Strollerderby : family vacation

Your Kids Don’t Want to Vacation With You

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Oh man, I thought when I saw the title to this article—“My Interminable Flight with a Crying Child”—yet another uptight non-parent complaining about the indignities of being subjected to strangers’ children in public places. But it turns out that Chuck Cohen has some decent points—and he’s a parent himself.

I still maintain that I have little sympathy for Cohen’s complete intolerance for crying children on his plane (“Why should kids under the age of 2 fly free on airplanes? And if they do, shouldn’t we institute a decibel charge?”), since I happen to be of the school that believes going out in public means encountering small humans—and sometimes, they’re going to cry.

But Cohen may be on to something when he argues that toddlers cry on airplanes (and in the theatre) for a reason: they don’t want to go to London, or sit still in a dark theatre for two hours. They’d much rather play on the swing set in the backyard.

Still, Cohen’s insistence that kids—and the vacationing public—will be happier if they are left at home may be logical, but it’s not necessarily practical. Are parents supposed to give up vacationing all together until their children develop a sophisticated interest in London theatre and Yosemite falls? And what about the plane flights that are to Grandma and Grandpa's house?

Photo: Mom's Buzz

When The Loud Neighbors Are Your Kids

Staycations: 5 Ways To Go Nowhere -- For Fun!

Madeline Holler — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:39:00 GMT

Listen, family vacations are soooo 2005-6. Homes were cash machines, a recession seemed impossible. Gas was ... well, it wasn't $4 a gallon. Airlines didn't charge for checked luggage! Back then, vacations weren't a choice, they were a right ... no, a duty!

So I hope you took plenty of pictures. Since this summer is all about the housing crisis, recessions, expensive food and unimaginably high gas, you'll likely be vacationing -- or, as the travel world is calling it, "staycationing" -- in familiar surroundings this summer. Sure, it's a bad thing, but we have some ideas.

A "staycation" (or lame-cation, call it what you want) comes in many forms. The key is it takes place at or near your home -- no driving or restaurant meals needed.

1. Stores are counting on the staycation, selling backyard games, outdoor furniture and grills grills, grills (a filet-cation?)

2. For those who don't want to shell out for a weekend room at the downtown Courtyard Marriott, there are daycations to local museums, pools, beaches or the zoo.

3. The divine and thrifty could always go on a praycation -- sign up for a church retreat (just hide out in the cabin reading all weekend if devotions aren't your thing) or pack on the church bus and enjoy the group discount on theme park tickets.

4. Also an option are laycations -- beg grandma to babysit for the weekend and do something you never, ever get to -- your spouse!

5. Here are some staycation ideas for New Yorkers from last year's Timeout. This is what they're doing in Cleveland.

What are you doing at home this summer?

Photo: slickrock.com

Family Goes to Wildlife Refuge to see... Hookers?

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Sun, 25 May 2008 18:01:00 GMT

As families use the long weekend to take trips to one of 548 national wildlife refuges, what they might find instead is a hiding place for criminal activity and neglected trails and visitor centers.

According to the National Refuge Association, the nation's refuges are underfunded by as much as 43%. As a result, there has been a dramatic increase in drugs, prostitution, and other criminal activity.

Not surprising, given that law enforcement positions have been reduced from 845 to 180 over the past few years.

Poor Teddy. This is surely not what he intended back in 1903 when he created the nation's refuge system.

[Photo Credit: Associated Press]

4 (Possibly Useful) Ways to Save on Gas

Madeline Holler — Wed, 07 May 2008 22:26:00 GMT

I love tips for increasing my car's gas mileage as much as the next semi-aware steward of the earth, but it's hard for me to get on board the "hypermiling" mania. For one, I tend to find it necessary to use my brakes. For another, hypermilers are dorks.

