I don’t know if it’s because of my recently-published essay about Florence or the fact that I’ve been sent a few books about Tuscany to review, but I’ve had Italy on the brain lately. This photo offers evidence that Tommy will be returning to Rome, having thrown his requisite two coins in the Trevi Fountain (one is for a wish, the other is to ensure a second visit, as if the siren call of the city weren’t enough to make that happen). Matt and I of course also threw our coins in, so clearly a family trip is in order.

We have no plans to visit Italy any time soon, but I’m wondering if perhaps next spring we might try to get ourselves there. I’d love to make an Easter pilgrimage, not to Rome, famously busy then, but to the villages in the Castelli Romani region where we would drive through the blossoming hills, stopping to sample the white wine and roast pork that the area is famous for.

I share this picture as part of Photo Friday at Delicious Baby. Have a great weekend!

Visiting the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art made me a fan of seeing original versions of pictures from famous books. Like meeting a movie star in person, there’s something thrilling about encountering a much-beloved picture out of its normal context, larger and more vibrant. Unnoticed details become apparent. Curated exhibits also offer the chance to see an artist’s process through sketches, notes, and examples that didn’t make it into the final version.

Dinotopia: The Fantastical Art of James Gurney now on exhibit at the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington is a great chance not only to see some magical paintings, but to learn what goes into the making of this gorgeous collection of children’s books. The premise of the stories is that a Victorian explorer and his son are shipwrecked on an island where humans and dinosaurs live together as equals. The books are narrated by the explorer and include his illustrations and observations about the animals.

On display in this exhibit are numerous paintings from a variety of different books in the series as well as some of the models Gurney used in creating them – his process involves actually sculpting or building three-dimensional versions of the fantastical buildings he then paints for his books. He also takes photos of his friends and neighbors and uses them as models for the citizens of his magical land. The result is fascinating – a fully realized alternate reality where carts are pulled by pachycephalosauruses and where a boy’s best friend might be a triceratops.

Viewing these paintings wasn’t the only pleasure for our family; it was also in discovering an entirely new series of books. I can’t quite believe that these weren’t in our library before (trust me, we immediately rectified that situation in the museum’s gift shop).

Of course, this exhibit isn’t all there is to see here. I owe this gem of a museum a full post and promise to deliver later this spring. From the phenomenal collection of Pre-Raphaelite art with accompanying children’s activities to the Kids’ Corner where children can interact with art in a variety of ways (including touching it) there is something here for children of all ages.

The Dinotopia exhibit runs through May 16, 2010. Visit the website for museum hours and also to see the workshops for kids and adults, including one with James Gurney himself.

Image of The Excursion, from Dinotopia: The World Beneath. James Gurney (born 1958). Oil on board mounted to plywood, 28 x 42 inches. Collection of the artist. © 1995 James Gurney. All rights reserved. Used with permission of The Delaware Art Museum.

I’ll admit that this Monday morning I’m singularly uninspired. I just returned from a week in Vermont where I was helping out my father after surgery. Teddy and Matt both have the stomach flu. And I’m supposed to bring soup for the teacher’s lunch at preschool (thankfully I’ve got it all made).

This is one of those moments when my imagination escapes me and although I’d love for my situation to be different, it’s hard for me to think about being anywhere else. But the weather is improving, the yard is visible after weeks of snow, and there are crocuses poking their heads above the ground in my front flower bed. All this has me dreaming of spring in the Brandywine Valley. I’ve got lots of plans for some lovely outings in northern Delaware and southeastern Pennsylvania the upcoming months, including one to Winterthur where the photo above was taken.

I hope your Monday is a little less full of illness than mine! Please feel free to share a link to your own inspiration below, making sure you link directly to your post, not your site’s homepage and that you link back to this post. Questions? See About Monday Dreaming.

One of my favorite travel websites is Wanderlust and Lipstick, which recently sponsored the terrific WanderWomen Write contest. Although I didn’t win a trip to Vietnam, I am proud to share that my essay “The Return” was a finalist in the Family Fun category.

