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Eggtraordinary Easter Traditions and Events

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In recent years, Easter Egg Hunts seem to be popping up everywhere with the Easter Bunny making appearances in the most bizzare places.   Why, he seems to have dug his way from the farm all the way to schools, malls, aircraft carriers, and even the White House.  Which brings me to the question – what do eggs have to with Easter and why do we hunt them down?

Photo by: Flickr/CJ Song

The history of Easter has it’s roots in both pagan and Christian celebrations.  Christians celebrate the holiday as a time to remember the resurrection of Christ after he was crucified on the cross (on Good Friday).  The egg represents new life, which is what the resurrection means to Christians.  Pagan traditions celebrated spring and new life around Easter.  The egg and bunny were symbols of fertility.  Over the years, the two traditions seem to have melded together and here we are hunting for Easter Eggs each year.

While many countries celebrate Easter, they don’t all involve unleashing toddlers upon a lawn to gather as many Easter Eggs as they can.  In other countries, Easter celebrations could mean setting giant bonfires as they do in Sweden, or whipping the lady of your fancy with a pomlázka in Czechoslovakia.

Pomlázka | Photo by: Martina Žáčková, Právo

In Bulgaria, you’d meet up with friends at church and have an egg cracking battle.  Meanwhile, in the Philippines, Easter celebrations for the most devout Catholics could involve a bloody ritual of real life crucifixions.  Yikes! I’m thinking…let’s get back to the Easter Bunny.

In this land where big is best, Winter Haven, Florida holds the Guinness World record for the largest Easter egg hunt which consisted of 501,000 eggs, searched for by 9,753 children accompanied by their parents at the Cypress Gardens Adventure Park on April 1st, 2007.  However, this year, London is threatening to steal the Guinness World record for the largest number of participants in an Easter egg hunt with The Big Egg Hunt.

The Big Egg Hunt, London, UK | Photo by: Flickr/Loz Flowers

200 giant eggs uniquely designed and bejeweled by the world’s most famous designers, architects and jewelers have been placed strategically all over London.  These eggs will be available for auction to raise money for charity.  And grand prize of The Big Egg Hunt is a £100,000 Fabergé Tribute Egg – quite a compelling reason to get hunting I dare say!

Yet, nothing quite comes close to the most sought after Easter celebration in America…

The White House Easter Egg Roll.

In fact, millions of families apply for the lottery to be one of the 35,000 who get to  make the south lawn of the While House an Easter playground.  The 134 year-old tradition was started by President Rutherford B. Hayes.  At the center of the event is the tradition of kids rolling an egg with a spoon in a race across the south lawn.  But the festivities involve much more, from story reading to big bands taking the stage.  If you’re lucky enough to win a ticket, it’s a once in a lifetime party to be remembered.

 

New York Easter Parade

While there are lots of Easter egg hunts and festivities going on in New York City, the New York Easter Parade along 5th Ave (between 49th to 57th) is growing in popularity.  An informal parade of wacky and bizarre bonnets and costumes are donned by the colorful characters of the city.  For those with tween and teens who have outgrown Easter egg hunts, some people watching at the New York Easter Parade is a different way to spend Easter Sunday.

New York Easter Parade | Photo by: Flickr/istolethetv

 

Copper Mountain Easter Egg Hunt

It’s Easter and you can’t decide if you should spend the weekend egg hunting or skiing.  At Copper Mountain Ski Resort in Colorado, you can do both.  As the largest Easter egg hunt in Colorado, the resort hides 50,000 eggs to be found by kids in varying age groups. Even the 12 and ups can roam the mountain hunting for 100 prized eggs.  Prizes include season passes and ski gear.

Other ski resorts around the country host similar events:

 

Eggtraordinary Egg Hunt and Train Ride at Roaring Camp

I’m not sure what trains have to do with Easter, but there are many railways across the country that will chug you off to visit the Easter Bunny and take you to destination Easter Egg Hunts.

At Roaring Camp and Big Tree Railroad in the Santa Cruz mountains, the Eggtraordinary Egg Hunt and train ride is your ticket to Bear Mountain where thousands of chocolate eggs have been hidden by the Easter Bunny.

Other Easter Egg Hunt Train Rides:

 

Flashlight Egg Hunt at Knoch Knolls Park

Got older kids who still enjoy hunting for eggs, but need a bit of a challenge? Egg hunts in the dark are growing in popularity.  The Flashlight Egg Hunt at Knock Knolls Park in Naperville is a great way to provide the 12 and up crowd a different way to hunt for Easter eggs.  Everything is more exciting when it’s dark and you’ve got a flashlight in hand.

