When the time is right, escape the bright lights of the city and introduce your family to the spectacular night sky. Here are five places to experience a star-filled landscape:

1. Arizona skies

Expect stellar stargazing as well as the chance to tour the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, which was the first city to be designated a Dark Sky City ...Read more

It has happened again -- another blob of spaghetti stuck to the kitchen wall. Same location-in the corner next to the highchair. Same suspect-round face, great smile, chubby legs, chubby cheeks, 18 months old.

The abstract art on the wall escaped notice for the better part of a week and fossilized. We should probably put a frame around it and ...Read more

ATLANTA -- Alicia Simpson's daughter may be precocious, having skipped a grade, but mom is worried that her 8-year-old is advancing too quickly in an unhealthy way.

Bradley, a rising fourth grader, used to be an early-to-bed kid but has been going to bed later since COVID-19 upended her life. She is now getting nine or 10 hours of sleep when ...Read more

Smile: It's a family photo!

While your backdrop might not be an exotic locale or an international landmark, it's still important to capture your family's current experiences for future reference and enjoyment.

Here are five ideas to consider:

1. People pictures stand the test of time.

Including people, especially your loved ones, in your ...Read more

It's become a weekly COVID-era pacification in our house: Every Friday night, my 30-something son, his 20-something brother and their Joni/Aretha wanna-be mother shut the living room windows so as not to disturb the neighbors.

Some families do crafts and take bike rides to stave off the COVID slumps.

We bring out the amp and microphone I got ...Read more

While the pandemic is flattening in some areas and surging in others, the fundamental caution remains in place: Do not touch your face.

The bad news is that the world is divided into two sorts of people-those who constantly touch their faces and those who do not.

I am a face toucher.

My face and hands were made for each other. My chin nestles...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- Several days after George Floyd's death, a group of strangers gathered on a grassy patch at 41st Street and Minnehaha Avenue S. in Minneapolis. The spot was equidistant from two sites marked by devastating loss: one where the 46-year-old black man was killed by police, the other the epicenter of widespread rioting.

More than 50 ...Read more

To vacation or not to vacation, that is the question.

Some say "go" and some say "stay." People are divided-and not just by six feet, which is the current social distancing guideline.

Many are making travel decisions based on distance. How far can we go without stopping to use a public restroom? Some can make a five-hour car trip to see family...Read more

It was after her daughter's first miscarriage that Julie Loving began thinking about becoming her gestational carrier.

Loving, 51, has watched for years as her daughter, Breanna Lockwood, 29, and husband Aaron Lockwood, 28, tried to become parents. They had been through multiple rounds of in vitro fertilization and miscarriages, including a ...Read more

Crafting a summer getaway? These five adventure destinations, featuring fresh air and stunning scenery, may fit the bill.

1. Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

Visit this Idaho resort town where active pursuits beckon from every direction. With the 25-mile-long lake as the centerpiece, your family can choose to spend the day on the beach, enjoy a range of ...Read more

One night in late May, Wendy Bohon and her mom were piecing a puzzle together at the dining room table when they heard from the living room a news anchor's somber voice, prepping his audience for what they were about to see.

Bohon knew the general details of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis, the way his neck was pinned to the concrete by a ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- With one hand gripped tightly in his mother's and the other hoisting a homemade "Black Lives Matter" poster above his head, 4-year-old Abdul Kane marched to the front of a pint-size protest in West Philadelphia's Clark Park last week.

"I have something to say," the boy squeaked. "Black lives matter!"

The crowd cheered, and ...Read more

It'd be great if racism didn't exist. If you didn't have to give your kid an explanation for why a person clutched a bag as a black man walked by. If black families didn't have to hold multiple versions of "the talk" in hopes that their child doesn't become the next Michael Brown or George Floyd. But that's not our current reality, nor has it ...Read more

We can never un-see the nonchalance, the I-can't-be-bothered hands in the pockets, the sunglasses on the head like a smug frat boy at a 1950s beach party.

We can never un-feel the horror, George Floyd's powerlessness, his personhood stripped of all but the ability to plead for his life.

And then the silence.

We also can never turn off the ...Read more