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When I was a kid, I wanted to be an ice skater.  Unfortunately for me, the nearest ice rink was 35 minutes away and my mom was not willing to shuttle me back and forth for lessons.  On second though, given my lack of coordination, it was probably a blessing in disguise.  Nonetheless, I still love to skate and look forward to when my kids are old enough to take interest.

In my opinion, there is no better place to ice skate than out in the fresh air.  After all, ice skating began on frozen ponds in Switzerland 5000 years ago!  Modern times have traded in bone for steel and regions without frozen ponds now make due with artificial rinks, but the fun and exhilaration of gliding across the ice is still the same.  So where can families find outdoor ice rinks?  Count on Lydie and her fabulous lists to provide you with the answers!  She put together a list of the 10 Best Outdoor Ice Skating Rinks for Families.  Here is a sampling of what made the list:

The Ice Skating Rink at Curry Village:

I am definitely going to add this rink to my bucket list.  Imagine skating in Yosemite Valley with views of Half Dome and El Capitan.  Its hard to find a more beautiful scene on the entire planet.

Mellinnium Park in Chicago:

Photo courtesy of Culture Mob

Home of the world famous “bean” sculpture and  spitting fountain, this park gives you free access to their ice skating rink, provided you bring your own skates (you can rent skates for $10).   Practice your double axles with the Chicago skyline in view.

Squaw Valley USA:

Just off the north shore of Lake Tahoe is the home of the 1960 Winter Olympics, Squaw Valley.  Visitors can take an aerial tram up the slopes and skate on an Olympic sized rink with incredible views of the Sierras.

Read about the other seven rinks that made the list of the Best Outdoor Ice Skating Rinks for Families.

One of the newest outdoor rinks to hit the country is the ice skating rink at The Strand in Huntington Beach.   Families can ice skate within view of palm trees and the Pacific Ocean directly across the street from December 22nd through January 5th.

Do you know of an outdoor rink that you think Trekaroo families should visit? Then tell us about it by writing a review.

Do you have an outing that you would like to spotlight this week?

Perhaps its a post about a vacation you just took or a day trip that you think our readers should know about.  Or maybe its a post about the vacation you are currently planning and going to book through Trekaroo!  Link up something fresh from your blog using the Mr Linky below. 

PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS.

Step 1: Pick a recent post (past couple of days)

Step 2: Under “Name” write: “Title of your blog post (blog name)” – blog name in parenthesis
Under “url” paste: the link to your blog post (not your home page)

Step 3: Grab the Spotlight Thursday image and link to this post so your readers can see who else is playing along this week.

We want to be sure that everyone who participates in Spotlight Thursdays gets their moment in the spotlight so blogs that don’t link back will unfortunately have to be removed.

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Sharlene Earnshaw (aka doubleadventure) is Blogger-in-chief for Trekaroo and the blogger behind Double the Adventure.

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

This week I would like to Spotlight a place that I recently visited for the very first time, Millennium Park in Chicago.   When I was in the Windy City ten years ago, this fantastic urban oasis didn’t even exist and now its a thriving part of Chicago’s urban culture.  One of the center pieces of the park is the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, a outdoor concert venue showcasing many different artists and genres through free concerts.  Its great place to spread out a blanket, have a picnic, and enjoy a night of music as a family.

One can’t spend time in Millennium Park and leave without great appreciation for the incredible art and architecture the park exhibits.  From the grand beauty of the Millennium Monument in Wrigley Square to the 110 ton elliptical wonder bean that is Cloud Gate, your family will have reflecting on and around these treasures. 

No trip to Millennium Park is complete without a splash around the Crown Fountain.  Two 50 foot glass block towers project faces of Chicago citizens.  Its especially entertaining when the faces seem to be spraying water out of their mouths.   Kids love splashing in the shallow pool between the two towers but don’t let the little ones have all the fun. Kick off your shoes and have a little splash time yourself!

Do you have an outing that you would like to spotlight this week?  Perhaps its a post about a vacation you just took or a day trip that you think our readers should know about.  Or maybe its a post about the vacation you are currently planning and going to book through Trekaroo!  Spotlight your posts here by following the instructions here and filling out the Mr. Linky Form below.

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Sharlene Earnshaw (aka doubleadventure) is Blogger-in-chief for Trekaroo and the blogger behind Double the Adventure.
 