 

Fun Easter Egg Hunts near you, check out these Easter Events:

Posted by TravelPangs Filed in California, Colorado, Easter, London, Tahoe, Washington DC - March 30th, 2012 Tagged:
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Kid-friendly Wasatch Front According to Local Bloggers

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In celebration of Trekaroo Launching Utah, the Trekaroo KidsMobile has fired up her engines.  We’re making pit stops at 3 local Utah blogs to get the inside scoop and to giveaway some great prizes. Check out their recommendations and enter to win some great prizes:

Utah’s Wasatch Front

The Wasatch Front is the state’s metropolitan center, with 80% of the population residing along this corridor aligned with the striking Wasatch Mountain Range.  The urban areas provide plenty of kid-friendly venues from state-of-the-art museums, to historic parks and zoos that your kids will love. If you’re looking for some outdoor adventure, families should check out the Wasatch Mountains where they’ll find world renowned ski resorts, pristine lakes and rivers, and hiking trails galore. Trekaroo families have the best recommendations on what’s kid-friendly in the Wasatch Front.

Photo by: Flickr/pandrcutts

Check out our Top Picks for Travel with Kids Around Wasatch Front, Utah

As our KidsMobile’s stops at Utah’s Wasatch Front, we welcomed on board some local blogging moms to give us their local scoop on what’s great for kids around the Wasatch Front

Our first stop is DottingTheMap, where we get the scoop from Hilarye on Five Favorite Toddler Friendly Salt Lake City Activities.

Visit DottingTheMap for a chance to win a National Parks Pass.

Hillarye currently  lives in Salt Lake City where she stays at home with her two young daughters and pens the travel blogs DottingTheMap and DTM Baby. She enjoys snowboarding, wake boarding, concerts, traveling and spending time with friends and family. Her favorite part of traveling is experiencing new cultures and meeting new people. She prefers to travel with her babies rather than leave them behind.

 

Next, we pull in at UtahDealDiva to meet Jessica with great tips on the Top 5 Fun, FREE {or close to it!} SLC area Activities and Top 5 Favorite SLC Outdoor Venues for Kids

Cash in on some frugal finds at UtahDealDiva and enter to win a 9×12 Shutterfly Photo Book.

Jessica really knows how to stretch her dollars when planning family activities.  She is a budget-savvy mom of 4 and loves finding fun places for her kids to explore in Utah! She loves finding deals and saving money on everything from groceries to kitchen gadgets.

 

Finally, we settle in for a good meal with Jennifer of Rate the Plate Utah who shares with us her list of My Kids’ Favorite Restaurants in Utah County.

Hop on over to Rate the Plate Utah for a chance to win a Shutterfly Personalized ABC Adventure Book..

If you’re looking for the best place to take the kids to eat while visiting the Wasatch Front, Jennifer, a travel addicted and food-loving mom to three little diners, loves to share her traveling tips and favorite eating spots.  Her whole family shares ratings and reviews of recipes, restaurants, and other food products on their blog.

Great Tips from Trekaroo families on Utah’s Wasatch Front:

More from our Utah Launch:

Top 10 Things for Families to do in Utah with Kids

 

Limited Time Utah Rewards

Do you have recommendations on kid-friendly spots in Utah? Take advantage of Trekaroo’s limited time Utah Rewards. 
Write Utah Reviews and Get $20 to spend on Amazon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Win Family Getaway to Salt Lake City!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Trekaroo KidsMobile is a blog carnival which makes occasional stops in various cities.  We welcome on board local bloggers to be featured on Trekaroo and share with us their inside scoop on their city.

 

 

 

 

Posted by TravelPangs Filed in KidsMobile, Mom Blogs, Salt Lake City, Utah - February 29th, 2012 Tagged: , , , , , , , ,
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Announcing the Launch of Trekaroo Utah – Get and Give Reviews on Kid-Friendly Spots

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Update on Utah Rewards: 

(As of 11:59 PM PST on March 4) Utah Rewards is now closed.  If you enjoyed writing reviews, keep on writing and you might be selected to become a Superoo Elite Reviewer.  

Today, I’m very excited to announce that Utah is officially orange on the Trekaroo map!  In celebration, we’re having a whole week of fun features and giveaways centered around Utah. We’re also offering a limited time Utah Rewards offer to kick things off. So help us get the word out about all the launch festivities by sharing with your friends on Facebook.

