Vacation Ideas

Don't know where you live. But we just went to Traverse City and Mackinac Island in Michigan last summer and had a blast and there is plenty to do. We also loved Virginia Beach when we went 2 summers ago. Also ... I am looking into Smugglers Notch in Vermont ... it is supposed to be a great family vacation too for all ages. Good luck and have fun!

L. Rafferty

I love going to the Outer Banks in NC. My favorite Island is Ocracoke. It is 3pretty small and low key. You can rent bikes and travel the entire Island that way.
M.

I took my daughter to Myrtle Beach when she was one and a half and we had a good time. we stayed in a nice hotel and there was a kids pool and they had activites for the kids. We were also close to the beach and we could play in the sand and swim in the ocean as well. They have an aquarium that has hands on activities. There is a board walk that has many shops, the have build a bear and even a build a dino. Good luck!!!!! And have a fun time where ever you go!!

We took our two sons, 18 months and 3 yrs to idlewild. they loved it the rides are older, but very age appropriate and under shade. They have a water park too, similar to the indoor kind, but outside. All for the same price and it is reasonable.

The best thing is parking is close and you can take a picnic basket and eat wherever you want. There are hundreds of picnic tables. We ate lunch then took naps. It was great. We all woke up refreshed and went back for more. Here's the website: www.idlewild.com. The park is in Ligonier PA. About 5 hours from Columbus.

Regarding someone else's suggestion of the cruise lines...keep in mind that a lot of cruise lines don't have activities for kids under 3. At least that was my experience when I took a 13 month old on a Norwegian cruise. I still think this is a great suggestion for when your son is a little bit older! I have had great experiences with cruising.

That being said...the best vacation that I have taken with my young boys (who are 6 and 3) is Hilton Head Island. I have been going there with my family since my oldest was 2 1/2. This will be our 5th summer in a row going there. We stay in a condo and it always super relaxing.

Whatever you decide to do - have a great time and good luck!!

Check out Woodson Bend. It is on Cumberland Lake near Somerset, KY. It is great for family. It has a nice pool and a kiddy pool. It has a really great shaded playground. You can bring bikes or the stroller and just walk and check out the scenery. In Somerset there is a lot of shopping and dining. There is also a very nice water park. The place is pretty inexpensive. If you or DH like - there is golfing, tennis and stuff too. If you have a boat - you can launch it there. There are also a lot of boat rental places. Plus it is a short drive, which is a must with an 18m old.

Try to get a lower level unit. Upper is nice, but with a little one, the stairs are a pain. We had to bring baby gates the first year. Last year we got a lower level and it was so much more relaxing!

Hey there. We're in the same situation. My son will be about 18 months when we go on vacation too this summer. We are looking into St. Louis. It's not a far drive, plus they seem to have a lot of stuff for young children.

Hi S.!
I have two boys ages 3 and 6. We love going to Gatlinburg. It can be very commercial but we love to hike, picnic and play in the water. My husband carried our boys in a back pack when they were younger to hike the trails. They always want to go back.

Have a great and safe vacation with your family!!

J.

We always like to take the kids to Niagara Falls(Canadian side). Lots to look at, you can walk around when the weather is nice so you can take the baby in the stroller. It's not overly expensive. The kids love it there! There's tons to do!

S.

Hi Sarah. Have you thought about the beach? My daughter just turned 18 months old. We took her last year and it was a great time. We also have a 6 year old. We did Myrtle Beach last year and had such a wonderful time doing all of the stuff around. We are going back this year, as well as a beach in Florida.

Gatlinburg is also a neat place to go. There are several exotic petting zoos (although they are very small, you get to interact with all of the animals, such as deer, goats, reindeer etc). My daughter had a blast when we went there (she was 15 months old at the time).

