Category Archives: Activities And Adventures

Activities and adventures

Ski With Kids 2012

Summer 2012 was particularly dry in Seattle. 48 days in fact, a tie for the second-longest on record. In fact, we only had 0.01 inch of rain on September 9th, we haven’t had any since and there’s none in the 10-day forecast. It’s all very unusual and since we’re still in shorts and enjoying this Indian Summer it feels very odd to take some time today to talk about preparing for the 2012 ski season. But, as I’ve said in previous years, October is a great time to start planning your ski season, especially if you’re a budget-conscious parent who’s trying to make skiing an affordable family fun activity.

Below you’ll find links to my top three skiing posts with general information on skiing with kids, recommendations for visiting (my favorite) ski resort, Whistler Blackcomb as a family, and some cost-saving ideas.

If you’re in the Seattle area, you might want to mark the 27th Annual Newport Snowsports Swap on your calendar. The sale runs November 9th and 10th.

Canadian and Washington State residents will get the best prices on Whistler Blackcomb EDGE cards if you buy before November 19th.

Seasons passes for Stevens Pass (my favorite Washington State ski resort) are discounted until October 31st.

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Wine Tasting with Kids – and Bikes

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Wine Tasting with Kids: Introduction

Wine-tasting is one of those leisure activities that many people sacrifice at the altar of Disney once they have children. It doesn’t have to be so. With my two very active boys we’ve found that if you combine wine-tasting with say, a picnic and an active day out it can be fun for all the family. Our solution has been wine-tasting on bikes which we’ve done with our children regularly since they were very little. (If you’re one of those lucky people who have demure, quiet kids who will self-amuse anywhere, please leave. You’ve already got perfection. Don’t mess with it.)

napa-valley-bike-tours-route-map

Wine Tasting with Kids: Preparation

Like any good day out with kids, preparation is key. For a day wine-tasting you need to think of your kids first and the wines you want to taste second. It’s a small trade, if you can keep them happy, you’ll be happy and you’ll have more time to taste wine. What’s not to love?

The first thing I do in preparing for a day cycling and wine-tasting is to choose a bike route. I look at the terrain (flat, hilly?), the number of wineries to choose from along various route options and the overall distance. I try to be realistic about my kid’s abilities. I get to taste wine so I’m winning all around here, there’s no need for me to push them too far. I also think about food and water. Do we need to bring a day’s supplies with us or can we buy along the route? Just like hiking, dried fruit and granola are great to have in plentiful supply. Since most wine-growing regions are warm and sunny treats like chocolate melt easily so I pack chocolate-chip cookies instead.

Wine Tasting with Kids: Choosing Wineries

After I choose an overall cycle route then I get down to the very important business of choosing which wineries to visit. Some wineries do advertise as being family-friendly but for our recent trip to Napa I didn’t get a chance to research these before we arrived. Instead, I opted for a common-sense approach: wineries should be fairly evenly spaced out on the route so the kids won’t get too tired between stops and there should be space – gardens or a picnic-area – where the kids can hang out while we were tasting. I match these criteria with interesting wine, for example a well-respected winery that only sells its’ wine onsite for example.

For our day in Napa, I chose the green route on the map above (a 16 mile, easy cycle) and the following wineries:
Cakebread offers cooking classes onsite. I wanted to find out more about this because CAM loves to cook and I could see us returning to Napa for a wine-tasting and cooking experience.
Peju only sells their wines at the winery. It has beautiful gardens with many art installations. It was also at about the half-way point in our route.
The Round Pond Estate makes wines and olive oils. This seemed like a good choice as a place where the kids could stretch their legs and they could join us in olive oil and cheese tasting for a post-lunch snack.
Rutherford Ranch offers wine tastings with chocolate. Need I say more? As it turned out, Rutherford also has a large air-conditioned tasting room with comfy sofas which the boys really appreciated.

Check back tomorrow for specific advice on a successful day wine-tasting with kids on bikes provided by Napa Valley Bike Tours.

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This post was inspired by my recent stay at the Westin Verasa, provided by Starwood Hotels as part of the Starwood Hotels LoveYourFamily package. Our bike rentals for our day cycling and wine-tasting were provided by Napa Valley Bike Tours.

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Four Reasons to Go Wine Tasting with Kids

mendoza-argentina-wine-and-bikes2.jpg
Cycling to wineries is a fun day out for parents and kids. Cycling means you get to visit less wineries but it’s a great active day even with little kids.

wine-tasting-with-kids-art
Many wineries are beautiful buildings with sizable art installations but the art is typically outdoors providing ample opportunities for goofy kid-art-posing.

wine-tasting-with-kids-chemistry
Although you may not like to think of it when you raise a glass of your favorite wine, viticulture is a science. Most winery tours do not include the laboratory which is a pity because this one was a real crowd-pleaser.


