Tag Archives: deck

Interactive Summer Fun

What’s your favorite part of a theme park? Most people travel to amusement parks for the thrills and chills associated with jaw dropping, stomach turning roller coasters that twist and turn in dozens of spine tingling directions. Apparently, monster thrill rides are now passe. According to theme park experts, the latest and greatest additions to amusement parks are interactive attractions. In an effort to win over video game enthusiasts, who are addicted to Wii and the like, theme parks have added new interactive rides and games for summer 2010. The following is a sample of what you will find when … Continue reading →

Mystery Solved!

My great grandfather was born to a single mother in 1898. She never disclosed who the father was, or if she did, it was kept secret by anyone who knew. She married a man within a few years of my great grandfather’s birth, and my great grandfather assumed his stepfather’s last name. It is unknown if he was ever officially adopted. I first became aware of my great grandfather’s illegitimate birth when I first began diving into my genealogy. There were a few theories as to who the biological father was: a traveling businessman, a married man, or even a … Continue reading →

Who is the Vacation Planner in Your Home?

Nine weeks and counting until school ends and summer vacation begins. I know this because my kindergartner recently commandeered my black Sharpie and is diligently drawing huge “Xs” on my calendar in anticipation of the end of the school year. My daughter has already created a long list of places she wants to visit this summer. Most of them are family favorites, including Six Flags Great America, the water park, the Children’s Museum, Summerfest, the State Fair and Chicago. I typically take her list and try to accommodate her wishes after I view our family calendar and budget. Apparently, I … Continue reading →

Long Trips at Seven Months

Spring Break snuck up on the town like higher gas prices and egg shaped pastel candies. Once again my wife and I prepared for the overly lengthy trip back to Iowa. Our near thousand mile trek was certain to be different than our previous trips. It was also, certainly, going to be more difficult now that our son is more mobile than he has been previously. Strangely, the trip went extremely well and I can’t quite reason out why. One of the smartest decisions we made was to split the trip over two days and bite the proverbial bullet of … Continue reading →

Not the Way You Want to Start Your Vacation

“Hope for the Best. Expect the worst.” I think Mel Brooks helped make those words famous. Or maybe it was the person, who typed them up on small pieces of white paper, and stuck them into fortune cookies. Either way the idiom often becomes my mantra when traveling with children. I just survived a 10,000-mile journey to and from Hawaii with my young daughter, and yes, I hoped for the best, but expected the worst. Shockingly, things went fairly smoothly… unlike past trips. Despite two delayed flights and a few shoulder blows courtesy of the guy sitting behind me, who … Continue reading →

Liberty or Guinea Pigs?

Next week, we are going to visit some friends. These friends live a ferry ride away, in the capital of our province. We will drive to the ferry after work and preschool and visit our friends for a couple of days before heading back home. In June, my daughter and I are flying to New York to visit my brother and his fiancée. I’ve been saving for this trip for a year, and on my daughter’s birthday I’m going to take her to Stomp – she loves percussion and I got discount tickets. While I love seeing our friends, I … Continue reading →

More Ways To Have Fun At the Airport

For harried parents traveling with a children or overscheduled business travelers looking to get home as soon as possible, airports are far from fun. Still, if you are using air travel to get from point A to point B, then you have little choice than to spend some time at an airport. So why not make the experience relatively fun? If you find yourself in any of the following airports in the near future, consider yourself lucky. Travel experts recently ranked them as some of the “Most Entertaining Airports” in the nation: ANCHORAGE, ALASKA: If you are looking to pass … Continue reading →

Fantasyland Expansion in Progress

Recently Disney announced the largest expansion of Walt Disney World’s Fantasyland in the history of the Magic Kingdom. The new Fantasyland is expected to open in 2012, over 40 years after the debut of Disney World in Orlando. Included in the expansion is a realm for many of the famous Disney Princesses: Ariel, Belle, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), and Cinderella. I know that I’ve been down on the Disney Princess theme recently, but I do love the characters and the fantasy they imbue. If ever there were an appropriate time and place for reveling in fairy tales, Disney World is it. … Continue reading →

Filming the Disney Christmas Day Parade

Growing up, I hoped that one year I could spend my Christmas watching the Disney parade from the sidelines instead of my couch. If I’d ever gotten my wish, my young self would have been disappointed. That is because Disney does not hold their Christmas Day parade on Christmas Day. Instead, they film in nearly a month in advance. Tomorrow the parade you’ll see on your screens was taped on December 3-5. Disney usually announces the dates for their annual taping near the end of October. Those interested in obtaining tickets for the event should keep close watch on the … Continue reading →

“Dreams Come True” in New Orleans

In my introductory blog from last week, I talked about how when I was young Disney films felt like a magical place of escape. Clearly I’m not the only one who thought so; now Disney offers us a chance to wander through the magic itself. “Dreams Come True – Art of the Classic Fairy Tales from the Walt Disney Studio” is appearing at the New Orleans Museum of Art from November 15, 2009 through March 15, 2010. The exhibition details the true artistry involved in the making of classic Disney films, highlighting the skill that made Walt Disney famous and … Continue reading →