Photo by Flickr/s_mestdagh

There are several reasons why this launch is particularly exciting for Trekaroo.  First, Utah is truly a beautiful state boasting some of our nation’s most beautiful National Parks including Bryce Canyon, Zion, and Arches.  With a varied terrain of stunning mountains, stately plateaus, and unique geological formations, Utah is the outdoor family’s playground.  Utah’s other iconic attractions for families also include Temple Square, Thanksgiving Point, and Dinosaur National Monument.  Oh, and have I not mentioned that winter time brings some of the best powdery snow to Utah? Park City, Canyons, Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, Solitude are all ski resorts where the best kind of family memories are made.  The list of kid friendly adventures seem quite endless, but a good place to start your bucket list is right here: Utah’s Top 10 Things to Do for Families.

Second, what’s got me really excited about this launch are the families who represent Utah on Trekaroo.  This launch was a 100% grassroots effort of families who love to explore and share all the wonderful kid-friendly things to do in Utah.  Who benefits from the inside scoop on of the best activities, hotels and restaurants this state has to offer?  All of us travel happy families looking for new destinations to discover with our kids!

Leading the charge is Ann Anderson (akeisel), Utah’s Destination Guroo extraordinaire.  Born and raised in Utah and a mom to 3 kids, she is a wealth of knowledge with great advice on everything kid friendly in Utah.  However, since Trekaroo isn’t about one person’s advice, I’d like to acknowledge the 160 founding families who have contributed through their reviews to making Utah launch ready.

Top Utah Founding Families:

tvaughn | byudawn | twood | ash24u | jolynnforman | dtflake | clarkjulis | atwater31 | j-js-mom | brittnikat | crystalperry | kitebright | cuteirishdancer | stbw2009 | honeygraham | camillegrimshaw | edmundsa | glickfamily | twinsrus | kjandajsmom | crazycool | caitlinpcarroll | em-il-ie | tansween | reneeb5 | debrajoy87 | belem | tianan | jesseng | sassygirls22 | schacher801 | mamateresa2007 | rosevan33 | jrice | utahdealdiva | bryangrimshaw | autumnchristiansen | millie | nena

Here’s what Trekaroo families have amassed so far on Utah:

Lots of fun lists like:

 

Limited Time Utah Rewards! Earn a Gift Card to Amazon.com

Update on Utah Rewards: 

(As of 11:59 PM PST on March 4) Utah Rewards is now closed.  If you enjoyed writing reviews, keep on writing and you might be selected to become a Superoo Elite Reviewer.  

Have you experienced Utah with your kids? Tell us all about your experiences – good and bad.

Write reviews on activities, hotels, and restaurants in Utah and earn a gift card to Amazon. 

10 reviews for $10, 20 reviews for $20

Limited to one gift card per user, until we hit our $500 limit

To qualify reviews must be:

- about places in Utah
- written between Feb 28, 2012 and March 15, 2012 March 4, 2012 (due to $500 limit being reached).
- original, based on your real experience
- helpful to parents
- well written

Step 1: Join and Start Writing Reviews.

Step 2: Claim your reward

We love reading your reviews….so yes, we will check them out when you submit your claim.

Did you miss our  Monday Madness Giveaway?

Click here and learn how to win a Salt Lake City Family Getaway 

Check back everyday this week so you don’t miss any of our fun Utah festivities and giveaways.  Follow us on Facebook and Twitter and we’ll be sure to let you know what’s going on.

_______________________________________________________________________________

LiLing Pang is Trekaroo’s Founder, a wife, & a mom to two active boys and a 6 month old baby girl.

Travel with kids to: CA |CO | DC| FL | HI | IL |MA | NC | NY | OR| PA| TN | TX | UT |VA | WA

Posted by TravelPangs Filed in About Trekaroo, Openings and New, Special events and exhibits, Uncategorized, Utah, What's New - February 28th, 2012 Tagged:
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Celebrating Dreams on Martin Luther King Day

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Each year at our children’s elementary school, kids write down their dreams for a better world.  As I was browsing the hall, my heart smiled at the different dreams on display.  “I wish that no one would rob our house.”  “I dream that we people will not litter.”  …on and on they go.  As we celebrate one of our nation’s most courageous and inspirational dreamers – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I wonder, how are we as parents helping to inspire our children to dream big?

MLK Day is a great time to nurture your little dreamers by enjoying time together as a family. Here are some kid-friendly MLK events going on around the country.  These events are a fun way to help our children connect with our nation’s heros who’ve worked to make the dream of the civil liberties come true.

MLK Monument – Photo by: Flickr/tedeytan

National Parks are Free on MLK

Take advantage of the free admission to National Parks across the country to inspire your children to dream of a better world.  As you enjoy a hike together, take the time to share some of your dreams with each other and how we can each help to make those dreams a reality.

Kings Canyon National Park – Photo by: Flickr/Jeff Pang

…more National Parks Offering Free Admission on MLK

 

LiLing Pang is Trekaroo’s Founder, a wife, & a mom to two active boys and a 4 month old baby girl.

