New Travel Forum Launched

March 9, 2008

Planning the perfect family vacation often involves talking to other travelers.  Simply reading through all of the available advertisements and brochures doesn’t always give you a true idea of what the destination is like.  After all, those things are put together in an effort to draw you in and to get you to spend money.  That’s why I like to visit forums and share idead with other people.

Today, I learned about a new travel forum, which you can see check out at http://www.lmvr123.com/forum/.  It’s pretty new, so there isn’t a whole lot on there yet, but I am sure it is going to get busy rather quickly!  I am going to head over there to see what types of conversations I can get going – Care to join me?  See you at the forum!

By admin | Posted in General Family Travel Tips, a, advertisements, and, brochures, family, forum, forums, idea, idead, involves, learned, people  today, perfect, planning, reading, share, simply, talking, the, travel, travelers  , true, vacation, visit | Comments (0)

Having Fun in Yellowstone

February 27, 2008

As many of you know, I am planning a trip to Yellowstone for this summer.  It is going to be a really long road trip for my family, but we plan on breaking it up and stopping at some other sites along the way.  We are traveling from Indiana, so we decided to stop along the way at the Dakotas so we can see Mt. Rushmore and Badlands National Park.  We are also going to be stopping at Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, and Devil’s Tower.  From there, we will head to Yellowstone and we are planning a visit to the Grand Tetons and to Glacier National Park.

 Well, life is interesting sometimes, as I was just contacted today by a man named Allan Wright.  Allan told me about his company, which is named Zephyr Adventures and, interestingly enough, will be providing adventure-based family trips to Yellowstone and to Glacier this year.  I can’t personally say much about the service, but Allan tells me that they have been in business for 11 years and I think it is worth checking out what they have to offer.  If I see Allan while in the area, I will be sure to tell you all about him and his tours! 

By admin | Posted in National Parks to Visit with Kids, a, and, breaking, family, long, my, plan, planning, road, sites, stopping, summer  , the, trip, way  , yellowstone | Comments (0)

Involve Your Kids When Planning a Family Vacation

September 3, 2007

In my opinion, it is essential to involve your kids when planning a family vacation.  Whether you are planning a Disney vacation, at trip to the Smoky Mountains, a visit to Wisconsin Dells, or anywhere else, involving your kids will help create a better experience for everyone.

 I know, the control freak in you probably wants to plan the entire event.  Well, that is how I am anyway.  But, you will find that involving your children in your family vacation plans will actually help reduce your stress while also increasing their level of involvment with the trip.

When kids are involved in the family vacation planning, they feel as if they are an important member of the family and that their opinion counts.  This in of itself should be good enough reason to involve them in the planning.  But, one of the great benefits is that it will actually help reduce the whining during the family vacation.  After all, if your kids played a role in the planning, it becomes a bit more diffcult for them to complain about the plans.

 Of course, you can still narrow down the choices that you give to your kids.  That way, you can make sure that any activity they select will fit within your budget and will be something that you can tolerate visiting. 

I always involve the entire family in my planning process.  Sometimes, I find that the things they want to do are different from what I thought they would be interested in.  So, it always pays to ask and it will definitely lead to a far more pleasant family vacation experience.

By admin | Posted in General Family Travel Tips, a, children, control, disney, entire, essential, event  , family, freak, involve, involving, kids, plan, planning, plans, reduce, stress, the, vacation, vacation   | Comments (4)

Purchasing a Family Vacation Vehicle

August 29, 2007

In light of my recent vehicle catastrophes, I thought it might be relevant to discuss purchasing a vehicle for family travel.

The vehicle we had to replace isn’t actually the one we use for family travel.  This car is actually my husband’s work vehicle.  My primary vehicle is a Yukon and this is also the one we use when going on our family vacations.

When selecting the Yukon, my husband and I had travel at the forefront of our thoughts.  Initially, we wanted to get a Yukon XL because it has more storage space in back.  The only reason we wanted this feature, however, was because of vacations.  After much discussion, my husband and I decided that this would actually be cumbersome for day-to-day driving and we would just get a cargo carrier if we needed more space.

When shopping for a family vehicle that would also serve as our family vacation vehicle, we had many things that we kept in mind.  These include:

  • Comfort
  • Durability/ease of cleaning
  • Having a DVD system installed
  • Safety
  • Good for vacations and for day-to-day living
  • Able to meet all of our vacation needs, including towing

We actually had a mini-van before purchasing the Yukon.  I am not really a fan of mini-vans because I don’t really care for the way they look.  But, it worked out well when the twins were young.  Now that they are five, we decided I could go back to having an SUV without much trouble.  This is great because we like to ride ATVs and we have a trailer to tow them.  So, we can now easily take them on vacation with us if we like.  In the future, we might get a boat as well.  Having towing capabilities will be handy for this too.

