Children can be downright picky when it comes to food, but most of them love to help out in the kitchen. While many families think of a culinary vacation as an adults-only experience, the truth is that a trip centered around a kitchen can be a great way for families to spend time together amassing some new skills, and, of course, having a lot of fun.

At the Forconi estate in Tuscany, the whole family can pitch in when it comes to cooking. Featuring Fabrizio’s Kids Cooking Course, the family-run estate offers kids the chance to get their hands “dirty” making gnocchi, pasta, and pizza which they then, hopefully, will eat. Budding Emerils and Rachael Rays can also learn the tricks of the trade for non-alcoholic aperitifs and easy hors d’oeuvres (making them a lot more helpful when you entertain!) (more…)

Really, as much as scrapbooking appeals to us in theory, we just can’t find the time for it.  After spending loads of money on fancy books, printed scrapbook paper and enough sticky doodads to decorate a mini-shrine to cuteness, the stuff sits unused in the same bag it came home in.  We’re too busy making memories to spend 36 hours gluing them onto paper.

We’ve found a better way, though, thanks to Shutterfly and their memory books.  Because we do so love keeping track of where we’ve been and what we did there, we’ve turned to this noted online photo shop to help us do it without all the usual frustration.  Shutterfly offers a variety of papers and book covers, some themed, some versatile, so that you can create a scrapbook without ever leaving your chair. All you have to do is pick a book, upload your photos, and begin popping them in to the pages on your computer.  You can add pages, customize the numbers of photos per page, add captions, and preview the whole thing before ever ordering the hard copy.

Best of all? You can save your memory book under My Projects, going back to add pictures and pages whenever you want.  We’ve started a travel book - everywhere we’ve been with our children thus far - and we’ll keep adding to it.  When they’re older, it will be a wonderful way to show them what they visited and saw as they grew up.

Our tips for using this scrapbook-of-the-internet:

• Most of us already try for a few candid shots of loved ones in addition to the posed ones.  For a book that feels less like a boring family slideshow and more like a coffee table publication, don’t forget to take pictures of unique non-touristy places and things too. For instance, when we visited Puerto Vallarta, we ate at the restaurant of an eclectic expat in Bucerias, 30 minutes north.  Normally crowded in the winter, the restaurant was deserted when we popped in, allowing for good gabbing with the owner (who prepared our meals in front of us), and great shots of the simple yet funky interior lit only by a setting sun.  Several of these people-free photos made their way into our book.
• Shutterfly has a prepaid program for its memory books: pay for 4 books upfront and save 25%.  It’s a great deal, as the books can get costly especially if you add several pages as we did.  We suggest playing around with a project before paying upfront for 4, to see if you think you’ll be likely to do more than one.  If the bug hits you as it did us, then go for the prepaid program: you’ll have up to 2 years to make your 4 books, plenty of time for lots of memorable vacations.

Villa Group Resorts opened its new Desert Spa in Cabo San Lucas last summer. The spa, which treats guests staying at Villa del Arco, Villa la Estancia and Villa del Palmar, is a three-level 31,000 square foot facility boasting hydrotherapy centers that include jacuzzis, a cold plunge pool, steam rooms and saunas. There are are also 17 treatment rooms in which guests can be pampered with a variety of body and facial treatments, all utilizing desert-inspired products with extracts of agave, lime, cactus, vanilla and/or melon.

Couples can rejuvenate and reenergize themselves at the Desert Spa via an introductory package, the Desert Spa Adventure. The package includes:

• 3 nights in a deluxe 1-bedroom oceanview suite at Villa del Arco
• His-and-hers spa experience (hydrotherapy session followed by a 50-minute massage for each person)
• a men’s facial
• a lemon-lime facial for her
• a personal training session for 2 with a certified personal trainer
• a light spa cuisine lunch for 2 at La Perla restaurant

The Adventure Package rates start at $1,143 per couple, not inclusive of tax. The package does not include meals except as noted above. Packages are valid through December 8, 2008 and are subject to availability. For more information, call the reservations line at 877.845.5247.