Dreaming of: Sand, Sun and Surf

August 30, 2009 By 9 Comments

Laguna beach, Phuket

It has been raining a lot in our area. I have no complains because we had been under the drought condition for the past few years and the rain is a welcome sight indeed. But with those rains, lighting and thunderstorms on the regular basis, I just start to yearn for the Sunshine on the beach with kids trying to catch the wave and building sand castles nearby.

Ah.. So here is my Monday Are For Dreamings post. I’m dreaming to get transported to any beach.. any beach at all but the one I long for is this one.

Beautiful beach of Thailand in Phuket

I’m dreaming about our first trip back to Thailand with Miss J when she was just under 2 years old. I didn’t know how we did it but we did survive 3 connection flights and 24 hours in total travel time from Florida to Bangkok. There is no question whether we should take a long trip with our kids back to Thailand but it’s just a matter of when and how often. Our trip there, I introduced Mr. Rojo and Miss J to Phuket. My sister did all the booking for the tour for us as we also traveled with Mr. Rojo’s parents as well. The trip went by so fast that if I didn’t have proof on pictures I wouldn’t believe that we were there. I’m dreaming of going back especially after the Tsunami. And this time, we would have to stick around a bit longer and take in a slower pace so we will have time to breath and relax a bit more.

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A trip to Thailand will not be completed if I didn’t get to eat like there is no tomorrow. And that trip was no difference even though I was with my in-laws. They probably just realized how much I could eat from that trip. The food was great but the atmosphere was even better. Who could complain when you had this view when you eat!

Jump off the boat near Phi Phi Island

We did a few activities.. as much as a first time parents of a toddler could handle. We did a long boat to the floating village. We visited the Kho Ta Poo (or more widely known as James Bond Island). We went to Kho Pi Pi. But the most memorable activity I found was the simple thing. During one of the boat tour, the boat stopped and we got to jump off from the boat into the cool, clear water. I never jumped off the boat before. So it took every single ounce of my gut to make that leap. Oh!! I was glad I did make that leap. I think in the sense, it almost likes whenever we decide to plan a trip and the rush feeling comes through me when I click that confirm button to purchase our tickets or make that hotel reservation. Life is full of surprises and we just have to make the leap to fully embrace it.

Thank you for dreaming along with me.. Check out other travelers’ dreams at Mother of All Trips.

Filed Under: Beaches, Thailand Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Back-to-School Weekend Fun at Imagine It! Children Museum

August 28, 2009 By 13 Comments

A few weeks ago right before the school started, we planned our outing to celebrate back-to-school. I gave Miss J and Mr. Z choices on their outing.

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Miss J with her free spirit, creative imagination, and sensitive emotion chose Imagine It! Children Museum. It’s one of Atlanta family favorite children museum. We had our membership from Creative Discovery museum that allow us to get in for free. I think I might get our membership here next year.

Originally, we planned to hit 2 museums that day. One for Miss J and one for Mr. Z. But as usual, we were slow getting start. We didn’t get to the museum till after lunch. So we decided to just let them play and enjoy their time there and visit Mr. Z’s choice the next day.

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Every time when we visited Imagine It!, the first stop had to be the Tool Solution section. It’s a big giant structure with balls moving along the tube, water wheel, and even crane. Kids ran around picking up balls and putting them into the tube to see them moving to the next stop. Mr. Z waited patiently for his turn to operate the crane and he couldn’t be happier to drop the ball right on target.

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It took a while before they agreed to move on to other exhibits. And Miss J gravitated toward the wall art. It was such a cool idea. Color paint the wall and then wipe it out and start it all over again. The station is equipped with pint-size apron and water color ready for the little Picasso to express their idea.

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Another one of her favorite has to be the sand table filled with moon sand. The sand has super soft quality that you can pretty much sculpt it into fun shape.

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As for Mr. Z, his second favorite has to be the grocery and conveyor belt section. I didn’t know he loves shopping this much. Next time I go grocery shopping, he will be my little helper. There were more kids than the little shopping carts so Mr. Z waited patiently (again) for his turn. It took probably a good 40-45 minutes before one of the kids gave up on this fun cart. Mr. Z didn’t waste his time filling up his shopping cart full of healthy food (I hope!).

I couldn’t say enough good thing about Imagine It! At first glance, it doesn’t look like a great children museum. With only one story, I thought it was rather small. But each exhibit is created with such details that kids couldn’t stay away from them. Plus the size is actually what make this children museum perfect for family with kids especially small children. It’s easier to keep track of your kids when there aren’t that many places for them to hide. I admit that I love the Port Discover Children museum in Baltimore. But at time, I also was so nervous. With multi-stories playground, there were several times that I couldn’t keep an eye on them. So I have to say that Imagine It! has grown on me and slowly become one of my favorite children museum.

Stay tune for part 2 of our back-to-school weekend fun!

Check out other travelers’ Photo Friday at Delicious Baby.

PhotoStory Friday
Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Filed Under: Day/Weekend Trips, Georgia Tagged With: , , ,

What To Do With Kids After Sunset in Campground?

August 27, 2009 By 10 Comments

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So we are going.. If the weather permits that is..

Going where?

Going camping, silly..

This will be a conversation I will probably be having with my family soon. I really want to do on-site camping this year. Summer has come to an end in my view. I mark the end of Summer when school starts. But we still have a couple weeks of good fun that we can squeeze in.

So I checked out the campground that literally 5 minutes from our house and found that the last weekend before they close the park is only a few weeks away. I will book the site as soon as I can see the weather forecast! It has been raining crazy at nights for the past couple weeks. So I don’t want to really have our first ‘REAL’ camping experience to be any more roughing it than necessary.

Now, if the mother nature works with me on this, I still have a big question that I will need all my readers’ help (I do have a few readers, right? Right?).

What activities do you do with kids when the Sunset and the Moon comes out to play?

Filed Under: Camping

5 Expenses Not Include on Your Cruise

August 24, 2009 By 8 Comments

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This post continues on my cruising saga in the past couple weeks starting from why we love cruising with our kids and showing how I save on planning our cruise vacation.

Once all the planning is done, you would think that you are done with spending. Not so fast! It’s true that cruising is All-Inclusive which mean everything is included in the cost except your own spending on the boat and off the boat.

So today I want to share 5 Expenses that you might not have thought or aware of when planning a cruise vacation and ways to keep the lid on those expenses so you won’t have to come home with a huge bill waiting after the fun vacation.

1. Watch Out those Fancy Drinks

We don’t drink period. Mr. Rojo has some scare about his liver enzyme a few years ago so we practically cut out all alcohol beverage from our house. So it does help us cut down dramatically on the spending in this category.

Some cruise line will provide free soda drink (like Disney) but some cruise line will only provide water and ice tea. So if you can’t live without soda, you can bring your own in your suitcase.

As for wine and other beverage, I’m not quite sure since I didn’t even bother to check. But I believe you can bring one bottle per person. Check with your cruise line on their rule.

Check on cruise boards like Cruise Critic or Cruise Mates on more tips to cut down on beverage cost.

2. Portrait Picture? What pictures?

Family portrait on the cruise is a big business and a money maker for cruise line. You can end up spending a fortune if you blindly pick every single pictures ever taken on the ship.

If you think you absolutely must have those portrais, check out a package and see if you can get discount.

I have seen the light and aren’t too crazy about those pictures so we came out pretty good at the end with a couple pictures of our whole family. That’s pretty much what we got.

3. The Shopping Spree

In each port of call, you will most likely have a flyer in your room the night before about the great discount if you shop at certain approved store. I rarely look at those. I LOVE to shop. Who doesn’t. But I also love to explore and spend my money on something else that I couldn’t have when we are back home. Buying a watch or jewelry isn’t high on my list.

But if it’s what you are looking for, then shop smart and watch out for your budget. This one is a big one that can blow a big hole in your wallet if you are not careful.

I don’t have much self-controlled myself when it comes to shopping. So I set a limit on 1 sourvenir per person per port. At least they will get to pick something from each place that we visit. For the kids, I told them $10 maximum and Miss J has learned that rule by heart. It’s all about training them young. :)

4. Tips

Alright, yes maybe they did tell you about tips. But most people forget or didn’t think about adding it up until the last day. The cruise line is pretty good at providing the information of suggested tip per person per night. The tip ranges from $10-$15 per person per day.

I have also heard that some cruise lines have moved to add service charges instead of tipping. So make sure to check your cruise cost before shelling out those cash at the end of your trip.

5. Expense on Port of Call Day

The port of call day is pretty much a free style day. You can do whatever you want. Majority of passengers choose to disembark and enjoy sightseeing or exploring the city for a day.

