How cool is this? To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Candy Land, Hasbro's classic game, the company turned San Francisco's twisty Lombard Street into a life-size version of the game. Kids from local schools and the University of San Francisco Children's Hospital stood in as the game pieces.

With our 2009 resolutions waning as winter bears down on us, we can think of no better spot to get back on the health and fitness wagon than Canyon Ranch.

Adding to its locations in Tucson and Lenox, Massachusetts, the company just opened a third location in Miami Beach. The new 150-suite hotel has the usual no-excuses roster of exercise and nutrition classes as well as a 75,000-square-foot spa (with special cool therapeutic rooms called "igloos") and fitness center. It's a fantastic babymoon destination, but it's also surprisingly family-friendly: there are classes tailored to teens, and the beach pretty much guarantees littler kids will have fun.

And if the rates don't mesh with your other New Year's resolution (budget), you can get a little piece of Canyon Ranch pampering with the skin care line.

Now that the Inauguration hoopla is finally calming down, we've been thinking a trip to D.C. may be in order. We've been checking out tons of area hotels all this morning and fell in lust with Thompson Hotel's new uber-chic Donovan House. The hotel may not be the best "kid-friendly" spot (maybe a romantic weekend?), but it's worth browsing their Web site just for the pretty pictures.

Plus, check out all of our D.C. favorites!

Kelly Alfieri | Web Editor

It's all about the big top these days in New York. The Big Apple Circus just rolled into town and Calder's Circus is being presented in a new installation at the Whitney as part of Alexander Calder: the Paris Years.

My husband and I brought our 2 1/2-year-old children to the Big Apple Circus this past weekend and they're both obsessed with the trapeze now. The circus feels lost in time -- it's in a small tent with just one ring and no seat more than 50 feet away. Many of the show's talent are second and third generation circus performers and the clowns weren't even creepy. 

Calder's Circus was created by Alexander Calder in 1927 and is a miniature, mechanical circus created from wire and bits of cloth, wood, and other materials. It's quirky and charming and has a magical draw to both kids and adults. The circus has been part of the Whitney's permanent exhibition since 1970 but it is presented now in a new installation that includes fresh elements that were uncovered in Whitney storage.

If you're in New York or planning a visit, step right up...

Since it's been around for more than 30 years, the Big Apple Circus technically isn't new, but it is back in New York with a new show, Play On!

Tickets start at $28 and kids under 3 are free (as long as they're sitting on your lap, that is.) Also, no seat is more than 50 feet away from the ring, so even little ones should be able to all the action without any problems. The clowns, acrobats, and animals will be in NYC until January 18, then the big top will set up shop in Atlanta from February 13 to 28.

A new exhibit at the National Museum for the American Indian aims to teach kids about leading healthy lives through the artwork in Eagle Books, a four-book series by Georgia Perez, a community health representative in New Mexico. The exhibit, Through the Eyes of the Eagle: Illustrating Healthy Living for Children, is a joint effort to prevent diabetes in children with the CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation in collaboration with the Tribal Leaders Diabetes Committee and the Indian Health Service. The work of artists Patrick Rolo (Bad River Band of Ojibwe, Wisconsin) and Lisa A. Fifield (Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin, Black Bear Clan) are featured in the exhibit, which is part of the museum's effort to highlight contemporary Native American issues through the arts. The exhibit runs through Jan. 4.

While you're at the museum, stop by the Mitsitam Cafe for native foods from areas that include the Northern Woodlands, South America, the Northwest Coast, Meso America, and the Great Plains.

We don't know about you, but any hotel that provides some kind of distraction for the kids that will allow us some time to sneak away for that hot stone massage is worth looking into.

North Carolina's luxury mainstay, The Umstead, has added a kids' cooking school to its already impressive list of accommodations and activities. For the winter season, kids ages 6 to 15 can try their hand at creating an elaborate Ginger Bread house. In the spring, the classes will be focused on gardening and growing herbs and vegetables.  The winter classes start December 7 and are $38 per child. Spring classes begin March 29 and are $75 per child.

Plus, if you're looking for more ways to foster your child's epicurian future, check out our directory of kids' cooking schools.

Looking for inspiration for a trip? We love to explore the World Monuments Fund's Watch List for ideas. Every other year the WMF selects the 100 Most Endangered Sites and sets forth to help bring attention to the site and preserve these threatened cultural treasures. Their interactive map is a fantastic way to learn about the sites and a great way to start thinking a bit more globally. You can also donate to the fund. Let's face it, our kids may be a bit young to travel to Cambodia's Angkor Wat (above) or Peru's Macusani-Corani Rock Art, but we're hoping that these amazing sites are still around when they're old enough.

Lisa Trottier | Cookie Reader, Kensington, California

If you've ever been to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, well, just forget about it. The old Academy was a pretty dusty affair. The new one, though, became a must-hit spot for families the moment it cracked its doors September 27.

A morning here winds you through a huge translucent orb holding a misty rainforest atwitter with neon birds, then out past Claude, the albino alligator basking on a rock, and on to the world's biggest indoor coral reef, swirling with Nemo and his Technicolor buddies. Go eye-to-eye with a second-grader-sized giant bass, look up into the jaws of a T-Rex frozen mid-stride, and touch a live sea anemone.

Unfortunately, when most visitors will miss when they stream out the doors and pile into their cars are some locally beloved kid magnets clustered a sippy cup's throw from the Academy. So, do your little ones a favor and take a couple of detours before you head back out into the city...