Kids and ski helmets: My how things have changed

Last weekend, I stepped foot on a downhill ski resort for the first time in over 20 years. Watching the skiers line up for the lift I noticed all sorts of differences. Skis are a lot wider than they once were. Everyone under age 40 snowboards. And kids wear helmets. All of the children, even many adults, were sporting a hard shell.

When I rented my kids ski gear, helmets were included in the cost. I worried that they might find them cumbersome, but they seemed entirely unphased.

According to the Denver Post:

In 2008-09, the National Ski Areas Association counted 39 deaths in 57.4 million skier days in the United States. That annual tally hasn't varied much in any year in the past decade.

Among those '08-09 deaths, 31 skiers were not wearing helmets. That same season, the association counted 44 serious injuries; 32 of those skiers were not wearing helmets.

In a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in February this year, researchers found that skiers' risk of head injury fell by 35 percent with helmet use. The same study found no connection between helmet use and neck injury, a common concern among the dwindling number of helmet opponents.

Even without the threat of laws and fines, helmet use climbs roughly 5 percent every year. Half of all skiers and snowboarders in America wear helmets, up from 25 percent in 2002-03. Helmets are on 90 percent of Colorado's skiers 9 years old and younger...

Do you wear a helmet when you ski?

Kids and ski school: Lessons learned

As a child, my winter weekends were spent in ski school. My parents would drop me with a group of kids sporting puffy snow suits and a teacher who looked no older than 13, and they'd take off to ski black diamond runs while I struggled on the bunny slopes.

Later in the day, they'd pick me up and take me up an intermediate lift, hoping to watch their little girl race down the hill. Usually, I'd disappoint them, stiffly holding my skis in snowplough position the entire way down, usually taking several falls, and typically ending up in tears. I hated downhill skiing.

And so when my two kids got to be about 4 and 5, I decided that we'd try cross-country skiing instead of downhill. I quickly fell in love with the sport--the quiet, the gently rolling hills, the deserted runs. And I enjoyed skiing along side my family. The kids also enjoyed it, but this year they started asking about downhill. There friends at school were going downhill skiing and they wanted to try it too.

And so last weekend, we drove to California's Bear Valley Ski resort, south of Tahoe, and put them in downhill ski school while my husband and I went cross country skiing.

It had been 20 years since I'd stepped foot in a downhill resort and things have changed.

First of all, you don't just show up on Saturday morning and stick your kids in a ski class. At many resorts the ski school classes fill up weeks in advance and you need to call ahead to book.

Luckily, a friend forewarned me of this and so I called a week ahead, and actually all of the lessons were full. But I called back a day later, and the resort added an additional class.

We made another big mistake by showing up 10 minutes late on the second day of class. We were staying a half-hour from the resort but it started snowing and we had to put on chains. It ended up taking us over an hour to get there. When we showed up, they wouldn't let the kids into the morning class. They bumped us to a later afternoon class. Lesson learned: Show up on time, even better 15 minutes early.

Hooray for Virgin Atlantic!

A 10-hour flight from San Francisco to London with two kids, ages 6 and 7. Sounds like hell, doesn't it? Not if you're flying Virgin Atlantic.

We recently flew the airline over the holidays and our kids were fully by the airlines trick-out inflight entertainment system. Every passenger gets their own screen and remote as well as a free set of headphones. My kids were able to choose from a dizzying array of movies geared to kids as well as TV shows. My daughter watched Ramona and Beezus, a film based on the series of books by Beverly Cleary, three times in a row. My son watched Handy Manny, Little Einsteains, and Micky Mouse Clubhouse on the Disney Channel.

The kids were also thrilled when the flight attendant handed them mini Virgin backpacks loaded up with hats, snacks, and their very own watch.

Canary Islands, Tenerife slide show

Our family visited the Spanish Canary Islands this winter. We enjoyed a week of hiking, eating, and beach going on Tenerife. Here's a sampling of our best photos (click on photo below).

My favorite store in London: Cath Kidston

Many years ago my husband and I were walking the streets of Chelsea in London when we came upon a small shop called Cath Kidston. I was drawn in by some cheerful polka dot fabric in the window. I ended up spending all of my souvenir budget in that store and instantly fell in love with Cath Kidston's retro fabrics that come in the sort of patterns you'd expect to find on a 1950s table cloth.

Cath Kidston is a British designer and at the time she was just getting her start. She later became hugely popular and was even profiled in Vanity Fair. Now, you'll find her shops all over London. In this photo, I'm standing in front of the one on King's Road where I purchased a few dish towels.

The cutest car ever!

As a child, I always wanted a pink house. And now as an adult, I want a pink car.

