Lots to do in Line: Walt Disney World is a book full of ideas that help pass the time while waiting.

Summer vacation season is here, and a lot of families will be traveling to Disney World. If your family is headed to Disney World, add this book to your Disney planning/reading list: Lots To Do In Line: Walt Disney World by Meredith Lyn Pierce. Just as the book title suggests, you will get ideas on how to pass the time while standing in line, waiting for your turn at Disney World attractions — and learning some interesting Disney trivia as well.

This slim book is easily carried around the World to all four theme parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, turning your waiting time with your children into a game. You can keep score if you want! Even if you have a FastPass for certain rides, you can use the tips in Lots To Do In Line.

I recently waited in line for Soarin’ at Epcot for 75 minutes (!) with my 6-year-old son. A good portion of the line currently faces a wall with videos and games that guests can interact with. That made the wait more fun, but if we had used Pierce’s ideas, we would have first looked closely at The Land pavilion before getting in line and tried to see how much we could remember correctly about what we saw. Then we could have answered trivia questions. There are also questions about the interactive games on the screens.

In other parts of Lots To Do In Line, you can find out what part Miss Piggy plays in Muppet Vision 3D at Hollywood Studios, what is special about the number 55 on the railroad in the Magic Kingdom, how Marabou storks get their meals in the Kilimanjaro Safari at Animal Kingdom, and more.

The book also recommends creating “collections” of things you see while walking around Disney World: how many girls in princess dresses can you find, how many people wearing pins, how many different hats. You and your family can collect waterfalls, clock faces, weather vanes, people with balloons, pirate flags — just about anything you can imagine.

I love the idea of Lots To Do In Line not only because it saves you from a boring wait, but because family vacation time is precious — and if you spend a chunk of that time in line, here is a way to capture your kids’ attention and imagination and really make that time count. Instead of staring ahead and zoning out, you can engage your family.

Pierce authored the book Lots To Do In Line: Disneyland as well, for families that are going to California. That’s on our family travel wish list too!

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The book publisher provided me with a free review copy. Opinions and words are my own.

100 Places That Can Change Your Child's Life is a good reference book for family travel

This is the book that had me fantasizing about winning the Powerball and taking my husband and sons to travel around the world. First, we would go as far away as possible — to Hawaii — and stay on a few different islands, taking in all the good aloha for the rest of our journeys. Moving on from there, Fiji (because it’s heavenly beautiful), New Zealand (Hobbits and little blue fairy penguins), Tasmania (gorgeous and remote), Australia (everything!), Japan (the Shinkansen and gardens), South Africa (safari) … and that’s kind of where I left off.

My wish list for family travel is long.

But even though the Powerball odds aren’t in my favor, I will keep this book handy for real-life planning.

100 Places That Can Change Your Child’s Life by National Geographic Traveler magazine editor Keith Bellows is a comprehensive resource for creating family “bucket lists” of travel destinations. Each location in the book helps you learn a bit about the place through the advice of locals and experts — even some history of the area. There are also additional tips such as family-friendly restaurants and hotels in the area, books, sites and films about the destination, and also souvenirs that are worth buying.

It was nice to see that, as big as the world is, there are also plenty of locales listed in the United States and Canada. In fact, one of them is right here in Florida — Marco Island. I was a little puzzled by Marco Island as the one life-changing place in Florida that made it into 100 Places. To me, Marco Island is mostly a place of resorts and vacation/retirement homes (with one of my favorite beaches, Tigertail Beach). However, author Bellows focuses on the 10,000 Islands Dolphins Project, which turns regular people into citizen scientists as they head offshore to look for and catalog bottlenose dolphins. The 10,000 Islands Dolphins Project recently reported it had made 1,951 survey trips with 6,049 sightings — some with the help of children. It’s an ecotour where guests actually contribute to helping the wildlife.

Yeah, I think that would leave a lasting impression on kids.

If your family likes to travel, learn, and explore new places, this book will be a good resource for dreaming, planning and going.

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The publisher of 100 Places That Can Change Your Child’s Life gave me the book for free to review. Opinions are my own.

South Seas Island Resort has tranquil beaches and 20 pools for a relaxing vacation

My three-year-old son waded in to the zero-entry pool. “Hi, mermaid,” he said to me. “Let’s swim.” Then he would walk — not yet swim — to the steps, get out of the pool midway, walk around the flowering bushes and wade into the pool toward me all over again. For an hour. That he had gained enough confidence to put his face in the water and move around the shallow pool on his own was fantastic. That he was calling me a mermaid was just magical, and I’m sure it was partly the influence of being at South Seas Island Resort.

