Two years ago, we took the kids to Barcelona, Madrid and Sevilla
It was the first big trip we did with both kids, and now that the specific details have faded from memory, I can safely say that we "enjoyed every minute." In all seriousness, though I'm sure the trip had its dramas and difficulties, it's the more pleasant memories that remain with me. We celebrated D's first birthday in Barcelona, realized how muc better train travel is than plane on the high speed train from Sevilla to Madrid, and even managed to enjoy the Alcazar, the Miro Museum and the Prado Museum with two kids under the age of three! My favorite memory by far has to be the look on E's face as he tried the IDEAL toddler food for the first time Churros and Chocolate at the best Xocolateria in Barcelona.
Does any of this sound appealing? Our city guides include our best tips and recommendations from the trip, and you'll find links to each of the old blog posts on the right hand side of each city guide.
Barcelona With Kids
Madrid With Kids
Sevilla
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Posted on November 10, 2009 |
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Packing a travel busy bag is tricky business. Pack too little and you'll be trying to turn napkins into toys. Pack too much, and your backpack will be so heavy that you are sorry you ever left home. Last week I posted a picture of our most recent travel busy bag, and now I want to share my thoughts on how to build your own. After four-plus years of experimenting, here are my best tips for packing an airline busy bag.
What makes a good airplane toy?
Some stores would have you believe that the perfect travel toy is expensive and intricately designed. Instead, I find that a selection of simple, well designed toys works best. The ideal toy is:
- Quiet
- Compact
- Small pieces are easy to contain so that they don't end up on the floor, and loosing a piece doesn't destroy the play value of the entire toy
- Not so precious that you would mind loosing it
- Not fragile
- Preferably no batteries (or if there are batteries, make sure they are fresh)
- Engaging. Self contained crafts are especially great, but be wary of crafts that might make a mess or contain smelly glues or paints.
- Can be played with independently or with a parent
Here is a list of some of my favorite travel toys
What makes a good "mix"
- Choose toys that let your child engage in different types of play - for example, instead of four coloring books you would have one coloring book and some action figures or other manipulative toys. Instead of four cars, you might have a car, a driver, a bicycle and a horse.
- Choose toys that work well together. For example, I might start with a Playmobil person and horse. When that gets boring, I could add a stroller, or a wheelchair or a car to the mix. Ask your child to draw a road a piece of paper, and let them "drive" a toy car on the road.
- Include something soothing, like a storybook.
- Plan to let the kids shop for some special new toys at your destination. You can use them on the return journey.
- A good rule of thumb is one brand new toy per hour, along with some old favorites.
- Be sure to bring along a few toys that are intended for the return flight. If you use more toys than you had planned on the outbound flight, you can always pick up something new at your destination.
Where to look for toys
You can find good toys almost anywhere. It helps to keep an eye out for travel toys throughout the year, and stow them in your empty suitcase until you need them. Here are some of my favorite places to find airplane goodies.
- Craft stores often have self contained crafts for under a dollar
- Target dollar area
- Independent toystores often have "goodie bag stuffers" in bins near the front of the store
- Japanese dollar stores, like Daiso have a particularly engaging selection of sticker books, cute pens, snack containers and other trinkets
- Large toy stores often have a good selection of the smallest Lego and Playmobil sets
- Teacher supply stores sell engaging, educational, small toys meant to be used as rewards in the classroom
What else can your child play with?
Keep an open mind, and you'll find lots to do without breaking into your busy bag!
- Neighbors (assuming they are interested and willing)
- Snacks
- Anything in the seat pocket. For example, my kids are always interested in the emergency information cards and in learning how all of the various doors on the plane open. Even the barf bag can be made into a puppet or used in play.
- Your personal electronics, including an iPhone with games, a camera loaded with pictures or an iPod loaded with kid-friendly music
- A parent! The best way to ensure good airplane behavior is to pay lots of attention to your child when they first get on the plane - if your home is as busy as mine, that's a rare treat that kids will, quite literally, bend over backwards to encourage.
- Here are some more tips for keeping your child busy on a plane without using toys.
On the Go With Your Busy Bag
- Wait to bring out your busy bag until you've exhausted all the "built-in" entertainment.
- Try not to open the busy bag in the airport terminal. As exhausted as you might be, the terminal is the place for your child to stretch their legs and, if possible, run.
- Dole out the items one by one, making sure that play is exhausted before starting another
- Consider wrapping each item. Young children are so thrilled with unwrapping "gifts" that they won't mind if you wrap something they already own.
Related Links
Favorite Travel Toys
Ten Great Travel Toys You Already Have at Home
Ten Tips for Keeping a Toddler Busy on a Plane
Flying With Babies, Toddlers, and Kids
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Posted on November 9, 2009 |
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Here are a few stories I enjoyed this week.
