New Travel Forum Launched

March 9, 2008

Planning the perfect family vacation often involves talking to other travelers.  Simply reading through all of the available advertisements and brochures doesn’t always give you a true idea of what the destination is like.  After all, those things are put together in an effort to draw you in and to get you to spend money.  That’s why I like to visit forums and share idead with other people.

Today, I learned about a new travel forum, which you can see check out at http://www.lmvr123.com/forum/.  It’s pretty new, so there isn’t a whole lot on there yet, but I am sure it is going to get busy rather quickly!  I am going to head over there to see what types of conversations I can get going – Care to join me?  See you at the forum!

By admin | Posted in General Family Travel Tips, a, advertisements, and, brochures, family, forum, forums, idea, idead, involves, learned, people  today, perfect, planning, reading, share, simply, talking, the, travel, travelers  , true, vacation, visit | Comments (0)

Wisconsin Dells Wizard’s Quest

August 2, 2007

Another site that you will have the opportunity to visit when you take a family vacation to Wisconsin Dells is Wizards Quest.  Wizards Quest offers a different form of family travel opportunity to the norm, as it is basically a huge scavenger hunt that the entire family participates in.

 When you enter Wizards Quest, you will be asked to come up with a name for your traveling party.  If you are stuck, they have a list of suggestions that you can choose from.  You then enter a little room where you are introduced to the elemental wizards you will be trying to free.  In order to free them, you will have to find answers to questions you are given in order to collect enough points to release the wizards.  To find the answers, you will have to walk through the various realms and look for clues.

 While finding the answers to the questions was a little beyond the twin’s grasp (since they are only 5 years old), they still enjoyed going through the various realms because they included slides and other things to climb and have fun on.

 Beware of the last realm, however, as there are a whole bunch of mirrors that you will have to walk through and determining which images are the real person and which are just reflections can be tough.  The twins ran into mirrors on more than one occassion as they ran to what they thought was me in order to give me a hug!

I won’t give away any secrets to how you find the answers to the questions because I don’t want to ruin the fun of your family vacation.  But, if you are afraid that finding the answers to the clues will be too difficult and you won’t be able to free the wizards within your provided time limit, you can choose to take the easier challenge.  We didn’t gather quite enough points to free all of our wizards, but we did have a good time trying!

By admin | Posted in Great Cities for Family Vacations, Monuments for Family Vacations, a, dells, family, form, norm, offers, opportunity, quest, quest  , the, travel, vacation, visit, wisconsin, wizards | Comments (0)

Wisconsin Dells – The Tommy Bartlett Show

July 28, 2007

The Tommy Bartlett Show is one of the first attractions to be offered at Wisconsin Dells.  Located right next to the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory, you can spend time at the Exploratory before the show and then go right next door to the performance when its almost time for the show to begin.

The theme of the Tommy Bartlett Show during our visit was “pirates,” and they were obviously trying to piggy-back off of the popularity of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies by choosing this theme.  My husband and I both thought that they really stretched the theme during their waterski show that comprised the first half of the show.  While the stunts were certainly impressive, the attempt to make it a pirate show really came off a bit lame.  Even the kids were a bit disappointed.

 My boys didn’t seem to be very thrilled by the first half of the show, which was all waterskiing stunts.  The second half, however, seemed to get them going a bit more.  There were definitely some heart-stopping moments as the performers performed amazing acrobatic feats, including dangling by their heads from several feet in the air and running like hamsters in rotating devices towering in the sky.

The Tommy Bartlett Show is worth a visit to on your family vacation, but prepared for the little ones to possibly be a bit bored by the first half of the show.

By admin | Posted in Great Cities for Family Vacations, Performances for the Family, bartlett, begin the, dells  , door, exploratory, located, offered, performance, pirates, spend, the, theme, time, tommy, visit, wisconsin | Comments (0)

Wisconsin Dells – The Tommy Bartlett Exploratory

July 27, 2007

The Tommy Bartlett Expository offers a number of fun attractions that will test your mind.  Making your family vacation an eductional experience is not difficult at all at this attraction, as you will explore a variety of different scientific concepts with the hands on activities the Exploratory provides.

When you visit the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory on  your family vacation, you will find that there is a kiosk outside.  I highly recommend stopping off at this kiosk before you visit any of the attractions in Wisconsin Dells.  Here, you can buy packages that will save you quite a bit on your Wisconsin Dells trip.  Even better, you can select the tickets you want and how many different attractions you want to add to your package.  Therefore, you are not tied down to attractions you may not really be interested in.

Many of the attractions at the Tommy Bartlette Exploratory actually seem like magic tricks as they trick your eye and your mind.  Others challenge you to perform certain tasks, such as remaining balanced on a tricky rolly-polly device or trying to put puzzles together and solve mysteries.

When you visit the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory, be sure to spend time with your kids at each exhibit so they will get the most fun and educational value the exhibit has to offer.

By admin | Posted in Educational Family Travel, Great Cities for Family Vacations, Museums for Family Vacations, a, activities, an, attractions, bartlett, concepts, dells, eductional, experience, exploratory, expository, family, highly, number, offers, on , provides when, recommend, scientific, stopping, the, tied, tommy, trip  , vacation, visit, wisconsin | Comments (0)

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Photo Gallery Part 7 – Clingman’s Dome

July 17, 2007

If you want to climb to the highest point in the Smokies, you need to visit the Smokies.  Be careful, though, if you come too early in the season, the road will still be closed for snow.  We went in late March the first time and were unable to visit, but it was open when we went back in June.

The climb up the domb is quite high, as you can see in this picture.

clingmans-dome-observation-tower.JPG

Once you make it to the top, the view is magnificent!  The view quality has a lot to do with how clear the day is – and the Smokies didn’t get their name for no reason.  So, don’t expect to be able to see clearly for miles and miles.  Nonetheless, it is fabulous!

clingmans-dome-mountain-view.JPG

 I guess I have shared enough photos of my boys that it is only fair that I include one with me in it….as you can see, I am not the most physically fit of people and I made it on all of these trails and up Clingman’s Domb, so you can too!

clingmans-dome-mountain-view-with-mama-and-boys.JPG

By admin | Posted in National Parks to Visit with Kids, careful, climb, closed, domb, early, highest, june the, late, march, open, point, smokies  , snow  , the, unable, visit | Comments (2)

Great Smoky Mountains Photo Gallary Part 4 - Gatlinburg

July 14, 2007

When  you visit Gatlinburg, you might decide to stop at the Guiness World Records Museum where you can compare yourself to the record holders.  Here, my husband and boys fit themselves inside the belt of the world’s fattest man.

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Here, the two oldest boys compare themselves to the world’s tallest man and the world’s shortest woman.

guiness-jacob-and-kieran-with-tallest-man-and-shortest-woman.JPG

 Two of my boys try their talents on this large piano and make beautiful music (ok, maybe it wasn’t THAT beautiful) at Ripley’s Museum.

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Here, my oldest son ponders what has happened to his head at Ripley’s Museum.

ripleys-jacob.JPG

By admin | Posted in Museums for Family Vacations, National Parks to Visit with Kids, and, belt, boys, compare, decide, fit, gatlinburg, guiness, holders  , husband, inside, museum, my, record, records, the, visit, when , world | Comments (0)

A Safety Reminder when Visiting National Parks

July 8, 2007

I was doing a bit of research for this blog by watching some shows on the travel channel.  These shows were discussing the top 10 natural destinations to visit in the Western United States and the top 10 destinations in the world.  I noticed that, throughout the entire show, the narrator repeatedly warned the viewer to be aware of safety concerns.

 These repeated warnings made me think that I should address this issue on this blog as well.  I have taken my family to a number of spots where safety was a concern.  When we visited Shenandoah National Park, for example, we actually woke up one morning to find a black bear swimming in the pond right in front of the cabin we had rented.  Later in that vacation, we saw a cub and the mama bear run across the street right in front of us.  At the Smokies, we have ran across bears on the side of the road as well.  These are truly amazing experiences, but potentially deadly as well. 

Before you head out on a family vacation to a national park, be certain to do your research regarding the wildlife the park has to offer and to understand what you can do to prevent getting hurt.  With bears, for example, this is actually a time when you want to encourage your children to make a lot of noise.  If you walk through the trails quietly and happen to sneak up on a bear, it may attack simply because it was frightened.

