This past week, my daughter and I had the privilege of attending the Girls Going Places Entrepreneurship Conference, sponsored by Guardian Life Insurance, Foster Klima and Company and the University of St. Thomas. The purpose of the program is to encourage young women to consider business ownership as a method of achieving their career goals – to have economic power without depending upon a corporation — or a man, for that matter.

The day-long workshop in downtown Minneapolis was free to both the girls and the entrepreneur mentors. I served as a mentor because although my primary career is school counselor, I also started Empowering Youth, Inc. nearly 10 years ago, and continue to sell educational products and speak professionally.

After introductions, we played the board game, “Hot Company” where the girls paired up and pretended to be partners in a new company. They played the game in teams this way and the mentors served as judges for the scenario cards. Very fun game!

We also had a discussion about what economic power is, and the girls had the opportunity to interview several of the women entrepreneurs that participated as mentors in the workshop.

After lunch, table-teams of girls completed the project, “Product in a Box”, where they were given a box full of random objects to create a product they would pitch for sale.

Some very creative teams came up with interesting, funny, and sometimes realistic products out of what amounted to a box full of junk:)) I could almost hear the pitch on QVC! Very talented young women!!

The day ended with “Budget Savvy”, a discussion about living expenses and the income required to maintain wants and needs. There were many surprises as girls selected the careers they’re considering, and budgeted that along with the expenses they hope to be able to afford.

The Girls Going Places Conference was a fantastic opportunity for my daughter. I encourage you to look into a similar opportunity near you. Guardian also offers a scholarship program for young female entrepreneurs. For more information, please visit the Girls Going Places website.

From our Maria’s home in Austria, we were less than two hours from Venice, and in our mind it seemed crazy not to do a daytrip. Our hosts, however, thought we were crazy to go. Apparently, Americans tend to be more willing to drive for hours to get somewhere, only to return the same weekend – or even the same day! This was a pretty foreign concept to our Austrian friends.

So we loaded up the Opel early one morning and set out through the Dolomites (mountain range in northern Italy) toward Venice.

We took a water taxi down the Grand Canal and under the Rialto Bridge, where we’d later walk.

Did our best to avoid pigeon droppings on St. Mark’s Square.

And criss-crossed canals throughout Venice as we purposely got lost. Gelato was a big part of our visit to any city in Europe, at it was no different in Venice.

Where else will they let you (expect you!) to climb aboard an ancient lion statue?

And although there wasn’t a patch of grass to be found in Venice – let alone a playground, we looked hard for playgrounds on the way to Venice and back. This lovely park was in Livenza.

And this fun spot we searched hard to find in Dobiacco.

Travel with Kids in Europe Series:
A Playground in Every Town (more still to come)
Colmar, France
Bavaria, Germany
Carinthia, Austria
Venice, Italy

By the time we’d seen the sights in beautiful Bavaria, we were ready to get to Carinthia, where our Austrian exchange student lived with her family. Carinthia is in Southern Austria, right on the border of Italy, and we discovered it is the vacation destination for much of Europe.

(Biking the loop around Klopeiner See – “See” = “Lake” in Austrian.)

Our five days with Maria’s family were so much more than we could ever have asked for. We were tired after our long drive from Paris, and Maria’s mom, Renate, truly took care of us. She cooked for us, washed our clothes, and generally treated us like royalty during our stay with her in Grafenstein.

(Riding the high-altitude gondola to the top of Petzen Mountain. Some of us were a bit nervous.)

Maria became our official backdoor tourguide of Carinthia. I can say that traveling with a guide is such a different experience that traveling with a map. It was relaxing – we were able to look at the beautiful countryside, rather than deciphering signs or the map.

(Riding the luge down the mountain – three times!)

For instance, I didn’t even know this mountain luge was in the area – I didn’t see it on our map. But Maria took us right to it. How could we miss an experience like this?

(Paddleboat on Worther See.)

Maria would ask us, “Do you want to go where the tourists go, or where we go?” What a question! We got the backdoor treatment throughout Carinthia. This is Worther See – at 40 meters deep, it’s cold even in the heat of summer – but beautiful!

There were plenty of great kid-spots. One day it rained and we found an indoor waterpartk. This park in Klagenfurt had a waterslide and gelato stand.

Craig took his Euro coins all by himself to buy a cone.

(Klagenfurt park.)

Of course, there were playgrounds. Even at a farm restaurant near Maria’s home (where everything they serve is harvested and made onsite) we found a swingset.

And kittens.

Travel with Kids in Europe Series:
A Playground in Every Town (more still to come)
Colmar, France
Bavaria, Germany
Carinthia, Austria
Venice, Italy

Looking forward to Earth Day? Want some ideas to do with your kids? For a few tips, please read my Positively Speaking column at 5 Minutes for Mom.

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