Another place your son may really enjoy is sesame Place in PA. Your son would be able to ride all of the rides with you, except for one (you have to be 3 years old to ride it). You spend 2 days there. We did one day of all dry rides and one day of all water rides. My little one was only 6 weeks old when when we went. But my niece was 2 and she absolutely loved it, along with my then 5 year old.

Good luck planning a vacation!

We have just accepted that vacationing with an infant or toddler is going to be much different than before. There are wonderful things you can do as a family. A lot of beaches will have fun things for families to do with their children and it is broken down according to age groups. We experienced these fun family activities on Hunting Island and at Hilton Head. My husband and I love to hike and camp so we have a baby carrier pack back for hiking etc...Both of my children love to swim and love the water so we swim quite a bit. Renting bikes is also amazing. My son loved riding on the back of a bike when he was only a year and a half! They have bike seats for infants as well...we would ride up and down the beach. It gets easier the more you accommodate your child and allow your child to accommodate you. Another helpful hint is to vacation with other family like a sister or cousin or mother in law etc...they love taking care of the children so that you and your husband can have some personal fun time. Hope this helps...Love & Blessings ~Rev. Dr. L. Stec D.D.

Some where cheap, or take a family member who can help a day or two so you and your husband can have a night or two to your self. Your son won't remember and it will not feel like much of a vacation til that point.
Good luck,
Mother of 5

I don't know where you live or what your budget is, but my favorite vacation spot is and always has been Cape Cod, and I highly recommend it to other people. I'm going for 2 weeks in May this year with my two girls, and the last time we went was 2 summers ago (when my older daughter was 14 months). There's tons of sand and shopping plus local festivals, whale watches (though an 18 month old is too young for that I would think, but it's your call); ponds, ferry rides to Martha's Vineyard where you can ride a cool old carousel, etc.

Tybee Island, GA is pretty cool too. It's near Hilton Head but cheaper. Plus you can hit up Savannah on your way there, and that's a neat city.

Have fun!

I'd recommend Fort Rapids in Columbus, OH. I took my kids last year (then 9 months, and almost 3) and they had a BLAST! I was a few months pregnant with my son and I, too, even had fun. It's an indoor waterpark with hotel. You can stay for the night or just go during the day. Depends on when, but the rooms start at $139 per night, and that INCLUDES 4 passes into the waterpark (your son wouldn't need one so you could even invite some other friends/family to go along!) I think I'm going again this year with my 3 - it's lots of fun but not too far from home and relatively inexpensive! :)

Check with the cruise lines. Some of them have programs for kids so they can do funs stuff while you get a short break to do grown up things. Not sure about that age, but keep it in mind because we have always had great experiences with the balance between family time and our time!

The best family vacation we have done so far was our trip to Virginia Beach, VA. The drive time is not so bad. We drove while the kids slept on the way there, and we stopped at some caves on the way back to break up the trip. Virginia Beach was so well kept and clean. We were there during the Rock & Roll Marathon so there was lots of music going on. We took a family bike trip on the boardwalk and ate at a restaraunt by the beach. The weather was wonderful.

I have 3 girls, ages 7,4, and 2.

We have taken my daughter to Hilton Head every year for the last 3 years....the first time we went she was 22 months, and she loved it. We drove it in 2 days, we stopped in NC, on the way there & then when we left we drove straight though & she was fine in the car.....a portable DVD player was very helpful. I love it there, there is a lot you can do with kids there, and I haven't gotten bored with it yet,I have been going there since I was little and we are going this year again. They have great homes that are close to the beach or if want they also have villas/condos close to the ocean too.

I've never been there, but my friend and mother of 3 young kids highly recommended Seasame Place. She said it was absolutely a wonderful place for a family vacation with small children. I believe it's in PA. Here's the website: www.sesameplace.com

Hi S.,
For the past 15yrs, every June we go to Outer Banks, NC for 2 weeks and then in October we go to Gatlinburg, TN for a long weekend. My girls (7,5,3) love both places. They have so much fun. Always remember though, your vacation is what you make of it. Yahoo both places and you will find a bunch of good info to help you decide.