If you bring your kids to enough wineries, they may, at the grand old age of 14, be ready to give a little speech on why old vines are better than young ones.

Wine-Making At Dunham Cellars from wandermom on Vimeo.

Or this kid-view of the wine-pressing (warning, this is an unedited kid video).

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This post was inspired by my recent stay at the Westin Verasa, provided by Starwood Hotels as part of the Starwood Hotels LoveYourFamily package.

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5 Reasons To Choose Whistler With Kids

Last week I wrote an accommodation primer for planning a trip to Whistler with kids. It seemed natural to follow-up with 5 reasons to choose Whistler for your family ski trip. My kids learned to ski at Snoqualmie near our home in Seattle. As they were taking weekly lessons there we used a trip to Whistler as a high point of the ski season and a reward for their efforts. Why? Read on…

Whistler-with-kids-trail-map

There’s an interactive version of this map here.

1. Whistler with Kids: The Mountains

Size. Terrain. Vertical Feet. Skiable area. These are all terms you’d think more suited to a professional skier than a grade-schooler, but even at eight BigB was able to rattle of Whistler’s impressive statistics. At over 8,100 acres of skiable area on the two mountains Whistler is larger than all the other resorts in North America by far. Even a little kid can appreciate the scale by looking at the terrain map. If you have numbers-crazy boys like mine memorizing the facts became a game in itself. The benefit when visiting Whistler with kids? There is no way your child can get bored here. They can play on the snow, roll in the snow, slide on the snow, ski, ride, ride the gondola, and test themselves on Olympic-standard downhill runs and kid-sized terrain parks. Enough said.

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2. Whistler with Kids: Ski Runs for Everyone

A big mountain does not a good family ski resort make. There needs to be a good distribution of runs in each skill level. There needs to be opportunities for kids to try out a tree run safely and barrel down a steep with enough room for you to keep close by in case they wipe out. Whistler’s distribution of beginner, intermediate and expert runs is 20-55-25, Blackcomb’s is 15-55-30. Even from the top there’s a choice between easy green, wide, sweeping blues or sharp, straight black runs down the mountain. When you’re at Whistler with your kids it’s easy to accommodate a daredevil kid or a cautious skier and still have plenty of fun.

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3. Whistler with Kids: Mountain Features Made for Kids

Yes, that’s a house-sized tree fort, on the mountain. On Whistler mountain actually. Blackcomb has a magic castle. Even the runs into these are kid-sized – or so they always seemed to me. The view across the valley from in front of the tree fort on a clear day makes you feel like the world is laid out at your feet. Not that your kids will notice mind you, they’ll be too busy climbing and sliding, taking a break from the hard work of skiing to just play in this made-for-kids mountain feature.

4. Whistler with Kids: Food, Glorious Food

If your kids are like mine, they’ll spend their ski day alternating between skiing and eating – with likely at least one badly-timed bathroom break. One of my favorite things about skiing on Whistler with kids is the profusion of food choices on the mountains themselves. I ski with pockets stuffed with granola bars, trail mix and chocolate, but they need real food to keep them going too. The resort charge option on Whistler’s lift tickets means that my kids, now a little older, can be independent about choosing and buying their own food.

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5. Whistler with kids: The Peak to Peak Gondola

When the Peak to Peak gondola in 2009 opened I swore I’d wait “a few years” before riding on it. My kids had other ideas. We rode it every day, multiple times a day that season. Another one to chalk up on my list of the things you do with kids. And really, my kids were right. On a clear day the views from the gondola are straight from a picture postcard. You have to admire the engineering and, at 11mins start to finish, you have to admit that it’s a faster way to cross from one mountain to the other than downloading and uploading.

You don’t even have to be a skier or boarder to enjoy this panoramic gondola ride which is particularly good to know for anyone visiting Whistler with very young kids. Make a day of it: ride the Whistler gondola up for lunch at the Roundhouse, take the Peak-to-Peak across to Blackcomb for hot chocolate and stop at the sliding center on your way back down the mountain.

That’s it, there’s my 5 great reasons why Whistler is my pick for families. If you have any questions about this resort, or skiing in kids generally, leave a comment and I’ll do my best to answer your question, ok?

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Ireland With Kids: A Destination Page

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I don’t usually think of Ireland as a travel destination – to me, it’s home. That said, we’ve had friends visit Ireland with us and we’ve enjoyed showing them around since Ireland is a fun place to visit. So, I’m happy to announce a destination page for Ireland on WanderMom.com: check out Ireland With Kids. If you’re planning a trip to Ireland with your children, I hope you find the information on that page helpful. (You’ll be able to quickly find this page on the Destinations section on the Home Page).

