Best Places To Travel During The Holidays With Your Family

By Joyce Jackson

Thinking about taking your family on a Christmas vacation?

Although it has long been tradition to wait at home for Santa to arrive, a number of American families spend Christmas away from home each year. Christmas vacations are becoming more and more popular and you will likely find that there is a wide variety of fun holiday vacations available to you.

What better place to visit during the holiday season than the North Pole - North Pole, New York that is. Located in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York, North Pole is one of the most magical places to visit during your Christmas vacation. Perfect for kids and kids at heart, North Pole is open for five weekends prior to Christmas during November and December.

Visitors are offered Christmas vacation packages that include meals, lodging, and admission to Santas workshop. Santas Village features shops where you can find the perfect souvenir from your Christmas vacation. There is often live music to keep the crowds entertained and you and your family can enjoy watching glassblowers, puppet shows and other holiday entertainment.

If New York state seems a little far from the real North Pole, try getting a little closer to the real thing by visiting North Pole, Alaska on your Christmas vacation. The Alaskan vacation package also includes a visit to Santas house in the North Pole. Also offered is an optional dog sled ride through Santas village in the North Pole. Enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience as you race through the magical North Pole on an authentic Alaskan dog sled. Like the vacation package in North Pole, New York, the Alaskan North Pole offers one or two night stays during weekends.

The Alaskan North Pole Christmas vacation includes hotel accommodations in nearby Fairbanks and at the Chena Hot Springs Resort. There is also lodging available at the Santaland RV Park. The Santa House also offers a large store where guests to the North Pole can find every type of souvenir from I Believe in Santa hats to Santa Claus Crossing signs and refrigerator magnets. Whether you are two or ninety-two the magic of Christmas in North Pole, Alaska will have you believing in Saint Nick.

If you are traveling before or during the Christmas season, then consider Hershey, Pennsylvania as your vacation destination. The home of Hersheys candy, Hershey Park becomes home to Christmas Candyland, where over one million Christmas lights are put on display. In addition to the lights, the staff at Hershey Park constructs a number of animated displays that are sure to delight both you are your children.

Christmas Candyland is undoubtedly one of the most exciting Christmas time getaways for kids young and old. In addition to Christmas Candyland guests can enjoy the rest of the Park. Hershey Park is a popular destination for travelers year round, as it offers a wide variety of both entertainment and great candy. Christmas Candyland typically runs for a month prior to Christmas.

If your family has never taken a Disney vacation, Christmastime may be the perfect time to do it. In addition to enjoying the Walt Disney World parade which is televised each year from Disney World in Orlando, Florida, your kids will also enjoy seeing all their favorite Disney characters decked out in their Santa hats and Christmas outfits. There are also a number of special Christmas time shows put on in the parks including Mickey Mouses Twas the Night Before Christmas and Belles Enchanted Christmas Storytelling.

These Christmas activities can be great for young children. Giant Christmas trees are erected throughout the parks and lit up with thousands of Christmas lights, bringing the spirit of Christmas alive throughout the already magical Disney World. The weeks around the Christmas season are also times where lodging rates at Disney World resorts are typically lower than the peak season rates.

By traveling during the Christmas season you are likely to get tons of fun at a reduced price. The weather in central Florida during the Christmas season is typically in the mid-70s, a great change of pace if you are used to cold, wintry Christmas seasons. Santas sleigh may have some trouble landing without snow but the magic of the Christmas season is alive and well at Disney World.

About the Author:

Joyce Jackson writes and lectures extensively on great travel tips and getting ready the right way for your trip. Her comprehensive website contains freash, real information, tips, articles and resources so you have a great trip every time you leave home! http://www.travelpacking-tips.com

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How To Find The Best Christmas Gifts For Family And Friends Without Losing Your Sanity

By Bill Duff

Depending on ones perspective, choosing appropriate Christmas gifts can either be a joyful exercise or an avoid-it-until-the-last-possible-minute disaster. Kudos to those who handle buying Christmas gifts with ease: your finesse is to be applauded. For the more wretched shoppers who can use a bit of help, here are some tips to make finding great Christmas gifts a little bit easier:

* Make a list - theres no shame in writing down names and ideas before you hit the stores. Even Santa needs a list to keep track of Christmas gifts! Its a good idea to shop for Christmas gifts for immediate family and close friends first. Once you have all the must-buy-for people stroked off your list, you can concentrate on others people like neighbors. Having a list will also help you avoid unintentionally buying two Christmas gifts for the same person, and if youre working with a limited budget, seeing a written record of everyone you want to shop for gives you an opportunity to trim the list to a more manageable size.

