Conference moira::parenting_v3

         This brings back some memories for me as a child.  In the winter
    when we were all getting bored of staying home, my father used to take
    us to the beach (Salisbury Center).  We would have a cookout (yes, in
    February or March!) on the beach.  Afterward, we would go to the center
    and play some indoor games that were still in operation.  We used to
    have a good time.  We did this every winter, so it was a family
    tradition.
    
    Diane
    

    Some ideas:
    
    ~ Museums.  Children's, Science, Aquarium, special exhibits at art or
    historical museums.  Check newspapers for current exhibits and events.
    Eat out at museum cafetria or nearby.
    
    ~ Airport.  From glassed deck, watch planes come and go.  Eat at
    cafeteria.
    
    ~ City walks.  Take stroller and walk an interesting neighborhood in a
    city.  Example:  Boston waterfront at North End.  See ships.  Eat take
    outs at Faniuel (sp?) Hall.  There are usually street musicians, flower
    vendors, and lots of people to watch, as well as toy stores.
    
    ~ Nautical tours.  Fall River, Mass. (?) Albacore submarine in
    Portsmouth, Mass.
    
    ~ Indoor sports.  Bowling. Skating.  Swimming (YM/WCA or guest at
    health club).
    
    ~ FAO Schwarz.(sp?)  Call it a toy museum and have a good time.
    
    ~ Historic recreations.  Sturbridge (check on winter hours).  You can
    duck inside whenever you get cold.  
    
    ~ Parades.  Check nearby city's schedule.
    
    Any of the  above can be part of an overnight trip.  Every state offers
    tourist info including lists of museums and historic sites. AAA is also
    an excellent source for details.  Ask for the book on your geographic
    area of interest.
    
    ~ Have a party at your home for other families with kids.  
    
    We did stuff like this when I was a child and I loved it.  Winter
    indoor favorites included the dinosaurs at NYC's American Museum of
    Natural History, swimming at the Y, art classes, and the airport.  My
    brother loved the hands-on mechanical exhibit at the Newark Museum. 
    Eating out was always a hit, especially hamburgers served from a
    running toy train, and ice cream at Howard Johnsons.  One thing to
    avoid - going to a nature preserve/museum when the trees are bare; too
    depressing.                              

    For a museum - Children's Discovery Museum (Rte. 27, Acton, MA; one
    mile south of Rte. 2)
    
    It's $5.00 a pop to get in, but it's a delightful place geared toward
    the learning style of pre-schoolers.  It's in a converted Victorian
    house and each room is decorated with a different theme; very
    "hands-on".  My 3 year old loved it and the 7 month old got so excited
    she started crawling forward for the first time.  
    
    One caveat - it gets *crowded* on weekends and school vacation.  If
    you're going on Saturday, go early.  The place opens at 9:00.
      

    Check your library or bookstore for a book called "Trips in New England
    with Children".  It offers a list of museums (& parks, I think) with
    directions, cost of admission and descriptions of the attractions.  
    
    Someone gave me a copy of this book several years ago & I find it very
    useful when I'm looking for something new to do.
    
    
    - Terry

    
    All the previous replies give good ideas.  But I am puzzled as to why
    you think cold weather needs to prevent outdoors activities.  My kids
    used to *love* playing outside, going to zoos, having picnics, playing
    catch, "racing" their vehicles (bigwheels, scooters, other toddler
    things), making snow creatures, etc... in cold weather.   Bundle up and
    have a good time.
    
    -m

    I was thinking some more about it.  You want to go overnight. . .
    
    Why not go to a hotel with a nice indoor swimming pool?  If it has a
    shallow end, your child will probably love it.  You and your husband
    could take advantage of the sauna, hot tub, swimming laps, and workout
    room or parcourse.  Kids think hotels are awesome - the long halls,
    elevators, vending machines, and restaurants.  Some resort hotels have
    other features such as video arcades.  City (Boston, NYC) hotels have
    special weekend rates.  Babysitters are often available.  How about
    Montreal?
    