I loved this article about how to develop character in your children and yourself through travel
A great rant about kicking kids off of airplanes from BackpacktoBuggy
Here's a great hack that you can use when you travel: How to blow bath bubbles with baby shampoo
Sonoma Train Town in California's wine country looks like a great way to make a wine country visit with kids fun.
Giveaways
Enter to win one of my favorite travel products, a CARES flight harness on Travel Mamas
Here's an interesting EarPollution Plugz with Mic Giveaway on TheVacationGals
Win one of two My Busy Kits, perfect to keep your kids entertained when you travel this holiday
Going someplace? Win the Rough Guide of your choice at
Darn Good Digs
If you are running a travel related giveaway and would like to be listed here fill out my giveaways form
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Posted on November 8, 2009 |
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I sometimes hear people claim that our American cities lack a sense of community or somehow imply that city dwellers aren't "real" Americans. In my view, nothing could be further from the truth. I love my urban life. Limited real estate means that there are few big box stores, and I spend more time in independently owned markets, bakeries, toy stores, and book shops and getting to know the owners and employees. A tight knit parenting community means that I often run into friends and acquaintances when I am out and about. My kids grow up interacting with all kinds of people, from recent immigrants to families who have lived in the area for generations. From people so wealthy it kinda makes your head hurt to people just struggling to get by. They're all here, and very little separates us. That might make some people uncomfortable, but it suits me just right.
Nothing brings people out of their houses more than Halloween, though, and I thought it would be fun to share a few photos of what Halloween looks like here in Seattle. You tell me if this looks like a heartless, cold city (ok, I'll admit the cold part - we definitely picked costumes for their coziness)
Our neighborhood is too hilly for short legs, so we like to Trick-or-Treat in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. Our city's founders thought that the state capitol would be located here, and built their turn of the century mansions on this hill. The old mansions double perfectly as haunted houses, and almost everyone goes overboard with Halloween decorations.
As the sun sets, the streets become clogged with trick-or-treaters, and it can be overwhelming for the little guys. This year, a few of the streets were closed to traffic, and kids were invited to join in an early evening Halloween parade. D & E loved showing off their Halloween finery.
After the parade we started trick or treating, and hit about 15 houses before their little legs gave in. We were back home counting our candy just as it got dark.
Come join me next year. The city really isn't so heartless afterall - even on the scariest day of the year.
Photo Friday:
Share a favorite travel photo by adding your link below. Please take a moment to make sure that you are linking directly to your photo post instead of your homepage. If your url is longer than 100 characters, you will need to use a url shortening service, like bit.ly
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Posted on November 5, 2009 |
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I took this photo of our airplane busy bag before flying down to Orange County a few weeks ago. I build a fresh busy bag before each trip based on what the kids are interested in at the moment.
Between kids, and luggage, and snacks, there is always a lot to carry, so I try to keep the busy bag compact, and with this one I really succeeded. It doesn't look like much, but believe it or not, there was enough to do here to keep E and D busy for both the outbound and return flights!
Here's what's inside (there are two of almost everything, one for each child)
Here are a few stories I enjoyed this week.
Did you ever wonder what it would be like to celebrate Halloween in Beijing
A noisy child was kicked off a plane this week. Southwest has apologized to the mother (it sounds like they didn't give her any advance warning), but perhaps you want to read some of my tips for flying with kids.
Here are some great photos and a story about a family visit to Yellowstone National Park
Giveaways
Journeywoman is giving away 6 reusable shopping bags, one of them stuffed with DK books
If you are headed to Atlanta, enter to win World of Coca Cola tickets
If you are running a travel related giveaway and would like to be listed here fill out my giveaways form
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Posted on November 1, 2009 |
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Heather Pool, who writes a really funny blog about her experiences as a flight attendant posted earlier this year about Laviators. In case you haven't heard, a laviator is a passenger who takes mile high headshot in an airplane bathroom. Heather didn't invent the idea, but she coined the name and posted about it. Pretty soon it became a phenomenon. On our most recent flight, I thought I'd add my own picture to the mix. Here it is, Heather, baby Eilan on his 4th flight ever.
P.S. If you were hoping for something a little more Halloweeny, check out last year's Photo Friday about Halloween in Paris
Photo Friday:
Share a favorite travel photo by adding your link below. Please take a moment to make sure that you are linking directly to your photo post instead of your homepage. If your url is longer than 100 characters, you will need to use a url shortening service, like bit.ly
First timers, here is
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Posted on October 29, 2009 |
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During our stay in Santa Monica, we were guests of the Loews Santa Monica. I received no other compensation beyond the room and dessert, and the hotel did not require that I express a particular point of view.
We ended our family trip to Orange County last week with a night in Santa Monica. I haven't visited Santa Monica since I was in College, so it was fun to rediscover the beach and the pier with the kids.