* Shop early - yes, shopping carts grow bigger and more difficult to handle and shoppers desperately combing store shelves for Christmas gifts get even crankier and more unruly as the big day approaches. Bypass the crowds by shopping earlier in the year. Whether youre touring a summertime farmers market or just hanging out at the mall while the kids catch a movie, keep your eyes peeled for possible Christmas gifts you can buy early and have wrapped and ready to go before the first Christmas flyers hit your mailbox. If youre really savvy, and you know someone who loves Christmas, take in the Christmas-themed merchandise sales in early January to find inexpensive ornaments, glassware and other goodies that make great Christmas gifts for those who sing Jingle Bells all year long.

* Go online - the World Wide Web is a Mecca for shoppers of all types and youre guaranteed to find super ideas for Christmas gifts for family and friends without ever having to leave your home! Better yet, if youre a klutz with tape, many online retailers will wrap and ship Christmas gifts to either you or your intended recipient for very little money. The selection of goods that can be found online is incredible, so dont be afraid to try something new when searching for Christmas gifts this year.

* Budget - for a budget to be useful, you have to stick to it. Think about how much you want to spend on Christmas gifts before you shop, and dont despair if you cant afford a lot. Christmas gifts dont have to be expensive to be appreciated. In fact, inexpensive handmade Christmas gifts are often the most cherished items under the tree. Consider crafting your own Christmas gifts: family photo scrapbooks, homemade mustards and gourmet salad dressings, or knitted scarves are all sure to be loved, and require only a little money and a bit of effort to create.

Buying Christmas gifts doesnt have to be difficult. With a little planning and thought, you, too, can have friends and family saying, 'Oh, you shouldnt have!' as they open their Christmas gifts on Christmas morning.

About the Author:

2Shop offers 100% genuine brands at heavily reduced prices. For our range of Christmas Gifts and Christmas Gift Ideas check out our store today.

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The Family that Plays Together. . .

Happy November!  Many families have a regular game night. This might be a specific night that they meet together to play, or it may be whatever night is most convenient and fits into their schedules. Fall is a good time to begin or renew a tradition of family game night because the days are getting shorter, the evenings cooler, and kids and parents are busy all day and need a chance to reconnect.

The Countdown to Christmas Challenge for today is to play a new game. Even the youngest child can have fun playing Memory or Go Fish. Everyone loves a good game of charades.  Break out the board games that you haven’t seen in a while. Here’s a game that is perfect post-Halloween and for parents and kids alike as long as there are no more than 6 players: Spider.

To play Spider, each person needs a sheet of paper, a crayon or pencil, and 1 die (dice). Each person chooses a number from 1 to 6. The youngest person then rolls the die. If she rolls her number, then she gets to draw a circle for the body of the spider. Then the die is passed to the next person. Once each person has drawn a circle, then you start to draw the legs (8 total). If you want the game to continue, then you can add a face. The first person who completes their Spider is the winner!

Congratulations to Laurie!  She is the winner of the assortment of eco-friendly giftsacks in a festive Christmas pattern from Wrapsacks™.

Magnetic Grocery List Notepad

This next week’s giveaway is perfect for planning your trip to the grocery, whether it is a special holiday meal, such as Thanksgiving, or your weekly or monthly shopping trip. ListPlanIt‘s Magnetic Grocery List Notepad has 25 pages, sticks to your refrigerator, and makes a convenient spot to note the things you need.  Once again, you have several ways to enter to win one of two grocery list notepads:

1) leave a comment on this post,

2) tell your friends & followers about 100 Days to Christmas on Facebook or Twitter(so easy to do when you use the Share This button at the bottom of this post) and leave a comment here linking to your profile,

3) subscribe to 100 Days to Christmas‘ RSS feed using a reader or by email and leave a comment here,

4) blog about 100 Days to Christmas then leave a comment here linking to your post.

5) contribute as a member of the 100 Days to Christmas community

One of each of these per day please. You have until November 7 at 6 pm EST to enter.

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