Taking the Kids -- a Mother's Day gift guaranteed to be a winner

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  Experiencing Scotland with Adventures by Disney.Disney

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  The new Senses spa at Walt Disney World Resort.Disney

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  Horsing around at the C Lazy U Ranch, Colorado.C Lazy U Ranch

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  The kids' mini club at Palladium's Grand Palladium Bavaro Resort & Spa, Punta Cana.Ruben Hidalgo

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  The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore.Four Seasons

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Enough with the flowers.

Ditto for scarves (as much as I love them) and those fancy overpriced Mother's Day brunches. (Are you listening, guys?)

This Mother's Day, give the moms in your life something they will really appreciate -- "Me Time with a Bow," suggests Nancy Schretter, managing editor of familytravelnetwork.com.

And there's no better time for moms to get that all-to-illusive time for themselves than on a family vacation -- even at the airport. Kyle McCarthy, creator of familytravelforum.com, said she loves to steal time to get a pedicure at an airport spa. "I let them wait at the gate, since they always like to be early, and I relax until the plane is ready to board."

Any mom -- or grandma -- who has traveled with kids, especially young ones, knows that all too often a vacation is not a vacation at all for moms. "It's just like home without the washing machine," one young mom told me glumly as she watched her kids splash in a hotel pool.

What she meant was that on vacation with the kids, moms still do everything they do at home -- arrange meals and activities, facilitate sibling squabbles, act as nurse when one child gets sick or another scrapes his knee -- all without the conveniences of home. Too often, they come home exhausted, wondering why they left in the first place.

Don't get me wrong. Of course, dads and partners do their part -- more than ever -- on vacation as well as at home. It's just that I think most moms are still planners and organizers in chief and truth be told, typically feel guilty about stealing time for themselves. I know I always did. "Moms feel guilty about spending money just on them," agreed Schretter, the mom of two daughters.

Amie O'Shaughnessy, creator of the family travel website ciaobambino.com, suggests the gift ideally should enable moms to spend time doing something they never get the chance to do at home ... like taking an art or photography lesson, a cooking class, going to a gallery with a guide or taking an architecture tour in a city. "The key thing is it should be something she'd never do at home and something that wouldn't be more fun with kids," said O'Shaughnessy.

Nancy Schretter suggests you surprise mom with "a little basket with a note that lets her know that the whole family wants her to enjoy some special time because she's given them so much. It can come with a hotel or resort gift certificate to the spa, or a ticket for a special tour or shore excursion ... something that's uniquely her that you know she'd love. Have everyone give it to her -- along with a big hug."

I stole an hour for myself at the Four Seasons Baltimore Spa after a day exploring the city's historical sites (more about that in another column.) Moms can do that even at Disney World with the new Senses spa at the Grand Floridian Resort.

But this me time doesn't have to cost a lot -- or anything. You can sign mom up for wonderful free city tours designed around her interests and led by volunteers like those in New York with Big Apple Greeter and in Paris.

"The best gift my husband can give me is an offer to hang out at the hotel pool with the kids while I go off on my own to wander," said Pauline Frommer, co-president of Frommer's Media and publisher of the Frommer guidebooks and website, explaining that what she loves is "to have some time on my own to explore, away from the kids and husband."

Kara Williams, one of the Vacation Gals, suggests it's easier to guarantee mom that time for herself if extended family or friends are part of the vacation equation. "We've invited my mom and mother-in-law on family trips -- everyone wins," she said. "The kids get special time with beloved grandparents and the husband and I get time away together while they're being looked after by family."

If you're not traveling with extended family or friends, pick a place that has lots of planned activities for kids of all ages. Schretter suggests "great family-friendly all-inclusive resorts or cruise on a ship with superb kids/teens programs. With the kids busy enjoying so many fun activities it makes it easier (and guilt-free) for Mom to take a little time for herself."

You'll find deals this summer from all-inclusives like Palladium while ships, including those from Disney and Royal Caribbean, have added nurseries at sea and offer so many kids and teens activities that you may have to persuade them to spend any time with you. (For more ideas, check out the new Taking the Kids Summer Fun and Family Cruise sections.)

If your gang loves the outdoors, surprise mom with a guided family adventure trip (like the one we did to Yellowstone with Austin-Lehman Adventures or a stay at a ranch like the C Lazy U or Vista Verde Guest Ranch where we've happily vacationed in Colorado. Or try an Appalachian Mountain Club lodge in New Hampshire where you can easily borrow any gear you need. Here, there's no playing tour guide, cooking or even entertaining the kids.

Guided tours with special family itineraries overseas from companies like Adventures by Disney, Tauck Bridges and Backroads also can guarantee that mom -- and dad -- are freed from working on a family vacation.

"Mom can simply relax and have a good time," said Schretter.

And really, that's the best Mother's Day present you can give.

Eileen Ogintz is a syndicated columnist and writes about family travel on her Taking the Kids blog, and is the author of the new series of Kid’s Guide to NYC, Orlando and the just released Washington, DC  from Globe Pequot Press. 

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Nyquist's OT winner helps Red Wings even series with Ducks

Anaheim, CA –  Gustav Nyquist's first career playoff goal came 1:21 into overtime to help the Detroit Red Wings take a 5-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks in Game 2 of this Western Conference quarterfinal series.

