Planning resources and inspiration for families on the go

    Heading Down to the Jersey Shore!

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         No matter how old they get, the teens  never get tired of the annual pilgrimage to the Jersey Shore.  Hope you enjoy these photos of some of our favorite Jersey Shore moments.   Need more ideas for great Jersey Shore activities for teens and tweens?  Check out all the links on our Jersey Shore  Top 10 list.

    Hitting the Beach in Belmar

    What can be better than a day in the sun at a Jersey Shore beach?

    What can be better than a day in the sun at the Jersey Shore?

     Catching the Waves on Boogie Boards

    Boogie boarding at Belmar is a summer highlight

    Boogie boarding at Belmar is a summer highlight

    A Thrill Ride a Minute – Boardwalks Jersey Style

    The Boardwalk at Wildwood - something is always happening here!

    The Boardwalk at Wildwood - something is always happening here!

    Winning Some Silly Prizes in the Arcades

    Even teens and tweens enjoy arcades

    Even teens and tweens enjoy arcades

     Can’t forget mini-golf

    Always time for mini-golf on the boardwalk

    Always time for mini-golf on the Point Pleasant boardwalk

    Lots of time for family fun!

    We are all smiles at the Jersey Shore

    We are all smiles at the Jersey Shore

         We included a link to these photos on the Delicious Baby Photo Friday roundup.  Stop by there if you enjoy family travel photos.

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    Rochester, NY – Family Fun Ideas for Teens and Tweens

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    Rochester in the evening, courtesy VisitRochester

    Rochester in the evening, courtesy VisitRochester

         Rochester, NY, a city of more than 200,000,  is home to several well known colleges including Rochester Institute of Technology and Rochester Univeristy, which includes the Eastman School of Music.  Rochester is a few miles south of Lake Ontario and a 90 minute drive from Niagra Falls.  It is also the western gateway to New York state’s Finger Lakes region.  Between college tours, hockey tournaments at the The Sports Center at MCC,  and vacation adventures, many families with teens and tweens  find themselves in the area.

         We will be visiting Rochester to play hockey and visit colleges later this year so thought we’d share what we’ve learned about ideas for family fun in the area.  We found the Visit Rochester site to be very helpful and recommend checking it out if your travels take you this way.

    Jack Rabbit Coaster, courtesy Seabreeze Amusement Park

    Jack Rabbit Coaster, courtesy Seabreeze Amusement Park

         During warmer months, the Seabreeze Amusement Park looks like great family fun.  The waterpark section spotlights a 5 foot deep, 260,000 gallon wave pool, a lazy river and lots of slides, tunnels and splash areas.  The amusement park area houses 70 rides, including the 1920s-era Jack Rabbit wooden roller coaster, which is the third oldest operating coaster in the country.  The 2,150 feet of track features a 75-foot drop, awesome dips, a wild last curve and a fantastic finale through a dark tunnel. Numerous other rides with names like the Yo-Yo, Screamin’ Eagle, and Bobsled also promise to thrill teens and tweens.

         In the fall,  the Amazing Maize Maze is open mid August to mid September at Long Acre Farms, just outside of town.  It is a 5 acre cron maze with 2 1/2 miles of paths, music piped throughout, 2 bridges, a tower, 12 hidden mailboxes, and 12 “Kernels of Knowledge”.  See if you can find the treasure and stop by the ice cream shop for a snack on your way out.  Other seasonal activities include weekly summertime classic car cruises at Park Point and the 10-day spring Lilac Festival held in mid-May.

    Cruise the Erie Canal in Rochester, courtesy VisitRochester

    Cruise the Erie Canal in Rochester, courtesy VisitRochester

         At any time of the  year, history buffs should be sure to check out the Erie Canal, which opened in 1825 and revolutionized the transport of goods and people across New York State.  The Erie Canal turned Rochester into a boomtown that played an important part in shipping grain and goods across the growing country.  Today, the Canal is used exclusively for recreational purposes.  From May to October cruises are available on the canal and the Genesse River, which cuts through downtown.   A recreational path provides walking and bike access along the canal as well.

         Of course, we all know it does snow a lot in Rochester - like a 100 inches or more each winter.  Luckily, the city has many indoor and outdoor entertainment options.  Outdoor skating and sledding are common and a number of outdoor winter festivals are held each year.   The Rochester Broadway Theater League welcomes numerous  broadway touring companies, while  the beautiful Eastman Theater sponsors hundreds of concerts a year – many with free admission.   When you know your travel dates check to see what is playing in town.  Music majors visiting the Eastman Music School should be particularly interested in seeing a concert.

         We are looking forward to a long weekend in Rochester.  If you’ve visited there let us know your thoughts and comments.  This is one in a series of articles about fun family activities to add onto college visits or to check out if you are planning a fun family trip with teens and tweens.  Check the full list here.

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    Mixing College Tours with Family Fun in Mystic Country

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         Between searching out new ideas for family fun with our teens, and making plans to check out colleges, we’ve been doing a lot of travel research lately and are coming up with what look like some great ideas.  The Mystic Country area of coastal Connecticut recently peaked our interest as a place that offers a nice mix of history, adventure and fun to keep families with teens and tweens on the move and under sail — whether taking a break from college visits or just looking for a weekend getaway from New York or Boston.