I hope you enjoy this story about my first visit to Florence as a mother. And be sure to take a look at some of the other winning entries including the grand prize essay “Building a Family in Kenya” by JoAnna Haugen. Armchair travel at its best! Happy reading to all.

It’s not often on this blog that I reveal the less attractive side of my personality to the world. Mostly that’s because I’m in charge of the content, and hey, I like to look good as much as the next person. But I think it’s also due to the fact that travel truly brings out the best in me – the side that is fun, resourceful, creative, and occasionally spontaneous. The happy side as it were.

I’ll admit with some chagrin that for the past few weeks that it is the darker side of my personality that has been more in evidence. This is the part of me that gets weighed down by the pedestrian and feels trapped in her own house. When this Mara comes to stay, I turn into a humorless, impatient person who can’t come up with anything fun to do but who also puts the kibosh on too many video games or too much TV. Oh, and did I mention that she’s a complainer?

This side is, unfortunately for my children, the one that shows up when a series of snow days comes along and wipes the slate clean of all my plans. And when those snow days are followed by a week-long head cold and then still more snow days, during the last of which my husband is out of town, the anti-Mara takes over as relentlessly as the weather. This past Friday the world seemed so small and impossible that I actually put the children in the car and attempted to drive to my sister’s house as I had planned earlier in the week even though it had stormed on Thursday night and school was canceled. I drove through blowing snow, jaw clenched, until I reached a steep patch of road in rural Pennsylvania that had not been plowed. Here I at last realized my own folly, turning around rather than risking a run into the ditch.

Three hours in the car and I was back at my own door with two very unhappy children and my own guilty face in the rearview mirror.

I’m pleased to report that Good Mara returned at that moment, rented Ponyo, and let the children watch it while they ate yummy quesadillas that she whipped up using a variety of odds and ends from her fridge. They both had “special drinks” (chocolate milk for one and pomegranate syrup in tonic water for the other) lots of cuddles, and then a good long read aloud before bed.

And I was kind to myself as well after the children were tucked in bed pouring a generous glass of Vigonier and then remembering that I hadn’t yet found a hotel room for the 2010 Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) Conference, which I attended in Chicago last year. This year’s edition will take place at the end of June in New York City and it promises to be both fun and enlightening. Within the hour I proceeded to find a deal at the swanky Cooper Square Hotel (thank you Meg of Backpack to Buggy who posted the link on Twitter). I then banished anti-Mara completely with daydreams of a quiet train ride followed by a day of walking and museums and then a weekend of learning and merriment with many of the online pals whose blogs I so admire.

One new aspect of the conference that I’m excited about this year is the Community Keynote. Travel bloggers have been invited to submit posts in a variety of categories. The winning posts will be read at the conference and linked from the TBEX website. I am planning to submit an entry and may even offer you, my dear readers, a chance to help select which post I send in.

And so my Monday dream is a mixed on this week: no more snow days this winter, a grown-up trip to Manhattan, and having my writing validated by colleagues I respect. But most of all I dream that the Mara I like – the Traveling Mom Mara – sticks around, even when she’s stuck at home.

What are you dreaming of this Monday? Please feel free to share a link below, making sure you link directly to your post, not your site’s homepage and that you link back to this post. Questions? See About Monday Dreaming.

People who live in Delaware tend to be a little sensitive about the size of their state. It’s understandable: it is small and not everyone realizes its significance – or even statehood for that matter (I’ve had people ask me if Delaware is a town in New Jersey). Things have improved a bit now that Joe Biden is working in the White House, but I have a feeling that many of us could still justify sporting our “Dela-where?” t-shirts. For a lot of people the word Delaware conjures up nothing more than 12 miles of I-95 with a toll at either end.

This post isn’t meant to extol Delaware’s virtues as a tourist destination generally (although it does have them and that might have to be a subject of a future post), but rather to let those of you who are cruising through on your way to other places that there happens to be a great urban nature preserve that’s just minutes from the bustling highway that you think is the state’s only reason for existing. It’s an ideal spot to stretch your legs, let your kids run around, and maybe see some foxes, hawks, or even a bald eagle.