Hello S.! I have a 3 month old and a 3 year old. We have been going to Hilton Head Island since I was 8 years old, and plan on going again this year in April. The kids love to play in the sand and feed the seaguls! And the best part it, it totally wears them out so they sleep great! (and my three year old never slept) If South Carolina is too far, Lake Michigan is a great alternative! My sister lives close to the lake in south-western Michigan and there are some beautiful beaches there, with soft white sand and huge dunes! The nice thing about staying at the beach is easy access back to the room when your little one gets tired out. When I tried to do too much with my son at that age, he got very fussy and nobody had any fun, so the beach was great! Good luck whatever you decide, and have fun!

Hi S.,

Believe it or not, where you go on vacation is linked to Feng Shui (how you experience your surroundings). Based on your family's birth dates, you can go somewhere that feeds your soul, or you'll need a vacation from your vacation. I have a whole workshop on this. You can visit my website for the schedule of events which grows all the time. http://www.intuitiveconcepts.com. You may also want to enter the word 'trigram' in the search feature. That will provide some insight. Feel free to call if you have further questions. D. G

The kiddy land at Kings Island Amusement Park is a great and fun place for your 18 month old son. Kings Island is up by Cincinnati, OH about 2 hours away. Look them up on-line and see what you think.

We have a great house on Holden Beach, NC (OBX) that we rented last summer - it was a long drive (one day up, two days back), but there are MANY that are only $1k/wk. The one we rented, Surf Song, is right across the street from the beach and has its own private access. It was THE most relaxing vacation (with children) I've ever had! Our favorite place is Estes Park, CO, but that's really difficult to enjoy with small children.

Holden Beach is a private, residential ONLY, island. It is VERY family oriented, which is why we chose it. No drunk, naked college students. Mostly return families who rent several weeks (the fact that we were only there a week surprised everyone we struck up friendships with) but they're all very friendly, very good folk. There's a family that makes AMAZING sand sculptures, and gorgeous shells everywhere. There's even a turtle rescue operation on the island that lets you (or your children) help birth the baby turtles and lead them to the ocean. At night alot of families go down to the beach and go crabbing. Everyone releases the crabs they catch from what I could see tho! It is a WONDERFUL place for families if you're considering a beach vacation.

And like I said, houses start at $1k/wk and go up to .....$10k/wk i think? so there's something for everyone. The smallest houses are 3 bedrooms/2 baths from my understanding (thats what we had - 1300 sq ft - tiny in comparison to what's on the island) and get huge, so you could take your entire family for one house if you wanted.... or stay with two or three familes in one house to split the cost. We stayed on the dunes, like i said - across teh street from the beach.

If you go, definitely get a house with private beach access tho. Our rental company was brunswicklandrealty.com, but there's many more realty companies including the family that owns the island:
hobbsrealty.com
holdenbeachrealestate.com
beachrealtyhb.com
holden-beach.com
coastalvacationresorts.com

If you want more choices, just google holden beach realty! Also, you will want to reserve at least two beach chairs, a wagon or cart, and an umbrella from one of the local merchants: Beachfunrentals.com or boomersrentals.com. I would highly suggest also renting bed linens, towels, things that will take up a bunch of space in packing. Our house came equipped with laundry detergent and dryer sheets, towels, washcloths, plastic bags, hand soap.....a bunch of stuff that the rental company said we needed but ended up not. Of course we bought it on sale and brought it knowing the local food lion would charge an arma dn a leg for everything (they do) but now I would just take the extra cash and not worry about packing that stuff.

If you decide on holden beach, hurry! IT fills up fast and returning families get preference! There's also a list of area attractions (not including myrtle beach an hour away) HERE: http://brunswicklandrealty.com/locallinks.cfm

Good luck! And if you decide on holden beach, I KNOW you will love it!