There are several blogs out there with great tips and ideas.  I love http://www.flyingwithkids.com/ - this site is full of tips and products to assist with traveling.   I am definately going to use the CARES Aviation Restraint System on our next flight, this way I can check the car seat which will make getting around the terminal so much easier and quicker!  Another great site is http://www.deliciousbaby.com/travel/family-travel-tips/ - lots of great tips for preparing for the trip, getting to and from your destination, and tips like baby proofing your hotel room while on vacation.

I would love to hear about any other sites that offers information for family travel as well as any great suggestions and experiences.

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Around this time last year I learned to never underestimate the brainpower and clarity of a 4 year old. Regressing in this story 2 years prior, my daughter Olivia (2 years old) was crawling around on the floor while my husband and I were going through the CPR recertification process. We didn’t realize that she was watching all the training until we went to take the written portion of the exam and we heard an odd grunting from her. We turned around to see her performing CPR on Resusci-Anne with an accuracy that nearly warranted a card of her own. If only they would have allowed her use of a pink crayon in place of the No. 2 pencil. That was her only downfall.

In the many months to follow Olivia and I played CPR on her dollies, on each other and on the Jack Russel Terriers. Poor dogs. For my own entertainment, which is the root of nearly all of her aberrant doings, I also taught her the international sign for choking. If you are unaware there was an international sign for choking, it is placing one hand on top of the other at your collar bone/neck level much like you are choking yourself yet not actually grabbing your throat. We then added the international sign for choking to our CPR routine on Barbie and the dogs.

Now I bring us back to Olivia at 4 years old. Half her life has passed since she first learned CPR and the international sign for choking. The novelty of it all has worn off for me and we had forgotten about it. I had moved on to other modes of pediatric entertainment for myself

Last year at this time, we found ourselves sitting around the teppanyaki bar at a Sushi Bar in Cairo, Egypt. Earlier in the day we gave Olivia the choice between riding camels to the pyramids, taking horse and carriage or riding horseback. She opted for camels. We walked to the Great Sphinx from the pyramids because my husband was claiming some sort of camel-groin injury by then and refused to get back on the camel. In the evening we gave Olivia the choice of food for dinner. Of course, wouldn’t every 4 year old would pick sushi in Egypt. As we sat on the high bar stools around the rectangular cooking surface, Olivia states, “Mom. I’d like to have Taco.” I replied to her, “Oh no honey, Tako is Octopus…not a taco.” My cute little 4 year old daughter leans over to me and says, “I know…I really want to eat the suckers” and then made her hands shaped into suckers while making a slurping noise that still turns my stomach just thinking about it. So she ordered Tako nigiri.

Our food arrived and we all dove into our plates. I felt Olivia tapping me on my arm and when I looked at her she was doing the international sign for choking. I told her, “Please don’t ever do that when you are not choking because I won’t believe you when you really are.” Her eyes got very large and she shook her head yes and did the sign again. She really was choking on the Octopus. I do not order Tako and had forgotten how rubbery Octopus is. She couldn’t chew it and it became stuck in her throat. I patted her a few times on the back. Nothing. So I did the Heimlich maneuver on her and it popped right out. She started crying and we, along with everyone sitting around the teppanyaki bar, were very relieved. The waitress who had rushed over said, “I’ll just take this away.” Olivia screamed, “NO! I’m not done.” This time I cut it up for her and she enjoyed every last bite.

Later that night I gave her a big hug and told her how smart she was for properly using the international sign for choking and also for remaining calm. She looked so proud of herself. That dissipated when I then explained now that I saved her life she was to remain my indentured servant forever or until she saves my life at which point she would be free. She looked blank for a moment, a bit shocked and stunned. Then she laughed hysterically and said, “Ok Mom, I’ll stay with you forever.” Pediatric entertainment.

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My main task in raising our little citizens of the world is to create this sense of community for them in the Midwestern college town in which we reside. At the same time, I try to extend this sense of community to the world and explain how, while their dad is not always able to be with us, he is representing us as Americans wherever he goes. His role as a soldier requires that he work closely with soldiers and civilians of other nations, that he is good at both teaching them what he knows and listening to their needs, in order to build a more peaceful world for all of us.

