Post by lauren170 on Sept 28, 2014 20:46:48 GMT -5
What are some great vacations you've taken your kids on? Please include their ages and why/what was good for that age.
We're going to Key West just before DD's first birthday. I'm kind of wishing it was Disney, but I figured low key would be better when I booked it. Right now, at 8 months, she loves places like the zoo and fall fairs when she can see things - so I think she would love Disney. I have no idea what the heck we will do in Key West most days!
I'm already starting to think about where we can go when she is just about 2 years. Today we saw a huge cruise ship leaving Boston and it made me want to go on one right now. But it doesn't seem like a good idea until she's closer to 3.
Post by aspentosh on Sept 28, 2014 20:51:16 GMT -5
San Diego- 8 months. She loved it because we did the zoo and beach, which was engaging but low key
Lake house- 1.5yo and 2.5yo. This was great both years because she can play in the sand, water, at the house, etc.
NY- 2.5yo. This was more for us (she spent a lot of time in the carrier), but she enjoyed it and all there was to see. Little Blue Truck leads the way came to life in front of her
We've been to Denver several times with DD from ages 6 months-4.
We went to San Francisco right before she turned two and had a great time!
ETA: She slept through Alcatraz, rode in her stroller across the Golden Gate Bridge, hung out in her Beco in Sausalito, loved Monterey Bay Aquarium and enjoyed the pier.
The only thing we wanted to do but having a little kid stopped us was Muir Woods. It was the end of the day and when we got there you had to hike quite a ways just to get there from where you parked not to mention once you were in the park. We had already had a long day of wearing her and knew we just weren't up to it.
we didn't do any trips until she was almost 2. We went to Florida for a week and drove there (2 day drive). She enjoyed the beach despite hating sand! We took family so we'd be able to get out on our own some.
we also did a long weekend in DC right before her 2nd bday. Lots to do there and we rented a townhouse so she had her own bedroom and we had a kitchen.
I enjoyed our beach vacation when dd2 was 10mo-ish. The key for me is that we had a condo right on the beach, so going back up was no problem - beach time cut short by a poopy diaper after 15 minutes? No problem, just back up to the condo real quick and then everything is good again. We also had a canopy on the beach so I laid there with the baby and napped.
We went to WDW when DS was a couple months shy of 3, but 2 years later there's a lot he doesn't remember. To me, it's probably not worth it until 5ish (which is how old DD1 was when we went).
Portland, OR and the Columbia River Gorge DD was 11m when we went. We stayed in an airbnb that was stocked with a pnp, toys, board books, etc. The city has some excellent places for kids (OMSI was probably our favorite), lots of kid-friendly dining (food trucks, local restaurants) and the hiking was exquisite with a wide range of levels. Doing the Gorge worked well for us because we would drive while J slept. She was very interested in the waterfalls, enjoyed walking on the trails, and loved watched the fish at the fish ladder at Bonneville Dam.
We have also been to our hometown, Columbus, OH, three times since J has been around (2.5m, 7m and 13m). We are going again at Christmas when J will be 19m. She loves playing in everyone's backyard and visiting the metro parks, especially Slate Run (which is a historic farm with lots of animals).
We've taken so many vacations with our kids. No matter where you go you will have fun. Disney isn't the only place on earth to have fun. We've taken two of ours and I'd you ask them what their favorite vacation had been, it isn't Disney.
Let's see 12 month DD- black hills, SD. Mount Rushmore, storybook park, bear country USA, etc.
24 month DD - San Juan and rincon, PR. Beaches, snorkeling (one at a time obviously), rain forest, old Forts
4 year old DD and 1 year old DD - Orlando and Cocoa beach, FL. WDW, AK, Epcot, beach.
Almost 5 year old DD and almost 2 year old DD - Oahu and Maui. Beaches, aquarium, snorkeling, whale watching, etc
6 year old DD, 3 year old DD, 7 month old DS- Durango, CO and alamosa, CO. Mesa verde national park, great sand dunes national monument, fish hatchery, train ride, hiking.
7 year old DD, 4 year old DD, 19 month old DS- Galveston and San Antonio, TX. Beaches, moody gardens, Kemal boardwalk, sea world, Alamo.
8 year old DD, 5 year old DD, 2.5 year old DS - duck, NC. The outer banks. Beaches, crabbing, lost colony, bike rides, lighthouses, beach horses, paddle boarding, canoeing.
8 year old DD, 5 year old DD, 2.5 year old DS- San Diego, CA. Sea world, legoland, beaches, uss midway.
Next year we go to the Florida keys. Kids will be 9, 6, and 3.5. We have plans to snorkel, dive (DH), swim with dolphins, turtle hospital, hang at the beach, and that's all I've got so far.
Plus we've been to Phoenix and Chicago for family stuff.
