#havekiddoswilltravel

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https://youtu.be/iZ5vEpuSKqk

Learn about Celia Cruz! Azucar! Latinx Heritage Month! Hispanic Heritage Month!

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Homeschool and social justice friends, check out this amazing resource. Kid 2 and I are currently listening while doing work and school work.

Check out this capstone project focused on answering the question: How can we create effective social change? A student created a podcast series called Voices of Change, for Change. The series features 4 conversations with activists, leaders of the social change sector, and lawyers. 3 of the guests are Ancients, one episode features Nyle Fort who spoke at Porter's earlier this year, and one episode also features Vanessa Wruble who was a co-founder of the Women's March on Washington. You can listen on Spotify, iTunes, and Soundcloud.

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https://youtu.be/d2OSpBqZUI4

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Local Students Traveled to South Korea this Summer to Train and Compete in International Tournaments

For Immediate Press Release

Connecticut, California, Texas

August 27, 2019

Sixteen taekwondo athletes from Avon, Burlington, Canton, Farmington, Meriden, New Britain, Simsbury, Unionville, West Hartford, Los Angeles, CA and Pearland, TX represented the United States and proved to be fierce competitors at the 2019 Chuncheon Korea Open International Taekwondo Championships and the 2019 Kimunyong Cup International Open Taekwondo Championships held this summer in South Korea. The students won a total of 20 medals in sparring against competitors from over twenty-three countries. They train rigorously at Olympic Taekwondo Academy in Unionville and competed as part of Team Light of the World, coached by Grand Master Kiye Cho, a 6th degree black belt and two-time World Champion. Master Cho coaches his students to be National and International Champions, as well as supportive and dedicated teammates. Master Cho and the students traveled to Seoul, South Korea for an intensive summer off season six weeks training with more than seven Korean teams and then participated in the aforementioned international tournaments, bringing home many medals for their respective age, weight and belt level. The athletes ranging in age from 7 – 27 pushed themselves physically, mentally and emotionally to compete at the highest level of taekwondo competition and they’ve made themselves, their states and country proud.

Results:

Avon: Maxine Andersen, Korea Open – Gold, Kimunyong Cup – Gold; Jaemin Aziz, Korea Open – Bronze;

Burlington: Isabel Mendes, Korea Open – Bronze, Kimunyong Cup – Silver;

Canton: Ryan Bae, Korea Open – Bronze;

Farmington: Aika Jolovich, Korea Open – Gold, Kimunyong Cup – Silver; Savannah Smith, Korea Open – Gold, Kimunyong Cup – Gold;

Los Angeles, California: Jaysen Ishida, Kimunyong Cup – Silver;

Meriden: Lorenzo Paragno, Kimunyong Cup – Bronze;

New Britain: Ceana Rodriguez, Korea Open – Gold;

Pearland, Texas: Andy Duan, Korea Open – Silver, Kimunyong Cup – Bronze; Audrey Duan, Korea Open – Silver;

Simsbury: Dylan Gibbs, Korea Open – Silver;

Unionville: James Devlin, Kimunyong Cup – Bronze; Jamie Lee, Kimunyong Cup – Silver;

West Hartford: Caleb Rainey, Korea Open – Gold;

Pictured 1st row Left to Right: Aika Jolovich, Isabel Mendes, Andy Duan, Ryan Bae, Caleb Rainey, Maxine Andersen, Jaemin Aziz, Audrey Duan, Savannah Smith, Dylan Gibbs. Second Row Left to Right: Grand Master Kiye Cho, Ceana Rodriguez and Master Sungkyun Yoo.

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Behind the Scenes of Family Travel: How to Stay True to Yourself While Incorporating Adventure and Family travel

In the age of Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Tumblr it’s more difficult than ever to raise children who are traveled, well read, cultured, exposed and critical thinkers, without compromising your family values and interests. Please allow me to further break down what I mean. As I navigate the family travel blogger world, I’m often caused to critically analyze my own intent and messages being sent to my readers. As someone whose international traveling journey started at the age of five when my family immigrated to the United States, authenticity and transparency are imperative to my brand. While I may be a slight adrenaline lover whose children have been hiking, camping, skiing, zip lining and put more miles on their tiny feet than most adults, I would never recommend that someone who hates bugs, outdoor toilets and sweating, attempt to add some of our adventures to their immediate family travel list. Why? There is a transition and exploration period that is necessary to make travel with children enjoyable. Before attempting to go on a tent or RV, hiking intensive adventure, maybe you should try local camping or even a backyard camping experience. Be cautious in your consumption of social media images, and their impact on your definition of parenting success.

I’m a member of several family travel and homeschooling travel groups where I often times read comments from folks expressing frustration in their attempts to implement some of the family travel ideas and suggestions. Authenticity is important in family travel, if you’re going to enjoy the journey.

Discernment is defined as “the ability to judge well” or the “quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure.”

I know that you’ve heard this before, but it’s worth repeating: not everything you see online is true. There’s a tremendous amount of obscurity in social media. Filters, prop pictures, editing and not showing a full picture is a key part of the click bate technique implemented by many to gain and maintain followers. I refuse to take part in that culture and encourage my readers to evaluate their inputs and inspiration sources, as they aspire to raise children who travel. If something seems too good to be true, more than often times it truly is. One of my goals in writing about our adventures in family travel is to inspire families to go, not to guilt them for not being able to. The ability to travel does not make one a better parent. It’s about the intention and implementation of an individual’s family values and goals.

All good things worth having in life require sacrifice, hard work and commitment. It’s easy for us to get caught up with a “it must be nice” mentally of comparison when it comes to what we see online, but this mentally is toxic. The most commonly asked question that I get regarding traveling with children is “how do you do it?” This question is overly broad, but utterly complex as the [how] to travel with children requires commitment, compromise and sacrifices that are difficult to make if you don’t have a solid reason for wanting to actually go with them in the first place. I’ve written many blog posts about the difficulties and complications of traveling with four young children. Many of my peers have also written about it. Most recently, Iliah of Negra Bohemian wrote this blog post about the [why] behind her adventures with her children. Iliah did an incredible job articulating her family travel goals and yet got some push back from folks because she didn’t tell them (in that particular write up) how she does it. The purpose of that blog post was to outline the importance of identifying your personal family’s [why] behind travel.  Rather than reiterate a lot of what Iliah has already stated, I’m not going to use this space to articulate my [why] as we share many of the same drives. I will instead encourage you to check out her blog post prior to embarking into a data collection phase around the topic of [how] to travel with children. If you don’t have a solid [why], then the work that is necessary to successfully attempt the [how] will not be attainable. I’ve previously written about my family travel goals and history and encourage you to read more about it here. I’m also including additional resources (at the bottom of this post) that outline my [why] and [how].