    The Charles W Morgan at Mystic Seaport

    The Charles W Morgan at Mystic Seaport, photo courtesy Mystic Country

         In terms of colleges,  Connecticut College, Mitchell College and the US Coast Guard Academy are all in New London, next store to Mystic.   Many other schools are within an hour’s drive including Wesleyan University Middletown, CT and University of Connecticut a bit north in Storrs, CT and the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, RI.  

         Besides the  Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods gaming  resorts  which are within 15 minutes of the town of Mystic, most of the area’s attractions are linked to the ocean and the area’s impressive nautical heritage.  The Mystic Seaport is a unique living 19th century maritime museum.  The 60 acre site includes dozens of historic buildings, as well as an impressive  collection of restored schooners and sloops, a steamer and the last surviving wooden whaling boat, the Charles W. Morgan.  The Seaport’s buildings include a chandlery, sail loft, ropewalk, cooperage, shipping agent office, printing office, bank and more. 

    Beluga Whale at Mystic Aquarium, photo courtesy Tracy M Brown

    Beluga Whale at Mystic Aquarium, photo courtesy Tracy M Brown

           The Seaport is open year round,  as is the nearby Mystic Aquarium with its collection of beluga whales, African penguins, sea lions, seals and other sea creatures.  Check out the Deep Sea 3D ride to feel what it is like to go 9,000 feet underwater in pursuit of deep-diving Sperm Whales and Giant Squid. We are told that a combination of 3D film and special chairs make it feel like you are really in a submersible.

          Another opportunity to explore the country’s  maritime history is found at the Submarine Force Museum on the Thames River in Groton, Connecticut.   Operated by the US Navy, the museum traces the history of subs from Revolutionary War days to the present.  The highlight of any visit to the Submarine Force Museum is a tour of the USS Nautilus, the country’s  first nuclear powered submarine.  Admission is free.

          If you make it to Mystic when the weather is warm and have a few hours to get out on the water, there are a number of options for day sails including a 5-hour cruise on the tall ship Mystic Whaler (a reproduction of a 19th century vessel) or a 2-3 hour jaunt on the 81-foot Schooner Argia  in the protected waters of Fishers Island and Long Island Sounds.  The local ocean beaches are another refreshing activity in the warmer months.

    Visit the Nautilus at the Submarine Force Museum, courtesy Mystic Country

    Visit the Nautilus at the Submarine Force Museum, photo courtesy Mystic Country

          We haven’t made it to Mystic Country yet but hope our travels take us there soon.  In the meantime, if you’ve visited there let us know your thoughts and comments. 

         This is one in a series of articles about fun family activities to add onto college visits (or to check out if you are planning a fun family weekend).  Check the full list here.

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    Summer Camp: Getting Teens Ready to Launch

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    Summer Camps - helping kids grow up

    Summer Camps - helping kids grow up

         In her recent New York Times Magazine article, What is it About 20-Somethings?”  Robin Marantz Henig discusses the trend towards more and more 20-Somethings moving back home, delaying entry into a fully independent life, and turning to their parents for housing and financial support for much longer than many parents anticipated.  Reading this was enough to make Mary T choke on her coffee, as she and Camera Guy have lots of plans for life after our kids become 20-Somethings.  You can be sure those plans don’t  include doing the kids’  laundry and paying their rent.

         It also reminded us why we think teen travel, with family and on their own, is a great way to get those teens ready to launch.  When teens travel with family, they learn a lot about different living conditions and options and develop an appreciation for the world outside their hometown.  We hope, it encourages them to get out of the house and explore as they get older.

    Roughing it means having to clean your own cabin

    Roughing it means having to clean your own cabin

         However,  its the travel that teens do without parents that is likely to have the bigger influence on the pace at which they embrace independence in their early to mid 20s.   We know a couple of weeks of camp every summer isn’t the whole answer, but the increases we see in our kids’ levels of maturity and responsibility when they come back after a couple of weeks away are pretty profound.

         For Hockeyprincess, a series of sleep away hockey and general outdoor camps has made her summer a heaven on earth.  The letters home can barely contain her jubilation over making new friends, learning new skills, testing and exceeding her limits, and operating as an independent person without the  parental units commenting or controlling.  For #1 Son, service trips and a church pilgrimage had a similar effect.  Having a summer job to come back to at home didn’t hurt either in terms of promoting a sense of autonomy.

    Saying goodbye at Camp means saying hello to self-reliance

    Saying goodbye at Camp means saying hello to self-reliance

         For mom and dad, these times when teens are at camps or on service trips are a preview of the Empty Nest to come.   On one hand, we are thrilled at how he or she is growing as a person everyday.  The improvements we see in terms of their levels of independence and self-reliance give us hope they will eventually become productive members of society.  On the downside, we can see childhood slipping away and we look back at the baby and toddler pictures with joy and a bit of sorrow that those days are gone for good.

