**PRESS RELEASE**

(Calgary, AB Canada, July 21, 2008) — Amber Johnson made a failed attempt to fly solo with her two children back to Colorado last week and spent an extra day recovering at her parent’s home in Calgary.

“I thought the flight to Calgary was bad enough,” Johnson grimaced. “I mean, it was such a headache when they lost Bode’s reservation and we then got stuck in the plane on the runway for hours on end. I thought it could not get worse.”

Sadly for this mother of two, it did. Johnson showed up at the Calgary airport with Hadley (age 4) and Bode (age 2). All went smoothly with check-in and security, after which time Johnson set the children loose to play in the terminal’s play area.

What happened next will go down in the record books as the worst luck ever experienced at an airport within a week. “It was boarding time and we leisurely made our way back to our gate,” Johnson said. “That is when they told me a bird hit the windshield of our plane, causing it to divert and land in another city. Our flight was canceled indefinitely.”

Johnson says instead of rebooking their flight, Canadian law required them to Read on …

Congratulations to Karen Jones, winner of our Healthy Summer gift basket. Stay tuned for next week’s giveaway: a $100 gift certificate for Best Buy!

Are your children getting a little rusty with their alphabet during their summer break? Expose them to Alpha Buddies’ ultra-cool line of shirts to teach them that “B” is really for Bob Marley.

Alpha Buddies creates unique tee shirts by uniting all of the designs with the common theme, “A is for Apple.” Only instead of this conformist approach, they focus on timeless school-themed subjects such as literature, music and art, as well as an “Inspiration Break” to rejuvenate the mind.

They screen print their shirts locally in Denver Read on …

What do you call a household with two sets of twins under the age of five? Twinfinite Chaos, of course. Join us for our interview with our Mama Blogger of the Month who is a sleep-walking mama of five!

Tell us about your “Twinfinite Chaos” clan.

Well, we’re a family of seven, which is just crazy to me. Even though they’re all mine, I still find it hard to believe there are five kids under this roof! My oldest, Kayley, is 13. We have boy/girl twins, Pablo and Mallory, who will turn 5 next month. We also have fraternal girl twins, Lexi and Nikki, who are 3 1/2. My husband Paul is a civil engineer and I’m a stay-at-home mommy.

How do you best handle all the chaos?

The key to keeping a lid on the chaos, at least in our house, is having a specific routine and schedule in place. We literally have a laminated schedule on the kitchen wall Read on …

I have always loved to travel. The problem is, travel has not always loved me. I once journeyed to France for a wedding, only to get lost and miss the entire celebration.

I built a career as a travel writer by writing a humor column about my mishaps. During a meeting with my editor, I made reference to one of my misfortunes on the trail and he professed, “You mean this stuff really happens? I thought you were making it up because there is no way all that could happen to one person!”

Welcome to my life.

When I had a family, there were understandably even more challenges. My recent solo trip home with my children confirmed it: I am the Real[ist] Family Travel Writer. While so many writers expound upon their tried and true tips for “The Perfect Family Vacation,” I keep it real. Family travel is about survival. The only two things that keep me sane are my sense of humor and a huge dose of denial. Maybe Prozac would help, too.

And so as the Real[ist] Family Travel Writer, here are some insights I gleaned from my trip that I summed up as follows to my husband: “Hell is assuredly an easier commute than flying solo to Canada with two young children.” Read on …

Congratulations to Linda Quintana, winner of our family-pack of tickets to Water World!

Summertime is alllll about Kool-Aid, popsicles and junk food…or is it?

Three fantastic companies–Zebra Mix, Snikiddy Snacks and bot fortified water–are banding together for our giveaway to provide your children delicious and healthy alternatives this summer!

Zebra Mix: Whole Foods was sampling this product a couple of months ago and it was love at first bite. There are three organic mixes–Chocolate Cookie, Brownie Bite and Zebra Cupcake and Frosting Kit– and a Safari Baking Map, which allows kids to use step-by step-baking instructions.

One afternoon, my daughter and I tackled all three mixes. She took great delight in following the “map,” which had her check off all the steps, play fun games and follow instructions such as “eat three chocolate chips before placing them in the batter.” Oh, and the best part of all? Eating her creations, of course! Zebra Mixes are available at Whole Foods, Vitamin Cottage and specialty retailers including the Denver Zoo.

Snikiddy Snacks: I was at the height of my diet when these samples arrived in the mail and I only counted them as “half a cheat” because they are healthy (sound logic, right?) Read on …

As backpackers, my husband Jamie and I are minimalists. We pack the bare essentials because we know we will be the ones hauling them into the backcountry.

We had also taken the same approach with car camping…until we saw the light during last weekend’s camping trip to Eleven Mile State Park, a venue that came highly recommended in Family Fun magazine and a rocky, barren venue that I would never recommend in a thousand years. Or in the eleven hundred miles it seemed to take to get us there.

Our friends Tina and Mark are Pack Everything Including the Kitchen Sink kind of campers. There is nothing wrong with this unless you are camping with them and your rations suddenly seem woefully inadequate and you find yourselves begging them to please share just a bite of their pancake, sausage and bacon breakfast to spare you the trauma of your Frosted Flakes without milk.

In addition to having a tent trailer that was stocked to the hilt, they also brought their canoe, a ton of toys, games, bubble whistles, glow-in-the-dark necklaces and a visit from the bead fairy who helped them make bracelets.

My contribution? Paper plates. A lot of them.

Oh, and both of my boys brought diarrhea. A lot of it. Read on …

Congratulations to the three winners of our VTech prize pack giveaway: Jen Merrill, Allison Wagner and Linda Jones!

I have lived in Colorado for five years and just last weekend, I went to Hyland Hills Water World for the first time. I know. It is tough to believe this Canuck who melts in 80-degree temperatures has survived this long without visiting the nation’s largest family water park a.k.a. ultimate cooldown.

My first visit was with my children to checkout Big Top, their latest family-friendly area. The new circus-themed playground spans three acres and features multiple activities for tikes and toddlers to play on the new slides, in a family-style lazy river and with circus animals galore. The area is adjacent to the newly refurbished Fun H2Ouse, which offers hundreds of water gags and activities, the new TurboRacer (my favorite) and three of the highest and fastest slides in North America. I should know. I careened down so fast I got a royal wedgie on one of them.

My second visit was yesterday with our friends Karla, Ivan and their three children. I was a bit nervous about some of the scarier rides but reasoned I would just hang out with my pregnant friend and her seven-year-old son. Until their two teen-agers Rachel and Jesse took me under their wing and dragged me to every freaky ride in the park. “C’mon, it will be fun, Amber.” Note to the wise: teen-agers have a warped sense of entertainment. Read on …