Archive for June, 2007

Family Beach Vacation in Maui Hawaii

Located on the southwest side of Maui, the Fairmont Kea Lani Maui overlooks the amazing waters off of Polo Beach. The beach here is the center of all water activities such as snorkeling, sailing, kayaking, and windsurfing.

The resort accommodations are either suites or villas, so there is no need to squeeze your entire family into a tiny room. There suites here are a minumum of 840 square feet and offer a separate living room and marble bathroom with a separate tub for soaking.

The private two levels villas here are minutes away from the beach and are between 1,800 – 2,200 square feet as well. The villas are ideal for larger families as they offer a full seRVice kitchen and a private courtyard with a plunge pool and barbeque for grilling out.

Keiki Lani is also the hotel’s activity center for kids as well. It’s a state licensed facility for children between the ages of 5 and 13, giving parents a break from watching their kids. Here, children can enjoy painting coconuts, building sand castles, exploring the tide pools, learning how to dance hula, and even making real flower leis. The activity center can accommodate up to 19 children, so be sure to call ahead and reseRVe a space for your children.

The Fairmont Kea Lani Maui has several packages available for family vacations. If you are planning to explore the island with the kids, you’ll save a lot of money by taking a package that includes a free rental car. This way, you can explore the island at your will without having to worry about paying any extra money.

For a family vacation, Maui is truly a one of a kind destination. There are many different things to do here for everyone in your family, even if they are indeed hard to please.

Once your family experiences Maui and everything there is to offer, you’ll never look at beach vacations the same way again. Maui has that kind of power – especially when it comes to warm weather and pleasing people from all over the world.

Family Vacation Hot Spots in San Diego

Custom made for families, San Diego has plenty of public parks, several museums, nice weather year round, and many activities for children of all ages to amuse themselves with.

For kids who love animals, there’s the well known San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Animal Park. The zoo is located in Balboa Park, while the park is located a bit north of the city. If you have the time, you should take a full day for your kids to enjoy the park and the zoo. If the traditional zoo makes your kids uncomfortable, the park is a great alternative.

Kids of all ages will also enjoy the world famous Sea World, which is home to Shamu the killer whale and several other marine animals and exhibits. Sea World has been a great attraction for kids for many years, showing them the marine life like never before. They even have interaction program where your kids can interact with dolphins or wild arctic animals.

Balboa Park is a great place to visit as well, as it has a lot more than the San Diego Zoo. There are places for kids to explore, with the children’s museum, the Fleet Science Center, and the Natural History Museum.

Another popular park for kids is Legoland California, which is located north of San Diego. There are more than 50 rides, shows and attractions, with a majority of the park being built from the popular Lego blocks. Overall, this is one of the best and most quiet options for younger children.

Hitting the beach is great as well, as San Diego has many different beaches for kids of all ages. On the beaches, kids can build sandcastles, rent boogie boards, or just enjoy the swimming that San Diego so proudly offers.

Older kids will enjoy the true recreation mode for San Diego – roller skating and rollerblading. Along Mission Bay there are great spots, along with playgrounds and parks. You can fly kites here as well, which is a great break from the ordinary.

Amusement Parks are a great attraction in San Diego, with Belmont Park being very popular. There are many rides here, amusing kids for hours on end. The Giant Dipper and the Plunge are among the best, for younger or older kids.

San Diego isn’t just a hot spot during summer vacation. During the winter months, you can take your kids to do some whale watching. You can watch them from the coastline or take a cruise. Watching the gray whale is very amusing to kids.

If San Diego is on your family vacation list, rest assured that there will be plenty for your kids to do and that opportunity abounds for creating many memorable moments together.

Fun Museums for Kids in San Francisco

If you are planning a family vacation to San Francisco, you’re probably interested in finding activities and events that will not only be fun for kids but also provide much needed mental stimuli as well. Well, look no further. Here are three museums that are guaranteed to be completely child-friendly and fun for the entire family.

Who wants to go to a stuffy museum that is cold and boring. The museums of old have been replaced with modern day museums that offer hands-on activities and promote learning and education through activities that are well disguised as fun. Your children will have no idea what just happened and you will be able to rest comfortable in the knowledge that this event that they considered so much fun will remain with them for a long time to come. Knowledge is a great gift to pass on to your children, especially when they don’t realize what it is that you are giving them.

The first of these museums is the Cartoon Art Museum. You may wonder what your children can possibly learn from a museum such as this, but as with all art, comics often imitate life and this museum shows how comics have evolved and morphed over time. In addition to that, anything that will encourage your children to read is a good thing in my opinion, even if it is comics that they are reading.

Next, there is the Bay Area Discovery Museum. This museum offers hands on entertainment for children of all ages. While most exhibits are designed with children ages 1-10 in mind, there are plenty of activities and exhibits that will appeal to older children as well as those entertaining the notion of a second childhood. This museum offers many activities and adventures both indoors and out that will appeal to your children while teaching them about other creatures, cultures, technology, and the world at large around them. This is definitely worth having a look. Be sure to check and see if there are any events being offered while you are visiting.

If the Bay Area Discovery Museum isn’t enough to get your little one’s creative juices flowing and put you all into the supreme spirit of learning, then perhaps you should check out Zeum. Zeum is a multimedia arts and technology museum. By allowing visitors to hands on use of their equipment they are fostering imagination and igniting curiosity in the young minds of their guests. This is definitely unique enough for a closer look. I hope it spikes your inner techno guru as completely as it reached mine.

There are many more places than this that you can visit in San Francisco that offer an equal spark for the minds and imaginations of your little ones. But the fact remains that you know your child’s interests and talents better than anyone else. Find those activities and events that will appeal to each child’s personality and that, above anything else, will make this trip special for him or her.