Kids love the zero-entry pool with dual water slides at South Seas Island Resort

Florida has some fantastic family-friendly beach resorts. One of the best is South Seas Island Resort on Captiva Island, in southwestern Florida. It’s a family destination that really has everything families could want: a range of room or vacation home rental choices, beautiful beaches, pools, on-site restaurants and shops, activities and programs for kids, a nine-hole golf course, water sports, transportation options, a spa and laid-back island ambience in spades.

The South Seas Island Resort lobby gives you a taste of the atmosphere and history you'll encounter during your stay

South Seas Island Resort balcony view

For nature lovers like my family, though, South Seas has the bonus of being tuned in to its environment and surroundings in the barrier islands in the Gulf of Mexico. The beaches are kept dark during sea turtle nesting season so turtles can find their way to the beach and not get turned the wrong way by bright lights. Ospreys are invited to build nests on platforms high on tall poles throughout the resort’s property. Dolphins and manatees frequent the marinas and water surrounding the the island. And children’s programs focus on ocean ecology.

You can see dolphins in the resort

So not surprisingly, South Seas Island Resort is not too crowded, not too commercial, and very relaxing.

Looking across Redfish Pass near the resort

However, it still has everything a family would want in a vacation destination. Here are the highlights.

Activities

For many people, relaxing on a warm beach or by the pool is plenty for a vacation to-do list — and South Seas definitely has that covered.

At South Seas Island Resort, you can do everything -- or nothing at all and rest in a hammock

Getting out on the water in some form is a good idea for any visit to the southwestern Florida barrier islands, though. At South Seas, you can take your pick: boat tour, sailing school, personal watercraft rental, kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding, even parasailing.

Want to learn to sail? Take lessons at South Seas.

Go fishing. Play tennis or golf. Bike around the island. (You can rent bicycles and golf carts to get around the resort’s 330 acres. You can also take the trolley from South Seas’ North Pointe to South Village and back again.)

Look for scheduled activities at Skully’s Family Interactive Center, where children can play arcade games or mini golf, make crafts, read, color and more.

Skully the parrot is on hand to inspire kids who visit Skully's, the home base for everything fun for kids at South Seas Island Resort

At Skully's, kids can color, do puzzles, read books, make crafts, play arcade games and more

Check with Skully's for scheduled programs for kids or sign up for a program so parents can enjoy time to themselves

Children 6-12 years old can join in the fun at Sanibel Sea School, a nonprofit that teaches kids about ocean ecology while they have fun.

Kids 6-12 years old will have fun at Sea School, a nonprofit organization on resort property that teaches ocean ecology with hands-on activities

When you want to really relax and be pampered, head to Kay Casperson Lifestyle Spa & Boutique in the resort’s Chadwick’s Square.

Kay Casperson Spa at South Seas Island Resort's Chadwick's Square offers a range of services, beauty products and accessories

A full menu of spa services is available, from salon treatments to massages, facials and wraps.

The Kay Casperson Lifestyle Spa & Boutique is a serene place to relax

South Seas is an excellent wedding destination as well. The resort has a beautiful stretch of beach just for picturesque weddings right on the Gulf of Mexico. (I am thinking vow renewal!)

Dining and Shopping

Let’s talk food — as much a part of a family vacation as anything else! South Seas Island Resort offers everything from fine dining where you can order locally caught fresh fish to a walk-up deli where you can get a sandwich. There’s even a Starbucks coffee shop.

Coming this summer will be an additional location of the popular Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille, currently already on Sanibel Island and Fort Myers Beach. Doc Ford’s was founded by local fisherman-turned-author Randy Wayne White.

Mojitos are a specialty drink at Doc Ford's Rum Bar & Grille, set to open this summer at South Seas

Doc Ford

Harbourside Bar & Grill in South Seas’ North Pointe faces the marina and offers fantastic service and local fare for breakfast and dinner.

South Seas' Harbourside Bar & Grill is now offering a superb cheese plate, served with dragon fruit and gelee

Harbourside Bar & Grill gives families options -- regular kids' fare, or this healthy kids' menu option

When in Rome, do as the Romans do; when in Captiva, order seafood! Harbourside Bar & Grill's mahi is fresh and served with buttery vegetables

Harbourside Bar & Grill at South Seas Island Resort offers dining inside, or outside near the marina

The Pointe, overlooking the pool complex and Pine Island Sound, is a place to find standard dishes at outdoor tables.

The Garden and Grain Salad at The Pointe is full of healthy vegetables -- and can be ordered without the grains

Request a peach tea punch at The Pointe overlooking one of the pools at South Seas Island Resort

Also check out Scoops & Slices, where a wall of candy decorates this pizza and ice cream shop, as well as the Sunset Beach Bar, Ship’s Store and Captiva Provision Company, all on resort property.