I will now go into the how we travel with our four children, but be warned that it’s not a “CliffNotes” version of family travel life, nor insiders tips on free access or hook ups. A commitment to family travel requires grit, dedication, sacrifice and wit. It’s not always glamorous and at times we have questioned our own sanity.

How to travel with children:

-          Start when they’re babies: My husband and I traveled extensively, camped, hiked and enjoyed outdoor sports prior to having children. When our first daughter was born, I took advantage of kids flying free under two years of age to travel as much as possible. Her first trip was a cross country trip at the young age of two and a half months. As soon as I received her official birth certificate, I applied for her passport and watched for flight deals to go abroad. Between the ages of birth and two years of age, we took advantage of as many travel deals as my googling hands could find. I have no regrets. I was also not self-employed thenand had to get creative around vacation time, thus some of these trips were no longer week long vacations. I would tag on vacation days to long weekends and holidays and strategically manage our vacation time.

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A post shared by Ruth - Have Kiddos Will Travel (@havekiddoswilltravel) on Nov 15, 2019 at 4:27am PST

-          Start local: While the internet may be flooded with pictures of folks in Santorini in flowing dresses, that is not the only type of travel. I’ve had so many conversations with parents asking for suggestions on international travel with young children and in discussions with them about their travel history, it’s disclosed that they have not embarked on local or regional travel. My first recommendation is to start with a day trip, then move on to an overnight road trip and then hop in the car for a longer road trip. Successful long distance and international travel with kids is often a result of exposure and training. Any new habit, becomes a routine after you’ve done it consistently for some time. Even if your first attempt at traveling with children turns out to be a comedy of errors, I encourage you to keep trying. I promise that it will get better.

-          There’s a time and a place for everything: Life is truly about seasons and stages. As a family of six, we have found that traveling to most hotels and resorts during peak season is truly cost prohibitive. Room occupancy limits and fees added for additional guests makes this type of travel one that we rarely embark in. It doesn’t mean that we no longer visit these destinations, we just do it creatively.

-          Budget: This is a broad topic that I’ll tackle by saying that life is about choices. While you may only see the many pictures of our children on wonderful adventures, what social media doesn’t show is the sacrifices and choices that we’ve made and continue to make in order for these trips to be a reality. What the perfectly curated social media pictures don’t give you a glimpse of, is that we each drive 10-year-old cars, don’t shop very often, cook meals at home and recycle, repurpose and reuse many of our kid’s clothes. If you don’t have a family budget, then creating one is a good place to start. Once you see where your income and expenses are, then you can identify places where you can cut out expenses in order to move those funds into a family travel fund.

-          Choices: I’ll warn you in advance that this is not going to be a popular section. As a society, we’ve become focused on immediate gratification, without wanting to put in the necessary work to achieve the goal. My husband is a physician and oftentimes when we come back from a trip, he will hear “it must be nice” from others at work. What folks miss when they take on this “it must be nice” mentality and assumption filled behavior, is that it’s all about choices and sacrifices. What they don’t see is that he’s a physician that cuts his own hair and our two boys’ hair at home. Let’s do the math. Man’s haircut: $20 per week (most black men get haircuts once per week or every other week depending on hair texture and style) x 3 per month (I went low) = $60 per month before tip per man or boy in your household. For our family, the cost savings of cutting hair at home is in fact approximately $225 per month.

Now let’s talk coffee. I love coffee and am not about the inexpensive coffee either. However, I’m frugal as heck when it come to my procurement of my coffee vice. I prefer Ethiopian organic coffee in whole beans and buy it for our home.  One can of my favorite coffee is $7.99 (I know that’s a lot of money, but stay with me here), by making our coffee at home daily, even while drinking expensive organic coffee, we save a ton of money that goes into our travel budget. On average a cup of coffee at Starbucks will cost you $2.75 to well over $5.00 per cup. If you drink one cup of coffee daily and buy it outside your home let’s say it’s $4.00 per day x 30 days: $120.00 per month. Thus, by cutting our own hair and making our own coffee we’ve got $180.00 per month toward travel. These are just two examples of the many things in our lives that we’ve learned to do without or for ourselves rather than outsourcing, in order to free up funds in our budget for travel.

o   Other ways that we save toward travel. We don’t go into stores often. We actually avoid the mall and being influenced by consumerism. We don’t buy our children stuff unless it’s their birthday or Christmas. They’re encouraged to save their money to purchase impulse items when we do travel and it’s amazing how much better their decision making is when it’s their own money that they’re about to spend. As aforementioned, we don’t drive new cars. By not having car payments, we save those funds for travel. Yet the savings don’t end solely with the car payment, by driving older model cars we also save on insurance and taxes.

-          Get creative: While we have a family travel bucket list, our travel plans are driven not by the destination but the deal.  I tend to follow deals rather than attempting to force a certain trip into our plans. We’re open to just about any type of lodging, travel mode and destination. We’ve traveled by air, boat, train and have taken so many road trips that my car has 217,000 miles on it. Yes, I’ve gotten my money’s worth out of my 2009 Acura MDX, whom we lovely call, the mami mobile! We’ve stayed in hotels, resorts, with family, in condos, in cabins, in RVs and even tents. There’s no one way to travel with children! Figure out what your family threshold is for adventure and work within it. As homeschoolers, we have more flexibility around when we travel and thus, we tend to travel off season and during low occupancy season. If you’re interested in traveling more with children, don’t be afraid to drive, look for creative lodging options and cook in while traveling.