Detroit had blown a three-goal lead in the third period, but went into overtime on the power play as Sheldon Souray was whistled for slashing with 38 seconds to play in regulation.

With time winding down on the man advantage, Daniel Cleary passed the puck from the right corner over to the right circle for Valtteri Filppula, who skated down low before sending it back to the left wing where Nyquist fired it in for the win.

Damien Brunner had a goal and two assists, Johan Franzen tallied twice while Justin Abdelkader also scored for the seventh-seeded Red Wings, who evened this best-of-seven series at 1-1. Jimmy Howard made 28 saves.

Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu each posted a goal and an assist, while Bobby Ryan and Ryan Getzlaf scored for the second-seeded Ducks, who got 27 saves from Jonas Hiller -- including a game-saver late in the third period on Pavel Datsyuk.

This series heads back to Detroit for the next two games, with Game 3 set for Saturday night.

Detroit got off to a quick start as Abdelkader scored 48 seconds in when his wrister from the slot tipped off the stick of Francois Beauchemin and went in, and it was 2-0 less than four minutes later as a pass through the middle in his own zone by Selanne saw it tipped by Kyle Quincey over to the slot where Brunner one-timed it home.

The Red Wings made it a 3-0 game at 1:04 of the second on the power play as Brunner's shot from the low left side was stopped, but Franzen snuck in the rebound.

Anaheim, though, got back in it with a power-play goal at 10:53 of the second after Selanne's shot from the left circle was stopped, but the rebound kicked out to the right and Koivu snuck it in.

The Red Wings made it a three-goal game 20 seconds into the third on the power play as Franzen took a pass from Henrik Zetterberg in the right corner and wrapped it in from the right side.

Anaheim, though, rallied with the next three goals to send the game to overtime.

At the 7:50 mark, Getzlaf made it a 4-2 game when he brought the puck out from the left side of the net and from the slot he was able to get a backhand past Howard.

Less than five minutes later, the Ducks cut the margin to one as Nick Bonino sent a turnaround pass from the top of the left circle over to the right circle where Kyle Palmieri's shot was tipped by Selanne and past Howard.

The Ducks capped the comeback with 2:22 to play as Cam Fowler sent a short pass from the low left side to the circle where Ryan one-timed it home.

Game Notes

Datsyuk and Palmieri each posted two assists in the game ... This is the fifth time these two sides are meeting in the playoffs and each team has won two series ... Detroit was 3-for-6 on the man advantage while Anaheim went 1-for-5 ... Detroit took two of three in the regular season against Anaheim.

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Former Cy Young winner Price picks up first win of 2013

Chicago, IL –  Ben Zobrist went 3-for-5 with two RBI and Matt Joyce hit a two-run homer as the Tampa Bay Rays downed the Chicago White Sox, 8-3, in the finale of a four-game set at U.S. Cellular Field.

Jose Lobaton had a solo homer and Evan Longoria added an RBI double for the Rays, who have won seven of their last 10 games.

David Price (1-2) gave up three runs on six hits while striking out nine in seven innings to pick up his first win of the season. Despite the slow start this season, Price has just three losses over his last 24 starts dating back to June 19, 2012.

"David was good, he pitched really, really well. His fastball was good, he had a really good hook and good change-ups. I thought he was really good," Rays manager Joe Maddon said.

Paul Konerko had a two-run homer and Adam Dunn drove in a run for the White Sox, losers in six of their last nine.

Nate Jones (0-2) was saddled with the loss after giving up the go-ahead run in the eighth inning. Starter Dylan Axelrod was tagged for three runs on four hits while fanning three over six frames.

Tampa Bay plated three runs in the eighth to go up 6-3. Sean Rodriguez opened the inning with a base hit to center and moved to second on Jones' wild pitch. After Matt Joyce drew a walk to put two on with one out, Zobrist laced a base hit up the middle to bring Rodriguez around.

Jones then walked Longoria to load the bases, spelling the end of his day. Matt Thornton was able to retire James Loney before being replaced by Jesse Crain. Crain was able to get Ryan Roberts to hit what appeared to be a routine fly ball to right, but Rios dropped the ball allowing Joyce and Zobrist to score.

Zobrist knocked in Desmond Jennings with a base hit to center and Longoria scored Joyce with a double down the left-field line in the ninth inning to cap the scoring.

Dunn scored Rios with a single to center in the first inning, but Lobaton tied the game with his homer in the third.

Konerko's two-run shot in the bottom half of the third gave the White Sox a 3-1 edge, but Joyce knotted things up with his two-run blast in the sixth.

"They were swinging the bats well, we just couldn't hold them down. We got off to a good start, but you have to hand it to Price, he settled down and shut us down and their bullpen did a nice job ," Konerko said.

Game Notes

Tampa Bay tied a franchise record with at least one home run in 15 straight games. The Rays also hit a homer in 15 consecutive games in 2009 ... Rays catcher Jose Molina missed the game with a bruised right knee. Molina was hit in the knee with a pitch in Saturday's win ... The White Sox will open a brief eight-game road trip on Tuesday when they visit the Texas Rangers ... The White Sox have played just four games this season decided by more than three runs ... Earlier on Sunday, the White Sox placed starting pitcher Gavin Floyd on the 15-day disabled list with a right elbow injury. Chicago recalled pitcher Deunte Heath from Triple-A Charlotte to fill the roster spot.

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