A monthly online magazine chock-full of insightful articles for busy mothers.

We all know why we may be spending vacation at home. So, let’s get right to it.

You can visit a museum on your staycation
Family Activities Across the Country

On this site I checked into Pittsburgh and found The Frick Art and Historical Center Show the kids what Victorians lived like (if they were wealthy.)
You can also visit The Heinz History Center. Check out this video of The Inclines in Pittsburgh. You can stay in The Cultural District if you just want to stay close to home but go somewhere. Had to show you this retro home for rent. If you thrive on history check out this find. Stay in an original Old Economy home. As a matter of fact, if you are looking for some reasonable places to stay try this site: Airbnb.com. Incredible deals. Almost didn’t write this article because I got stuck on the site.

So let’s plan a week of Staycation together:

Day One: Visit a museum or museums in your area. Here is a list for you: Museums across the Country.

Day Two: Visit an amusement park. List of Amusement Parks. When our family goes to Kennywood we usually take a picnic lunch.  Most parks have picnic pavillions.  It’s a great area to meet at appointed times to check on everyone.

Day Three: Have a Cowboy Cookout in your back yard. Everyone dress in cowboy hats and pass out water guns. If you don’t like water guns, pass out spray water bottles.

My son playing by Allegheny River at a cabin.

Day Four: Find a swimming pool or a lake or the shore. List of Lakes.
List of beaches…scroll down to see the list for the U.S. Try Dr. Beach’s List of Beaches. Don’t forget the sunscreen!

Day Five: Go for a hike!  List of hiking trails in the U.S.  Take a back pack with snacks or bring along a picnic lunch. Pack a first aid kit as well.  Here is a special Inn in Georgia: Len Foote Hike Inn,

Note the special programs they have for hikers: Programs at Len Foote. Here are the Five Best Smoky Mountain Hikes for Children. Check with your local parks and see what they have to offer. Lots of info in this article on Kids and Hiking.

Day Six: See if your community has a festival and attend with your kids or your special someone. List of Festivals , Another List in the US, in Canada.

Day Seven:  Visit local shops, fair trade shops, farmers markets and restaurants….no chains allowed. (Buy Local in PA)

Hope you got some ideas for a wonderful staycation.  Let me know if you came up with some other ideas…please comment or email me at amomslove @ gmail.com. You can also leave a comment in the comment box below.

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by Susanne Myers

A little preparation will make a big difference in how enjoyable traveling with your kids can be. Use some of our tips and ideas below, whether you and your children are traveling by car or plane. After all, this is the time of the year when we are ready to relax and rejuvenate, not stress about how to get to our favorite vacation spot while listening to “Are we there yet?” every 10 minutes. Outlined below are some ways for you to make sure both you and your kids are comfortable while traveling.

Dress everyone in comfortable loose clothing and pack a spare outfit for everyone where you can easily reach it during your trip. Pack a small pillow and a light blanket for each of the kids, as well as their favorite stuffed toy or doll to snuggle up with at night or during naptime. These not only work great on the plane or in the car, but will also make your kids more comfortable once you arrive at your destination.

Whether you travel by car or by plane, pack some drinks and snacks for the kids, so you don’t have to rely on rest stops, kiosks at the airport or the meals that are served on the plane. We usually give our daughter only water in the car. It’s not nearly as messy as some of the fruit juice or sports drinks if it gets spilled. To make plain water a little more interesting and to keep it cool, fix an insulated zippy cup or sports bottle with ice water. And believe me, they will spill it sooner or later, even if the cup claims to be spill proof. Some good choices for not-so-messy snacks are trail mix, pretzels, teddy grahams, dried fruit, fresh apple slices (drizzle them with a little lemon or lime juice to keep them from turning brown), mini marshmallows, and baby carrots. Come up with some snacks that your kids love and put them in individual zip-lock bags.

The zip-lock bags also come in handy to pack up some crafts supplies like crayons, stickers, blunt scissors and glue sticks, for the artists in your family.