Travel with kids to: CA |CO | DC| FL | HI | IL |MA | NC | NY | OR| PA| TN | TX | VA | WA

 

Posted by TravelPangs Filed in Special events and exhibits, Uncategorized, Winter - January 15th, 2012 Tagged:
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Kick Off 2012 with Troo Compassion

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As a community of traveling families, please join us in kicking off 2012 by reaffirming our commitment to show “Troo Compassion” as we continue to explore and travel with our kids.  In that spirit, we start the year with our 5 for $25 fundraising opportunity.

 

When we started Trekaroo 3 years ago, we had a dream.  A dream to inspire and enable families to explore the world. We see travel as a vehicle for building family bonds, developing a broader world view and developing a heart of compassion for people in need.  Our family had the opportunity to do just that a few weeks ago as we explored Cambodia.

Cambodia is a beautiful country with a grand history told through the magnificent temple ruins of Angkor Wat. However, it is also a country that in recent history was ravaged by civil war.  During our travels, we met a wonderful traveling family – Brandon and Andrea Ross.  The Ross family moved half-way across the world, drawn to Cambodia for it’s beauty to start a travel tour company called Journey’s Within.  However, as travel often does, it opened their eyes.  When they saw the harsh realities facing their Cambodian friends, they realized that they could do something to help.  That’s the story of how they came to start the non-profit arm of their work in Southeast Asia called Journey’s Within Our Community (JWOC).  Our family was fortunate enough to spend a few hours befriending some of the children who benefit from the great work that JWOC is doing.

5 for $25

Help Trekaroo give away $2000 to worthy causes

Here’s how it works.

Step 1: Write 5 reviews

Write 5 reviews of kid-friendly attractions, activities, hotels, or restaurants.  By doing so, you’ll be helping inspire and equip families to keep exploring.  Join/Sign in and start writing reviews

Step 2:  Designate a non-profit  to receive $25

Pick a non-profit or school for Trekaroo to donate $25 to in your honor. Must be a qualified 501(c)(3) organization. Designate a non-profit >

Step 3:

Invite your friends who care about the same cause to join in too and raise even more for your non-profit or school.  Send your friends an email or post it on your non-profit’s Facebook page or group.

Official Rules:

  • Your reviews must be authentic and based on your real experience
  • Only reviews written after Jan 5, 2011 qualify
  • Qualified reviews must be of kid-friendly places and include helpful opinions and tips for parents
  • We will donate a max of $25 per member, but there is no limit on the number of friends you can invite to participate in 5 for $25 to benefit your cause.
  • We will keep donating until we’ve given away all $2000
  • Your school or non-profit must be a qualified 501(c)(3) organization.

If you’re inspired to help make a difference, but don’t have any special non-profit in mind, here are some of our favorites:

World Vision

World Vision is Christian humanitarian organization that is dedicated to working with children, families and their communities in the US and Worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.  They work in some of the most war-torn and poverty-stricken communities around the world.  They also run a highly effective child sponsorship program if your family is interested in sponsoring a child.  World Vision is often one of the first NGO’s to respond to disasters around the world alongside the Red Cross and UN.

International Justice Mission

International Justice Mission (IJM) is a human rights agency that brings rescue to victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local officials to secure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators and to ensure that public justice systems – police, courts and laws – effectively protect the poor.  More children, women and men are held in slavery right now than over the course of the entire trans-Atlantic slave trade.  IJM rescues victims, seeks to bring perpetrators to justice, provide aftercare for victims, and works to strengthen community factors and local judicial systems that will deter potential oppressors.

Journey’s Within our Community

Journey’s Within our Community (JWOC) is a small hands on non-profit.  JWOC runs five projects promoting improved living conditions for people in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. They work to promote economic and educational opportunities while also improving health. Their work includes a scholarship program to help students complete university education, free English classes, clean water projects, and a small microfinance intiative.

Big City Mountaineers

Big City Mountaineers transforms the lives of under-served urban youth through wilderness mentoring expeditions that instill critical life skills. Their curriculum improves integrity, self- esteem, responsibility, decision-making abilities and communication skills in close to 1,000 youth annually.

Posted by TravelPangs Filed in About Trekaroo, Deals - January 6th, 2012 Tagged:
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trekaroo is the fun way to get the inside scoop on traveling with kids. We provide reviews of kid-friendly hotels, activities, and travel tips for family fun.
 
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Reviews of kid-friendly hotels, activities, and travel tips for family fun.
yes! you can travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | OR | PA | TN | TX | UT | VA | WA
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