Our kids’ first impressions of the world come from us, their parents. And even when their own feet aren’t touching far-away soil, the impressions their dad shares with them help them understand both the similarities and the differences between people everywhere. Every time we find ourselves “left behind,” we are simultaneously given the opportunity to learn about another corner of the world to which our soldier is flung. Germany, England, Poland, Afghanistan… the list continues to grow.

The trinkets Daddy brings home, the photos, the stories of unique experiences (marching 100 miles with Polish soldiers on an annual pilgrimage, sharing a field breakfast with British soldiers, shopping at a bazaar, and even throwing sandbags along the banks of the Mississippi River in the USA) keeps our children’s eyes wide open. We are reminded constantly that while we all need food, shelter, and clothing, those things come in a huge variety of forms. And being reminded that so many of our counterparts around the world live with far less than we do begets gratitude for our home and simple, but comfortable, life.

At home, I find that there is nothing quite like being a single parent to force one’s wings to stretch. Leisure time may take a backseat for a while, but the qualities of independence, strength, and resourcefulness only grow. Staying close as a separated family takes extraordinary effort, but that pays off in resilience. I have a basket, manila envelope, or box on hand nearly all the time, in which artwork from the kids, mementos of their accomplishments, newspaper clippings, cards, and letters are deposited for Papa; in return, we receive email, phone calls, and occasional packages from him, through which we remember who he is, how much he loves us, and learn about what he’s encountering. We visit the library and attend diverse cultural events on our local university’s campus to learn more about the people and customs of places where Daddy is working. When we have the opportunity to meet somewhere as a family in the middle of a lengthy training or deployment, we are willing and ready to pack a few bags and snacks and print the driving directions or make the plane reservations to make memories for all involved.

When our daughter was nine months old, she and I met her dad in Frankfurt, Germany for a week spent traveling the Romantic Road. The first breads she nibbled were hearty European rolls, given to her at every restaurant (along with the German proclamation “Sie ist laut!”—“She is loud!”—in response to her happy squeals) and she woke with us under eider-downs to the tolling of church bells in small villages. We held her on our shoulders to walk cobbled streets, stopping to let her dip her hands in centuries-old fountains, and I nursed her on a hidden bench in a leafy public garden. The time changes were difficult, but reviving myself with strong, smooth German coffee was a pleasure. Best of all, I found my previous assumptions of Germany as a cold, industrial nation to be unfounded in the warm reception we received as a family vacationing in a place of Old World beauty and impressive efficiency and service.

That spirit of curiosity, openness, acceptance, and grace wherever it may be found provides a foundation for my husband, and for me with our children, to continue our travels, whether independently or together. Perhaps whatever place we find ourselves in will look especially bright when our company is found in its midst.

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Prior to leaving on a long travel adventure, I came across a great photography tip that I applied to nearly every picture. It is the Law of Thirds. When taking a picture divide the view finder into thirds, both horizontally and vertically so that you now have 9 imaginary boxes. Where the lines intersect are the four natural focus points when looking at a picture. Pick one of these points and this is where you want to put your subject. The bottom horizontal line is where you want to put the horizon. Or you can put it on the top horizontal line if you want more foreground, so that you have 1/3 sky and 2/3 landscape. If you want the focus to be on the sky, 2/3 sky and 1/3 landscape. The beautiful part of digital photography is that you can do both and decide later which you prefer. The picture to the left demonstrates the Law of Thirds pretty accurately with Olivia’s face placed at a focal point where the horizontal and vertical imaginary lines intersect.

Bottom line: do not put your subject in the middle. It will be a far more interesting picture with your pride and joy off-center. You are setting composition and telling a story when you apply the Law of Thirds and it becomes a natural response the more you take pictures.

Another travel photography tip I can offer, I came across by accident. My 5 year old daughter has a fabulous pink Noor dress from a prior season of Tea Collection. I am now kicking myself for not getting it in every bigger size possible because it is the perfect dress for posing in pictures. The Stav Dress in the current fall collection is a great alternative. We call her pink dress “the traveling dress” because it has been to 5 different countries in its short life. It shows up great from a distance enhancing the picture and close-ups are not distracted because it is without any pattern. Specifically the pictures we have from Egypt, where everything is a nice camel color (except the camels which were white), really popped with the solid bright pink dress.

After our travel adventure we shared our pictures with our friends. The oft-dreaded travel pictures your friends are obligated to view politely. We were shocked at the responses. Our friends were “amazed at how great the pictures were” and most asked what type of camera we used. It was not the camera so much as it was the composition telling the story.