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

Day 2 of the Country Inns and Suites 1K Adventure started off with a breakfast at the CIS Madison- West before we listened to our first video clue of the day (you can watch it here) and hit the road.  Little did I know, Madison, WI is the only US capital city that is located on an isthmus and it was our goal to visit both Lake Mendota and Monona before we could get our next Suite Stop clue.  We stopped at a park on the shore of Lake Mendota and let the kids run off some energy.  While I was taking in the view from the shore, a family of ducks came by and paid me a visit. I called my ducklings over to visit with the mallard’s ducklings and we all had an enjoyable morning at Lake Mendota. 

After a good energy burning session, we headed over to the shore of Lake Monona where Paul and I swooned over the picture perfect view of downtown Madison.  The kids were less impressed with the view and more impressed with a dead fish that had washed up on shore.  Hey, whatever floats your boat, right? 

Before we left Madison, we stopped at Michael’s Frozen Custard for some chocolate frozen custard cones and cheese curds.   The kids thoroughly enjoyed their very first frozen custard experience and I loved the cheese curds.  If you haven’t had the chance to try these regional treats, be sure to add them to your menu the next time you are in the area!

Our second clue (here) took us to Milwaukee, specifically the North Point Lighthouse in Lake Park.  I had always imagined Milwaukee to be a gritty, industrial, beer making town but today we got to see its incredible beauty.  The neighborhood along the shore of Lake Michigan around the lighthouse could not have been more gorgeous.  Our jaws dropped when we saw the tree lined streets dotted with some of the most beautiful homes we have ever seen.  I think if I lived in that neighborhood I may be able to deal with those harsh Midwestern winters!  Luckily today the chill was long gone and the weather was perfect.  We arrived at the lighthouse at the same time as the Williams family and enjoyed exploring the park near the lighthouse with them.  We found a forested trail that led us down the bluff and to the shores of Lake Michigan.  The entire area could not have been more beautiful.  We could have stayed in Milwaukee all day but our next clue (here) told us that the Windy City was waiting!

We were so excited when we got the clue telling us that we were heading to Cloud Gate in downtown Chicago.  I had seen so many photos of this iconic mirrored bean and I was thrilled to be finally be able to see it for myself.  We hopped in the car and headed on down the road full of energy and excitement.  That energy quickly drained when we slammed directly into Chicago rush hour traffic.  I live in Southern California so I am no stranger to the nightmare that is rush hour, but Chicago certainly can give Los Angeles a run for its money.  It was awful.  There was much more stopping than going, that’s for sure.  What I found particularly demoralizing was the fact that there was no carpool lane which we had grown to rely on back home.  So we sat and endured the tie up along with the rest of Northern Illinois.  After what seemed like an eternity, we rounded a corner and the Chicago skyline came into view!  We let out cheers as the energy came surging back and our spirits were once again soaring.  We parked below Milennium Park and joined the masses.  Evidently, every Monday there are free concerts in the park and half of Chicago had come out to enjoy the music. 

We made our way through the crowd and over Cloud Gate.  I screamed with joy.  We had finally made it to that precious bean!  We took our pictures and strolled around the park for a bit before deciding that we had to leave Chicago and make it to our final destination for the night, the Country Inn and Suites in Naperville.   It was so hard to leave the city that we had spent so long trying to get to but we knew that if we wanted our kids in bed before midnight, it was what we had to do.  Don’t worry Chicago, the Earnshaw’s will be back!

I hope this post has inspired you to take your own Road Trip Adventure.  For more information on how to create your own trip to remember check out http://www.countryinns.com/1kcountry.

Want to follow us on the adventure as it happens? Be sure to follow @doubleadventure on Twitter and the hastag #CIS1K to see what all the families are up to every day of the Country Inns and Suites 1K!

Disclosure:  A significant portion of the costs and resources for our family’s participation in the 1K Country Adventure was provided by Country Inns & Suites By Carlson.

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Sharlene Earnshaw (aka doubleadventure) is Blogger-in-chief for Trekaroo and the blogger behind Double the Adventure.
 

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

Chicago Skyline at Dusk

I’m so excited! I just can’t hide it!

Did you know that Illinois is now an orange state?!?! No, we’re not talking about politics here. Trekaroo is launching in Illinois and we’re turning it orange on our maps!

Why Illinois? Because our mission is to help parents explore and travel with kids everywhere and with 3M children living throughout Illinois, it’s got family fun around every corner. After lots of hard work and the help from dedicated Trekaroo moms and dads, we are now in Chicago and beyond.

So, what have we got?