    Add a nearby tourist attraction - museum, historical, or big city - and
    your're in business.
    
    Another idea, on a weekend that's relatively mild (enough for walking): 
    Go to the Bronx Zoo in New York.  Not as crazy as it sounds, you can
    stay in a hotel/motel in White Plains and drive to the zoo which has
    its own secure parking lots.  The Zoo is great, I love it.  It's huge
    and has a cafeteria on premise.  There are neat rides and several
    indoor exhibits including World of Birds (with an indoor tropical
    rainforest and daily thunderstorm), a penguin house (watch them swim
    through a glass wall), red-lit nocturnal animals house, etc.  It's
    worth at least a full-day trip.  From Nashua, White Plains is a 4-5
    hour drive via Worcester, Hartford, and Rt. 84 West to 684 South.
    
    Sounds very luxurious to go away on a weekend.  Have a marvelous time.

    The Marriot in Boston (Long Wharf?) offers family getaway packages
    for various weekends, especially during the school year.  They're
    located right next to the aquarium and only a few blocks from
    downtown, so you can see all the Boston sites. Plus they have the
    swimming pool, etc. for the rooms.  I think some of the other
    hotels, especially the new ones on the Cambridge side of the
    river, offer similar packages. Usually these packages are quite a
    bit cheaper than the regular room rates.
    
    Most of the ski areas have family vacation packages where you get
    the room, lift tickets for yourself, and day care for the kids. 
    Many of the areas, especially in the Jackson NH area, offer other
    winter activities such as skating and sleigh rides as well.  
    
    --bonnie

    I agree with (I think) .4, unless it's pouring buckets, snowing or ice
    storm real bad every daycare situation we've ever had gets the kids out
    every day without exception.
    
    But I do agree it seems to be *that* time of year, the holidays are
    over, and spring can't come soon enough.
    
    I'll feedback after I do a conference the weekend of March 16 at the
    Lowell Hilton.  I've been told the hotel is nice, and one of the things
    they feature is readily available babysitting.  Our group is doing a
    side trip to the Brewery in Merrimack, the Clydesdale Horses would be
    something the kids would like.  (Don't knock it, from Worcester
    County Merrimack is a distance!)  I've been told the Lowell National
    Park area is quite nice, and other tourist spots arn't too far.  How
    about doing a Bed and Breakfast someplace *very* New England, like
    Newburyport or Plum Island?
    
    Before AJ I always surprised my husband by leaving work early on a
    Friday and finding a hotel for the weekend about this time of year, and
    then I'd meet him at the door with our bags and room key in hand! 
    One year it was a poolside room at the Sheraton Lincoln,
    Worcester.Their weekend package has brunch on Sunday, coctails, and
    breakfast on Saturday, with a welcome package of champagne, fruit,
    cheese and cracker basket in the room. 
    Many of the Poolside rooms have either kingsize beds, one has a
    waterbed and one is a two room suite.  Close to home, but still a
    change of scenery.  The one in Sturbridge is quite nice too, and offers
    a similar package, for that matter the Marriott in Worcester does it
    too, but a little more costly.
    
    Have fun planning!
    Lyn

Well, the 2nd anniversary of Juli's adoption finalization is coming up
May 23rd and Jim/I would like to treat her to a mini-vacation (long weekend)
... somewhere she (a 2-1/2 year old) would enjoy.

I was thinking about visiting Storyland and Santa's Village (New Hampshire).
Are they open in May?  How are they?  (I vaguely remember them 35 years ago,
when I was a kid -- and surely they've "improved" and "changed" some since 
then -- I would hope!)

We were also thinking of the White Mountains (caves, animal park, etc.), but
I thought that might be a better trip in another year or two?  Am I wrong?

We'd be looking for a motel (preferably indoor pool), too  (Juli loves
swimming and it's too cold for outdoor swimming in May!).

Any "other" suggestions are welcomed and appreciated, too -- preferably just
a few hours drive from Central Massachusetts.