-          Loyalty programs: When we do use hotels for lodging, we do tend to stick to one brand, simply for the reason of accumulating points - stays, loyalty levels and thus gaining perks like free breakfast, upgrades and free nights. I do the same for airline loyalty programs and even cruise companies. If you give your business to a company, you may as well accumulate points.  We use Marriott and Royal Caribbean for our hotels and cruise loyalty programs, but what’s truly important is to pick one and be consistent.

-          Discount clubs and programs: I’m a big believer in AAA, not only for car services but also for general travel discounts. I use the Marriott app to look for the cheapest hotel rates at our destinations and find that consistently those rates are AAA deals. If you’re a Costco member and have never price checked their travel offers, then you’re leaving money on the table. Costco travel is my go-to for car rental rates for vehicles that can accommodate our family. We’ve also used them for full trip planning.

-          Kids sail and stay free programs: Our kids are Royal Caribbean International Diamond Crown and Anchor members and every single Royal Caribbean Cruise that we’ve taken has been in a suite using the kids sail free offer.

While the many online resources for family travel can serve as a source of inspiration and ideas, it’s crucial that we realize that the grass is not always greener. No one’s life is that great. Their marriage, children and vacations are not perfect. What we’re often times seeing are over simplified and perfectly photo-shopped snippets of what they want us to see. We’ve been traveling with our children for over 14 years and at times, I’m saddened by the recent trends of passport stamp chasing and destination box checking. Let’s stop to ponder whether a pit stop for an Instagram worthy shot is what travel is all about. I encourage families to slow down and travel deeper. There’s so much beauty right at your fingertips that won’t break the bank and lead to unnecessary anxiety. Family travel should be something that creates lasting memories and joy. Do your part to create an online space for yourself that encourages and uplifts while aligning with your personal family travel goals.

 Additional family travel resources:

Childhood Family Travel Memories: Ruth from Have Kiddos Will Travel

How to Plan a Mother – Daughter 13th Birthday Getaway

Mother - Daughter 13th Birthday Trip: Yes Trip

News Flash: Family Travel Doesn’t Even Require a Passport

Cuba Travel Tips

Why Families Should Visit San Juan, Puerto Rico Post Hurricane Maria

Creating a Family Summer Bucket List

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Comprehensive Guide to Making a Homemade Pinata

A step by step guide to making a homemade piñata.

In celebration of Latino Heritage Month, our family has been participating in various activities geared toward learning about and recognizing the contributions of the Latino community in the United States. We took on a piñata project and honestly had no idea how involved and time consuming it would be. It took us one and a half weeks to finish two piñatas. We started the project by educating the kids about the history of piñatas.

We informed them that the piñata likely originated over 700 years ago in Asia. Explorers discovered that the Chinese made figures of cows and other animals and covered them with colorful paper to be used to greet the new year. The Chinese custom was brought to Europe in the 14th Century and was incorporated into the celebration of Lent. When the custom spread to Spain, Spaniards used a clay container referred to as “la olla” which is the Spanish word for pot. Initially, “la olla” was not decorated, but later fringed paper and ribbons were added.

Spanish missionaries brought the concept of a piñata to the Americas as a way to evangelize. Traditionally, the first piñatas in Mexico were shaped like a star with seven points. These points represented the seven deadly sins, the pot represents evil and the candy and prizes inside, the temptation of evil. The person holding the stick is blindfolded in representation of their faith. The breaking of the piñata signifies the reward that a believer enjoys when keeping their faith. In modern times, a piñata is an integral part of Mexican (and other Latin American Countries) birthday celebrations. Many Latinos including my own family brought the tradition to the States and continue to pass it own to their own children.

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 Step by step guide to making a homemade piñata.

 -          Step 1: our kids drew sketches of what they wanted their potential piñatas to look like. They came up with drawing of Thanos (yes, the complicated Marvel character), a Coco inspired guitar, a Mexican man wearing a sombrero and holding a guitar and lastly, a llama. After spending over one and a half weeks working on our piñatas, we were ecstatic that we vetoed the most complicated options, Thanos and the full character Mexican man.

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A post shared by Ruth - Have Kiddos Will Travel (@havekiddoswilltravel) on Sep 26, 2019 at 4:59am PDT

-          Step 2: we put to good use the many Amazon shipping boxes that were in our recycling bin and began our piñata by outlining our two shapes and duplicating them. We ended up with two cardboard cutouts of the guitar and two cutouts of the llama. In addition, we included extra space in our outlines to have tabs made out of cardboard that we could hot glue onto a long rectangular piece of cardboard. These pieces were used to hold the two shapes together and form the inside of the piñatas that would be used to hold candy and prizes. It’s best to take a look at the pictures below for a better understanding of this process. The process of outlining, cutting and assembling the two piñatas took a total of 3 days, but we took on this project at the end of each school and work day. You may be able to complete this task much quicker if you’re working on this over the weekend.

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A post shared by Ruth - Have Kiddos Will Travel (@havekiddoswilltravel) on Sep 26, 2019 at 3:26pm PDT

-          Step 3: once the hot glue dried, we used school glue to adhere pieces of tissue paper which we had cut into squares. As you can see from the images, we rolled the square piece of tissue paper and used a pencil to glue it to the guitar piñata. It took us about five days to complete this portion of the guitar piñata. The final product came out so much better than we imagined. We cut long strips of tissue paper and created fringes at the end for the decoration for the llama. Pro tip: make sure to leave an unglued flap of cardboard that can be used to insert the candy and small prizes into your finished product.

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A post shared by Ruth - Have Kiddos Will Travel (@havekiddoswilltravel) on Sep 27, 2019 at 4:47am PDT

-          Step 4: fill your finished product with candy and prizes and use rope or twine to hang for your fiesta or celebration.

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A post shared by Ruth - Have Kiddos Will Travel (@havekiddoswilltravel) on Oct 2, 2019 at 3:34pm PDT

Pro tips:

- The long fringed papers used on the llama were much easier to complete, those the traditional design of individual pieces of papers on the guitar came up stunning.

- Using a hot glue gun to adhere the cardboard made the final product more stable.