You can find stuff to do anywhere and have a great time.
So far, we've only done one--Australia at 9-10 months to visit family. She loved it and handled the flight with more grace than many adults We had fun walking around various cities, hanging out on the beach, and spending time with her grandparents.
We went to KEY West when DD was 10 months old and I thought it was a great vacation for that. age. She loved the pool. DH and I traded off staying in the room during nap time, so once/day, I got out by myself. I either went to the hotel pool or walked around town. And once/day, I napped with DD. So relaxing!
At that age, DD loved the Butterfly World on Duvall Street.
Favorite vacation ever is a tough one to choose. We've been to a lot of great international destinations. I found Buenos Aires, Argentina to be fabulously kid friendly when DD was just shy of 3 years old. But I also love the trip we took to Southern France and the North of Spain when she was 4. Last spring, when she was almost 5, she loooved Venice, Italy and raved about the palazzos and the canals for months afterwards.
We've also been back to Key West and gone to Miami as well and DD never tires of the sunshine and swimming.
Post by shellbear09 on Sept 29, 2014 0:01:49 GMT -5
We just went to San Diego at 17 months and it was great. We only went to an aquarium and the beach. We have been to the zoo there before prekids and we loved it but it is an all day thing and I didn't want to do that with her yet.
Cabin at 16 months great and low key. Plus we went with family so lots of help.
Post by stealthmom on Sept 29, 2014 2:02:38 GMT -5
Go to the aquarium and sunset festival at duval square. Does your place have a pool? You can also take some kind of boat cruise.
We spend two weeks at the beach with my family every year. I'll be honest it wasn't really fun until he was 4. The waves are too big. Plus I hate sand.
9 mos. Hawaii. This was an awesome vacay. We rented a condo and a car. Super fun.
15 mos. Western caribbean cruise. If you go this route I recommend a balcony room. Sucks to be stuck in a windowless room during naps.
16 mos. Toronto. We took a cruise and went to this splash pad park. We also went to the top of the space needle.
Multiple times- nyc. Loved times square, the big tru there. Rockefeller center tree, christmas markets. (We always go in dec.)
Post by dulcemariamar on Sept 29, 2014 2:14:18 GMT -5
We love doing cruises with my LO. Most ships have splash pads for tots. There is always something to eat 24/7. They have daycare to use so you can get a break. And there is so much to explore on the ship for your tot. For naps, you can sit out on the balcony enjoying a drink while your kid naps.
I'll preface this by saying I don't really enjoy travel/vacations with kids in the 8 month to 2.5/3 year age range so we've been doing a bit more travel on our owns - DH goes on a guys weekend or I go visit friends/family - during that period.
Here are the ones where we all had fun:
Dominican Republic all-inclusve (DS was 2.5) We went when DS was 10 months but I wouldn't say he had a great time (hard to tell at that age). Way more memories of family fun when we went at 2.5 years. Played on the beach, swam with him, etc and he went into the baby club for a bit each day so DH and I had some alone time. He loved the beach and was mostly pleasant at the restaurants. Baby club put on a play at the end of the week and it was adorable and he loved being on stage.
Ibiza & Barcelona (DS1 had just turned 3). Pool and beach time in Ibiza was great and we all loved it. Barcelona is, IMO, great with kids. Loads of public art and little parks everywhere. It was easy to take DS to - can't think of name - that huge Gaudi park and we did some hop on hop off buses. There is an amusement park at the top of this mountain - again, can't remember the name - and the view from it is spectacular plus they had some good little kid rides.
Way different experience than if we didn't have kids with us - no late night clubs and restaurants and we did a lot of eating in at the apartment we rented. Still great trip for all of us.
Theme Park: DS1 was 3.5 years and DS2 was 6 months. It was great, went for 3 days, mostly for DS1 because they had ThomasLand and he is train crazy. Park wasn't too big and we stayed at hotel at the gates so DS1 was fine walking around (no stroller needed). DS2 was still small enough to wear in carrier. Good travel ages for both of them. Hotel restaurant was very very kid friendly which made it quite enjoyable. This was really a trip for DS1 but DH and I really enjoyed seeing him get into the rides, etc.
London, Dublin, multiple times: we live overseas and go to Dublin and London once or twice a year. London is a lot bigger, obviously, and has more stuff for kids. It's great if you can stay centrally and walk or just have short tube rights to attractions. Our last trip was almost a year ago, DH was working so it was just me with the kids (4 yrs and 10 months at the time) and we had a great time. London transport museum, Covent Garden Market were are our go tos. Dublin doesn't have as much for kids but if the weather is good St. Stephen's Green park is excellent. We were there when DS1 was almost 2 and did some tourist stuff and he liked the Guinness Factory a lot but it wasn't a great age for travel.