         So, with mixed emotions, we cheer our kids on their journeys to independence as they walk off to join their camp friends.  And, we remind ourselves that in a few years we would much rather have independent, confident young adults who can take care of themselves in the world (and visit us once in a while) than have to deal with overly dependent, tentative kids who are happy to live in our basement.  Mom and dad have lots of plans for after the teens are out on their own — to our mind, summer camp and other types of independent teen travels help them on their way.

         How has your teen’s time away had an impact?  Let us know.

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    UMass Amherst: College Visit First Impressions

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    Visiting the library on the UMass Amherst college tour

    Visiting the library on the UMass Amherst college tour

         We’ve been working up to it for a while but now its arrived – time to start visiting colleges and working through the process of figuring out where #1 Son will apply to college.  Over the next 12 months or so we’ll share our perceptions of the schools we visit.  We really encourage comments if you have any experience with the school being reviewed.  We’ll kick off this series with a trip to University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

    Why UMass Amherst?

         The University of Massachusetts has a number of campuses, but UMass Amherst  is considered the flagship with roughly 20,000 undergraduates plus 6,000 grad students.   It is part of a 5-college area in central Massachusetts that offers a lot of activities and access to the outdoors as well as a wide range of academic options (see our prior article about fun family activities in Western MA  for more information on the general area).  Amherst is located 90 miles west of Boston, 60 miles north of Hartford, Conn., and 175 miles north of New York City.

         As Massachusetts residents we figured it made sense to start looking at colleges in our own backyard.  For state residents, the current combined charges for  tuition, room and board are about $20,500  a year, which makes it a bargain compared to a lot of other residential colleges.

    UMass Amherst Student Center

    UMass Amherst Student Center

         As we learned in the 45-minute information session provided by the admissions department, the school is becoming more competitive every year.  The average GPA for the September 2010 incoming class is slightly more than 3.6.  Given that UMass has somewhat of a reputation of being a party school the fact that this is the 7th year in a row that the average GPA and SAT scores have increased gave us a sense that the campus is becoming more academically focused in recent years.  Collectively, eight undergraduate  schools and colleges offer 94 undergraduate degree programs. 

         We were interested to hear from our tour guide that UMass Amherst was initially her last choice, but with economics in mind she enrolled and has had a very positive experience getting involved with some of the school’s 200+ clubs, sports and activities and forming strong friendships along the way.  She is planning to do graduate work and is very pleased that by attending the state school for undergrad she will graduate with little or no debt and be in a situation where she can afford to pursue graduate studies.

    UMass Amherst – Is Bigger Better?

         Of course, as with any large school, one of the first questions that comes to mind is: will my kid get lost in the shuffle?  UMass Amherst is a largely residential school, with approximately 12,000 undergrads living on campus — half of them in a 1960′s era high rise dorm complex at the southwest end of campus.   All freshmen are required to live on campus unless they live at home within a 40 mile commuting radius.

    A dorm room at UMass Amherst

    A dorm room at UMass Amherst

         The school offers a number of programs to help freshmen get connected to the larger community including a  2-day summertime new student orientation program  when roommates and dorm choices are made.  Of the school’s 45 dorms, 17 are for first-year students.  About half of the freshman class lives in the towers and the rest are distributed across the school’s four other lower rise and smaller scale residential complexes. 

         All the freshman dorm floors are staffed with Resident Assistants.  Dorm and floor specific activities are also offered to help kids connect throughout their first year.  We thought the Residential Academic Program (RAP) which allows students with similar interests to live together and take a small group class or discussion section in the dorm was a great way to get to know potential new friends.  Roughly 40% of freshman participate in the RAP  program.

         At first glance, upon arriving at the visitor’s center, your view of campus includes some of the school’s largest buildings.  It can be a bit overwhelming.  Thanks to a major expansion program in the 1960s, the south side of the campus is dominated by a number of large, modern buildings – some of the poured concrete variety.  These include the Fine Arts Center, the Campus Center, and the 28-story brick library which is home to 3+ million books.

        Thankfully, the 75-minute student led walking tour provided by the school really helped us to get oriented and to understand how the 1,4000+ acre campus, with more than 300 buildings, is really a collection of smaller focused schools and living areas that help provide a more intimate experience than first impressions might indicate. 

    Workspace in the basement of the UMass Amherst library

    Workspace in the basement of the UMass Amherst library

         Aside from touring the campus and hearing about the social life, we did make an effort to get a sense of the what the academic workload might entail.  From the sound of it, UMass kids are asked to write a number of papers and read lots of book, do projects, take tests, etc. but most still have time for sports, activities and friends.  The admissions office indicated they look for kids who are involved and committed to community service. 

    Will He Apply?

        #1 Son came away with a very positive impression of UMass Amherst – although, as he admitted, he doesn’t yet have lot to compare it to.  Mom felt that this type of school can work well for a kid that is organized, outgoing, and willing to advocate for themselves, but might be a bit stressful for kids who are still working on social skills or lack confidence in their ability to make friends and navigate complex environments.  At this point, UMass Amherst is on our list of schools where #1 Son will probably apply, although, we still need to talk to some current students and maybe visit again when school is in session since campus was pretty empty during our summer visit.  We found the school’s information session and tour very helpful and definitely recommend them if you are considering the school.

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