Kids VT, August 2015
Last Licks of Summer: Montréal and Elmore Day-cations, family trail running, waterfalls and camp for kids with autism.
Backyard Bike Park
Parents: Knight and Jen Ide Son: Daymien, 11 and Raven, 24 (not pictured) Knight Ide is a pro at designing and building mountain-bike trails. His clients include Q Burke Mountain Bike Park, the renowned Kingdom Trails — and his family. Over the years, Ide has built a pump track and dirt jumps behind the 1800s…
A Mom Watches Her Son Grow — in the Garden
My son, Henry, is a DIY kid. He has never been interested in sports or fast cars or superheroes. At 11 years old, he is passionate about engineering, cooking, carpentry, art and gardening. He is a creator. If you have a child like this, I already know two things about your household: 1. You own…
Pedal Power Fundraiser
Mountain bikers hit the trails in Huntington at the end of this month for Del’s Ride, an event to raise money and awareness to fight Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood (AHC), a rare and painful neurological disorder. Participants, who are asked to raise at least $75, can choose from loops that range from five to 25…
Catamount Trail Running
Arriving at the Catamount Outdoor Family Center for a recent Tuesday night trail run felt like walking into a family picnic. Toddlers trundled along on balance bikes while their parents socialized. Giggling kids played tag on the grass. As the start time for the 2.5-kilometer Cadets race — geared toward kids ages 12 and under…
Tough Love
New York Times columnist and VPR commentator Jessica Lahey takes on the overparenting trend in her new book, The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed. The New Hampshire-based educator and mother of two boys argues that while packing our kids’ lunches, driving their forgotten homework…
Troubled Teen Center
The northeast kingdom community action Teen Center is a hub for at-risk youth in the Newport area. For more than a decade, the center has provided at-risk 12- to 21-year-olds with a place to use computers, play games, get a hot meal, and access services such as employment and substance-abuse counseling. It’s open five afternoons…
Crunchy Corn Salad
When I was growing up, my family gathered for barbecues in my grandparents’ backyard almost every summer weekend. I’d help my grandmother shuck piles of corn while my grandfather grilled burgers, hot dogs and Speidies — upstate-New York-style meat on skewers. I vividly remember sitting at their picnic table, wrapped in a beach towel after…
One to Watch: Noah Schwartz
Name: Noah Schwartz Age: 11 Town: Waitsfield Noah Schwartz lives on a remote dirt road, but his lemonade stand business is booming. Since launching Noah’s Fizzy Lemonade four years ago at an East Warren kids’ farmers market, the rising sixth-grader has seen demand for his concoction climb. Noah first began experimenting with the tried-and-true summer…
Children With Autism Have a Camp of Their Own
Summer, for many families, means carefree time spent together, often outdoors. But New Hampshire dad Rob Sylvan says that typical seasonal activities haven’t always been easy for his clan. That’s because his 13-year-old son, Quinn, has an autism spectrum disorder. When Quinn was younger, “something as simple as going to the beach was a real…
Vermont Day-cations: The Lachine Canal & Elmore State Park
School’s out, and “Day-cations” are in. Every summer, Kids VT seeks out family-friendly destinations where you and your kids can experience the natural beauty and unique culture of our region. They’re all places you can visit in a day. Each of our three summer issues features two recommended trips, complete with tips on nearby dining…
Hovercrafts
The five students in Bob Gurwicz’s new, weeklong Hovercraft Camp were eager to get some air time. “Wag your tails when you’re ready!” he instructed them. At his command, the 9- to 13-year-old pilots excitedly pushed the radio controls to their hovercrafts, swiveling the rudders (aka the “tails”) of the DIY contraptions they’d just spent…
How Should Parents Prepare Their Kids for School Transitions?
Summer is traditionally a time when kids relax and unwind. But as the season draws to a close, many children experience anxiety about making the big switch from daycare or preschool to kindergarten, or elementary school to middle school. Those fears are normal, and there’s a lot parents can do to allay them. This month,…
How a Nurse Midwife From Elmore Juggles Work and Family
Mom: Kipp Bovey, nurse midwife at Copley Hospital Dad: Mark Isselhardt, researcher at the University of Vermont’s Proctor Maple Research Center Kids: Anna, 10, Charlie, 6 When Kipp Bovey was in middle school in Massachusetts, she already knew she wanted a career in childbirth some day. “I just thought it was amazing,” says the 39-year-old.…
Book-Inspired Contest Winners
Congratulations to these talented young flower-garden designers who submitted illustrations of their dream gardens, with captions. We love your creativity! Each wins a $25 gift certificate to Crow Bookshop in Burlington. Tess Drury, 10, Richmond “In the summer garden there are lemonade flowers, flip flop trees and beach ball bushes. And they all grow in…
Waterfall Walks
August in Vermont is all about getting outside. That’s why we have just one book to recommend this month: Vermont Waterfalls. The new guidebook, by Russell Dunn, will help families explore the state’s many cascades during the dog days of summer. Dunn, who lives in Albany, N.Y., has written half a dozen other waterfall guidebooks,…
Middlebury’s Pop-Up Park
Address: 20 Main Street, Middlebury I’m new to the playground scene. My 15-month-old daughter, Joni, has just started walking. Most climbing equipment is too advanced for her, and she’s not a fan of infant swings. But she loves slides and stairs. So we were thrilled to discover a new pop-up park in downtown Middlebury. A…
No Place Like Home
My family traveled to Los Angeles for the first time, in early July, for a long-planned vacation to visit my sister. We had a blast exploring the city and the coast, but we were also happy to return to Vermont just as summer hit its stride. As I reflect on our trip, I can’t help…