If you plan to explore, don’t forget the cost of food and transportation during the day as it does not include in your cruise cost. The ship still provided food on board but most countries have strict rule of bringing fresh food, fruit and vegetable to their countries. So you can either eat before you leave, plan and budget for local food (which I love to do. Otherwise why visit if you didn’t get to taste local food), or pack package food that allows through custom.

Another expense during the port of call day that can be a major budget buster is the excursion fee. Try to avoid the idea of doing it all. I try to limit to one excursion per port. You will have less than 5-8 hours at the port so make sure that you check all the excursion time and length before signing up. Remember that the excursions provided by local companies are for all cruise ships so they might not know about your ship time.

Is there other expenses that I might have missed from your past cruise experience?

Filed Under: Cruising, Travel Tips Tagged With: , ,

Orlando With Kids: Just Imagine if We Are in Legoland

August 21, 2009 By 23 Comments

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This Summer we went to Orlando for a quick getaway and met up with great friends. One of our visit was our favorite store in Downtown Disney – The Lego Store.

Mr. Z has become such a big fan of Lego ever since he learned to master the Wii controller and play Lego Star Wars.

We spent hours in the store alone.

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I was mesmerized by the wall full of colorful lego pieces.

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Mr. Rojo was drooling over the Millenium Falcon lego.

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Miss J was busy assemble her own gang

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Mr. Z was all over the place, bouncing from the race table to the playground and back to the train table all made from lego of course.

I could fancy a giddy kid who will have eye wide when we arrive at the Legoland in San Diego.. Oh! The joy that we will get to see from their faces will worth all the troubles flying across the country during one of the busiest season. Until then…

Check out other travelers’ Photo Friday at Delicious Baby.

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Filed Under: Family Tagged With: , , , ,

Things to Do with Kids in San Diego

August 17, 2009 By 18 Comments

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I have drafted this post a while back as soon as we know that we are going to San Diego in Winter. But I didn’t have the chance to finish it till now.

It’s not because there is nothing to do in San Diego. But it’s the opposite. There are so many things to do in San Diego. My head is spinning trying to find out what can we fit into our schedule. And no, I still don’t know for sure.

I have to say I’m a real type-A traveler. I have to plan everything to the hours. I’m weird that way. But I think I’m getting better. I think…

This trip I will probably have a list of things to do and leave a few days as  free days so we can explore at our own pace.

Without further adieu, here are list of things to do in San Diego that we will try to fit into our trip.

1. San Diego Zoo – It’s one of the top attraction for San Diego. So I don’t have to have a lot of reasons, do I? Kids love to go to the Zoo and this one will probably give them a good work out for a day.

It just likes all the stars align for my trip planning. A couple weeks ago, Carolina @ Kids Go West wrote a post about The Best of San Diego Zoo picked by her kids. What a perfect post for me. I didn’t have to do any research. I will just print out her post and my to-see for that day will be done.

2. Sea World San Diego – I haven’t been to Sea World in Orlando for ages. My kids have never been to Sea World ever. So Sea World is a must on our list. We love aquarium in general and I love to watch live show.

Blogosphere is my friend again when a couple weeks ago (seem to be the theme here) Jamie @ Travel Savvy Mom wrote about 5 Things she learned at Sea World.  Her fun post gives us the general idea of what to expect.

3. Legoland – My son will disown me if we skip Legoland. I mean this boy has a serious issue with Lego. A few days ago he announced that he is no longer interested in Thomas the Tank Engine. He is now a Star War Lego fan. How about that!

For this stop, I know I can rely on Bridget @ Family Adventure Guidebooks. She published ‘The Unauthorized Legoland Guidebook’ so that should probably say a lot about her knowledge of this amazing amusement park.

4. La Jolla Beach – Visit Children’s Pool to check out the seal and enjoy the relax beach vacation North of San Diego. As Mudslidemama @ Traveling Mamas put it on her visit “I’m so glad I did! La Jolla is indeed lovely, with cliffs that overhand the Pacific in ways reminiscent of the more rugged views in Northern California.”

After that, we can enjoy watching hang gliders navigate the wind at Cliff Hanger cafe. That’s something we don’t see everyday in Atlanta.

5. Balboa Park – Home of the San Diego Zoo. The country’s largest urban cultural park also houses other museums, performing center and open-air theatre. Even though Mr. Z announced his separation from Thomas, I’m pretty sure that he will run to be the first to ride the Balboa Park Miniature train.

6. Mission Beach – Technically, there will be more beaches in San Diego than you can choose. But at Mission Beach, kids can enjoy the beachfront amusement park at Belmont Park. With free parking and free admission, it’s a good outing for a family.