- If you’re using the strip technique start at the bottom of the piñata and work your way up, versus the other way around.

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In celebration of Latino Heritage Month, we made Ecuadorian Migajones (bread figures) Migajon is a bread-based dough used to make arts and crafts. Our Migajones turned out pretty well and we were in fact able to contain the mess. I highly recommend this art project for any age group.s the process of mixing and molding the dough was therapeutic and even the less artistic person in our home (me) enjoyed painting the final product while listening to Latin Music. More pictures and Hispanic Heritage Month inspiration coming soon. For more ideas on how to recognize and celebrate this month with your kids, check out my latest blog post (link in bio). #hispanicheritagemonth #latinoheritagemonth #teachingkids #homeschool #latinohomeschoolers #blackhomeschoolers #migajon #diversehomeschoolers ‪#traveldeeper ‬ ‪#lovefortravel ‬ ‪#havekiddoswilltravel ‬ ‪#travelblogger ‬ ‪#homeschoolfieldtrip ‬ ‪#wanderlust ‬ ‪#blacktravel ‬ ‪#familytravel ‬ ‪#largefamilytravel ‬ ‪#borrowedtime ‬ ‪#intentionalparenting ‬ ‪#soultravel‬ ‪#experiencesnotthings ‬ ‪#familyvacation ‬ ‪#familylife‬ ‪#choosingjoy‬ ‪#parenting ‬ ‪#travelwithchildren‬ ‪#blackfamilytravel‬ ‪#brownfamilytravel (at Connecticut) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2ogAIeB_xd/?igshid=11x3w4k9depho

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Wow! It’s been an incredible 2 years of sharing our travel adventures with you! #bloggervibes #blogniversary #havekiddoswilltravel (at Connecticut) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0j_-BvHoNo/?igshid=5g192kjjayuc

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Hamilton Musical Review – Wow, Just Wow!

A creative review of Hamilton – by a travel blogging mom.

Burr I’d rather be divisive than indecisive. Drop the niceties.

Hamilton, “A Farmer Refuted”

Watching Hamilton Musical live has been on the top of my personal family bucket list for years. I’ve researched ticket prices many times and was ecstatic when I found out that they would be coming to The Bushnell Center of the Performing Arts in Hartford this December. We are big Bushnell supporters and tend to enjoy a minimum of four shows there each season. I was determined to get tickets. I set reminders on my phone calendar with ticket release dates and went as far as bringing my laptop to the kid’s taekwondo team practice on the morning of the first wave of ticket releases. After 1 hour of refreshing the browser, I scored four reasonable tickets for December 30th. What a perfect Christmas gift for our wanderlust family.

You can write rhymes but you can’t write mine.

Take A Break – Hamilton Musical

 I had taken the kids this summer to watch Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights (a musical about a Dominican bodega owner in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan) and had prepared them for the music, dancing and writing style that would be depicted in Hamilton. As we only had four tickets, we decided to take our two girls and leave the boys behind this time. One more reason for me to watch it again, because honestly, I can’t get enough.  This is not a review that will be focused on whether Hamilton Musical is historically accurate, appropriate, misrepresented history, left a marginalized group out, minimized the evils of slavery or any other overly serious analysis of Mr. Miranda’s intent in writing this musical. I’m pretty sure that Mr. Miranda did not intend his interpretation of Alexander Hamilton to be an all-inclusive, historically accurate depiction of the founding father. Hamilton is not intended to be all things to all people. I come to this review from the perspective of a history, travel, music, dance, culture and entertainment loving travel blogger, wife and mami of four brown kids whom are exposed to a variety of art and theater. Theater often full of casts, music and culture that does not represent them. For this reason alone, Hamilton rocked. #representationmatters. It’s for the same reason that I was moved to tears by In The Heights musical. Mr. Miranda understands the cultural nuances, references, experiences, dance moves, dictation, beats and music that speak to the deepest parts of my Dominican immigrant soul. Let’s dive in. What I loved about Hamilton and how much I wished that I could get inside the heads of all of the white people sitting around us in Hartford, Connecticut watching this art form. If you were one of them and are willing to share, what were your thoughts?

I am the one thing in life I can control. I am inimitable, I am an original.

Burr, “Wait for It”

 Talk less, smile more. Don’t let them know what you’re against or what you’re for.

Burr – “Aaron Burr, Sir

 -          Lin-Manuel Miranda is puro Latino. I can relate to everything he stands for in a way that at times is difficult for me to explain to my mainland born and raised children. Bringing them to experience Mr. Miranda’s work like In The Heights and Hamilton, provided a window to our shared culture, history and traditions. He’s a Boricua, born in Washington Heights and raised in a prominent Latino community that closely resembles the one that I was raised in. Like me, he came of age in a bilingual, bicultural home, where music, traditions and food were the norm, but were rarely reflected in the mainstream pop culture. Mr. Miranda has succeeded in creating Broadway characters who manage to erase the invisibility that I’ve often felt as a lover of all things art and theater. I got goosebumps as a sat and watched characters who spoke like my family and friends, danced with the same passion, sabor and vigor and shared the same cultural nuances that bring a sense of nostalgia to this Dominican woman.

-          As I sat in the fancy theater watching the opening number, I was left breathless as the realization hit me that I was watching artists in every shade of brown, wearing traditional colonial garb (minus the wigs), telling the story of a forgotten forefather immigrant who rose from nothing, I saw myself. I shared this same story and I was unable to contain the emotions. I could care less (must put my wokeness aside for the sake of entertainment and rest) about whether our founding fathers were white, sexists, racist, slave owning men, I was taken by the artistry of Hamilton and was able to see myself in Mr. Miranda’s delivery in ways that I’m seldom able to. What a beautiful gift to give our young children. For so long, our narrative and stories have been left out of the arts. With Hamilton, Mr. Miranda placed my parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings and friends into the center of the narrative. The bold and unapologetic fashion in which he did so is mind blowing. I lol when Hamilton and Lafayette yelled: “Immigrants, we get the job done.” I was tempted to respond: Asi es. Tu lo sabes. Thank you, Mr. Miranda for allowing me to share this musical with my children and have them see, feel and experience Latinos in a way that is beyond what the main stream media portrays. We know who we are, but it was extremely emotional to have us portrayed outside of the typical narrative of slaves and low-wage workers. Gracias.