The Russell W. Petersen Urban Wildlife Refuge is 212 acres of protected urban wetland along the Christina River just outside downtown Wilmington. It is named after an environmentalist and former governor of Delaware who helped realize the Coastal Zone Act of 1972, which protected Delaware’s inland bays and waterways by banning heavy industry along them. Last fall, the DuPont Environmental Education Center opened in the refuge. Owned by a private development corporation, it is staffed and run by the Delaware Nature Society, a premier environmental and educational organization in the state of which I am a proud member.

During the first week of February, I took advantage of a lull between storms that left a total of three feet of snow over much of Northern Delaware (and had the kids out of school for an entire week) to pay a visit.

The place is a fascinating intersection of the industrial and the natural. Freight trains thunder over a sculptural bridge that spans the river.

To the north, the banks and churches of Wilmington stretch skyward. Not too far in the distance traffic hums by, the murmur of cars and trucks punctuated by the cries of Canada geese landing in the marsh.

On the day we were there, fox footprints dotted the snow.

A small botanical garden, which is beautifully landscaped and in warmer weather has series of stone-line paths and waterfalls, is a delightful place to play. Tommy and Teddy made do in the snow, playing on the artful sculptures designed to look like fallen trees and overseen by a metal owl.

We also admired the statue of Governor Petersen, who presides over all holding his binoculars (as a former president of the National Audubon Society should) and wished we had shovels to clear the snow from the paths.

Inside the education center you can get information on what types of wildlife have been spotted recently.

There are also several interactive exhibits. One shows a map of the marsh. Push different buttons and you can see the various flora and fauna that inhabit the place and where they have been sighted. Another exhibit offers the chance to learn about the human history of the marsh, from the very first people who inhabited it through the present day. Particularly interesting were the photos from just a few years ago showing the veritable junkyard that lined the river. It’s always amazing how quickly nature can reclaim even the most blighted areas.

The snow kept off us off the boardwalk that normally serves as a viewing spot for all kinds of wildlife. But we did get to see it from the lovely third floor room, which has windows all around and a balcony. The building still smells of the Western Red Cedar used to build it and is so bright and open to the environs that it’s almost like being outdoors.

This is a four-season kind of place – small enough that it will be great to bring the boys back so that they can compare the snow-covered landscape with the pale greens of early spring and the tall grass of summer. We’ll want to come back with binoculars at a time when we can cover every inch of the boardwalk, peering into the water to spy tadpoles, frogs, dragonflies, and maybe even a snapping turtle.

The Petersen Wildlife Refuge and DuPont Environmental Education Center are worth a visit if you live in the area. But I also recommend them as a pit stop for anyone who is trekking up or down I-95 en route to Philadelphia or Washington D.C. The area would make a lovely spot for picnic or just a place to stretch your legs. A walking path links the center with the Wilmington riverfront, leading all the way over to the train station (the one that Joe Biden so famously traveled to Washington from every day while he was in the Senate). Should you choose to walk it there are a variety of restaurants and lots of interesting industrial remnants to admire like gantry trains painted in a variety of primary colors.

But my favorite part of the whole place may be the bridge that stretches up to the education center. It’s a great place to admire the view or run headlong into the river wind.

The Petersen Refuge is easily accessible from Interstate 95 (don’t take the 495 bypass around Wilmington). The outside area is open daily from dawn to dusk; building hours are available on the website. The Delaware Nature Society offers a variety of different educational programs at the center, including day programs and summer camps.

There are lots of things I love about writing a travel blog. I love how it brings a sense of possibility into the most dreary of days. When I’m feeling homebound or tied down all I have to do is poke around my own site for a few moments to remember all the places I’ve been and those still to come. And I love the people I’ve “met” online – the community of wanderers who have wonderful adventures and take beautiful photographs and inspire me to add still more locations to my bucket list.