• Over 400 activities that have been rated and tagged by parents like you
• List of 1000 plus hotels throughout the state of Illinois waiting to be rated by parents like you
• Coverage of the 5 major areas in Illinois: Chicagoland, Central Illinois, Northern Illinois, Southern Illinois, and Western Illinois
• All sorts of fun lists on best free attractions in Chicago area, free Chicago museum days, and more.

What location is next? Drop me an email and let me know where we should go. We’re thinking Seattle, DC and some of the hot winter ski spots in Colorado and Utah.

Special thanks to michipo, bridgets, asmpman, teammom, kat569, and momof3boys for their love of Illinois and sharing about their adventures with  kids with the Trekaroo community. And of course, thanks to the Trekaroo team who works so hard on making everything happen.

See you in the Windy City,

Esther Lee (thelees3) – CEO

Chicago Resources:

• All 255 Activities for kids in Chicagoland
• Kid-friendly hotels in and around Chicagoland

• Hot List of Best Places to take Kids in Chicago
• Best Kid-friendly Hotels in Chicago

• Fun in Chicago with Young Kids
• Family-friendly Tips from a Local Mom for Exploring Chicago
• Free and Cheap Entertainment in the Suburbs of Chicago
• Best FREE attractions in and around Chicago
• Free Museum Days in Chicago
• Places to cool off the Kiddos in the Chi-town Area by asmpman
• Kraft Great Kids Museum Passes in Chicago
• Saving Money on Chicago Kids Museums – Museum Adventure Pass

Trekaroo – a reviews site dedicated to exploring and traveling with kids.
Travel with kids to: CA | FL | HI | MA | NY | PA | TX | VA and now IL

Chicago moms and dads, Trekaroo is in your hood!

That’s right, our KidsMobile has pulled in for Trekaroo’s big launch in Illinois.  Thanks to some super duper families who have been sharing about all the reasons that families love Chicago, we can all benefit from their road-tested tips and recommendations.

Trekaroo families have voted and this is their verdict for 2009:

Hot List of Best Places to take Kids in Chicago
Best Kid-friendly Hotels in Chicago

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Jumpin’ onboard the Trekaroo KidsMobile are some of the most travel savvy mid-west moms.  Together, they’re letting us in on some of Chicago’s best kept secrets for families.

First up, Minnemom shares how to have Fun in Chicago with Young Kids. This is a mom extraordinaire who has traveled through big and small towns all over the midwest with her 4 kids.  If you need advice about how to have a lifestyle of travel with a large family, she’s your go-to gal and you can follow her adventures on her fantastic blog:  Travels With Children

Amie O’Shaughnessy of Ciao Bambino brings us some Family-friendly Tips from a Local Mom for Exploring Chicago. Ciao Bambino is a one of Trekaroo’s favorite partners because we share a common passion – inspiring families to travel.  Ciao Bambino provides vetted reviews of the best accommodations when traveling with children of all ages around the world.

Free and Cheap Entertainment in the Suburbs of Chicago - sign me up!  The bargain hunting mom behind Bargins Rock has no hesitation sharing her best finds in her home town of Chicago.  She’s passionate about saving money and loves passing on good deals to her blog readers.  If you like deals too, be sure to bookmark her blog.

Bridget Stern also has a list of the Best FREE attractions in and around Chicago. Bridget works with families day in day out capturing the most wonderful photos of children and families as a professional photographer.  She is also an active mom who loves exploring with her daughter.  To see great pics and read about their family’s adventures, hop on over to Bridget Stern’s blog.

Other Chicago Resources:

• All 255 Activities for kids in Chicagoland
• Kid-friendly hotels in and around Chicagoland

• Free Museum Days in Chicago
• Places to cool off the Kiddos in the Chi-town Area by asmpman
• Kraft Great Kids Museum Passes in Chicago
• Saving Money on Chicago Kids Museums – Museum Adventure Pass

Next stop, we’ll be heading to Seattle, Washington for another big launch the week of Halloween.

The Trekaroo KidsMobile is a blog carnival with a twist.  It’s designed to provide a unique opportunity for mom and dad bloggers to be featured on Trekaroo while

1) expressing their unique point of view

2) getting a web of link exchanges.

Join us for one of our next stopovers.

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LiLing Pang is a contributing author on Trekaroo – a reviews site dedicated to exploring and traveling with kids.
Travel with kids to: CA | FL | HI | MA | NY | PA | TX | VA  and now IL