Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I second the Hawaii suggestion. We went to Maui with kids aged 1 and 4 and again at 4 and 7. It was great both times!

Isn't the flight miserable?

We have been to the Caribbean and Mexico many times but not Hawaii because of the long flight. My kids are now 4 and 6yo and I still dread a 10+ hr flight with them. We try to stick under 5 hrs and nonstop only.

We went with a 4 and 1 year old on a nonstop, and it was fine. Those big planes usually have the personal entertainment systems, so my 4 year old pretty much did that the whole time. That plus a variety of snacks and he was set. The younger one slept most of the way, but we did have to walk him around a few times. At 4 and 6, you wouldn't have to do that. Once you get to HI, it's totally worth it. No schedule and rainbows everyday!

PP here. Did you find that there was a lot more for the kids to do than going to the Bahamas or somewhere closer?

I absolutely love Hawaii. We got engaged there and I have been dying to go back. DH always refuses because he thinks the flight is not worth it. He thinks going to a nice beach in the Caribbean is good for now since the kids won't know the difference. He even recently turned down a free trip for a conference. We could have stayed at the Four Seasons for free and his flight would have been covered. Even then, he passed.

What?! I would not have let that fly in our house. I am of the mindset that almost all travel is good for families. We never turn down accompanying DH on trips, even when it's 'boring' midwestern destinations or more remote places, much less paradise at the four seasons to boot!

DH did not go either. He turned down the conference altogether.

Yeah, got that...I would have been definitely insisting he (and therefore, we) go

Chattanooga (tagged along with Dh for business trip). Hotel had free breakfast and pool so that in itself was pretty cool for the kids. City is family friendly,awesome kids' museum, scenery, all kinds of places to go, etc.

Dutch wonderland was another fond memory.

Hands down Duck in the Outer Banks! Love to rent a house near the beach with access to a pool. We just got back from a week there - my kids have been loving it for the last 5 years. So easy and relaxing with lots of fun activities. There is a nature center that offers free fishing and crabbing lessons and caters to families with young kids. We stayed at Lucky Ducklings - they have a pack and play and beach chairs and pool toys and they have a hot tub - 3 houses down from the beach and walking distance to downtown Duck. Find them on the Resorts REalty website.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I second the Hawaii suggestion. We went to Maui with kids aged 1 and 4 and again at 4 and 7. It was great both times!

Isn't the flight miserable?

We have been to the Caribbean and Mexico many times but not Hawaii because of the long flight. My kids are now 4 and 6yo and I still dread a 10+ hr flight with them. We try to stick under 5 hrs and nonstop only.

We went with a 4 and 1 year old on a nonstop, and it was fine. Those big planes usually have the personal entertainment systems, so my 4 year old pretty much did that the whole time. That plus a variety of snacks and he was set. The younger one slept most of the way, but we did have to walk him around a few times. At 4 and 6, you wouldn't have to do that. Once you get to HI, it's totally worth it. No schedule and rainbows everyday!

Do you live on the East coast? I didn't think there were any airlines that go nonstop DC- HI. I've looked into it (DH really wants to go to Hawaii) but the idea of that flight is so unappealing.

There's a direct from Dulles on United. 10 hours.

I've never done a flight over 4 hours in coach - company pays for business and first after 5 hours - but that's all I can afford for personal trips. 10 hours in coach with a toddler sounds like HELL.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I second the Hawaii suggestion. We went to Maui with kids aged 1 and 4 and again at 4 and 7. It was great both times!

Isn't the flight miserable?

We have been to the Caribbean and Mexico many times but not Hawaii because of the long flight. My kids are now 4 and 6yo and I still dread a 10+ hr flight with them. We try to stick under 5 hrs and nonstop only.

We went with a 4 and 1 year old on a nonstop, and it was fine. Those big planes usually have the personal entertainment systems, so my 4 year old pretty much did that the whole time. That plus a variety of snacks and he was set. The younger one slept most of the way, but we did have to walk him around a few times. At 4 and 6, you wouldn't have to do that. Once you get to HI, it's totally worth it. No schedule and rainbows everyday!

PP here. Did you find that there was a lot more for the kids to do than going to the Bahamas or somewhere closer?