But perhaps what I love most of all is how the site has meant an end to inertia, how it has led me to look at my life as one big opportunity for exploration. Not that I didn’t travel before, but I was less spontaneous and creative about it. I’m so much more likely now to pick up and go, to fit trips in, to add a flight so that I can cover more ground because really, what else better have I got to do? Case in point: in a few weeks we will once again be making our annual spring-break trip to Phoenix to visit Matt’s parents. Matt also needs to go to Los Angeles on a business trip. Originally he was going to fly to L.A. solo the week prior to spring break and then drive to Arizona to meet me and the boys but as we discussed our plans one evening a few weeks ago he said, “why don’t you see if you can get a one-way ticket to Los Angeles for you and the boys? You could fly out a few days after I leave and meet me there instead.”

So I did. Simple as pie and no more expensive than flying to and from Phoenix. And now we’ll get to visit with the boy’s great grandparents who live in California, see the lovely little house in Pasadena where we spent a very happy three months (it’s where Tommy turned two), and introduce Teddy to the LaBrea Tar Pits, the Pie n’ Burger, and the Pacific Ocean.

I’m also hoping that we will get to see some of the gray whales that every winter and spring make the long journey down the coast from Alaska to Mexico and back again. We’ll be there at the point when the mothers who have had calves should be swimming from Baja to the Bering Sea. Teddy’s passion for marine animals has only increased since our trip to Atlantis, and today I’m dreaming of taking a boat ride under that impossibly blue California sky, looking as hard as we can for blows and then hoping to see the magnificent tails curving out of the water. I think we’ll probably do this as part of a visit to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, which is a lovely place with an especially wonderful outdoor interactive exhibit where visitors can touch and feed some of the animals. We’ll also be stopping by the Point Vincente Interpretive Center in Rancho Palos Verdes, which has an exhibit and information about the whales and is on a peninsula that affords great views of them as they pass by.

What are you dreaming of this Monday? Please feel free to share a link below, making sure you link directly to your post, not your site’s homepage and that you link back to this post. Questions? See About Monday Dreaming.

Photo courtesy of eco-photography via Flickr.

A glorious October day by the fountain in Trafalgar Square. Of course, here’s what we really want to do:

And this:

All this before sitting down for a snack of raisins in front of Nelson’s Column:

And then riding the double decker bus home:

Looking at these photos I realize how long it’s been since we were in London. I’m getting very excited to plan our adventure there this summer.

I share these pictures as part of Photo Friday at Delicious Baby. Have a great weekend!

Since I got the entire family excited about skiing at Mad River last month, I decided that I should start exploring some of the ski areas in eastern Pennsylvania. My hope is to find a place where next year we could maybe buy a season’s pass or discount card so that we can spend some weekends skiing, keeping our legs in shape for trips to the bigger mountains.

First on the list was Bear Creak Mountain, almost exactly two hours from our front door and very doable as a day trip. So on the Saturday of the Presidents’ Day holiday weekend we were up and out the door at 7 a.m., Pocono-bound.

I had signed both the boys up for the morning ski programs for kids and was impressed by how well-organized they were. Although there was a crush of people waiting in line when we got there, we found that it moved quickly. The people behind the desk were friendly and efficient. While parents signed a release, they gave each child a lift ticket and a bib with his or her name before moving them quickly into a large room where they were sized and matched with any equipment they needed.

Travel-with-kids tip: If you’re interested in the kids’ programs at Bear Creek and are planning to ski on a weekend, you should reserve spots online. We saw several people who were turned away because they hadn’t done so.

For $80 apiece the children got all of their equipment including helmets (which they were entitled to use all day), a two-and-a-half hour group lesson, and an extended-day ticket that allowed them to ski until 10 p.m. When we picked them up at noon, each of their instructors gave us a written report card and also took the time to tell us exactly what the boys did and what they needed to work on.

Since the ski school personnel took over suiting up the boys, shooing away the parents and telling us to return at lunchtime and no sooner, within fifteen minutes of arrival we were childless and able to get our own tickets and rental gear. We were up on the “mountain” (more of a big hill really) soon after, enjoying the great packed powder.

One thing that impressed me about this ski area was the way they use multiple lifts and clever divisions of trails to segregate novice skiers, hot-dogging snowboarders, and those who just want to ski. There’s a lift for beginners and a terrain park for the boarders with lots of jumps, steps, and other toys aimed at those who want to be airborne.

It’s not a big place, and it was pretty crowded the day we were there. But I never felt overwhelmed by the crowd or unsafe because of it. Although I do wonder how skied off it gets when the conditions aren’t as perfect as they were thanks to the storms that dumped feet of snow during the previous week. There are lots of snowmaking guns, but with all of the people going down on boards, I’m guessing it probably gets icy.

The trails are aptly marked. There are a few legitimate black diamond trails with some nice moguls. The only wish I had was that the runs were a little longer – it often felt like my legs were just warming up when I hit the bottom of the trail. But I’d have to trade time in the car to get more vertical, and I’m not sure I’d want to drive more than 4 hours for a day trip.

We ate lunch in the Mountain Eatery, which is the main cafeteria and a very nice space with picture windows overlooking the slopes and big stone fireplaces. The food was surprisingly good – I had a fantastic buffalo chicken cheesesteak and Matt and Tommy had very tasty hamburgers. But lunch for four people came in at $42, so I think I would be inclined to bring lunch next time. Other eating options include the Grille , which has a pretty decent looking pub menu,some fancier fare, and a full bar. There’s also the Trail’s End Café, which judging from the menu offers a good mix of soups and salads – but it’s located in a different building, away from the main lodge.

Travel-with-kids tip: The Waffle Hut, which dispenses Belgian waffles topped with powdered sugar or other toppings sits at the bottom of the one of the chairlifts. We didn’t try them, but they smelled great and I’m guessing they make for a fun mid-afternoon treat.

After lunch I took some runs with Tommy for the first time (you may recall that at Mad River, his grandparents kept him to themselves). He was tired, so we only did about three runs, but I was impressed with the progress he had made. His instructor was completely accurate in his assessment that he needs to work on his “French fry” turns, keeping his skis and legs together as he traverses. But he’s definitely skiing – if we could get out more often, he’d probably be an intermediate skier before this season was over. I’ve enjoyed few things more in my life than cruising down the hill in his wake.

While Matt, Tommy, and I were out in the afternoon, Teddy hung out in the daycare center, which was just fine with him. It wasn’t a big space (and was dominated by a large TV) but he had a good time and the young women who worked there were very nice. For $6 per hour, I was satisfied.

Travel-with-kids tip: If you’ve got a child who’s a non-skier, you might consider the snowtubing park, a big sledding hill which has a carpet lift. It costs $28 per day on the weekend and is not included in the price of lift ticket. Bear in mind that your child must be at least 6 years old and 42 inches tall.

We were at Bear Creek on a holiday weekend and it was busy, although not as busy as I expected it to be given the tremendous amount of snow that fell the week before. And they are clearly prepared for crowds. Every area of the resort, from the ski school to the rental area to the lifts was more than adequately staffed with cheerful young people who kept things moving at a good clip.

Although I found the kids’ programs to be a good value (especially since my kids needed equipment) the adult lift tickets and rentals were pretty pricey. Matt and I paid the same price for ourselves as we did for each of the boys and of course neither of us got a lesson. We were paying peak rates, since it was a holiday weekend.

I liked Bear Creek. It has a friendly vibe and nice terrain. But given the limited size of the area and the fact that we don’t always get great snow down here, I’m not sure I’d spring for a season’s pass next year (it was $1600 this year to get an unlimited one for the entire family). I think I’d be more inclined go for the discount cards, which would give us each one free anytime lift ticket and decent discounts on both weekday and weekend tickets.

I’ll also be looking into purchasing equipment for me and Matt and leasing it for the boys, because after another fun day outdoors on the snow, it’s clear to me that we’re now official a family of skiers!

Bear Creek Mountain is located in Macungie, Pennsylvania, about an hour from Philadelphia and 90 minutes from Wilmington, Delaware.