In London, I kept noticing this darling little classy car parked on the streets. I spotted several and when I asked my husband, who is a car buff, what we were looking at he was clueless. These cars had a retro look yet they were clearly not old cars.

What were we looking at?

A Nissan Figaro.

Here's the scoop from Wikipedia:

The Nissan Figaro is a small retro car manufactured by Nissan. The car was originally sold only in Japan. Despite this, the Nissan Figaro has become popular with owners in the UK and Ireland, given the popularity of second-hand Japanese import cars. Its appearance has a resemblance to the 1960s Datsun Fairlady models.

On the last day of our trip I spotted a pink Figaro and I decided that it's the car of my dreams!

10 things to do with kids in London

There are theme parks…and then there's London. This brilliant, electric city with hundreds of years of history offers a dizzying array of family-friendly attractions, that might not turn you upside down but are certain to wow and delight the kids.

There's the Natural History Museum housing the world's most awesome dinosaur exhibit, and the Tower of London where Beefeaters lead tours and tell stories of the Medieval Palace's famous prisoners such as Walter Raleigh, Guy Fawkes and Ann Boleyn.

My family recently spent two weeks exploring the city, and here's a rundown of our 10 favorite things to do in London.

1) Get eye to eye with a T. Rex at the Natural History Museum. Find the world's best dinosaur exhibit at this museum in South Kensington. Kids will be wowed by the giant animatronic model of a T. Rex with teeth 15 centimeters long. Free admission.

2) Read Peter Rabbit from original pages of the Beatrix Potter classic at the Victoria and Albert Museum. It's easy to get lost among the maze of rooms spread over seven levels in this South Kensington museum known for its decorative arts collection. Find Coco Chanel's original "little black dress," the "Great Bed of Ware" mentioned in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, original drawings by famed children's author and illustrator Beatrix Potter. Free admission.

3) Tour the Tower of London. This tower that has served as a royal palace, prison, fortress, mint, and jewel house is a must-visit. It offers the best paid tour in London and is great for kids, who will enjoy hearing tales of intrigue, imprisonment, execution, torture from the Yeoman Warders (popularly known as ‘Beefeaters’). Don't miss the Crown Jewels and the spectacular royal armor exhibit, offering a fascinating insight into the personalities, power and physical size of England’s kings.

4) Slurp up a bowl of noodles at Wagamama. Asian inspired noodles are the specialty at this hip chain of restaurants known for its family-style dining experience with people gathering around long farm tables. Kids get their own set of special chopsticks for chowing down on a pile of noodles tossed with grilled chicken breast, sweet corn, and shredded carrots, and a citrus yakitori sauce.

5) Climb all over a pirate ship at the Diana, Princess of Wales' Memorial Playground. While the kids aren't competing for control of the steering wheel on board the giant pirate ship, they'll be hiding out in tepees, building castles in the sand, and chasing each other through a bamboo forest.

6) Catch a Broadway show. You can't go to London and not see a Broadway show. To determine which ones are appropriate for kids, check out Time Out London's online guide to theater where you can search for family-friendly plays. Once you've figured out what you want to see, head for the theater to get the cheapest prices on tickets. You can also check out the half-price ticket booth in Leicester Square, which sells the best seats at half the price. Beware of other ticket booths advertising bargain prices.

7) Chow down on a bowl of pasta at Carluccio's. Step inside one of these noisy Italian cafes with fashionable decor and you'd never guess it's a chain with over 30 locations throughout London. The menu offers classic dishes (roasted sardines, homemade ravioli, tiramisu) prepared simply with fresh ingredients. Kids get their own mini cardboard puzzle to color and assemble, an activity book, and a menu featuring dishes such as penne with tomato sauce and breadcrumb-crusted chicken breast.

8) Go out for afternoon high tea. Get dressed up, point your pinkie finger up in the air, and bring the kids out to one of the many famous spots serving high tea: Claridges, Harrods, The Wolseley, The Goring. Little mouths will love the dainty sandwiches and cakes.

9) Step inside St. Paul's Cathedral. Sir Christopher Wren's cathedral has hosted the funerals of Lord Nelson, Winston Churchill, and the Duke of Wellington, yet children will know it best as the place where the beggar woman was asking for tuppens in the movie Mary Poppins. Inside, you can climb up the dome to the Whispering Gallery and try out its unique acoustics; a whisper on one side can be heard clearly 100 feet away.

10) Shake hands with your favorite Hollywood stars at Madame Tussauds. You can now find branches of this famous wax museum all over the world, yet this one is the first and it's over 200 years old. Pose with Brad & Angelina, shake hands with Barack Obama, and don't miss the Chamber of Horrors, where you'll find a maximum security prison that has been taken over by its unhinged inmates.

London slide show

Our family spent two weeks over the holidays in London. Here are photos from our trip: