my journey, destination unknown
Reflecting on our recent trip to NYC that seemed to focus on the subway, the CD that jumps to mind is Catch That Train from Dan Zanes and Friends. Dan is a wonderful family musician who is based in Brooklyn. In fact, we actually got to chat with him for a few minutes while we…
On a rainy, carless Sunday in Brooklyn, the girls and I sat eating a bagel discussing out choices of what to do. I handed our travel book Lonely Planet NYC to Camille to see what she might come up with. A few of her selections were not open on a Sunday, but one was open…
Yesterday, we headed into Blue Ridge for the Arts in the Park Festival. I remembered to bring our soda mug for $1 refills. The girls enjoy looking at the art, but Chloe especially liked looking at all the DOGS! Big ones, little ones, all of them. I got a new broom. If I have to…
Pine Lake celebrated Memorial Day in its traditional manner yesterday. Around 11:30am, we gathered at the clubhouse to decorate our bikes, our scooters, our wagons and ourselves in red, white and blue. At noon (or maybe noon PL time), the mayor gave a little speech to honor our soldiers and police officers, then raised the…
From our train trip to NYC earlier this month:
My first trip to Paris with kids, I had not done my homework. My eldest was about a year and a half, and I hopped in a taxi from the airport with her. No car seat. The peripherique in a taxi with a toddler and no car seat? Never, ever again. Since that time, despite…
A few weeks ago, we were fortunate enough to travel to Latvia, Spain, Germany, France, and Luxembourg … thanks to the third annual European Union Open House Day. We started out one block from our apartment, at the EU Delegation offices. I had always wanted to go inside, and was happy for the chance! A…
As I’ve mentioned previously, I love to get the kids ready for a trip by helping them discover the wonder of it via books, music and movies. We will be spending a few weeks in France in July — a week in Paris and a week in Nice. While both girls have been to Paris…
By the time Camille was “this many,” she knew her impressionists. She could tell a van Gogh from a Monet. She had been to Giverny and stood on Monet’s bridge. Chloe suffers from second child syndrome. We have not exposed her nearly enough to our favorite art, poor thing. A couple of weeks ago when…
As crazy as it seems, sometimes just getting through security can be one of the most stressful parts of a trip. I’ve seen chaos and confusion, not just for families traveling with kids. Inexperienced travelers of all ages have difficulties navigating through security. While I don’t claim that the few pointers here can make it…
I wished upon a star and learnedwishes really do come true. When i wished upon a star iknew it might no come true.But know i know theresluck out there for me and you. Now its come true il tell my wish to you.What i wished upon a star. I wished that boys and girls couldhave…
One travel advice website that I often visit is Delicious Baby: Making Travel with Kids Fun. Well, I already think that travel with my kids is fun, but I don’t mind trying to make it FUNNER! I find there to be a lot of helpful hints, but the focus of the site tends to be…
Earlier this month, we were in Brooklyn for a weekend. On Monday, we checked out of our hotel and (finally!?!) found a good bagel place. The weather was grey and rainy, so we really were not in the mood to explore places by foot outdoors, especially while carrying all our conference swag, our clothes and…
I tell what i like to do in the morning.I like to open up the windows and hear the birdies chirping.I know it sounds interesting but its what i like to dooooooooooooooo. – lyrics and music by Chloe Butera
One thing that I love to do before a trip is to try to prepare myself and the kids for the place we are heading, especially when it is a new place for us to go. I get books, movies and music that relate to the place in some way. For movies, I look for…
The GBKids have posted the fifth episode of their videocast! This episode includes Cooking Fun, Sing a Song and Random Dance Scene featuring the song “The Teens” from Field Trip, the new CD from Recess Monkey . Stay tuned for future episodes, and please keep the fan mail as well as math problems for Chloe…
A couple of months ago, I had the irresistible urge to get to the ocean. This seems to happen every year in the winter. I must get to a place where I can see the sun rise over the horizon, hear the waves and feel the sand. It doesn’t matter if the ocean temperature is…
I haven’t (yet) read the book Free-Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry by Lenore Skenazy, but it is intruiging…the idea that kids should be given a lot more freedom to wander than they are. Much of the time, I don’t give my kids as much freedom as…
Wow, I haven’t done much here in the past couple of weeks. Lots of deadlines at work plus lots of travel have left me scurrying to catch up on all of my various projects. In the past couple of weeks we have been to NYC, DC, Spain, Germany, France, Luxembourg (in fact, just the EU…