I’ve admitted that until I was invited on the Jet Adventure trip I never had considered taking a beach-resort vacation of this type. Which of course means now that I’ve had the chance to do it the $60 question is whether I would do so again at the Atlantis Resort and on my own dime.

My answer to that question is, well, possibly, yes.

That said I do have some definite ideas about what kind of vacation I would plan with my family, with the goal not only of having the most fun, but also of spending my money wisely. Were I to return to Atlantis I would:

• Stay at the Beach or Coral Towers, which have smaller rooms that cost less to book than the Royal Towers. There are several reasons I would do this. I liked that side of the resort, which is a little quieter since it is away from the water park. The public spaces in the Royal Towers are opulent and ornate and definitely worth a look. Happily, they are also accessible to anyone who is a guest of the resort. The rooms at the Royal Towers are more centrally located (they are right next to both The Dig and the AKA Club). But that can be a disadvantage too – on the Saturday night of our stay a reggae band played disco music (no I’m not confused – it was most certainly disco reggae – Y.M.C.A. and all) at the pool outside our room. They stopped at 10 p.m., but I have no need to be close to that center.
• Purchase the more expensive of the two meal plan options (called “Casual” and “Gourmet”) so that I could be sure to eat at some of the higher end restaurants – the buffets just wouldn’t do it for me. And I’d budget either for in-room babysitting or a few evening sessions in the AKA Club so that Matt and I could enjoy a few evenings out without the kids.
• Take as much advantage as possible of the considerable amenities that came with the price of our room and which are unique to the place such as the gorgeous grounds and pools, the beaches, all of the aquariums and lagoons, and the water park.

  One tip about how best to do so: since the pools don’t open until 9 and close at 5, Teddy and I found that early in the morning and after dinner were wonderful times to explore. It often felt like we had our own private resort because there were so few people around. Seeing The Dig after dark, when it is illuminated, was especially spectacular.

• Avoid the temptation to spend money on extras like race cars, stuffed animals, spa treatments, shopping, and gambling (not that the last two hold much allure for me). Since I can hop in my car and do any of these things within ten minutes of my house, I don’t view them as critical components of a fun vacation.
• Get online and on Twitter and dig for information about the best local hangouts for Bahamian food – and make sure we visited a few of them. I’d also plan to spend some time exploring Nassau.

I would also consider budgeting for any package deals that had the children playing with LEGOs, swimming with dolphins, or getting a behind-the-scenes look at the aquariums and marine life. That includes the LEGO Fantasy Camps and some of the AKA Club programs.

This wouldn’t be a cheap trip by any stretch of the imagination, but we could save some money by traveling at off-peak times and taking advantage of companion airfare packages. By way of example, we could get to Atlantis for five days and four nights this summer and pay $1000 for a room in the Beach or Coral Towers. The Gourmet Dining Plan would be another $1650 for all four of us. We’d be eligible for free companion airfare, and assuming we could find a flight that worked we’d be looking at $530 per day – and that would be before we’d had lunch, swum with any marine life, hired a babysitter, or had one fruity alcoholic drink.

Teddy is certain that we will return to Atlantis and talks about it all the time. And Tommy, who is a candidate for sainthood for the grace and equanimity he has shown in the face of a brother who swam with dolphins, would like to go there too.

I’m not sure that a trip there fits with either our family’s budget or our typical vacation style. But I’m not categorically ruling it out either. Which is why I like to travel – one trip can change your mind and your perspective in ways you didn’t expect.

This post is part of a series I wrote about my tip to the Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island Bahamas. If you enjoyed it, you might also be interested in:

Lost city of Atlantis

Swimming with the dolphins

Atlantis Kids Adventure

Legos in paradise

Racecars, pottery, and stuffed animals – oh my!

The Atlantis Resort from top to bottom

Almost all of the expenses for my trip were paid for by LEGO, JetBlue, and the Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, Bahamas. But I was under no obligation to write about my experience, was not compensated for this post, and the opinions it contains are (you guessed it) my own.