To keep your little one’s entertained, you may also want to pack some coloring books, picture books, or pack a child friendly novel, like the Harry Potter books to read aloud in the car. Audio books and music CDs or tapes also come in handy.

For some great travel games you and your family can play, take a look at Car Travel Activities for Kids.

If you are traveling by car, plan in frequent stops and let the kids run around. You may want to pack a jump robe, ball or Frisbee to make moving around more fun. If you are driving through the night, plan a longer stop an hour or two before bedtime so the kids can wear themselves out and release all this build up energy before going to sleep.

Instead of eating lunch at a fast food place or restaurant off of the interstate, try bringing a picnic. You can cater to your family members tastes and it is bound to be cheaper, better and more healthy than what you would be able to find fast food place. Your kids will appreciate not having to sit still again and the sunshine and fresh air will do wonders for all of you.

If you are traveling by plane, bring some small toys, picture books, coloring books etc, to entertain your child in the seat. Depending on your child’s age, bring some gum, hard candy, zippy cup, bottle or pacifier to have them suck or chew on something during take-off and landing to equalize the pressure in their ears. You may also want to pack a sweater for your child, since the air temperature in the plane can be quite chilly.

To keep your kids excited on longer trips, make up some small goodie bags for them. Collect some Kids Meal Toys for a few weeks, or purchase some inexpensive toys at the Dollar Store and put them individually in some small brown paper bags, or even wrap them. Tell your kids that as long as they are being good, they will get a new goodie bag every 2 hours or so. You’ll be amazed how well behaved they will be, and you will keep them from being too bored on a long trip by giving them something new to play with.

Article by:

Susanne Myers is the founder of www.kinderinfo.com , the one-stop online children’s resource center. Sign up for our newsletter at www.kinderinfo.com/newsletter for even more great tips and ideas to have fun with your kids this summer

Sunday, we went back to San Francisco.
We walked down to The Maritime Museum

From San Francisco March 8th late afternoon

And went into the little store with a nice collection of Nautical Books and Maritime Collectibles

From San Francisco March 8th late afternoon

We walked right next door to Aquatic Beach

From San Francisco March 8th late afternoon

Ghiradelli Square and The Cannery are nearby.

From San Francisco March 8th late afternoon

We went onto Pompeii’s a restaurant right next to Lou’s Pier 47

From San Francisco March 8th late afternoon

We got on a Tour Bus
San Francisco Sightseeing
Took the city tour, saw China Town, Tallest building in San Francisco, City Bookstore and more.
The city has trolleys from all over the world.

From San Francisco March 8th late afternoon

We went past City Hall

From San Francisco March 8th late afternoon

We got off at Wahsington Square and went into St. Peter and Paul Church

From San Francisco March 8th late afternoon

Onto The Beat Museum…it was closed (on Mondays)

From San Francisco March 8th late afternoon

We went to The City Lights Bookstore
http://www.citylights.com/

We ate at a little cafe on Stockton St.

From San Francisco March 8th late afternoon

And caught the tour bus back at Washington Square

From San Francisco March 8th late afternoon

Joan and Ray take us into Lakeport, a very cute town.
The Morning was a wee bit misty:

From Lakeport, CA_3_07_09

We went to Konocti Resort and took a picture of the extinct Volcano

From Lakeport, CA_3_07_09

Concerts are held at the resort. Boats can pull up and listen to the music or attend in the stadium.

From Lakeport, CA_3_07_09

After thate we went onto Kelseyville

From Lakeport, CA_3_07_09

Where we went to Wildhurst Winery. We enjoyed their wine all weekend long. In addition to being grape growers, they also grow pears.
You can read their newsletter here:

We went back to the cabin and Joan, Bernie and I went back out to some local thrift shops where I picked up a couple of vases for my mantel (one broke), at Penny Lane:

From Lakeport, CA_3_07_09

The same evening we went to Sicily’s for a very tasty dinner.
http://lakeconews.com/content/view/5172/764/