 For me, having the DVD system was a must.  In the minivan, I had purchased an add on system but didn’t much care for it.  With the Yukon, the system is built in.  I much prefer this system because it is higher quality and the kids get good sound from the car speakers.

 Regardless of what you are in the market for, be sure to do your homework to make sure you get a great deal.  We prefer purchasing slightly used vehicles because you don’t have to pay the new car sticker price but you can still get a car that is in great shape.  Check out the Kelly Blue Book value beforehand to make sure you aren’t overpaying and look at many dealers to make sure you get exactly what you want.

By admin | Posted in General Family Travel Tips, a, and, care, deal   we, discuss, family, great, higher, kids, mini vans, my, prefer, primary, purchasing, purchasing slightly, quality, selecting, serve, the, vacation, vacations when, vehicle, vehicle  , work, yukon, yukon   | Comments (0)

Check Out the Damage!

August 21, 2007

OK,  everyone.  I think I am ready to start blogging on a more regular basis once again.  I apologize for the delay, as I was making posts every day.  As I mentioned in my previous post, my house was hit hard by some terrible weather.  A large tree limb fell on my husband’s car, as you can see here:

 scotts-car-1.JPG

 Here’s a close up of the back window – check out the speakers sticking out.

scotts-car-2.JPG

I know this doesn’t have a great deal to do with family travel or family vacation tips, but I thought it would be interesting to share!

Unfortunately, the car wasn’t the only thing affected.  As you can see here, the same tree pushed into our house.

scotts-car-3.JPG

 This next picture is kind of difficult to appreciate without knowing what this area is supposed to look like.  Anyway, that little bit of white that you can see in the background is one of my garden sheds that was crushed by another huge tree limb that fell in my backyard.  I have a garden walkway in this cove that leads to the shed.  Obviously, you cannot see that at all now!

Damage

So, we have most of this cleaned up now and the insurance adjusters have been out.  So, I should be able to start talking about educational family travel and family vacation tips next time.  Thanks for your patience and the words of support!

By admin | Posted in Getting to Know Me, a, and, blogging, car, crushed, educational, family, fell, for your, garden, huge, large, limb, patience, pushed, ready, share unfortunately, start, terrible, the, time  , tips, travel, tree, vacation, walkway, weather  , words | Comments (0)

Making the Ducks at Wisconsin Dells Educational

August 12, 2007

Before you take your family vacation to Wisconsin Dells and ride the Ducks, learn a little bit more about these interesting machines and discuss it with your child.  These military vehicles are more formally known as the DUKW and is a six wheel drive truck capable of riding on land and on water.  This characteristic is known as being amphibious.  You can introduce this word to your child and talk about animals that are amphibious as well, such as frogs and toads. 

These vehicles were originally created by GM to use during World War II and were used to carry troops and goods over water and land. Today, they are mostly used to give tours in various places around the country, including at Wisconsin Dells.  You can learn more about these vehicles by visiting Wikipedia.

Ask your child to create his or her own new vehicle that is unlike any you have every seen before – just like the inventors of the Ducks did so long ago!

You are also going to see several rock formations along the way during your tour.  This opens up a wonderful opportunity to talk about rock formations and how they are created.

By admin | Posted in Educational Family Travel, a, and, bit, dells, discuss, ducks, family, interesting, learn, machines, ride, the, vacation, wisconsin | Comments (0)

Last Minute Summer Fun

August 9, 2007

For many of you, the school year is quickly approaching.  I know that, for me, I have to return to work on Monday and my students return on Wednesday.  EEK!  Where has the summer gone?!

With so little time left before your kids are back in school, it is time to consider some last minute family vacation ideas.

Obviously, you aren’t going to plan some great getaway over the next couple of days and whisk your family off on a week long vacation.  Nonetheless, you can still have some fun before those last few days of summer vacation pass you by.

One great place to go is to a nearby zoo.  Zoos offer fun for kids of all ages.  From my experience, even teenagers can have fun at a zoo.  And, it gets the whole family out for the day while the weather is still great.

More than likely, there are some great museums within an hour or two drive from where you live.  Children’s museums are a great choice as they generally offer displays that are appropriate for infants all the way up to adults.  In addition, the displays are often changing, so it can be a new experience every year.

Having a great family vacation doesn’t even have to involve going somewhere.  You can plan a great day of fun in your own backyard and, if you want to give it more of a “vacation” feel, you might want to pitch a tent and let the kids stay outside.  Roast marshmallows, sing songs, play games and just enjoy each other’s company.  After all, isn’t family togetherness the best part of having a family vacation?