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Sydney With Kids: A Destination Page

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Preview Of Whistler Before The 2010 Winter Olympics

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We spent last weekend at Whistler Blackcomb – our first foray onto the slopes in this ski season. I had been expecting to avoid Whistler this year since I thought that accommodation pricing would be higher than usual because of the Olympics but I was able to find a pretty good last-minute deal for a hotel room on WhistlerBlackcomb.com. Here’s a quick preview into how things are shaping up for a great Winter Olympics.

Vancouver To Whistler Transportation Improvements
The sea-to-sky highway improvements are largely completed and just fantastic. There’s now a two-lane highway (dual-carriageway) almost all the way from Vancouver to Squamish. Between Squamish and Whistler there are passing lanes at regular intervals. I hope this means that the long tail-backs of cars on a single-lane highway, with some reckless driving by those eager to get to the resort, should now be a thing of the past.

The Snow Conditions At Whistler
January can be a hit or miss month in terms of fresh snow on Whistler and Blackcomb mountains. (You can check historical statistics here). Since November the resort has been filling my inbox with emails telling of incredible snowfall this season. Before we booked our hotel, I fruitlessly searched online to validate this claim. Now you can take it from me: the current snow conditions at Whistler Blackcomb are fantastic. There’s plenty of fresh powder all over the mountains.

Preparations For Olympic Events At Whistler
The Downhill and Super-G events will be held at Whistler on the Dave Murray Downhill and Franz’s runs (men’s and women’s respectively). Since we’ve know this, it’s become a family habit to race the DM Downhill when we visit Whistler. (CAM is our current reigning champion). These runs are in great shape with lots of snow cover all the way to Creekside. You do have to take a slight detour between upper and lower DM Downhill because of construction for what looked like a viewing stand. The helicopters flying overhead carrying loads of lumber were a new sight on the mountain.

Olympic Shopping Opportunities
There’s Olympic logo gear, toys and totchkes in most shops in the village especially those run by the resort. Color choices may be deemed questionable by some (personally, I have no intention of ever wearing a shirt of that particular green hue, and I’m fairly partial to green), but there are plenty of shirt designs in more tolerable colors and BigB just loved the soft toy versions of the Vancouver 2010 mascots, Miga, Quatchi and Sumi.

Local’s Tip For Bargains At The Whistler Blackcomb Outlet Store
My post on cost-saving ideas for family skiing was one of my most popular posts last year. In line with my focus on keeping an eye on your budget while enjoying this great multi-generational sport, here’s a tip for families planning a visit to Whistler: the Whistler Blackcomb outlet store in Squamish is worth a stop for some excellent deals on gear and clothing. For example, on this trip, we were able to get CAM a $200 Columbia men’s jacket for $100.

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Whistler Trip Report Jan 2009

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A Review Of 2009 On WanderMom.com

At the start of the year my husband and I were caught up in a Great Recession-fueled tornado. I think we’re just starting to feel like our feet are back on solid ground now as New Year 2010 approaches. During that time, I managed to keep up Photo Friday posts and not much more. But, since we had to plan for a trip to the UK (for a family wedding) in March, I also looked into public transport options from Heathrow airport to central London since the Heathrow Express maybe fantastically convenient but it’s also ridiculously expensive, especially for traveling families.

In March we spent a fun few days with family in Cornwall and Bedford (although we nearly didn’t make it when our flight with British Airways was cancelled at the last minute), but the utterly crazy happenings with the economy were obviously on my mind as I wrote 5 Budgeting Tips for Family Travel in Difficult Economic Times.

In April I finally got around to writing about the time we spent in Venice in June 2008. At the end of the month our planned relaxing long weekend at Lake Ajijic, Mexico (to welcome a new family member), went more than a little sideways when the fears about the Swine Flu pandemic infected media of all kinds worldwide. Since I really enjoy visiting Mexico, and think that it’s a great family travel destination, I spent a lot of May writing about our travels there just to do my little bit to counteract the “if you go to Mexico you’ll die of Swine Flu” theme which seemed to be circulating at the time.

My book, Traveling With Kids – in the Wanderlust And Lipstick series of guidebooks written by women for women – came out in April. That kept me a little busy too. Thanks to all my blogger friends who wrote a review of the book.

I had two of my most popular posts of the year in June. What to expect when you travel with children written in answer to questions from my friend Jordan and the much-tweeted Summer Family Fun In Seattle which I wrote in anticipation of my sister-in-law’s visit with her three little ones.