Still, we drivers could all use a break at the pump. The Boston Herald's Working Stiff -- hardly a hypermiler -- has come up with a few tips, some even more plausible than his admittedly asinine suggestion to move to Venezuela, where filling a swimming pool with unleaded costs about the same as it does my neighbor to fill her Jeep Liberty.

Apparently right turns are more fuel efficient than left turns. (Experts, please tell me why!)
Be sure your tires are properly inflated. (Which is ... how much?)
Drive 55 -- it's the most fuel efficient speed (And about 25 miles over the speed limit on the roads most traveled by me.)
If you're going to be idling more than 30 seconds, it's more fuel effiicent to turn off the car. (It would take me more than 30 seconds to decide if I'm going to be idling more than 30 seconds. Feel my conundrum?)

What's your secret for better gas mileage? Did you cancel the summer vacation? Or are you still glad to be sticking it to SUV drivers?

Family Resorts Last of a Dying Breed

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 15:14:00 GMT

When I was young, we used to frequent a family resort in Eastern Washington State called Sun Lakes. No catered meals or kiddie sailing lessons or "kid fun camps" here. Just a lake with salamanders, a small store with dime candy, and free reign in a life-guard supervised swimming area and endless mini-golf games with my brothers. We spent a lot of time watching (and griping) as my folks played Canasta and fought over who was the better loser.

Unfortunately, family resorts like these are on the decline. As the price of lakeside real estate climbs, many shoe-string resorts are (understandably) selling to developers who will build private summer homes. Other factors contributing to the decline in these resorts is the shortening of the average family vacation from one-week to two-days.

Is it any wonder we're all so bloody cranky? The wonderful thing about these resorts is that they are relatively affordable for most families and expose you and your kin to many different types of people. I miss Sun Lakes. And trying to recreate that experience for my kids seems nearly impossible in this Club Med era.

The Disneyland Submarine Ride Returns. All Hail the Sub!

Kelly Mills — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 12:38:00 GMT

On Monday, Disneyland unveiled the new submarine ride. For those of you who haven't kept up with your ride lore, the old sub ride was closed in 1998, because it was expensive to run and could only schlepp a few people at a time. I guess people were kind of upset to see the old sub go, and one of them was Marty Sklar, at the time Disney's creative chief. "He publicly threatened to lie down on the busy street that fronts Disneyland to prevent the subs from being deep-sixed." Wow, he'd die for a sub ride? Now that's passion, people. Anyhow, boomers begged for the return of the ride and so finally it was overhauled and gussied up and finally relaunched as the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. Argh, not the clownfish!!! Will he never go away?

The new ride has gotten rave reviews from advance riders. "'IT WAS AWESOME!!!!! i would TOTALLY WAIT IN LINE for like 6 hours for it,' wrote one satisfied rider...And even before its official opening to the general public today, dozens of grainy, blurry and dark videos had surfaced on YouTube." You know what? I just went to D-land a month ago (looong story) and I wouldn't wait in line for 6 hours to ride on Johnny Depp's lap, let alone squeeze into a tiny sub to oogle a clownfish. But just so you know, my childhood memories of the old subs were colored by the fact that 1. they smelled like feet, 2. I waited for almost six hours in the heat to get on it, and 3. while on that ride, I discovered I am claustrophobic. Age six. There's my trauma.

If you get a chance to raise the periscope on this puppy, let us know if we should believe the hype. Meanwhile, I'm just going to try to steal the animatronic Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride for my own foul purposes.

Strollerderby Playdate: Holiday Road

Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah — Thu, 31 May 2007 11:02:00 GMT

Ahhh, Summer. The bad news is the kids aren't in school. The good news is that it is time to go on vacation.

Beth has insanely cute pictures up of Mia on the beach.

Black Belt Mama went to Ocean City. (Cute pictures here too.)

History Mike says that his family won't be vacationing this year because of gas prices.

Mamaroo took her family to Hilton Head Island.

And Candy says that vacation has miraculously put an end to the sibling wars of her children.

I hope you have fun on your summer vacations too!