOW’S RESORT WEBSITE

As a family-run resort that’s been operating for the last 60+ years, Ludlow’s had a lot of time to get things right—and it shows. Not only is it a great ‘get-away-from-it-all’ escape, the island is open only to visitors, which means parents can turn down the child vigilance level from ‘high’ to just ‘elevated’.

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’cause kids so love hanging out in airports

FLIGHTCASTER

Using a very complicated matrix of news and feeds and data and maybe even a little bit of voodoo (it works that well), Flight Caster can alert you if your flight is going to be delayed waaaay before your airline. And as parents, that can be very helpful because you have enough variables to worry about, like lost ‘lovies’, spontaneous vomiting, sudden onset of car-seat phobia and my kids favorite, the mystery rash/possible ear infection combo. Why did we decide to go on this trip anyways?

FLIGHTCASTER

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photo credit: SPRING DEW

The ‘Grab Your Grandmaw’ deal at The Curtis Hotel (full write up below) is one you won’t want to miss out on this Labor Day:

Package includes:

• Two rooms for one rate
• Free Parking (2 car maximum)
• Kids eat free (up to $50 F&B)

Rates from: $199 taxes and gratuities not included

BOOK HERE

pop! goes the fun at Denver’s Curtis Hotel

STAY HAPPY IN THIS POP-CULTURE THEMED DOWNTOWN DENVER BOUTIQUE HOTEL

CURTIS HOTEL WEBSITE

The Curtis Hotel held it’s grand opening on Bart Simpson’s birthday in 2008 (April 19), a pop culture reference which is not at all lost on this bright and bubbly boutique hotel located in downtown Denver. The Curtis is all about unleashing your innerchild, which is perfect if your inner child is actually 3″ high and could care less about thread count, but does appreciate the Cartoon Network playing 24/7 on the big screen in the lobby.

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is this thing really soap?!?!

oooh, this is cool

Most parents have the emergency toilet paper cover covered (tissue does double-duty, or even that wadded up Starbuck’s napkin will do in a pinch), but faced with an empty soap container and a kid with sticky, grimy hands presents a whole other set of problems. (And with all the back and forth about the safety of hand sanitizers, maybe best to just stay away for a while.) But carrying around a leaky bottle of hand soap? And I won’t even waste space on the bar soap option.

Paper soap to the rescue! They’re lightweight, dry, perfectly safe and they are about as magical to kids as bubbles or expanding sponges. They’re an essential part of my travel-pack.

Flight 001 has this really cool version that looks like a leaf (click here). Double the magic, quadruple the excitement in lathering up. $7/10 soaps.

Oh wait…now they also have portable soap tubes (gotoob). I may have to reconsider that liquid soap option…

Flight 001

cozy up, Inger Jirby casitas, Taos, New Mexico

GATHER THE KIDS ‘ROUND THE KILN AT ARTIST INGER JIRBY’S HISTORIC, FAMILY-FRIENDLY CASITAS IN DOWNTOWN TAOS

INGER JIRBY’S CASITAS WEBSITE

One of my favorite things about New Mexico is New Mexican cuisine. It’s like Americanized Mexican dining, just without all the artery-clogging, flavor-obliterating coating of processed cheese. The art in New Mexico, however, is quite another story. Outside the traditional Native American and the whole O’Keefe/Stieglitz stuff, the art scene seems to be relegated to the wine-and-cheese-fair scene. Which does and does not bring us to the stylishly cozy Taos guest homes of Swedish-expat and resident Taos artist, Inger Jirby.

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