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In TRAVEL, Beth Sethi has two great posts that will make planning a family trip to Buenos Aires easy and fun. In RECOMMENDATIONS, Linda Kerr suggests books she uses to take her little citizens around the world with a traveling dad. Also in this section, Katherine Bose talks about books she loves to read with her little one and we at Tea recommend a short movie we loved about little global citizens.

With Election Day coming quickly, look out next week for some wonderful election related posts.

Have a great week!

The Editor

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Parks – There seemed to be a small park and good playground around every corner in BA. We enjoyed the playground close to our Palermo apartment where our daughter could swing. We also took long strolls through different parts of Parque 3 de Febrero (includes a boating pond and Japanese gardens) and Parque Las Heras (where the dog-walkers gather, which is great fun for kids to watch).

Recoleta Cemetery (see image above)- We were skeptics when this historical site was recommended as a “must-see.” How much fun could a cemetery be? Recoleta is more like a small city of mausoleums of every shape, size and architectural style. It’s full of big trees and is well-maintained. There’s nothing creepy about it, just a fun place for kids and adults alike to explore and discover. The church (Basilica de Nuestra Senor del Pilar) just behind the cemetery is especially beautiful as well. On weekends and some weekdays there’s quite a nice handicraft market set up on the square just outside the cemetery.

El Ateneo Bookstore – El Ateneo has several branches around BA but the one not to miss is in a sparkling converted movie theater on Avenida Santa Fe in Recoleta. The old movie theater style balconies and cafe on the stage are a lot of fun. There’s a great kids area in the basement and, if mom and dad are in need of something to read in English, there’s a small English literature section.

San Telmo Sunday Market – While decidedly touristy, this was still a lot of fun for us and our daughter. Locals flock to this antiques and handicraft market as much as tourists, so it’s well worth it. There are excellent street musicians, marionettes and tango dancers to watch as you pass by plus beautiful handicrafts and interesting antiques. Hint: The cafes around the market are few and packed. We were thrilled to discover the delicious Italian restaurant, Amici Miei at 1072 Defensa, just across the street from the Plaza Dorrego, the main plaza for the market. You enter this cafe through a narrow doorway at street level and the cafe is on the second floor, so only locals know about it (except you now!). The food was excellent and they even fresh-squeezed some orange juice for our daughter. Impeccably clean bathrooms too!

Temaiken Biopark – Temaiken is actually an hour and fifteen minute bus ride from the center of Buenos Aires but we consider it a must-see for anyone visiting Buenos Aires, with kids or without. The beautiful park design, the natural-like habitats and the wide variety of interesting animals we would never see in North America made it a highlight of our trip. Adult admission is 22 pesos ($US 7) as of May 2008 but we went on Tuesday when admission is half price so only paid 11 pesos. To get to Temaiken by bus (5 pesos one way or $US 1.50) take bus 60 from Plaza Italia in Palermo. Make sure you get on the semi-rapido bus just north of Avenida Sarmiento. There’s a little booth where you buy a ticket before you get on the bus. If you’re not sure just ask the driver before you get on if the bus goes to Temaiken. You’ll know when you’ve arrived at Temaiken. It’s the end of the line and the bus literally drops you off at the main entrance so you can’t miss it. The bus runs often every hour during the day.

Tigre- This beautiful day trip destination from BA could also be an overnight trip if you wanted it to be. We did it easily in a day by taking a taxi from Palermo to the Tren de la Costa station in Olivos for less than $US 20. From there we took the Tren de la Costa to Tigre, with a brief stop in the cute town of San Isidro. Their weekend market and cafes are recommended if you have time for a stop. Their church is very pretty as well. In Tigre there are delicious dining options with river views along the Paseo Victorica. We ate on the terrace at La Terraza and loved it. There are a wide variety of length of boat trips you can take through the delta and the tourist office can tell you about them. We opted for the basic one-hour boat trip, not sure how long our daughter would enjoy being on a boat, and that turned out to be a wise choice. We’ve also heard there’s a great fruit and handicraft market in Tigre but we’ll have to catch that on a future trip. You can take the Tren de la Costa home but we took the regular commuter train instead. While the views were nothing special, the hawkers and musicians on the train were much more entertaining for us and our daughter than the crowds of tourists on the coastal train.