Although this should go without saying, you should never approach a bear either – particularly a mama bear.  Mama bears are very protective and will kill someone that they see as a threat to the cub.  I know it is crazy, but I have actually witnessed people trying to get closer to these creatures.  Needless to say, that got reprimanded quite severely by the rangers.

Bears also have an amazing sense of smell and are attracted to the scent of just about everything, even toothpaste.  So, if you are doing some backcountry hiking, be sure to use caution when carrying and storing food.

The climate and topography of the vacation site should also be considered.  Some national parks are located in desert areas and have temperatures that exceed 100 degrees.  It is possible to pass out or to even die from these temperatures, so use caution when visiting sites such as Death Valley, Arches National Park in Utah, or other similar locations.  In addition, locations like Yellowstone National Park can have hidden boiling waters that are covered by thin crusts of land or, a park may have waterfalls located just beneath an area that looks ideal for taking a quick dip.

It is important to always be aware of your surroundings when at a national park – particularly when you have brought children along.  So, be careful while enjoying your fun and educational experience!

By admin | Posted in 10, General Family Travel Tips, National Parks to Visit with Kids, and, blog, channel  , destinations, discussing, entire, narrator, natural, noticed, repeatedly, research, shows, states, the, travel, united, viewer, visit, warned, watching, western | Comments (0)

Great Smoky Mountains – Educational Ideas Part 5

July 6, 2007

While visiting the Great Smoky Mountains on a family vacation, you should definitely take an hour or two out of your visit to play miniature golf at one of the many minoi-golf courses in the area.  Many of them are quite creative and can be quite an experience.  You can also make this fun experience educational in a number of easy ways.

One of the simplest ways to  make your mini-golf adventure educational is to allow one of your children to keep track of the scores.  Or, have each of your children keep track of their own scores while you keep track of the scores on your master scorecard.  Then, when the game is over, have your children figure out the differences between the scores.

For younger children, you can still have fun with math.  For instance, each hole will have a par.  After your child finally sinks his or her ball, ask your child to figure out how much below or over par the score was.  You can also introduce golf terms such as birdie (one under par), eagle (2 under par), bogey (one over par), double bogey (two over par), and so on.

Children get excited about learning new words, particularly when they hear their parents using them.  So, after each hole, ask your child if he scored a bogey or a birdie.  They will have a great time reprting back to you!

By admin | Posted in Educational Family Travel, National Parks to Visit with Kids, adventure, and, courses, creative, easy, educational, experience, fun, golf, great, mini golf, miniature, minoi golf, mountains, play, simplest, smoky, the, to , visit, ways, ways one, while visiting | Comments (0)

Great Smoky Mountains – Educational Ideas Part 2

July 3, 2007

If you take a drive to Townsend, Tennessee, you will be able to visit Tuckaleechee caverns.  Children really find caverns to be quite intriguing as it opens up a whole new world to them.  Exploring these underground tunnels is not only exciting, it also offers a number of opportunities for learning.

Before visiting the Great Smoky Mountains, let your children know that you will be visiting caverns during your visit.  Explain the differences between stalactites and stalagmites.  An easy way to remember is that stalactites hang on “tight” to the ceiling and stalagmites “might” reach the ceiling.  In other words, stalactites are the formations that hang down from the ceiling and stalagmites are those that grow toward the ceiling.  When these two formations meet together, they form a column.

To have fun with this concept, you might want to consider making some rock candy with your child.   The process of making rock candy is similar to the process of forming stalactites in that water and the minerals the water has gathered along the way drop from the ceiling.  Very tiny amounts of the minerals are left behind when the water drips and, over time, this forms the stalactite that hangs from the ceiling.

You can also explore mold with your child before visiting Tuckaleechee Caverns.  Mold does not naturally occur in caverns, but the light that is placed in the caverns in order to light the paths of visitors creates a great environment for mold to grow.  Discuss the properties and the life cycle of mold before you go to the caverns.  Then, when you encounter some during your visit, see if your child can explain to you all of the mold you see seems to be growing near to the lights.

By admin | Posted in Educational Family Travel, National Parks to Visit with Kids, a, caverns, caverns  , children, exciting, exploring, great, intriguing, learning before, mountains, number, offers, opens, opportunities, smoky, the, them  , tuckaleechee, tunnels, underground, visit, visiting, world | Comments (0)