We’re finally on the field, we’ve had quite a run. Immigrants: we get the job done.

Hamilton and Lafayette, “Yorktown”

 -          Miranda boldly took on the old minstrel American tradition of black face on stage and reversed it. Oh my goodness, let’s process that one for a minute. I’m cognizant of how this fact and the psychological and social implications of the affect of this when I read negative mainstream reviews of the musical. All of a sudden, those of us usually in the fringes are now put center stage in “The Room Where It Happens” and those usually in the mainstream are left researching, attempting to understand the dictation, body language and music. Wow. That’s genius.

There’s a million things I haven’t done, just you wait

Alexander Hamilton

 Hamilton left me pondering so much about my history, my story and daily life. It was meant to be that our family took in the last show of the year in Hartford on December, 30th. I find myself in a reflective mood during the last week of each year. Since starting my blog 1 ½  years ago, I’ve tried to be consistent in writing, sharing and transparency. Hamilton reminded me of the reasons why I started Have Kiddos Will Travel and it has inspired me to start 2019 “writing like I’m running out of time!”

Why do you write like you’re writing out of time?

Non Stop

 But when you’re gone, who remembers your name? Who keeps your flame?

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story

 The final song of Hamilton left me inspired to continue my blog as an avenue to share my unique and personal story. Life as a work from home, homeschooling mother of four can be isolating at times. This is the primary reason why I started Have Kiddos Will Travel. The blog allows me to document and write my own narrative and by doing so inspire and relate to other women in similar situations as mine. Blogging is risky, as it can leave one vulnerable to other’s not so kosher intentions. I want full control of my story; the good, the bad and the ugly. It’s mine to tell.

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Below are some of the other favorite lines from Hamilton. Do share yours.

Dying is easy, young man, living is harder.

George Washington – “Right Hand Man

 America, you great unfinished symphony, you sent for me. You let me make a difference. A place where even orphan immigrants can leave their fingerprints and rise up.

Hamilton, The World Was Wide Enough

 Your debts are paid cuz you don’t pay for labor, “We plant seeds in the South. We create.” Yeah, keep ranting. We know who’s really doing the planting.

Alexander Hamilton, Cabinet Battle #1

 I’m just like my country—I’m young, scrappy, and hungry, and I am not throwing away my shot.

Hamilton, “My Shot”

 know that we can win, I know that greatness lies in you. But remember from here on in, history has its eyes on you….

History Has Its Eyes On You

Legacy. What is a legacy? It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.

Alexander Hamilton, The World Was Wide Enough

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VLOG Day 2 Grand Canyon Trip

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Day 1 of our adventures in Santo Domingo for our Mother Daughter 13th Birthday Yes Trip.

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How to Plan a Mother – Daughter 13th Birthday Getaway

Mother – Daughter Yes Trip Ideas

We’re two days from embarking on a long-awaited mother – daughter 13th birthday Yes Trip to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and I’m beyond excited about this adventure. It’s my eldest daughter’s 13th year of life and I’ve been planning a way to do celebrate this milestone in a memorable and affirming way. Check out my prior post explaining what a Yes Trip is and the reasons why every parent should embark on one with their child.

Why Santo Domingo?

Jet blue had a deal for $300 direct round trip flights from JFK that will allow us to be in Santo Domingo by 8:30 a.m. and with our carry-on only travel we will be able to enjoy four full days on the island with minimized time wasted in route. Santo Domingo is my country of birth and I’m excited to share my culture, food, music, crystal clear water and family with my first born. By traveling to the Dominican Republic, kid 1 will be able to practice her Spanish skills while also enjoying the Caribbean sun and surf. Whenever I visit Santo Domingo, it feels like home though I haven’t lived there since I was 5 years old. There is something about the island that fills my vessel. I want to share that experience with the child who made me a mother. Kid 1 also loves Dominican food. Though she was born in raised in the United States and we do not live near any of our Dominican family, this child could eat traditional Dominican rice and beans for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Therefore, I plan to incorporate a lot of Dominican food, art, and architecture into our #foodies Yes Trip.

What’s on our Yes Trip Agenda?

While I do plan on having us spend some time with family, that is not the ultimate goal of this trip. We will be staying in a hotel versus being hosted by family, in order to have better control over our agenda. We look forward to enjoying many hours of just being still together and catching up without the constant hecticness of our schedules at home and life with her three younger siblings. The intent of a Yes Trip is to step away from the regular routine and open lines of communication in order to maintain connections during a difficult time in a child’s life.

 It takes a village to raise strong girls and my village is something else. I’m traveling with over 22 handwritten and typed letters from family and friends that I will share with kid 1 throughout our weekend. I will start with a letter from me explaining what a Yes Trip is and sharing my lessons learned in my teen years and give advice to her. I will share my letter with her on our 2-hour drive to the airport. Once we arrive at the airport, I will share a letter written by her father. It’s the only letter from a man that she will get throughout the weekend. It’s a tear jerker and overflows with love and admiration.

 Let me encourage you to schedule a Yes Trip for your teens. It would not matter if we were going to a local hotel, this is such an important and life changing gift for my big girl. The diversity and wisdom in these letters are the best gift that I can give my teen daughter. They have uplifted and encouraged me this week and I know that she will treasure them. One of my friends said to me: I’m sharing hard won knowledge. Hard won knowledge. This is the beauty of the support and love that our tribe has shared. Whether they are great grandmothers, grandmothers, teachers, lawyers, executives, theologians, writers, stay at home moms, single, married with no children or deep in the midst of hands on parenting, these women have lived life and have learned tough lessons that they have so graciously imparted on our daughter. What a blessing.

 Key takeaways and wisdom that I want to share throughout our trip

-          Love is not earned, it’s unconditional.

-          “Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.” – Oprah Winfrey

-          Enjoy the journey. Don’t rush through life and attempt to get to the next season of life before you’re ready.

-          You are fearfully and wonderfully made and are perfect just the way you are. Never change who you are in order to fit in or make someone else comfortable.