Eat ice cream – The ice cream in BA is as good as the gelato in Italy. It’s fresh, homemade and delicious. Once we discovered the Persicco ice cream chain we had to go back almost every day, even though we were there during fairly cold weather. They offer dozens and dozens of interesting flavors like dulce de leche (yum!). They’ll even deliver by motorbike if you want (you can get just about anything delivered in BA if you want). Other good chains are Freddo and Altra Volta.

For more information on these and other activities in Buenos Aires, we highly recommend The Rough Guide to Buenos Aires (May 2008 edition).

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Just picture it, agreeably worn-out kids, fresh from a day of fun activities on the farm, drinking apple juice from rocket-shaped sippy cups while their equally agreeable parents sip an “oaky” chardonnay and admire Vermont’s green countryside.

Located in Vermont’s rural Northeast Kingdom, the Wildflower Inn is just a twenty minute drive from St. Johnsbury, home of the Fairbanks Museum. In an hour, you can reach New Hampshire’s White Mountains, the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory or the Cabot cheese factory. If you want to save on gas, there’s plenty to do at the Inn — two hours of kids and teen activities daily, an outdoor pool, a petting barn with a charming miniature horse, wagon rides, a play room, access to bike trails and your choice of two modern play structures.

The Wildflower has a proven track record of doing whatever it can to make families comfortable and happy. Accommodations range from standard hotel rooms (all with great views) to private cottages. The restaurant caters to children but remains up-scale enough to make parents happy.

The Wildflower Inn is family owned and operated. The views from the Inn, especially during foliage season, and the personal, friendly service is a guaranteed to be worth the trip!

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Cape Cod: a whirlwind of parents and grandparents and children and sandy feet and beach crabs. 9 grown-ups looking after 6 kids, all under 4. Milo taught Alastair how to eat shells. Eeek.

Which was all a far cry from New York City, where we spent two glorious weeks in that perfect end-of-summer balmy – but not baking-hot – weather. It was a fun routine of elevators (”Mino push the buddon please to go down down down?”); cheerful doormen (”Mino say heddo to friend man?”); stroller rides to Washington Square Park for its plaza where the men drink from paper bags and play chess; and lots and lots of taxis, policecars, firetrucks, and other vehicles of New York’s Finest, including a fine horsie with tickly whiskers who says Neigh.

The lake in Wisconsin was the pinnacle of kid craziness. We had 10:11, with no child over the age of 6, and only one other over the age of 3. We stayed in our friend’s great-grandmother’s chalet-style rambling lake house, with a massive lawn sloping down to the lake, a rowboat, sailboat & motorboat, on-site tennis, and a huge porch that afforded the adults some wine-drinking and politics-talking time (Sarah Palin…really???) while the kids careened around the yard. Milo learned about bumblebees and spiders, and why we should only look and not touch. Alastair learned how to say “guh, glerrrrramph” and whack at the other babies.

Home via Milwaukee, where we stopped by Calatrava’s amazing bird-ship-like art museum sailing out over Lake Michigan for some play in the lobby. A magical white, windowy, watery open place with shocks of sculpture color, perfect for running and gazing and wearing out kids before our long (delayed) flight home.

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Of course, traveling with children is not always easy. It’s dirty, filled with cumbersome gear and, for me, often involves wearing way too much of whatever my son had for dinner. Sometimes regurgitated.

But the secret is that those hardships are a small price to pay. In fact, I would argue that any discomfort or annoyances are, at the end of the day, completely and totally worth it. The advantages of traveling with my son — what he learns, what I learn — makes any angst about the process seem silly by the time we return home. And I’m not alone. There are plenty of other Moms out there who are traveling all over the world with their kids and blogging to tell the tale.

Looking for the best places to visit? Great hotels that won’t mind if your child stomps up and down the stairs while you check-in? Funny stories of just how much a four-year-old can barf on an airplane? Commiseration? Inspiration? Look no further than your browser. There are plenty of great Mama blogs that explore the where’s, why’s and how’s of traveling both near and far with young’uns with experience, poignancy and, most importantly, humor. Here are some of the best:

Wanderlust and Lipstick

Traveling Mamas

Travel Savvy Mom

Backpack to Buggy

Mother of All Trips

MinneMom’s Travels With Children

Delicious Baby

Kids Go Global

SoulTravelers3

Two and a Half Travelers

What about you? Know any great blogs that examine the good, bad and funny of traveling with kids? We’d love to hear about them.

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Thanks and happy reading!

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