Welcome to 
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.
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.
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
Welcome to
Its no secret that kids think bodily functions are entertaining. Most parents have been embarrassed at one point or another by their children’s impolite giggles and noises. Well, if you can’t beat them, join them- but make sure to throw in some education for good measure! Grossology is a traveling exhibit that uses “edutainment” to teach kids why we burp, sneeze, and vomit. Where else can kids play on a playground shaped like a giant digestive tract?
Recently, we sent Superoo Madelinej out to the Rockford Discovery Museum in Rockford, Il to check out Grossology with her kids. She said that while she feels the exhibit was probably geared towards children ages 6-12, her five year old and three year old still got alot out of it. Her three year old “really enjoyed climbing on the mouth/esophagus/stomach/intestine playground and trying to play the (free) pinball game” while her five year old loved the “shooting” game where “she loaded ping pong balls into a shooter, aimed for the big nostrils, and fired. Every few minutes, the game “sneezes” and all the ping pong balls come out.” Kids with an especially large love for all things disgusting might have fun with the “guess the smell” game. Is that armpit or foot that you smell?
You can read Madeline’s entire review of the Grossology Exhibit here.
Grossology will be at the Discovery Center Museum in Rockford through Jan 2nd, 2011, so if you live in the area, be sure to set aside some time during the Winter Break to pay the exhibit a visit. The exhibit is also at the Sloan Museum in Flint, MI through January 16th and the St Louis Science Center through March 27th. It will also be at the Virginia Air and Space Center January 29th through September 5th and the Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding, CA April 30th through September 5th.
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.
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – -
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
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:
- 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:
- 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