7. USS Midway Aircraft Carrier – I love taking our kids to visit places or sights that we don’t normally see in our own hometown. The USS Midway is one of such place. It’s not often that we will be in the area that we can visit and explore the US Aircraft Carrier. Ok.. This one is for me, Ok? I want to see the inside of the carrier and learn about life at sea.

Now. This is probably not a complete list of what San Diego has to offer. So have at it… What else should I consider while soaking up the Sun in the South Cal?

San Diego Things To Do

Filed Under: California, Saving, Travel in North America Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Seven Mile Beach: Grand Cayman

August 14, 2009 By 18 Comments

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Writing about cruising with kids gives me a chance to look back at our photo from our latest cruise 2 years ago to the Caribbean. After 2 years, Seven Mile beach is still Miss J’s favorite memory for the whole trip.

I had done a lot of planning on that trip and we booked an excursion for the swimming with sting ray later on that day in Grand Cayman.

However, we arrived early in the morning which gave us a couple hours before our meeting time. So we decided to take a taxi to the beach. At $4 per person, it wasn’t bad to get there. It was early in the morning so the beach was pretty empty.

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We got dropped off at the Reef restaurant on the beach. We were so early that the restaurant was still closed. We walked along the beach to find a good spot. We found a shade spot and even before I could put everything down Miss J and Mr. Z were already running off to the wave.

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The sand was so soft that I feel like I just walk on soft carpet. The wave was not big so it was perfect for them to play in. We picked a great spot with shade so I could imagine taking a nap while Mr. Rojo helped build sand castle with Mr. Z.

They simply just enjoyed jumping the wave, play with the sand and relax on the beach. I think we could have just stayed there the whole day and it would still be one of the best day of the trip.

When it was almost time to head back to our meeting spot for the excursion, we stopped by the restaurant to order a drink. The restaurant had shower so it was convenient for us. I couldn’t imagine riding a boat the whole day with sand inside and out our bathing suit. :)

I’m so in love with the beach there. I know we will have to come back and spend more quality time there.

Check out other travelers’ Photo Friday at Delicious Baby.

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Filed Under: Beaches, Cayman Island Tagged With: , , , , ,

5 Reasons We Love Cruising with Kids

August 12, 2009 By 6 Comments

As most of you guys know we love to travel with our kids. I love to try different kinds of adventures for my kids whether it’s just a day trip or a weekend trip. But most of all, I always always dream up our vacation trips. I try not to stick to one type of vacation. I believe in exploring different kinds of traveling like cruising, city sightseeing or road trips and going out of our comfort zone like camping.

We have done various types of traveling but still have yet many more to explore. One of many memorable trips we had and have been on top of our list is Cruising.

Here are our 5 reasons why we love cruising with kids and I think if you haven’t done so at least you might want to consider it.

Play At Sea Cruising

1. Great Kids Club

There are plenty of activities for them to do on the ship that are organized by staffs. It is a great way for them to have fun with kids of their own ages and a great escape for us to have some time alone.

Don’t like organized activities? Kids can also enjoy swimming in the pool, explore the ship, or playing putt-putt on the deck. And sometimes, just sitting at the back of the ship watching white foamy wave from the ship can take up the whole afternoon.

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2. No more ‘What to eat’ question

Deciding what to eat each day is one of the most stressful for any family vacation. For cruising, this problem is solved and I don’t have to worry about planning. Food is easily accessible 24/7. There is something for everyone even the most picky eater of the family.

Our absolute favorite is unlimited soft serve ice cream. We could live on those!

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3. Set Budget

We *try* to set our budget for every vacation trip. But most of the time, we ended up spending more than we plan. It’s just what it is. Cruising helps us sticking to our budget because everything is pre-paid. Food, accommodation, transportation and excursion can be paid in advance. So we know how much our vacation will cost. Plus most of the time, you will have to pay certain amount before cruise date. So it helps not having a big bill at the end.

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4. Destinations Buffet

I consider our cruising to each port of call as ‘Destination Buffet’. We get to see what each city is like. Try it out and we can come back later for longer stay. It gives us a chance to visit several difference places without going bankrupt. It’s a great introduction to different cultures and experiences.

Also traveling with kids to various cities in one trip can be a hassle. Cruising helps eliminate that issue. You don’t have to check-in your luggage to the airport to fly to different cities. You don’t have to pack and unpack your luggage at each location once you arrive. If you are the only one who pack and unpack, you will really appreciate this benefit!

