June Calendar Shot

It's June! Finally! I'm not sure who looks forward to the end of the school year more, me or my children. Actually the winner is probably Lori. I know she loves her kids, but after 10 months of teaching, she's always more than ready for a break.

This week on Wordless Wednesday over at Focused on the Magic, we're picking a picture for our June calender shot. June is the beginning of a summer of adventure for us, and I know exactly which picture says adventure to me:

This picture was taken during a port stop on our Disney cruise of the Mexican Riviera. It reminds me of the fun and exciting (and sometimes ill-advised) things that we get up to during our summer vacation, and it's the perfect shot to represent June on our calendar. Well, for four of us anyways. The boy needs a slightly different picture to represent his summer vacation...

Somebody wake him when September comes.

This post is a part of Wordless Wednesday over at Focused on the Magic. If you didn't get here from there, you should really head on over and check out some of the fantastic people that hang out there on Wednesdays. Most of them probably have no plans to sleep through their summer vacation. They're called non-teenagers.

Written by Steve Pratt

Fairmont Presidents Club Free Stuff

I can't tell you how impressed I've been with the way that the Fairmont Presidents Club has handled our lifetime platinum status with them. We really enjoyed our stay at the Fairmont San Francisco, and since then we've been treated exactly as I would expect a platinum member of a hotel program to be, with no mention or notation of the way our status came about. Now our first renewal package has come through, loaded with extra goodies (they call them Passions benefits) that thrilled my daughters and will probably turn me into a walking billboard for the Fairmont Presidents Club for at least the next year.

General rule: If you want to get my attention, send me free stuff! Here's what arrived in the mail today:

Fairmont Presidents Club Hat and Apron:

I have lots of aprons, but this is the very first chef's hat that I've owned. It's probably the only way I was going to get one too, as I was never going to qualify for one based on my own culinary skills. Still, I like the feel of wearing it in the kitchen and talking in a French accent, except my French accent tends to slip into German quite often. I'm probably not well suited to be a UN worker. I'd offend everybody.

Fairmont Presidents Club Robe:

I've spared you a picture of me wearing the robe, but rest assured that it is a very comfy and spacious robe, which is a nice change from what I normally get sent. For some reason, most places assume that I'm a medium size in a robe. I'm not even close. Those robes usually get passed on immediately to my wife or daughters. Fairmont sent me a 2XL robe, and while I love the fit, I can't help wondering if I should be offended by whatever notation is in my file that told them to send me the largest size possible?

Fairmont Authentically Local Food Experience:

While intriguing, this sounds like something that I want to be very careful where I cash it in. Fairmont has hotels all over the world, so while using it at the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace in Switzerland would probably be amazing (That has to involve chocolate right?), I might have a very different experience taking it to one of the South Africa properties. Maybe I'd just be safer taking it to Montreal for poutine. Mmmm...poutine.

WWF Canada - Adopt a Giant Panda:

This is the favorite item of my daughters, partly because they like the idea of contributing to help save endangered species, but mainly because we get a little stuffy of whatever animal we choose to adopt. Last year we adopted a Polar Bear, and this year it's a Giant Panda. I love that Fairmont makes a donation on our behalf, but I was a little disappointed to see the words "symbolically adopt" on the certificate. I had visions of my newly adopted Panda coming to visit. Guess I've been practicing my Kung Fu for nothing.



Considering how blown away I was with our penthouse suite at the Fairmont San Francisco, I'm already pretty satisfied with my lifetime membership in the Fairmont Presidents Club. The fact that they send me a little box of extras each year on top of the regular platinum benefits, only serves to reinforce that feeling. Now if they could just arrange for my bears to come visit. Not at the same time though. That could get messy.

Written by Steve Pratt

Let's Go Map Tropical Islands

It's one of the great conveniences of our modern life. If you've ever been the person trying to drive with one hand and unfold a 16 panel map with the other, then you probably have a great appreciation for the GPS systems of today. A tiny device filled with every possible road you might need to take, and an ever patient voice willing to gently inform you when you've wandered off course and recalculate your directions without a single eye roll or snarky remark. The GPS is truly a Godsend when it comes to directions, but have you ever thought about where all those directions came from? More importantly, have you ever thought about the person who went to all the trouble to gather those directions? Even more importantly....

Do you want to be that person?

Fiji (Photo via BestFijiDeals.com)

It sounds like a cushy gig, but on the off chance you said no, let me rephrase the question a little. Do you want to spend two weeks driving around a tropical island to gather map data, while being paid a silly amount of money to do it? If so (and I really hope you're all with me by this point) then TomTom wants to talk to you. They've decided that it's time for them to get the mapping done for a few of the places that they haven't got in their systems yet. Places like Fiji, St. Lucia, Mauritius, Cape Verde, and the Seychelles. If you and your family are willing to spend two weeks doing a little light work on one of these beautiful islands, then TomTom is willing to put you up in a four star resort, pay for all your food, take you on some tours and adventures, and throw in $15,000 as a thank you for all your hard work.

Really, this sounds like a perfect job for my family, as we tend to end up driving on every single road in existence wherever we go. Sure it's usually because I took a wrong turn or something, but either way we'd get the job done. I did notice that the official rules say that it doesn't have to be a family but it can be a group of friends instead, so I'm trying to decide if my kids would really appreciate the subtle nuances of the sandy beaches in St. Lucia. I'll probably make that decision after their year end report cards come home next week.

