LilSugar

National Train Day: Whistle Down the Tracks

babysugar — Thu, 08 May 2008 07:00:41 -0700

If your lil one is obsessed with trains as mine is, make sure you have plans to celebrate the first annual National Train Day this Saturday.

The event, celebrates the 139th anniversary of the day the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railways were joined to create the first transcontinental railroad.

To make the anniversary, and inaugurate a new celebration, Amtrak is hosting events at its four largest stations, Washington, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Each location will have different activities for guests, including live musical performances, train simulators, exhibits, VIP appearances and trip giveaways. The Today show’s Al Roker is serving as the event’s national spokesperson and will be at Washington, DC’s Union Station to kick off the festivities.

If you aren’t lucky enough to be located in one of the event cities, Amtrak has provided a number of ideas to help you create your own celebration - to learn about them, read more.

But, don't let geography hold you back from festivities. Why not create your own chuga chuga choo choo party for your child and a few of his closest friends. Amtrak has a number of suggested train-theme activities for your party, our favorites include:

Train model building contests
Coloring contests – you can find printable train images here
Train-themed cake or cookie decorating contests – why not provide them with train shaped cakes they can decorate on their own
Train song karaoke – there are a number of train songs you could use, such as Dan Zane’s "Catch That Train," Laurie Berkner’s “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” Gladys Night and the Pips’ “Midnight Train to Georgia,” and the O’Jays’ “Love Train”

More activities, and downloadable images of the National Train Day logo in poster and sticker formats can be found on the Host Your Own Event page of the site. So get your engines turning and start planning!

Dude Ranches Offer a Dusty Good Time For the Entire Family!

LilSugar — Fri, 22 May 2009 08:00:43 -0700

City folks looking to let loose in the wild, wild West? Make reservations at a dude ranch. They offer parents and kiddos a getaway full of fresh air and wide-open spaces and offer lessons in how to ride horses, round up cattle, fish in salmon-filled rivers and enjoy life the western way.

Like all-inclusive beach resorts, these down-home vacations include lodging, drinks, meals and entertainment, only here the entertainment includes guided horseback riding, rock climbing, white-water rafting and fishing. Activities differ depending on the type of facility you go to - some are more like resorts with pools and spas - while others are full working ranches that breed and train horses year-round.

To see some of the ranches catering to families, read more.

Pinegrove Ranch in New York's Catskills may be heaven on earth for kids. In addition to the all-you-can-eat meals, there is a chuck wagon of snacks and ice cream available all day. Daily riding sessions and activities like miniature golf, tennis and a petting zoo will keep the family occupied throughout the day.
Rancho de los Caballeros in Arizona offers one of the nation's top golf courses in addition to 20,000 acres of rolling hillsides on which the ranch's 100 horses can be ridden. The ranch's tot program includes morning instructional rides and swimming, tennis clinics, hiking, scavenger hunts or crafts.
Sundance Trail Guest Resort in Colorado is one of the smaller ranches only allowing seven families to visit at one time. In addition to the standard horseback riding, the resort offers rock climbing, fishing, kayaking and the opportunity to gather eggs from the hen house.
Colorado's Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch hosts six-night dude ranch vacations over the course of the Summer. The historic working horse and cattle ranch offers guests the opportunity to go on cattle drives and cattle roundups, fishing and hiking trips and scenic tours.

Photo courtesy of Sundance Trail Guest Resort

Website lil Loves: Kaboom!

LilSugar — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 05:00:33 -0700

Spending the afternoon at our local playground is something that most of us take for granted, but for some, the cherished gathering spots are the result of a community effort to create safe and enjoyable areas for lil ones to explore. KaBoom!, a national non-profit group based out of Washington, DC, believes that outdoor, unstructured play is beneficial to tots of all ages and works with communities to build playgrounds. Since 1995, KaBoom! has led more than 1,500 playground construction projects - built by all-volunteer forces on single-day builds. The organization has also provided training and grants to build an additional 2,000 playgrounds across the country.

With the goal of providing a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America, KaBoom! offers the KaBoom! Playspace Finder, which allows you to enter, search, and rate play-spaces in your community. The free, searchable directory identifies playgrounds, skate parks, sports fields and ice rinks across the country, and allows visitors to add and rate play-spaces that are not yet listed.