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5. You can do Nothing or Everything

A lot of times, I have heard people who said they don’t think they will like cruising because they afraid they will get bored. Well, I can say that there are more activities than more days on the ship. So you will never get bored. And at each port of call, you have options to do NOTHING or do ANYTHING that you love. It’s for both adventurous and non-adventurous type.

For family with kids, just spending time at the beach at the port of call can be the most amazing time for them. The best part it’s free. And if your kids are older and want to do more then you can also plan excursion that suit them.

Just talking about it make me want to start planning our next cruise.

So have you cruised before? If so, tell us why your love cruising.

Filed Under: Cruising Tagged With:

And They are Off.. First Day of School

August 10, 2009 By 3 Comments

School Bus

Today is the first day of school here and my baby is off to school on the bus as a kindergarten.

It’s a bittersweet for me. On one hand, I’m excited to the next stage for him. He will join his big sister on the school bus, eat in a big cafeteria, learn about reading, writing and art. On another hand, it just gives me a pause at how fast time flies.

Off on the bus

Congratulation Mr. Z on embarking into another chapter of your life. Enjoy and have a great day at school!

Miss J will have a sibling in school. I don’t know how this will play out with her. But I know that she will be a great big sister showing her little brother around and helping him out.

ice cream topping

We had a fun ice cream party with a few of our friends in our backyard to celebrate their first day. It was hot so ice cream was welcome by everyone. It’s a good thing that everyone ate so quickly because the ice cream was melting almost as quickly. Now I just have to adjust to this early waking hour..

Filed Under: Family

A Day at Miami Seaquarium

August 7, 2009 By 20 Comments

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A couple years ago we went down to South Florida and spent a few days visiting friends. One of our stop was Miami Seaquarium. The ironic part was we had lived down in South Florida for almost 10 years and we had never visited the aquarium before. Even after we had kids, we didn’t take any trip down there. Now that we live in Atlanta, we made sure that we included the aquarium on our trip.

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The aquarium is located on beautiful Biscayne Bay area right by the beach. So we could actually plan a better trip and bring our picnic for a fun day at the beach. But we didn’t. Oh! well..

I had already a few attractions in mind that we would like to see. Knowing that we won’t be able to do the whole thing since we arrived a bit later than planned (which is no surprised here.. Have any family with kids ever be on time as they plan?)

I knew that there were several live-shows all throughout the day from Top Deck Dolphin Show, Killer Whale & Dolphin Show, Flipper Dolphin Show and Sea Lion Show. I mean there are more shows and exhibits than we could possibly finish that day. So I figured we would just do the major ones.

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Once I got the show scheduled, we headed to the Top Deck Dolphin Show. We arrived a bit late so we didn’t have a place to sit. Mr. Rojo carried Mr. Z on his shoulder and I carried Miss J. Well, it was well-worth the wait and the trip to visit our chiropractor afterward. The show was entertaining. One warning, if you will stand next to the deck then get ready to be wet. We weren’t prepare for this so we didn’t have extra clothes. Needless to say it was a very yucky feeling for the rest of the day. Luckily the Miami heat (not the basketball team) dried our clothes rather quickly.

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Our next stop was the Killer Whale and Dolphin Show. This time we were early. So we had to wait for about 10 mins for the stadium to open. Again, we should prepare with one of those hand-held fan. Urgg.. It was hot. But we made it and got a great seat. The show was fun. It was my favorite. I was amazed by the trainers who interacted with the whale and dolphin. The tricks that they performed weren’t easy but they executed it perfectly!

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The last stop for our live-show marathon was the Flipper Dolphin show. The site for this show was right next to the beach so not only we had a great show but a great view of the Atlantic ocean to boot. The kids loved running up and down and checked out sea gulls on the beach. Once the show started, they were entertaining enough to captivate them for the length of the show. By that time, we had run out of our energy so it was time to pack it up.

Overall, the aquarium was a great visit for family with kids. It wasn’t as big as other aquarium but packed full with shows and exhibit. It will be great for family with small kids as well. Due to size it makes it more manageable for parents to stroll around with kids.

Check out other travelers’ Photo Friday at Delicious Baby.

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Miami Things To Do

Filed Under: Florida Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

5 Tips for Family Backyard Camping from First Time Camper

August 5, 2009 By 3 Comments

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As a newbie in the camping world, I have learned a lot during our first family backyard camping. The vast varieties of camping products are mind-boggling. Who knows, there are that many types of tents, sleeping bags and sleeping pads.