Most of the shopping is at Chadwick’s Square, near the resort’s entrance. Find beach gear, shoes, clothes and fun accessories here. South Seas Island Outfitters in the resort’s North Pointe is another place to find beach items and sundries.

Nature

Everywhere you look at South Seas, Captiva Island’s natural beauty is presented. Not just the beautiful green-blue of the water or the pink-orange of the sunsets — flowering trees, mangroves, beach grasses and palms are the backdrop of every visit.

South Seas Island Resort offers natural, beautiful views everywhere you look, like this fountain pond near the entrance

A variety of wildlife make the resort their home, and guests like watching them.

A box turtle lives in the brush near the shore

Shore birds of all kinds frequent the beach

Ospreys are welcome and easily spotted residents at South Seas Island Resort. Look for their nests on platforms on top of tall poles

Dolphins live in groups called pods, and you can see them at South Seas and other areas of Florida's southwestern barrier islands

In fact, a South Seas Island Resort program, ScoutAbout, leads kids on a scavenger hunt throughout the resort’s 330 acres to find kiosks that highlight facts about the surrounding natural environment. Kids can pick up a ScoutAbout map at Skully’s Family Interactive Center or at the front desk. When kids find a ScoutAbout kiosk, they collect a color-coded wrist band. Collect all 15 wrist bands, return to Skully’s, and become an official ScoutAbout member with a place on the Wall of Fame.

Kids pick up wrist bands while learning about nature in South Seas Island Resort's ScoutAbout program

Excursions

Around the corner from South Seas’ entrance — within walking, biking or golf cart-ing distance — is a small shopping and dining area separate from the resort. This is where you’ll find the famous Bubble Room restaurant so popular with kids, as well as McCarthy’s Marina where Captiva Cruises offers boat tours and day trips to the nearby barrier islands.

Just around the corner from South Seas Island Resort is McCarthy's Marina, where Captiva Cruises offers tours and day trips to other southwestern Florida barrier islands

Cayo Costa State Park, on a barrier island reached only by boat, is a short trip from South Seas resort

And if all this poking around the barrier islands has you dreaming of a vacation home, check in to the real estate options available at South Seas Island Resort.

What a suite view! South Seas Island Resort does good R&R

I want to go back to South Seas and play mermaid with my son again, and recapture that island magic.

Kids enjoy the beach at South Seas resort

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South Seas Island Resort provided a group of bloggers and I with a two-night stay and some meals. All opinions expressed are my own.

Airy covered patio with seagrass seating

Source: planete-deco.fr via Holly on Pinterest

Outdoor bamboo table seating on covered patio

Source: coastalliving.com via Holly on Pinterest

Outdoor bamboo table seating on covered patio

Ranger Rick's Appventures

Did Earth Day this month get your family fired up about the planet? Keep the momentum going with new things you might have learned, sticking to a new resolution (like bringing your own reusable shopping bags to the store) or by learning even more. The National Wildlife Federation has great resources for “green” learning, including for families with kids. If you grew up reading environment stories like I did with Ranger Rick, you will enjoy giving your kids the award-winning Ranger Rick Jr. Appventures apps. You could win the Ranger Rick Jr. Appventures: Lions app for free — just comment below.

Ranger Rick Jr. Appventures: Lions for the iPad and appropriate for kids ages 4-7. Children will have fun playing animal games, watching wildlife videos, reading stories, doing puzzles and more. Kids can go on a Photo Safari photographing lions, play Animal Piano using songs made by lions and other wildlife, and try out the Animal Builder to mix and match body parts to create made-up or real animals.

All the National Wildlife Federation apps are fun and educational, which is the combo you want in an app for kids. (I reviewed the Ranger Rick’s Treehouse App here.)

The folks behind the apps have given me the chance to give up to five readers the Ranger Rick Jr. Appventures: Lions app for free! Please comment below about your family’s favorite wildlife or what you did for Earth Day. I will take the first five legitimate comments as winners, by May 6.

Key West for families with kids

Key West, Florida, is a place known for pub crawls and debauchery, but that doesn’t mean visitors with children can’t also have a family-friendly vacation there.

My husband and I have visited Key West both as a couple and with children, and we have found the Conch Republic to be a great getaway no matter what.

Here’s a list of reasons Key West is fun for kids!

1. Weird stuff. If seeing occasional people in strange outfits isn’t enough, there are the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not museum, the Ghosts & Gravestones tour, and the nightly spectacle of live performers at Mallory Square for the Sunset Celebration. Watch jugglers, joke tellers, musicians and other entertainers — even cats doing circus acts — at this unique gathering spot on the ocean while everyone watches the sun set over the water.