Each island has it's own separate contest running for two weeks. The one running right now is Fiji (May 31 - June 14), then St. Lucia (June 14-28), Mauritius (June 28 - July 12), Cape Verde (July 12 - 26), and it finishes with the Seychelles (July 26 - Aug 9). Eligibility is limited to those people who live in Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States, although for some reason, people who live in New York and Florida aren't eligible. Who did you guys piss off?

Seychelles (Photo by Hansueli Krapf) 

What does it take to enter? A couple of simple questions, and a no-more-than 200 word passage on why you think you would be a good candidate for the job. Don't worry about the fact that I'm obviously the ideal person because I'm only allowed to win once, so there's still four islands left for you guys to get in on.

Here's the link to TomTom's Map Paradise Project (Warning: Ukulele music ahead!). Go check it out and get yourself entered. If you happen to win, remember that you don't have to take your family, you can take friends, and could there be a better friend than the guy who told you about this contest? No, I didn't think so. I'll be awaiting your call on our departure date.


Written by Steve Pratt

Western Room in Fantasyland Hotel

Yesterday I was complaining about how my daughter wanted to use her frequent flyer miles to fly to Edmonton. It didn't occur to me at the time, but my daughter has already been to Edmonton. When she was eight months old, we took the kids to the West Edmonton Mall and stayed in a Western themed room at the Fantasyland hotel.

The room was a lot of fun, with a giant stagecoach bed for Mom, Dad, and littlest to share, while we found more suitable sleeping quarters for the other two troublemakers.

I think it might have even been the room that started my girls off on their love of over-sized tubs.

So I guess my daughter's desire to use her miles for a trip to Edmonton is partly my fault. I should have taken her somewhere warm when she was little, but instead we chose a hotel attached to a giant mall and the precedent was set. It was fun getting to stay in the western room though. It was a perfect chance to stay in a room that you'd only book if you had the kids along with you. I mean, everybody knows....

...when you leave the kids at home, you always book the igloo room. That's just common sense.

This post is a part of Photo Friday at Delicious Baby and Friday Daydreamin at R We There Yet Mom. If you didn't get here from one of those sites, you should really go check them out. There's people there who do crazy things like book the Roman themed room. Why they have their own gladiator costumes I'll never know.


Written by Steve Pratt

My Kids Plans for Their Frequent Flyer Miles

One of my pet peeves about frequent flyer programs is that the miles are credited to the person who does the flying. As a Dad I'd be much more amenable to crediting the miles to the person who does the paying, but that's not how these programs work, so while our family travels around, my kids are racking up frequent flyer points in their account. Quite a lot of miles actually. In fact at this moment, each of my three kids has more points in their frequent flyer account than I do (Our frequent flying stuffed animals would too, if they were eligible.). I suppose I could cash the points in for a flight somewhere, but let's face it: My kids aren't very likely to inherit much from Lori and myself, so if I can leave them a few points to get them started on the road to independent traveling, it seems like the least I can do.

The question of course, is what are they going to do with these points? I have visions of them jetting off to Europe or Australia in first class. Maybe a leisurely round-the-world trip after graduation to get a more worldly perspective on things, or perhaps they'd like to use the points to pursue missions trips, helping out people in need all around the globe. There's so many possibilities, and the world is just waiting for them to arrive.

The kids however, are young, and have a slightly less globe-oriented view of their future travels. They know that they have points stored up and that at some point I'll most likely just turn their accounts over to them, but I think I'm going to have to work a little harder to inspire them because at the moment, their plans for these points lack a little grandeur.

The boy is the oldest, and as such he probably has the best grasp of the value of airline miles. When I asked him what his plans were for this future haul of frequent flyer points that was going to inherit, he said that he would probably use the points to fund his honeymoon trip. A great plan to be sure, but I wanted a few more details. I pushed further, asking him where he thought he might go on his honeymoon, and his response was "Wherever my wife tells me we're going to go."

Seriously ladies, this one is well trained. You might want to snap him up soon.

My older daughter kind of has the right idea, in that at least she's looking to go somewhere warm, although heading to Hawaii again when you have the entire world to choose from might qualify as less than visionary. Still, it was a step in the
right direction so I congratulated her on her choice. She then turned around and asked me how many hotel points she had saved up. I was caught a little off guard, but I explained to her that the rules for hotel programs and airline programs were very different, and that she wouldn't be allowed to accumulate hotel points until she was 18. She began a rant about the unfairness of this rule, so I stopped her and asked why she thought she would need enough points to be checking in to a hotel on her own before her 18th birthday?

She suddenly remembered some math homework she had to do.

Finally there's my youngest daughter. This is the one that still has me shaking my head. Her big plans for her points are that she wants to go to.....Edmonton. Seriously Edmonton? Nothing against the place, but I'm pretty sure we earn enough miles to get to Edmonton and back every time we park the car. Besides, it's something like a $59 ticket from here to there. I get it...she's her mother's daughter and there's that whole "Largest mall in North America" thing, but if my daughter uses miles to fly to Edmonton, then I've failed as a frequent flyer father.

Fortunately there's still quite a bit of time before my kids get their hands on their mileage accounts. I've got time to show them some of the amazing places in the world they haven't been yet. I might be able to convince them to explore other cultures, countries, and even continents. There's still a chance that they might become true citizens of the world!

Failing that, I can at least remind them why they shouldn't use their miles for flights to Edmonton.

Written by Steve Pratt