| When I had my first baby, my sister gave me lots of invaluable advice. She told me how to change diapers, clip baby fingernails, potty-train my toddlers, etc. But, one of the best things she ever told me was to purchase about 30 photo albums so that whenever I had a roll of film developed, I could immediately put the pictures into a new family album. Her rules were very simple: Never fall behind. Make sure the albums match so they look good on a shelf.
That was 10 years ago. Neither of us knew that digital photos of our kids would take over our lives and our hard drives. HEEELLLP! What is a busy mom to do?
My goal as the Family Travel Expert is to simplify family travel. I am trying to help other parents figure out the easiest ways to chronicle their own travels with kids.
After the winter break, the big question all of my friends had is “What do I do with all my vacation pictures?”
My suggestion is to create virtual memories with an on-line scrapbook. No good friend or relative – no matter how much they love your kids – wants to view an entire “album” of 250 pictures from your Walt Disney World vacation.
I have made a sample of my “Smilebox,” which I hope you will enjoy. Here's the link:
The Michaels family spent the winter break right here at home in Florida. My kids spent hours on the giant blow-up water slide in front of the Tradewinds Island Resorts on St. Pete Beach and they even went Parasailing on Clearwater Beach in front of the Hilton, Clearwater Beach Resort. We had a perfectly clear day, as you will see.
I picked my favorite pictures, chose a beach theme and put the scrapbook together for friends and relatives. It was very easy to make and took less than 30 minutes!
I e-mailed it to aunts, uncles and grandparents and some friends in Chicago to make them jealous of our hot, sunny December weather.
If you watch the virtual scrapbook and get really jealous that you cannot actually make it to Florida this month, why not try this activity with your kids.
Make some Florida Orange Juice. My son and his friend Sophia, who was visiting us from Chicago, had a total blast squeezing the oranges in the juicer. I recommend this activity, as it keeps them very busy while you are scrap-booking. Plus, it's always nice to have some fresh-squeezed juice as a treat when you are done! Hopefully, you will at least feel like you are still on your Florida vacation – while the snow piles up outside. |