Dottie

       179   CURIE::POLAKOFF     24-JUL-1990    17  Sesame Place
       264  BPOV04::CARAGIAN     17-AUG-1990     3  Recommendations-where
    						    to cool off
       285   CSCMA::MAYNARD      26-AUG-1990    16  Family Activities,
    						    County Fairs,  Carnivals etc.
       305  WOODRO::CERIA         4-SEP-1990     6  Family Hikes/Picnics in
    						    New England
       358   WINDY::SHARON       20-SEP-1990     7  Seeking places of
    						    interest in Framingham for 
    						    visitors
       538    NOVA::WASSERMAN     3-DEC-1990    22  Childrens' Activity
    						    Museums
       829   CSC32::DUBOIS       12-APR-1991    17  Sightseeing in Mass
       845    LEDS::MELANSON     23-APR-1991     6  Trip to the ZOO
       863  CUPTAY::WATSON       29-APR-1991     5  A young guest, what to do?
       875    CALS::JENSEN        1-MAY-1991     5  Drumlin Farm --
      1069    DDIF::FRIDAY        6-AUG-1991     3  Take the kids to see
    						    the butterflies
      1217    FSOA::DCAKERT      15-NOV-1991    27  Ideas for day after
    						    Thanksgiving?
      1305    NOVA::WASSERMAN     5-FEB-1992     2  McAuliffe Planetarium
    
     
    

    Dottie,
    
    We took Steven to Storyland last summer (he was 20 mos. old)
    and he LOVED it, as did we!  In fact we already have plans
    to return next fall.
    
    "The Official New Hampshire Guidebook" lists Storyland as being
    open daily from Father's day thru Labor day...weekends only from
    Labor day - Columbus day.
    
    Santa's Land is open Mid-June to Mid-October.
    
    I got this book from Employee Activities, if you'd like to borrow
    it, contact me offline.  It has detailed listings of each region
    it's attractions and accomodations.
    
    Linda
    

    Consider the Sturbridge Villiage and vicinity.  There is a nice,
    affordable hotel I think it's a Host Hotel (used to be the Sheraton
    Sturbridge).  We took AJ to the OSV when he was about 2ish, he had a
    ball!  Live animals were the most fun, we got some really memorable
    photo shots.  The hotel sits on a lake, has indoor/outdoor pool and
    swimming in the lake is great too.  Get one of the "suites" (at DEC
    rates by the way) that has a balcony.  Feed the ducks and have a ball. 
    These ducks "expect" to be fed by the way!~
    
    Lyn

Oh, rats!  Santa's Village and Storyland won't be open in mid-May.  We'll
just have to plan it for over the 4th of July (or sometime AFTER Father's
Day).  I think I have a deeper desire to go than Juli!

Sturbridge Village is an excellent idea!  Juli loves "open space" and "animals".
It's fairly "local" to Shrewsbury, too.

BTW ... DEC's "free day at Sturbridge Village" is coming up this month:
Sunday, May 29th.

Our travel agent is holding a "NH Vacation Guide" for us (800 pages!).  Haven't
had a chance to pick it up yet.  Will be more motivated to do so, since
Santa's Village and Storyland are no longer an option (for mid-May).

Please keep all the suggestions coming, please!

Dottie

    
    
    You mentioned that Digital Day at Sturbridge Villiage was
    May 29th, did you mean March 29th?   Every year I hear about
    this the day after and I don't want to miss it again.
    
    Thanks,
    
    Jeanne
    

    TM                                                   
    digital              GMA Employee Activities                  LIVE WIRE
                                                         
    
                   Old Sturbridge Village Corporate Appreciation Day
    
      Old Sturbridge Village is offering Digital employees free admission
    to the village on Sunday, March 29, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.  Immediate family members
    will be admitted at $7 each.  Children under 6 are admitted free. 
    Employees must show their Digital badge.
    
      Lunch is not provided.  The Bullard Tavern cafeteria is open from
    10:30 a.m to 3:30 p.m.
    
      Old Sturbridge Village is located on Route 20, one mile west of the
      junction of Interstate 84 and the Mass. Turnpike, Exit 9 at Sturbridge.