Our hotel, the Loews Santa Monica was right across the street from the beach, making it a great starting point for our adventures. We really packed a lot in to just a few short hours!
Muscle beach, which has both a playground and workout equipment was our first stop. The kids loved watching all the activity, including a dance class and jugglers, and then playing in the sandy playground.
Next we headed up to the old Santa Monica Pier. The pier has been around for 100 years, and if you've been there before, you might enjoy this slideshow showing the way the pier used to look.
Though some venture to the end of the pier to watch the gulls or fish, most people head to the carnival plopped right in the middle. It's sort of like "Coney Island West." Frankly, this isn't my favorite sort of attraction. I hate crowds, and I don't love carnival noise, but the location on the water and the small size makes this more bearable for me than most carnivals, and my kids haven't yet been to a fair.
Our first stop was a stop at the Carousel, originally built in the 1920's. Outside the Carousel was a bubble blower, and the kids ran around gleefully trying to catch and pop as many bubbles as they could.
Next stop, the beautiful old Carousel - this one is surprisingly reasonably priced and the kids rode for free!
The carnival games were what really won the kids hearts - with not many people around we were able to make sure that each kid won a prize. E carried his everywhere for days, and even took it to school for "Show and Share" the following week.
Whew, we finally made it to the end of the pier and sat for a few quiet moments looking at the gulls, the waves, and the people fishing off the end of the pier
After a final run on the playground, the kids were exhausted, and we skipped our planned dinner, opting instead for takeout from Cha Cha Chicken
The tree-filled outdoor patio at this roadside stand would have been a perfect place to dine with the kids. Instead I brought coconut crusted chicken fingers, cornbread, steamed sweet potatoes, and of course an order of "Cha Cha Chicken" back to the hotel room.
We ended the day with one last walk and homemade ice cream around the indoor fire pit at the Loews Hotel's Ocean and Vine restaurant.
And here is the money shot - both kids crashed out together in the same bed at the end of a long day. I almost nodded off myself listening to the lullaby CD that the hotel sent up in the early evening (all families get one, and the room is equipped with a CD player).
Related Links
Santa Monica With Kids
Orange County, CA With Kids
Los Angeles With Kids
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Posted on October 27, 2009 |
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We visited Pretend City at our own expense (including baby Eilan slept through the whole visit!). Whenever I accept a free service, I will always let you know.
While we were down in Orange County visiting family, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to check out a brand new children's museum called Pretend City
In an Industrial Park near Irvine Spectrum, a windowless warehouse has been recently converted into a playspace for local kids. The museum is modeled after a small city, with a town square and roads leading between each of the "shops"
My kids were a bit overwhelmed by all the of the activity in the "town square," but once we pulled them into the shops, they started to have fun.
Building with PVC pipes is always a hit! We actually went to the hardware store and made our own set after first seeing this done at the Explora Science Museum in Albuquerque. It's really fun to be able to build large structures, and the pipes are both inexpensive and easy to add to over time.
If you go, bring a change of clothes. Hidden in the back of the museum is a huge water play area
But the real hit, for my kids, was the art space right by the front door. They loved "pasting" tissue paper on the window with water, making collages, and painting. There's something about creating a work of art that is very soothing even in a tumultuous children's museum.
Surprisingly, the museum also had fresh-made lunch options and baked goods in kid sized portions! That's a treat - I usually try to carry my own snacks, but when I run out it's nice not to be stuck with whatever I can find in a vending machine. If you have time for a full meal, though, you should really visit Fukada Restaurant for some of the best Japanese food in the area.
Related Links
Orange County, CA with Kids
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Posted on October 26, 2009 |
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In a city that is obsessed with cars and ruled by a tangle of freeways, it's no surprise that driving holds its own drama. Each time we return to Los Angeles, I feel a special energy as I step into the car. Driving here is simultaneously invigorating and exhausting.
The local culture has built up a whole language around driving its own traffic rules. Everyone knows about California stops (they're just for show), but there is also the "LA Four Car Rule" (when I lived here it was the three car rule) which designates how many people can turn left after the traffic signal has turned red.
Each car on the freeway is a player in an unfolding drama with cars trying to edge each other out in the race to get home before traffic hits. You must drive fast, leave as little space in front of you as possible, and never-ever signal your intention to change lanes (doing so tells the cars behind you to speed up and get in front of you before you move in).
Related Links
Los Angeles With Kids
Photo Friday:
Share a favorite travel photo by adding your link below. Please take a moment to make sure that you are linking directly to your photo post instead of your homepage. If your url is longer than 100 characters, you will need to use a url shortening service, like bit.ly
First timers, here is
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13 comments |
Posted on October 22, 2009 |
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(a steal at just $1.50 each)