-          Remember who and whose you are.

-          Always remember our rich family legacy and history.

-          When someone shows you their true self, believe them the first time.

-          Be discerning in your choice of friends. Know the difference between an acquaintance and a friend. Choose your friends wisely.

-          There’s nothing that you can ever do that will make us or God not love you. Always come to us with questions or concerns that you have. When you fail, we will comfort you, encourage you and help you get back on course.

-          Do not live your life in fear.

-          Love mercy, live humbly and love others deeply.

-          You don’t have to be extroverted, loud or outspoken to make a huge difference in the world.

 I will be incorporating the reading of letters from women in her life and these key points into the natural progression of our trip. While we are in transit, on the plane, dining, at the beach, by the pool, riding bikes and enjoying the island, I will look for ways to talk about these topics and creating memories with kid 1. Have you done a milestone birthday trip with just one of your kids? Please share any must do or memorable things that you incorporated into your trip.

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About Ruth: I’m a wife and mami of 4 active and globe-trotting kiddos. I’ve always loved a good adventure and truly believe that it’s possible to travel with kids. Join me, as I share our adventures and inspire you to get out of the house with your kiddos. Whether you’re planning a family vacation, a road trip or a trip of a lifetime to an exotic destination, I’ll share insights, trip reports and information that will inspire you. Check back often to stay up to date on things to do with kids at your next travel destination.

[havekiddoswilltravel]

A Perfect Day at LEGOLAND Florida with Kids

LEGOLAND® Florida trip report: making the most out of your time at the park.

Disclosure: we were hosted by LEGOLAND® Florida.

I spent a day at LEGOLAND® Florida with 3 of my kids ages (10, 7 and 6) during a recent Disney free trip to the Orlando area. We have traveled to Orlando and all of the Disney parks over fifteen times, as my parents live in the area. This trip was all about enjoying resort amenities and thus I was looking for something new to do with the kids. If your kids are Lego and/or Star Wars fans, you will have a blast. Managing expectations is very important when visiting this park. They are not Disney, nor do they attempt to be. This is actually what our family loved most about our trip to LEGOLAND® Florida . We've been to Disney World and Disney Land and have done that more times than we can count. We didn’t want to experience a copy of Disney, but with Lego instead of Disney characters.

We’re huge Lego fans and were looking to experience LEGOLAND® Florida. Having said that: do your research and plan accordingly, in order to make the most out of your time at this park. Spend time looking at the family guide and determining height requirements for each ride. This will save you from dealing with meltdowns at the park.

Location:

LEGOLAND® Florida is NOT located in Orlando. It’s actually just 45 minutes from the Orlando theme parks or downtown Tampa.

Address: One LEGOLAND Way Winter Haven, FL 33884 

Trip Report:

We left our hotel in Orlando early on a Monday in February and arrived before opening time. Tip: Get there early and secure a close parking spot. If you have someone with mobility needs, pay for preferred covered parking. It will be worth it. Study the map online prior to your visit. I found the paper map to be a bit difficult to follow while in the hot Florida sun, so I was glad that we had spent time online looking at the layout of the park and planning our day.

 Our kids loved the Ninjago ride (much better technology, graphics and execution than the Toy Story at Disney and with no wait time), my 10-year-old loved The Dragon and the lack of wait times at any of the rides. I loved the return on investment and the ability to see and ride everything in one day, stroller parking that is not a nightmare and the MINILAND, USA rocked. The food was actually affordable compared to Disney and they have coffee available throughout the park. They get that parents are their target audience and the park catered to families. We stopped by the LEGOLAND® Florida Hotel just to check it out for a future visit. It looks like a great place for families with young children and any Lego enthusiast. It’s perfectly themed with Legos everywhere and a nice change from the other Orlando amusement parks.

 LEGOLAND® Florida is comprised of 150 – acres offering a variety of themed lands that will be familiar to Lego fans. The park is geared toward children ages 2 – 12, but I can see my Lego loving teenager being impressed by the offerings. As kids who spend hours of their days building with bricks, they were extremely impressed with the time and energy that it would take to put together the creations throughout the park. Our kids absolutely loved their time at LEGOLAND® Florida . They are already asking for us to return and stay at the hotel, but to bring their dad and older sister next time. They are also eagerly anticipating the opening of LEGOLAND New York, which will be opening near us in the 2020. Is LEGOLAND® Florida a worthwhile endeavor while visiting the Orlando area? You must know your kid’s interest prior to making that call. For our bricks loving family, Legoland was a perfect way to spend a sunny Orlando day.

Feedback: our favorite LEGOLAND® Florida Park areas.

Miniland USA

-          This themed area is comprised of miniature versions of destinations that our family has actually traveled to (ex. Daytona International Speedway, Las Vegas, San Francisco, New York City and Washington, DC) and I was very impressed. Our kids are also huge Star Wars fans and thus, we visited this “land” twice during our recent one-day trip.

Ninjago Land

-          My two oldest kids are 2nd degree black belts, I’m a first degree black and the younger two are diligently working toward their black belts. We love all things Asian culture and martial arts and thus, Ninjago Land was our favorite. The Lego Ninjago ride is a 4D ride with a similar concept at Disney’s Toy Story, but with much better execution. We loved it.

The Dragon

-          LEGOLAND® Florida is not known as a thrill ride destination, yet my 10-year-old was ecstatic to be able to ride a roller-coaster with virtually no line, nor a need for fast passes. Riders must be 40 inches tall to ride and some kids must ride with an adult.

MInifigure Trading

-  Guests can purchase or bring LEGO® Minifigures to trade with LEGOLAND® employees throughout the park. Most employees wear at least one Minifigure on their brick badge (name tag) and are happy to trade.

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Pro tips:

-          As aforementioned, I highly recommend that you arrive early. Not only will you score better parking, enjoy the opening of the park ceremony and make the most out of your day, but you’ll get through most of the park before the Florida sun wears you out.

-          Check park hours prior to your visit, as they vary based on the time of year. Also, the water park was not open when we visited in February. So, if that is important to you, make sure to check their operating schedule prior to buying tickets.