Key West's Mallory Square is the scene of the nightly Sunset Celebration, where you'll find all kinds of performers

2. Fort Zachary Taylor State Park. This Florida state park has a nice beach and, as the name indicates, a historic fort dating back to the Civil War. Swim, snorkel, dive, fish (kids under age 16 don’t need a license to fish), bicycle, walk the nature trail, do some birdwatching and have a simple lunch at the park concession. Best of all is the entrance fee: A car full of people (up to eight) can get in for $6, or $2 for pedestrians.

3. Tram tours. Ride the streets of Cayo Hueso in a trolley lookalike with Old Town Trolley Tours or in a “steam train” tram with Conch Tour Train. These open-air trams provide narrated sightseeing as they roll through the town, so you can learn a bit about the history as well as easily get from one attraction to another. Some tram packages offer the tram tour in addition to visits at some attractions. Best of all, kids 12 and under ride for free.

4. Food. Key lime pie on a stick? Homemade ice cream? Fresh fish sandwiches in the funkiest restaurant without walls? Eating outside while stray cats walk by? Key West is a great place for finding great eats.

There are plenty of interesting places for kids to uncover in Key West, like B.O.'s Fish Wagon

5. Butterflies. Visit the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory to wander through an enclosed garden full of butterflies and coloring songbirds flitting everywhere. Kids under 4 are free; kids 4-12 get in for $8.50; adult tickets are $12.

6. The Southernmost Point. OK, kids might not be impressed by the black, yellow and red marker that stands at what some consider the southernmost point in the continental United States. But some kids will like the photo opp at a true Key West landmark.

7. Cruise ships. You might arrive in Key West on a cruise ship (it’s a popular port for many Caribbean-bound trips), but if you don’t, you can still visit Mallory Square to see these giants come and go.

Key West is a port of call for many cruise ships

8. Water fun. Kids will enjoy splashing in a resort pool, digging in the sand at the beach or watching the boats go by. Better yet, get your family out on the water. Check out the ferry that takes you to Dry Tortugas National Park well off the coast of Key West where you can tour Fort McKinley and snorkel before coming back to Key West, or one of the many kayak, snorkel and stand-up paddleboarding tours. And if your family snorkels or dives, this is a great place to do it.

9. Six-toed cats. Visiting the Ernest Hemingway home may or may not hold a child’s interest, but seeing the descendants of the famous author’s cats roaming the grounds — some of which are polydactyl, or have an extra toe on their feet — may interest a kid enough that you can enjoy the tour yourself. Kid tickets are only $6, or free if the child is 5 or younger.

10. Petting a shark and holding starfish. The Key West Aquarium is a must-do if you have kids. Kids flock to the touch tank, and the fearless will feed fish to the nurse sharks. There are also lots of tanks full of fish — and alligators! Kids can get in for less than $10, and if you buy your tickets online, it’s cost-effective for everyone.

Kids can touch and feed the sea creatures at Key West Aquarium

11. Pirate booty. Well, treasure in general. Key West is steeped in pirate lore and the discovery of treasure. Visit the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum (kids get in for $6.25) and the Key West Shipwreck Treasures Museum (kid tickets are $8.59). The kids will even learn some history. For a bonus pirate experience, check out the Schooner Wolf for a sail on a tall ship or the Fort Taylor Pirate Invasion, Dec. 6-8 this year.

12. Wild chickens. Kids get a kick out of seeing roosters, hens and chicks strutting around like they own the island. Because, well, they kind of do. The chickens are free to roam, and you will see them here and there around Key West, taking curious onlookers in stride.

Key West roosters and hens have the run of the island

Key West is still the place for the outrageous, eccentric, bawdy and artistic. But there’s no reason to keep kids away from the outdoor, historical and downright fun aspects of the island. Especially if you stick to mostly daytime activities, a family can create a memorable trip to Key West.

Hanging boat bed

Source: designers.elledecor.com via Holly on Pinterest

Newborn health affects families, communities and the world.

Blessed with two babies, normal deliveries and no complications. That was my personal experience with newborns. However, I know other families aren’t as fortunate. There are a lot of different health issues that can come up for the baby or mother during labor and delivery, and in the months that follow.

Next week the Global Newborn Health Conference will take place April 15-18 in South Africa. As a member of the Mom Bloggers for Social Good Global Team of 200, I wanted to share these links to information about newborn health. You can watch the conference live here: newborn2013.com.

Newborn Health Conference

For a roundup of articles and posts on newborn health, check out the Tumblr Advocating for Newborn Health.

Also, Mom Bloggers for Social Good UNICEF will host a Mother’s Day-related Google+ hangout with UNICEF and UNICEF’s CEO on May 6 to discuss maternal health.

Newborn health affects families, communities and the world, and with Mother’s Day approaching, it’s a perfect time to learn more and discuss the issue.

Casual living room with nautical touches

Source: myhomeideas.com via Holly on Pinterest