It was overwhelming in the beginning but we sorted it out with the help from our friends and online information. So I want to put this post out to help other families who are looking into venture out into the unknown of camping with kids for the first time.

- Practice make perfect
If you have never camped before in your life, it’s a good idea to try setting out a tent in a house or in a backyard first. With the improvement in tent these days, it doesn’t take long to put it up as long as you read the instruction carefully. Oh! And make sure to use the right pole. :)

- Buy the biggest tent you can afford
For a family of 4, a tent that sleeps 4 might be too small. Yeah.. You might say but my kids are small, they don’t need a lot of space. OH! They do. Kids love to jump and run around. So a tent with enough headroom for you to stand up and for them to jump will give you some peace. Otherwise, you will be yelling ‘No Jumping’ all day long.

-Rent equipment is good but buy cheap one is better
At first, I was considering renting camping equipment from REI. It’s a good option since we don’t even know if we will like it and return to the wilderness the next time. However, after looking at the price, you can get a cheaper tent from Walmart or Target. Plus even if you might end up using it only once, you can always sell it on Craig’s list or ebay. I mean if you have money to spend, then by all means get the Hobitat from REI. I would love to have one. But our Coleman 8 does the job and it has plenty of room

- Before bedtime, everyone MUST go potty
It’s not fun for a 3 AM bathroom trip even if it’s just walking upstairs to your own bathroom inside the house. Make sure all the kids and adults have done their business before light out.

- Don’t forget bug repellent even in your backyard
Bugs do live in your backyard as well. So even if you don’t have to get in a car and drive to  your campsite, you still need that bottle of bug repellent lotion to fight off little buggers at night. I am the lucky person though bugs never bother me. Maybe because they are too busy taking care of Mr. Rojo. We might need to look into some bug repellent candles or lantern. Any recommendation?

I’m sure I will have more tips once we go on our ‘offsite’ camping trip.

So is there any tips you have for first-timer in family camping?

Filed Under: Camping, Travel Tips Tagged With: , ,

5 More Fun Kids-Friendly Scenic Train Trips

August 3, 2009 By 7 Comments

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Last month, I wrote about 5 Fun Kids-friendly Scenic Train Rides around America. And I realize that 5 is hardly adequate. So today, I would like to share 5 more fun trips that will blow any train-loving kids mind. Well, maybe not but it might make you look cool as a parent.

6. Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Colorado – It’s not just a train depot but it’s a living museum. Cumbres & Toltec railroad is built in 1880 and little has changed. It offers spectacular scenic view of southern Rocky Mountain and an example of steam era mountain railroading in North America.

Departure City: Antonito or Chama, CO
Fee: Starting from $74 Adult, $37 Children
Contact: Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad Tel: 888-CUMBRES

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7. Cape Code Central Railroad, Massachusetts – Climb aboard Cape Code Central for a fun family ride and enjoy the view of beautiful cranberry bogs, natural woodlands and lush marshes.

Departure City: Hyannis and Cape Cod Canal, MA
Fee: Starting from $21 Adult, $17 Children
Contact: Cape Cod Central Railroad Tel: 508- 771-3800

8. Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad, Washington – Enjoy the scenic train ride to the Pacific Northwest and see the Mt. Rainier Valley on a steam train.

Departure City: Mineral, WA
Fee: Starting from $20 Adult, $15 Children
Contact: Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad Tel: 888-STEAM11

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9. Cass Scenic Railroad, West Virginia – Take a journey back in time with Cass Scenic Railroad State Park. The town is nestled in the mountains of West Virginia where nothing much changes. Enjoy a fun adventure that is filled with rich histories of the past and unparalleled views of a vast wilderness area.

Departure City: Cass, VA
Fee: Starting from $17 Adult, $12 Children
Contact: Cass Scenic Railroad Tel: 800-CALL WVA

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10. Verde Canyon Railroad, Arizona – Ride on one of the finest train ride in Arizona to the remote wilderness of the Verde Canyon. Enjoy the 4-hour picturesque ride with spectacular canyon scenery that perfect for all seasons.

Departure City: Clarkdale, AZ
Fee: Starting from $54.95 Adult, $34.95 Children
Contact: Verde Canyon Railroad Tel: 800-320-0718

Filed Under: Day/Weekend Trips, Travel in North America Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,