-          Check Groupon for discount offers.

-          If you’re a homeschooler, check out their website for information on homeschool rates and dates.  Click here for more details regarding securing homeschool rates prior to your visit. Homeschool  rates are not given at the gate.

-          Spend time online researching the park, reviewing the map and planning your day. I also recommend exploring the park counter clockwise starting at the carousel. Shhh, don’t tell other people this secret. Most folks will explore a park clockwise and thus by going in the opposite direction, we found that most rides had no lines.

-          LEGOLAND® Florida offers affordable food options, but I paked a backpack with snacks and put filtered refillable water bottles in the stroller (make sure to use filtered water bottles, because Florida water tastes awful). Eating on the go allowed us to maximize our time at the park and enjoy all of the rides in one day.

Lodging:

-          Just like Disney and Universal, LEGOLAND® Florida offers the option of staying onsite or nearby. We stayed at an offsite Orlando Resort for this trip, but am already planning a return trip to stay onsite. Lodging options include: The Legoland Resort which is located adjacent to the park and Legoland Beach Retreat which is a few blocks away and can be seen from the main road. In addition to restaurants, pools and perfectly themed Lego rooms, guests also get early access to the park. Be on the lookout for the LEGOLAND® PIRATE ISLAND HOTEL which is scheduled to open in the Spring of 2020.

Military Rates:  U.S. Service Members receive FREE admission to LEGOLAND® Florida Resort & Water Park, no restrictions or blackout dates. This offer is not available online. To redeem this offer, please bring a valid military ID to any LEGOLAND Florida Resort ticket window.

Check out my VLOG from our adventures at LEGOLAND® Florida for more pictures of our day. 

Author: Ruth Mendes of Have Kiddos will Travel

About Ruth: I’m a wife and mami of 4 active and globe-trotting kiddos. I’ve always loved a good adventure and truly believe that it’s possible to travel with kids. Join me, as I share our adventures and inspire you to get out of the house with your kiddos. Whether you’re planning a family vacation, a road trip or a trip of a lifetime to an exotic destination, I’ll share insights, trip reports and information that will inspire you. Check back often to stay up to date on things to do with kids at your next travel destination.

[havekiddoswilltravel]

Homeschool Days and Discounts to Use in Field Trip Planning

This is an ever growing list of homeschool discount programs and educational days offered throughout the country.

Adventure Aquarium

Amazon fufillment center tours - Free

Barnes and Nobles Educator Program – Homeschool parents received 20% discount in store and online.

Biltmore Estate - George Vanderbilt's quest for knowledge was a lifelong passion, and his legacy of learning continues today at Biltmore. We offer dozens of programs for students, including experiential educational, customized Biltmore House tours, and a homeschool festival. Download our full Education Program for details.

Kathleen Bartlett

Education Sales Manager K-12 and Higher Education Field Trips, Special Focus Tours, Alumni Events 828-225-1409 kbartlett@biltmore.com

Boston Children’s Museum - $1.00 Friday Nights

Boston Symphony Orchestra - Free Tour

Boston Public Library Art Tour - Free

Cabin Creekwood - 30% discount to homeschool families to stay at Cabin Creekwood during our off-season. Not only will you get prices that are already well below in-season rates, you can save an additional 30%! That translates into BIG SAVINGS!

Carolina Raptor Center Homeschool Day - Welcome homeschoolers for a day of fun and science at Carolina Raptor Center. Join us for a Meet the Raptors Presentation, where our staff present one of our resident birds on the glove. Walk the Raptor Trail and enjoy our 37 species of raptors and other birds. You can try the scavenger hunt and search for Raptor trivia along the way. Create a Raptor craft. Write down your Raptor observations and add it to the Owl Forest Nature Notebook exhibit. Carolina Raptor Center's curriculum based programming informs everything we do. You'll find that a visit to CRC will meet many of the science-based goals included in your homeschool curriculum. And as an added bonus, families will enjoy $2 off regular admission and special programming at Carolina Raptor Center.

Celestial Seasonings Tea Tour - Free

 Chimney Rock Park Homeschool Day - Both spring and fall Homeschool Days offer exciting programs for your students to experience a day of “fun learning” they won’t soon forget! As always, you and your students are welcome to explore the Park on your own, before or after the programs.

Colonial Williamsburg

Homeschool Day and Discounts – 2019 HOMESCHOOL DAYS DATES:

September 7 - 22, 2019 February 22 - March 1, 2020 September 5 - 20, 2020

During these special times, homeschoolers and their families can enjoy hands-on activities and revolutionary experiences designed to make history come alive in a way that is educational and interactive.

Make the most of your experience by participating in one or more of the available programs designed specifically for homeschool families.

Colonial Williamsburg also offers exclusive pricing year round for homeschool groups of all sizes in addition to a wide variety of books, DVDs, and teaching resources. Look for more information on GROUP TOURS HERE, or for Customized Guided Tours, homeschool planning, or to make reservations call 1-800-228-8878 or email GROUPSALES@CWF.ORG.

Connecticut Science Center  

Conner Prairie

Crotched Mountain

Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden Homeschool Day and Discount –

$8 first student/$5 each additional student/$12 adult from same household

Dollywood Homeschool Days – Be on the lookout for their annual homeschool days.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York - Free

Fernbank Museum -  Fernbank Museum recognizes the unique nature of homeschool groups and is pleased to be able to offer the following options based on group size. All groups, regardless of size, are encouraged to take advantage of special free downloadable resources. Available resources include scavenger hunts, curriculum correlations for exhibitions and films, coloring sheets and more.

Field museum - Free Admission Day

Great Wolf Lodge – each individual location will offer discounted pricing for homeschool groups and even individual homeschool family rates for really cheap. Just call and ask.

Greenville Zoo 

Harvard University - Historical walking tour

Hershey Homeschool Days

Hershey’s Chocolate Tour

High Museum of Art Homeschool Day

Historic New England Homeschool Days

Kids Night on Broadway

Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp - Resort - Are you a homeschool family? Enjoy 20% off your stay!

Not valid with Saturday arrivals or departures. Must call and mention Homeschool Discount to take advantage of this deal. Must include at least 1 weekday stay.

