Weekly Column | Taking the Kids

Matt Yemma checks out a blue-footed booby in the Galapagos Islands

Looking back on a memorable holiday trip to Ecuador

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Post published:December 30, 2007
Post category:Destinations Families & Groups Parks & Outdoors Travel Topics Weekly Column
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Have you ever gone to a party on the wrong day? When we arrive Christmas afternoon, the hosts and their kids clearly aren't expecting company. In fact, we catch them snoozing. But we barge in anyway -- we have come so far, after all, to see them. Our hosts, the Sea Lion family, live on San Cristobal island in the Galapagos

SURVIVING THE RELATIVES THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

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Post published:December 23, 2007
Post category:Families & Groups Getting There Travel Topics Weekly Column
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Let's hear it for innkeepers who always have a smile for their guests -- and everyone else who is struggling to keep smiling when hosting family this holiday season, when the visiting toddler drops Goldfish everywhere and the teen refuses to be roused before noon from the family room sofa bed. Did I mention the uncle who falls asleep on the couch before dessert, snoring loudly?

SNARING A LAST-MINUTE HOLIDAY DEAL

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Post published:December 16, 2007
Post category:Backyard Vacations Last Minute Deals Travel Topics Weekly Column
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Honestly, I can't remember anything I saw that day. I could never find that field again (though I do have a picture of it somewhere.) But I'll never forget that glorious I-don't-have-a-schedule feeling. Of course that was long before responsibilities - like children and jobs -- curtailed my freewheeling travel style.

The world famous Rocketts in Radio City Music Hall's annual Christmas Spectacular

SEE THE RADIO CITY ROCKETTES

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Post published:December 9, 2007
Post category:Backyard Vacations Families & Groups Travel Topics Weekly Column
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The next time the kids give you a hard time on vacation, remind yourself that you really are building memories to last a lifetime. Just ask Sheila Dennis. She was a wide-eyed 9-year-old when her parents took her to see the world-famous Rockettes perform at Radio City Music Hall in New York. It was her first trip outside Texas. "I loved the glitter and the color," she said. "I was thrilled."

GIVING THE ELVES SOME TIPS FOR SHOPPING FOR TRAVELING FAMILIES

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Post published:December 2, 2007
Post category:Weekly Column
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I'm lost! Hopelessly, completely lost on a winding, backcountry road somewhere in Westchester County, N.Y. Did I mention it was night and pitch-black? "How could you do this?" asks my aggravated 16-year-old daughter, Mel.

Mel Reg and Andy goofing around at Bandolier National Monument

EXPLORING AN ANCIENT CULTURE IN NEW MEXICO

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Post published:November 25, 2007
Post category:Destinations Parks & Outdoors Travel Topics Weekly Column
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By Eileen OgintzTribune Media ServicesThree hundred and 40.That's how many steps and ladder rungs we climb to Bandelier National Monument (http://www.nps.gov), to crowd into its ancient (dating back to before…