If you don’t have a swimming pool or know anyone that does, you might even want to consider renting a hotel room in a nearby city for the night.  Enjoy an evening of swimming and fun as you spend the day somewhere away from the same ‘ole, same ‘ole of home!

By admin | Posted in General Family Travel Tips, a, and, approaching  , days, eek  , family, getaway, great, ideas obviously, long, minute, monday, my, plan, quickly, return, students, vacation, vacation  , wednesday  , week, whisk, work | Comments (0)

Family Travel Roadtrip Tips – Keep Them Entertained

August 7, 2007

Perhaps the single most important family travel roadtrip tip is to keep the kids entertained while on the road. By  breaking up the trip and stopping every couple of hours, you will automatically help stave off boredom.  Nonetheless, you will need to take other steps to prevent boredom as well.

The most obvious thing you can do to help keep the kids from getting bored is to install a DVD system in your vehicle.  Watching movies along the way to your family vacation destination will certainly keep the children entertained as long as the movies remain available.

Of course, not everyone has a DVD player in their vehicle.  If this is the case, music can help prevent boredom from setting in as well – particularly if everyone joins in with the merriment.

Another roadtrip game you can play is to challenge the children to look for certain items along the way.  For example, you can challenge them to look for license plates for all 50 states. If you create a list ahead of time, they can simply check off the states as they find them.  You can use this states.doc with your kids while on your trip.

Another roadtrip game is to look for every letter of the alphabet on the signs along the road.  To make the game even more challenging, go in alphabetical order and only count the first letter of the words you see on the signs.  You might have to cheat a little on X, though we usually find a semi-trailer with Xtra on it at some point or another.  Q can be a challenge as well – just hope you come across a Dairy Queen once you reac that letter!

You can also look for different colored vehicles, such as challenging the children to be the first to spot a red vehicle or any other color you select.

With a little imagination, you can make your family travel experience enjoyable while on the road.

By admin | Posted in General Family Travel Tips, and, automatically, boredom  , breaking, by , couple, entertained, family, hours, important, kids, road, roadtrip, single, stave, steps, stopping, the, tip, travel, trip | Comments (0)

Family Travel Roadtrip Tips – Be Prepared

August 6, 2007

One family travel tip that I learned rather early on was to always be prepared for the worse!

It seems like every time we go on a family vacation, at least one of our family members becomes ill.  I have been the one to all victim, as has each of my kids.

My oldest, Jacob, seems to be the one that gets sick the mose often when we go on family vacations.  He has a tendency to throw up at least once during the trip.  Of course, he is not the only one that has ended up puking in the car.

When you are speeding down a highway, there really is no way to quickly pull over to the side so your child can throw up outside of the vehicle.  Unfortunately for us, the only thing we had available the first time he threw up was a paper bag – it seemed like a great idea until the vomit seeped through just seconds after hitting the bag.

Therefore, I recommend always bring a plastic bag with you.  A Ziploc bag is the best, since you can lock it shut and seal out the smell until you can find a place to stop.

Speaking of Ziploc bags, my twins were having a problem with diarrhea when we went to Disney World.  Those bags were a life saver when it came to changing out underwear since we had to tote the soiled underwear around with us throughout the park (I will admit, a couple pair just ended up in the trash).

I know, the topic is disgusting, but kids have a way of puking and pooping at the worse of times! Being prepared will make it much less of a disaster when it occurs.

By admin | Posted in General Family Travel Tips, car when, early, family, kids my, learned, members, mose, my, oldest, prepared, puking, sick, the, throw, tip, travel, trip  , victim, worse it | Comments (0)

Family Travel Roadtrip Tips – Make the Trip Part of the Family Vacation

August 4, 2007

I have done a great deal of talking about some of the wonderful places I have visited with my family, so I think it is about time I offer a few family travel tips for when on the road.

For me, the actal trip to the destination can be just as much fun as the destination itself.  In order to make the trip a pleasant part of your family vacation, you have to establish a certain mindset.

First of all, don’t try to push your way through as quickly as possible.  This only results in cranky children and irritated adults when the trip schedule is inevitably thrown of track.

I used to call my husband the “Pee Nazi” because stopping for a restroom break was such an ordeal.  “But, baby, I am making such good time” he would say.

Finally, he realized that going into the roadtrip with the understanding that we would have to stop along the way just made it easier on everyone.  Now, when we go on a family vacation, we even keep an eye out for fun stops along the way.  Stopping every few hours to take a restroom break, to grab a snack, or to see a interesting site has made the roadtrip aspect of our family vacations a great part of the trip rather than a hassle.

By admin | Posted in General Family Travel Tips, a, actal, deal, destination, family, fun, great, itself  , my, offer, places, talking, the, time, tips, travel, trip, visited, wonderful | Comments (0)