A Happy Family

Finding Your Ancestors

>> Feb 5, 2012

Have you recognized your own family history? If you’re interested to identify your whole origins and ancestors; you can start doing your genealogy project. Who knows that actually your great grandfather or grandmother was a famous person at the time! There are some ways to trace your origins. Some people prefer to use social security death index, a large database of death records that created from US SSA.

Visit competent genealogy websites. That’s a right place for you to access the social security death index. In the SSDI, you can find very useful information on birth, death and last residence of reported dead people who had Social Security Number.

To build your own family tree, social security death records in the SSDI can give data that you need about your ancestor; such as the last and first name, date of birth and death, state of domicile, and very last identified address. Since your genealogy project is about learning your family history and keeping private record of your ancestors, the social security death records can be your great reference!

Of course, you can also gather information from relatives and friends. Every three months, there’s a family gathering between relatives in my father’s side. I often use this gathering moment to find out more about my great grandfather and grandmother. Start building your extended family tree and mark your position inside!

image source:shutterstock.com

Family Friendly Holiday Ideas throughout Victoria

>> Feb 3, 2012

Finding fun ways to spend the holidays with your family can require a bit of research as not all places and activities are suitable for children. Luckily for families, Victoria has quite a lot of options that are guaranteed to keep your whole family happy and entertained. The following are just some of the great ways to have a great holiday with your family in beautiful Victoria.

Ballarat

For a holiday where you and your kids are all sure to learn something, head to historic Ballarat, home of the great gold rush of the mid 1800’s and of course the very famous Eureka Stockade uprising. Sovereign Hill is your best bet for keeping the kids entertained, and between the interactive exhibits and the exciting history, they are sure to be tuckered out by bedtime. Speaking of bedtime, Ballarat accommodation options include heaps of family friendly places, so you can rest easy knowing everyone will be taken care of.

Phillip IslandIf your kids are the animal loving types, as most are, take them to Phillip Island next holidays where you can all get an amazing up close look at the cute colony of Fairy Penguins. Unlike a lot of wildlife viewing, you are guaranteed to see these little ones, as they have to come up to the beach to return to their burrows each night. A great place to go for a day trip or even to spend a few days, take your family to Phillip Island and enjoy the natural beauty, the fresh air and of course the wildlife.

The Alps

When the winter has set in and your outdoor options seem to have all but dried up, treat the kids to a taste of what winter is like for most of the rest of the world and head for the snow! The Victorian Alps are only a few hours north from Melbourne and will blow your kids’ minds if they’ve never seen snow or been skiing before. Just make sure you line up all the necessary rental gear, as you don’t want to be caught out by a nasty case of frostbite.

Melbourne Gaol

Everyone in Australia should know the story of infamous bushranger Ned Kelly, so why not take your kids to learn about his life and see his bones at the Old Melbourne Gaol? The gaol was built in the mid 1800’s and was the place where Ned Kelly was hung back in 1880. It has been well restored and showcases an awesome part of Australian history, so get your family onto one of the great Melbourne tours that takes in this remarkable Aussie relic.

Victoria really does have a bit of everything so if you find yourself unsure of where to go with your family next holidays, have a closer look at Victoria. Whether you are looking for wildlife, sport, history, art or culture, there is just the right amount of each here in beautiful Victoria, so what are you waiting for? Start planning your new Victoria holiday today!

8 Things to Teach your Children before Age 4

>> Jan 31, 2012

There are certain things that children need to know as soon as possible. Providing children with the basic survival skills of life is an extremely important part of being a parent. Whilst this will not absolve you from the responsibility of properly supervising your children, it will enable you to relax slightly more without worrying all of the time. A very young child will potentially run into the road if you let it, so the goal has to be to create boundaries and rules in the child’s mind, even if they do not understand the consequences. Just as you would be sure to keep your family safe with a home security system, it is essential to prepare your children for life properly. This article will consider some of the things that parents need to teach their children so that they are better prepared to cope in inevitable real life situations.

Children need to know their full name, address and a contact telephone number. If children ever get lost then you need to be able to locate them easily. You would not put a tag on a child, so necessarily your child needs to be able to inform anyone who finds them of where they live and of who they are. It is also sensible to write this information on the inside of their school bags and other possessions so that adults can identify them if they are lost.
When in a busy shopping centre it is sometimes possible to lose sight of your child. Whilst this should be avoided at all costs, it does occasionally happen. Your child needs to understand that they should stay where they are until you find them and that they should not leave a shop without you under any circumstances.
Explain the boundaries of human contact. Children are completely innocent and do not understand what is appropriate touching and what is not. This applies to both your child touching others and your child being touched. Explaining that children should always tell you if they have been touched by an adult will enable you to help them determine the boundaries and alert you if anything is amiss.
Teach children the meaning of alarms. A fire alarm can be a very intimidating noise if it is unknown. Explaining what the noise is and how to act when they hear it is a very important stage of development and could potentially save their life.
Children should know never to go anywhere without their parent or guardian. It is important to explain the dangers of children leaving with strangers or even with familiar but unexpected people. This is particularly important when it comes to the collection of children from school or activities.
Tell your children that they must never open the front door unless you are with them. Opening the door to strangers can be as dangerous as leaving with a stranger so it is important to always monitor their behaviour.
Explain to children that they are able to say no to adults if they ask them to do things which make them uncomfortable. They need to know that they do not have to do everything that an adult says and should not allow unwanted contact or to be taken away from the sight of other people.
Most importantly, children need to know that there are no secrets between parents and children. They should know that they should tell you everything, even if someone else tells them that they shouldn’t. It is also important to explain the difference between surprises and secrets so that they can appreciate that some things are ok and some are not.

Image:more4kids.info

A Small Bus Stop

>> Jan 30, 2012

We must postpone the opening date of our little eating place as the promotion banner isn’t ready yet. Hope we can launch it this week!

For Blue Monday, I share a blue bus main stop inside my city (Bogor, West Java, Indonesia). These ¾-type buses called Trans Pakuan and use bio-diesel fuel. Since June 3, 2007, the buses serve the 14 km route, about 16 stops along the route.