As a mom of two school-age boys, July and August are my silly season. When the schools are closed, out the windows goes any hope of a sane, normal day and blog post frequency drops. That said, I was very happy with the discussion in the comments on my post on Handheld Video Games, Kids and Travel.

In September, with budgeting still on my mind, I suggested that September was the time for planning family travel in 2010 – and get the best value for your money. If you missed that window, January is also a great time to think about your travel plans for the year and start watching out for special offers, reduced fares and other extend-your-dollar goodies.

After a low-cost but very fun weekend in Walla Walla, and with the winter fast approaching, I penned even more travel cost-saving ideas in October: Three tips On Choosing Budget Family Accommodation and Family Skiing: Three Cost-Saving Ideas – seems like I’ve got a theme going on here!

I was lucky enough to be able to take my boys to visit their new cousin in Sydney, Australia in November – mainly because I’d been watching airfares to Australia since January and was able to take advantage of a Qantas sale in June. Then, as you know, the rest of the year was all about Passports with Purpose. Thanks again to any readers of this blog who contributed to that effort.

Happy New Year to you and your loved ones and many happy travels – whether actual or armchair – in 2010.

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Winter Family Fun In Seattle

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This is Seattle in mid-winter. It can be a pretty grey place. At this time of year when it’s dark early in the evenings and daylight hours get shorter every day (shorter by 3 minutes per day from now until December 21st actually), it’s not so easy to drum up enthusiasm (or energy) to get out and about with your children. I thought I’d help preempt this feeling by sharing some of my favorite winter family fun activities in Seattle.

Winterfest at Seattle Center

This is a family fun activity which you can check out many times between Thanksgiving and the end of the year. There’s so much on offer you can be sure you’ll do something different on every visit. The Winter Train and Village will captivate very young children for much longer than you think is possible and when their attention wanes, the Children’s Museum on the lower floor of the center is always worth a visit. For older children, a visit to the Ice Rink is a must. We’ve finished many winter days at Winterfest with a play at the Seattle Children’s Theater. This year their performances of Peter Pan will, I’m sure, entertain many children through the holiday season. For older children, there’s the Black Nativity at Intiman or a performance by Seattle Repertory Theater. There will, as always, be endless performances of the Nutcracker by PNB.

A walk on Candy Cane Lane

The Ravenna Park neighborhood owns the market for dazzling holiday decor in Seattle. This small cul-de-sac near the University of Washington takes this responsibility seriously. The houses and public spaces in the neighborhood are festooned with brightly-lit seasonal embellishments, but very tastfully and with a focus on sharing a message of peace and goodwill. Park your car and take a walk to best enjoy the lights. It’s a short walk which your toddler will be talking about months later. I couldn’t find a website with definitive dates for when the show starts, but from prior experience, I think you’d be safe to plan a visit in mid-December.

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Argosy Cruises Christmas Ship Festival

For me, the Christmas Ship Festival is a quintessential family activity which everyone should try at least once. The boats are not luxurious and you may not be into holiday carols but on a clear night the music echoes across the lake and whether you’re on the deck (which can be chilly) or enjoying the warmth of the interior of the boat, it’s a truly different way to get into the spirit of the season. You can also enjoy the sights and sounds from the shore since each cruise stops at one or two waterside parks. The schedule specifies which park and the time of the stop.

If you’d prefer to be singing yourself, maybe you should register a team in the Great Figgy Pudding Street Corner Caroling Competition which benefits Pike Market Senior Center and Downtown Food Bank.

Roasted Chestnuts

For me, it wouldn’t be Christmas without roasted Chestnuts. I picked up this habit when I lived in Dublin before husband and children. There was nary a chestnut to be found in the short time we lived in California, but on our first Christmas in the Pacific Northwest I remember picking up a bag at the public market on Granville Island in Vancouver B.C. and realizing, happily, that I was again living in a place of hot treats on a cold winter’s day. In the Seattle, I’ve been able to reliably find this Dickensian delicacy outside Uwajimaya in the International District. (Not that you’d expect to find them there, so if anyone knows why, do share…)

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Jingle Bell Run

If you read this blog regularly, it’ll be no surprise to you that the last thing on my list is a run. But, before you write off the Jingle Bell Run as something which is not quite for your family, let me share my first impression of this event. We’d rushed to get into town on time and barely made the registration deadline. We weren’t quite sure what we were supposed to do with the bells we were given on registering. Standing in line with the other families with strollers, as we tied the bells to our shoes, I was completely unprepared for the sounds of thousands of bells jingling as the actual run started – not to mention the costumes. I will never forget the sight of a Christmas tree running past – six runners in a 3-2-1 formation wearing a large triangular piece of green felt and colorful swim caps which, from above, looked like tree lights. Even if you don’t run it’s an event that’s worth checking out.

