Coming to America
arun on Jun 28 2007 at 8:57 am | Filed under: family diary | Click here to go HOME | or find out about SUBSCRIBING TO THE PIT |
We are extremely excited! We have recently decided to visit the USA in October.
We would love to be there for the Live and Learn Unschooling Conference but we have to attend my cousins wedding in Australia in late September so could not swing it this year (maybe next time?).
One of the main reasons for our visit is that Anne & I both will be participating in a conference related to our organic business from October 26 to the 29th, in Irvine California.
We consequently need to find someone special to look after our children for those four days in late October, in Irvine. Our main criteria is that they are friendly & loving enough to connect and have fun with our kids. If you might be that person or know that person please email us at life [at] chooseorganics.com with a phone number so we could have a chat…
We are also probably going to visit New York, San Francisco and Seattle. So please post a comment if you are in those areas and/ or have tips on family friendly places to see or stay… or if you have any travel tips for travelling with a 5 year old and 1 year old – we are open to any words of wisdom or even words of slight intelligence at this point 
I grew up in New York City and yes there is a lot to do there. Lately when we visit we either go to the American Museum of Natural History (give yourself a full day along with the Diana Ross play ground which is across the street and great).
For other ideas there Ayun Halliday has lots of great cheap and fun things to do in New York at her website http://www.ayunhalliday.com/ the guide book is great. Also gocitykids.com has lots of ideas as well.
We are moving east this August to Vermont but we might be in New York, as all of my family lives there, send a note of when you’ll be there.
Stacey
Well dang, you’re skipping TN entirely! I really think you’d all have fun in Asheville, which is just over the mountains from here. If you decide to add it to your intinerary, make sure you email us.:)
I can’t recommend Brauer’s Calm (homeopathic liquid from chemist) highly enough for long plane trips! We used it on a very irritable 10mth old Harry and it actually zonked her out for the entire Perth to Sydney trip.
thanks all so far –
Will drop you a line Stacey when we know our dates but thanks for the web link.
We will definitely see you sometime Ren, no doubt at an unschooling conference that you speak at sometime… might not happen overnight… but…
and thanks Casso. Sounds like i need some of that stuff for me too
When Simon and Linnaea were younger and we flew between the U.S. and the U.K. or the U.S. and Japan I packed bags with food and games. The best games were magnet games or board puzzles. Crayons and dot-to-dot books were a big hit. Simon loved to fly (actually still does) on the planes with tvs on the back of the seats. The Nintendo DS’s and new games were important on the trip to Brisbane this year. Food is really important, at least for us, as they don’t ever like the airplane food and they get hungry.
Hope something there helps.
Ooooo…..pick us, pick us! We would love to play with M and Z! Too bad we live a tad too far from the USA.
If you make it to the Seattle area, you are most welcome to stay with us. We’re in the “bedroom community” of Everett, about a half-hour North of downtown Seattle.
We’ll even let you drag us to the organic foodstore and try some new (to us - well, to *me* anyway) foodgroups. (grin!)
Frank (the Twinkie monster) and Ronnie (krewequeen of The Zombie Princess), plus MJ (14) and Chloe (13)
Make sure you go up in the Space Needle in Seattle of course. Green lake park was always nice when we were kids, as was Gasworks park. I have no idea if those are in decent shape anymore as my last few visits to Seattle were very brief. Pike Street market is a blast if you don’t mind walking a lot. Seattle is a lot of fun!
San Francisco has a very nice Arboretum at a park near the Golden Gate Bridge. Darned if I can remember the name right now. It’s a kid friendly park….don’t know if they’d really appreciate the arboretum though.
OH, and if you get down to Portland OR, you MUST visit OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). It’s really great for children and full of interesting, cool stuff. Spend a full day if you can. The waterfront in Portland is great and if the weather holds out there is a wonderful fountain for the kids to play and splash in. The Children’s Museum near downtown is one of the best I’ve ever been in.
Heck, if you make it to Portland, you might as well skip down to Corvallis because some really awesome unschoolers own the best coffee shop in the universe (I haven’t been there, but I’m just SURE it is). Sunnyside Up has a fabulous menu and is extremely kid friendly. Check them out at: http://sunnyside-up-cafe.com/