Portugal: DS1 was 4, DS2 was 17 months. Stayed at an all-inclusive and did a few day trips into the little town nearby. It was a good one for DH and I - they had a kids club - but the dining schedule was very Euro (dinner started at 7pm) and both kids kinda fell apart as the week went on and they got less and less sleep. Both of them loved the pool. DS2 was in a sand eating phase which made the beach not so fun. DS1 played a lot of mini golf with DH. Wouldn't go to a resort that didn't have earlier dining options again. My kids are usually in bed by 7!
Post by formerlyllizzyb on Sept 29, 2014 7:50:14 GMT -5
We rented a beach house in Destin when DS was 14 months. It was fabulous. The beach was right out our back door, we had a kitchen and separate bedrooms, and the hoa set up our chairs and umbrellas every morning
I'm a huge fan of NOT staying in hotels with babies/toddlers. Rentals are the way to go.
We visit my parents in Florida. He thinks it is Disney World.
At 18 months we did the Outer Banks. Rented a house about a block from the beach so it was very easy to go back and forth to the beach throughout the day. Lots of kid friendly stuff too - aquarium, fishing piers, mini golf, Dairy Queen :-)
Post by leonard131 on Sept 29, 2014 8:40:17 GMT -5
FL 3, 9, 16, 20 months
Park City - 6, 18 months
Denver - 1 year
Mexico- 14 months
Plus he has been going to the beach for weekends since he was 2 weeks old. In addition we have done a bunch of trips to PA and VA to visit friends and family.
Post by noodleskooze on Sept 29, 2014 8:45:04 GMT -5
We haven't done an official vacation with Leo yet.
The vacation I remember most from my childhood was going to AZ/the Grand Canyon when I was in HS and my sisters were littler. My mom got us tickets to an all-day raft ride down in the Canyon, and we also got to do a Hot Air balloon ride in Sedona. It was amaaaaazing.
We're used to traveling the world, but haven't done anything cultural or exotic with DS yet. (He's 18 months and DH isn't ready for anything more than a 5 hr flight with him yet. Boo!)
A few trips we've really enjoyed with him thus far: - Disney Cruise for his 1st birthday (Disney really caters to families, it was awesome) - Atlantis in the Bahamas (Harborside condos so we had more space) - Niagara Falls (more to do there than I realized, & got a 2 bedroom suite overlooking falls)
We're looking at a private sailing charter or Europe trip around his 2nd birthday.
We rented a beach house in Destin when DS was 14 months. It was fabulous. The beach was right out our back door, we had a kitchen and separate bedrooms, and the hoa set up our chairs and umbrellas every morning
I'm a huge fan of NOT staying in hotels with babies/toddlers. Rentals are the way to go.
We are doing exactly this in two weeks with DS who will be 15 months. I have never been to Destin, but we are really looking forward to it.
we went to Newfoundland with DS1 when he was 5 mo. He was so easy at that age to travel with- popped him in the Ergo and we could do anything. We flew, drove and went on boats and was easy peasy.
We travelled in Austria, Slovenia and Croatia when DS1 was 17 mo. Not the easiest trip but we had to go at that time for a family thing. Flight was a nightmare, but the driving was easy. And at that age, he'd eat anything so that helped
When DS1 was 2 1/2 and DS2 was 6 months, we went to Alberta (Canadian Rockies). We flew there and drove around. It was great trip with hiking, site seeing and playing. We rented cottages in a couple of locations, so we cut costs that way and had more space
This year, when DS1 was 4 1/2 and DS2 was 2 1/2 we went on a road trip to Nova Scotia. We drove to Maine, and took the overnight ferry to Nova Scotia. We stayed in a few different places for 2-4 days. Honestly? We had fun but it was HARD. Road tripping with little ones, even when you add in lots of Santa's Village/mini-golf/water park/beach days, is quite difficult. It may just be their ages, since DS2 was especially difficult on this trip. as a result, we decided we're going to do a cottage/beach trip next year, without much driving.
@bandwife where did you stay in the DR? Would you recommend it?
Club Med Punta Cana.
Would definitely recommend it. We're big Club Med fans. Our Portugal all-inclusive was also at a Club Med. Good Food and - the big draw for us - daycare. Getting a few hours alone with DH by the pool was amazing. I think we'll keep going to Club Meds until the kids outgrow the programs.
Only small annoyance with Club Meds are that they often have a lot of French people there and that often equates to lots of smoking.
on all/most of our trips, we've done some serious hiking (6+ hours) and sea kayaking or canoeing. This summer was the only time that it was a bit more difficult with both the boys getting bigger but not completely independent. DH ended up with 45-lb DS1 on his back in the framed carrier in the White Mountains while I climbed with 35-lb DS2 on my back.