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Summer Family Fun In Seattle

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Family Weekend Getaways: Westport Washington

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This is the second post in a series on easy family weekend getaways. With school in full swing and budgets tight, the dreaded stay-cation may be around for a while. This is my way of showing that you don’t need to turn your back on family vacations altogether, that mini-vacations in your own region can be fun and affordable. This guest post is by my friend Margaret who recently spent the weekend with her family in Westport, Washington.

If you live in the Seattle area, you have children (and maybe a dog), and you want to take a three-day weekend vacation during the school year, sometimes the thought of planning a getaway seems more trouble than it’s worth. But what if it could be easy? What if you could pack your car and drive two hours away, stay in a nice, roomy place with a view of the Pacific Ocean from your living room, a state park next door, and more sand dollars on the beach than your kids can fit in their pockets? And your dog can come, too. Would you do it then?

Everyone deserves a break from routine, and it doesn’t have to be a lot of work. When I discovered our kids had a four-day break from school this October, I decided to plan a little trip to the coast. The catch was that I wanted a place that could accommodate our family dog, and I knew we wouldn’t be relaxed in a cheap motel. After looking at a map of Washington, I decided to start my search in Westport, which looked like the shortest drive from the south Sound area. An internet search with keywords “Westport dog-friendly accommodations” turned up a number of links, but one caught my attention. A resort called Westport by the Sea, a condominium complex, offered a number of dog-friendly units for rent.
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Choosing A Vacation Rental

On the Westport By The Sea web site I was able to view detailed interior photos of each unit and a map showing the location of all the buildings. This set-up made it easy to select the best choice for our family, an oceanfront, second story, two-bedroom condo with a clear, beautiful view of the sea. The off-season price tag didn’t seem overwhelming, either. For $239 a night plus a standard cleaning fee, we stayed in “Baileys’ Surf Shack,” a nicely decorated and clearly treasured family getaway.

Vacation Rentals Help Keep Costs Down

If that sounds expensive, consider that we didn’t eat a single meal out – we packed up our coolers and had a fully equipped kitchen waiting for us. We found every kitchen item we could have wanted, so cooking all our kids’ favorite foods was easy. And while $75 initially seemed a little steep for a cleaning fee, I understood why when we arrived. This place was nice, with granite counter-tops and down comforters and fluffy white towels and robes. We felt at home right away, which meant we could focus on the fun parts: walking the beach, digging in the sand, swimming in the heated pool, watching the waves as we played board games and enjoyed meals together. (For a less pricey option, a one-bedroom condo at $179/night still sleeps four, with a sleeper sofa in the living area.) There are usually a few more rules at this sort of accommodation (as opposed to a hotel), but this is the main benefit of condo vacations: you can take your family to a new place without rocking your world too much. That’s ideal when your kids have to make the transition back to school right away.
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Westport Attractions

Some other attractions include the Westport Light State Park adjacent to the property. Grays Harbor Light Station is located here. One night we took a late evening walk into the park, on a path that led us into the middle of the dunes. Away from all the man-made lights, our kids got to see more stars than they ever see living in the city. We picked out all the constellations we knew and talked about how small we really are, living on this planet — a conversation we’d never have hanging out at home!

Another activity I brought along was a surprise, a ferris wheel Erector set (a Schylling product). Our two boys, ages 5 and 8, spent hours helping put it together. They liked receiving a “gift” on their trip away, and we enjoyed the peaceful view while working on a project together. Other hits were Yahtzee and Scrabble, which both came with the condo.

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Family Weekend Getaways: Walla Walla

Westport Travel Tips

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Photo Friday: At The Pumpkin Patch

It’s Photo Friday again! I do try to keep my entries to this fun Friday tradition travel-themed, but every so often I come across some particularly cute photos of my kids which just need to be shared :)

These photos were taken at Biringer Farms, outside Everett, which was our preferred Pumpkin Patch in the Seattle area for many years. (This year my almost-tween and teen are not at all interested in pumpkins, but we did spend a very long time at Display + Costume assembling all the bits and pieces needed for some intricate costumes).

Since this isn’t a very Halloween-y post, I’ve included the post I wrote last year on differences between how Halloween is celebrated in the U.S. compared to Ireland in Vera Marie’s round-up of Halloween posts on A Travelers Library.

Reminder: There’s only three days left to enter my awesome Lands’ End Kids Winter Outerwear giveaway. Tell your friends!

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