Legoland Discovery Center Arizona 

Legoland Florida Homeschool Day -   LEGOLAND Florida Resort offers several dates to book at a discounted rate for homeschool groups that do not meet the 15 student minimum to qualify for School Group pricing.

The Jefferson Monticello

Mad River Mountain Homeschool Days

Madame Tussauds -  Homeschool Families are welcome to join us every Tuesday throughout the year to explore our Aquarium with family and friends.  There is NO minimum number required to visit our attractions on Tuesdays.  Groups of 10 or more can schedule a visit Monday through Friday and receive the same discounted rate.  In addition, homeschool families can add a Discovery Program for no additional cost.  Each of our Discovery Programs is aligned with Florida State Standards.

Medieval Times - Any homeschooled student is welcome at any of our Educational Matinees with no group minimum! Contact us to learn more about attending Medieval Times with your homeschoolers.

Minnesota Zoo

Monterey Bay Aquarium 

Mount Vernon 

National D-Day Memorial Homeschool Day - During this special event, homeschool families and co-ops get to experience the National D-Day Memorial’s field trip program. Students will be given the opportunity to meet WWII veterans and interact with living historians. Hands-on activities will illustrate various aspects of WWII history. A complimentary guided tour is included during your visit.

Registration and pre-payment is required by Friday, September 21, 2018. Admission is $5.00 per person and children 5 and under are free. Contact the Memorial’s Education Department at (540) 586-3329 ext. 111 or education@dday.org for more information.

New England Aquarium Homeschool Day

All Homeschool tickets must be purchased in advance and a ticket is required for each individual participating.

Homeschool tickets are not available at the front gate and walk-up guests will be charged the General Admission rate. Annual passholders do not need to purchase general admission tickets. 

National Park Service - Free 4th Grade Student Pass

Nashville Zoo Homeschool Day -  These engaging programs encourage home school students to learn about the importance of conservation by exploring the world of animals. These are both enjoyable and educational programs that feature live animal presentations, hands-on activities, animal artifacts and an activity out on the Zoo trail (weather permitting) that will help students make connections between the lesson content and Nashville Zoo animals.

NASCAR - Kids Free and discount tickets.

National Aquarium Homeschool Day - 

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Newport Aquarium Homeschool Day - Enhance your science curriculum and expand your child's knowledge of marine life and conservation while creating lasting memories together. Visit Newport Aquarium for Homeschool Days when admission is only $13.99 per person and no minimum is required.

North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher - home schools are offered free general admission for a self-guided tour once per year. 

North Carolina Zoo - Homeschoolers receive free admission to the zoo when registering 15 days prior to visiting.

Old Sturbridge Village Homeschool Days

Orioles Kids Cheer Free Program

Orlando Science Center Homeschool Days

Pizza Hut Book it Program -

Motivating children to read by rewarding their accomplishments with pizza.

Plimoth Plantation - Spend the day in the 17th century! Homeschool Students and their Families are invited to visit our Living History Exhibits including the 17th-Century English Village, Wampanoag Homesite, and Plimoth Grist Mill for a discounted admission rate.

Pocono Raceway - Kids Free offer: Children, ages 12 and under, will receive FREE Admission to 100 and 200 levels of the Grandstand, as well as Fan Fair, for all Friday, Saturday and Sunday events during NASCAR and INDYCAR event weekends in 2019.

Kids ages six and under are FREE in the 100 and 200 Level of the Grandstand, as well as Fan Fair, for The Great Pocono Raceway Air Show in 2019. Kids ages seven-12, are half priced in the 100 and 200 Levels for the Air Show. All kids, ages 12 and under, are half priced in the 300 Level of the Grandstand for the Air Show. All attendees, regardless of age, will be required to have a reserved ticket for Grandstand, Fan Fair and Gate admission for the Air Show.

Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokey’s 

San Diego Zoo - Kids Free in October

Sea Life Homeschool Day - Homeschool Families are welcome to join us every Tuesday throughout the year to explore our Aquarium with family and friends. There is NO minimum number required to visit our attractions on Tuesdays. Groups of 10 or more can schedule a visit Monday through Friday and receive the same discounted rate. In addition, homeschool families can add a Discovery Program for no additional cost.  Each of our Discovery Programs is aligned with Florida State Standards.

Six Flags Over Georgia - White Water Homeschool Day

Spelman College - Family Tours: Individual & Family Campus Tours

Family tours consists of five (5) or less guests. Tours are offered Monday through Friday at 11AM and 2PM. Saturday tours are offered once per month. Please select a date from the calendar located below to begin scheduling your visit to campus.

Spelman College Historical and Elementary Tour

Sunday River - Kids Ski Free Week’s

Tennessee Aquarium Homeschool Day - Homeschool families and groups can receive discounted admission to the aquarium during this event. Your ticket includes access to all of the Aquarium's daily animal programs and additional 15-minute auditorium programs between 10 am and 2 pm. Homeschoolers will also receive 10% off in the gift shops on this day as well as an opportunity to sign up for a membership at a 10% discount.

·         Children (ages 3-18) - $8 Aquarium/$13 Aquarium + IMAX

·         Adults - $24.50 Aquarium/$32.50 Aquarium + IMAX

Titanic Museum 

UC Berkeley Campus Tour

US Capitol Tour - Advanced Reservations requires

Wilderness at the Lodge

Wonderworks 

Zoo Atlanta Homeschool Day - Bring your homeschool students to explore Zoo Atlanta on your own at a discounted rate! Add to the educational experience by using our standards-based curriculum guides and grade-specific activities before, during and after your visit. Homeschool groups of 10 or more must register at least 7 days prior to the date of your visit to receive the discounted school admission rate of $9.99.Groups of 9 or less are welcome on the first Tuesday of every month. No advanced reservation required. Register as a walk-up at any admission window upon arrival for Homeschool Field Trip Day for $10.99 + tax.

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A weekend in Las Vegas with kids. Family friendly things to do and restaurants in Las Vegas.

[havekiddoswilltravel]

Las Vegas VLOG Trip Report. Things to in Las Vegas with kids.