If we say “summer vacation” and you think “relaxation,” remember that summer is great for vigorous activities that can keep your family healthy and happy! Go on a bike ride, spend some time in the pool, or check out some active Dallas-area activities:

• Dallas Heritage Village at Old City Park is a living history museum that portrays life in North Texas from 1840 to 1910. Kids can play outdoor games with Mrs. Blum, a traditional Jewish woman; pet the livestock and tend to the garden at the working farm; or see the potter at his wheel.

• Dallas Zoo is an old favorite, but be sure to check out the new male albino American alligator. And don’t forget about the Lacerte Family Children’s Zoo, where kids can crawl on a spider’s web, wade in a small stream (swimsuits aren’t a bad idea), and ride ponies.

• Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine is a great place for an active “staycation.” The largest indoor water park in Texas offers six pools, nine water slides, and a four-story tree-house water fort.

If you want more ideas about planning active family outings and vacations, visit the Medical City Children’s Hospital health library.

As easy as 1-2-3

Healthy snacks don’t do kids much good if they’re hard to make or don’t taste great. We asked the culinary students at the Frisco ISD CTE Center to make delicious recipes that kids could make. Fifth graders at Shawnee Trail Elementary School selected the winners, including this recipe from Don Nichols:

Ants on a Boat

Ingredients:

• 1/8 apple
• 3 or 4 raisins
• 1 tsp peanut butter

Stand apple slice up on its skin. Spread peanut butter on the top of the slice (where the slice was next to the core). Put raisins on top of the peanut butter and serve.

Nutritional information:
47 calories, 1.4 gm protein, 5 gm carbohydrates, 3 gm fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 25.4 mg sodium, 0.8 gm dietary fibers

Babies with cleft lips are much more frequently born to young mothers, particularly teenagers. It’s “because they typically don’t eat healthy food,” says Jennifer Kaplan, coordinator of the Pediatric Craniofacial and Neurosurgery Program at Medical City Children’s Hospital.

In particular, teenagers don’t get enough folic acid. “One study from Norway showed that getting sufficient folic acid—from diet and supplements—reduced the incidence of cleft lip by 40 percent,” says Kaplan.

Therefore, women of childbearing age should make sure they eat plenty of leafy green vegetables and citrus fruits, which are important sources of folic acid. (They should also avoid using tobacco, alcohol, and illegal substances.) Women who think they are pregnant should see a doctor and get a prescription for prenatal vitamins as soon as possible.

If during a routine ultrasound, a physician discovers that a baby has a craniofacial deformity, keep in mind that the Medical City Children’s Hospital Craniofacial Center performs more than 700 procedures each year. Learn more at our website, SpecialistsInChildren.com.

Look up “chore” in the dictionary, and you’ll see the word “unpleasant.” But chores that require some physical effort can be good for you. Mowing the lawn, raking leaves, scrubbing floors, even taking out the garbage all provide exercise.

What’s more, activities like these can be turned into games. Pretend you’re Tony Stewart or Danica Patrick the next time you get behind your lawnmower. Or that you’re an Olympic weightlifter the next time you take out the trash. Have fun—at least a little!

Dr. Genecov, a craniofacial surgeon, says that for more than 20 years, the Medical City Children’s Hospital Craniofacial Center has offered patients and families something unique: a single place that can “take care of the entire problem—the surgical aspects, the critical-care aspects, as well as the evaluation.” You can learn more about the program and meet more of our specialists at our website, SpecialistsInChildren.com.