I absolutely love Hawaii. We got engaged there and I have been dying to go back. DH always refuses because he thinks the flight is not worth it. He thinks going to a nice beach in the Caribbean is good for now since the kids won't know the difference. He even recently turned down a free trip for a conference. We could have stayed at the Four Seasons for free and his flight would have been covered. Even then, he passed.

What?! I would not have let that fly in our house. I am of the mindset that almost all travel is good for families. We never turn down accompanying DH on trips, even when it's 'boring' midwestern destinations or more remote places, much less paradise at the four seasons to boot!

DH did not go either. He turned down the conference altogether.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I second the Hawaii suggestion. We went to Maui with kids aged 1 and 4 and again at 4 and 7. It was great both times!

Isn't the flight miserable?

We have been to the Caribbean and Mexico many times but not Hawaii because of the long flight. My kids are now 4 and 6yo and I still dread a 10+ hr flight with them. We try to stick under 5 hrs and nonstop only.

We went with a 4 and 1 year old on a nonstop, and it was fine. Those big planes usually have the personal entertainment systems, so my 4 year old pretty much did that the whole time. That plus a variety of snacks and he was set. The younger one slept most of the way, but we did have to walk him around a few times. At 4 and 6, you wouldn't have to do that. Once you get to HI, it's totally worth it. No schedule and rainbows everyday!

Do you live on the East coast? I didn't think there were any airlines that go nonstop DC- HI. I've looked into it (DH really wants to go to Hawaii) but the idea of that flight is so unappealing.

There's a direct from Dulles on United. 10 hours.

Ah, never looked at them. I hate flying United and DH absolutely refuses to fly it after some bad experiences. We've decided to go to HI when the kids are in middle school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I second the Hawaii suggestion. We went to Maui with kids aged 1 and 4 and again at 4 and 7. It was great both times!

Isn't the flight miserable?

We have been to the Caribbean and Mexico many times but not Hawaii because of the long flight. My kids are now 4 and 6yo and I still dread a 10+ hr flight with them. We try to stick under 5 hrs and nonstop only.

We went with a 4 and 1 year old on a nonstop, and it was fine. Those big planes usually have the personal entertainment systems, so my 4 year old pretty much did that the whole time. That plus a variety of snacks and he was set. The younger one slept most of the way, but we did have to walk him around a few times. At 4 and 6, you wouldn't have to do that. Once you get to HI, it's totally worth it. No schedule and rainbows everyday!

PP here. Did you find that there was a lot more for the kids to do than going to the Bahamas or somewhere closer?

I absolutely love Hawaii. We got engaged there and I have been dying to go back. DH always refuses because he thinks the flight is not worth it. He thinks going to a nice beach in the Caribbean is good for now since the kids won't know the difference. He even recently turned down a free trip for a conference. We could have stayed at the Four Seasons for free and his flight would have been covered. Even then, he passed.

What?! I would not have let that fly in our house. I am of the mindset that almost all travel is good for families. We never turn down accompanying DH on trips, even when it's 'boring' midwestern destinations or more remote places, much less paradise at the four seasons to boot!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I second the Hawaii suggestion. We went to Maui with kids aged 1 and 4 and again at 4 and 7. It was great both times!

Isn't the flight miserable?

We have been to the Caribbean and Mexico many times but not Hawaii because of the long flight. My kids are now 4 and 6yo and I still dread a 10+ hr flight with them. We try to stick under 5 hrs and nonstop only.

We went with a 4 and 1 year old on a nonstop, and it was fine. Those big planes usually have the personal entertainment systems, so my 4 year old pretty much did that the whole time. That plus a variety of snacks and he was set. The younger one slept most of the way, but we did have to walk him around a few times. At 4 and 6, you wouldn't have to do that. Once you get to HI, it's totally worth it. No schedule and rainbows everyday!

PP here. Did you find that there was a lot more for the kids to do than going to the Bahamas or somewhere closer?

I absolutely love Hawaii. We got engaged there and I have been dying to go back. DH always refuses because he thinks the flight is not worth it. He thinks going to a nice beach in the Caribbean is good for now since the kids won't know the difference. He even recently turned down a free trip for a conference. We could have stayed at the Four Seasons for free and his flight would have been covered. Even then, he passed.

We just did London and Scotland with a 4 year old, and it went surprisingly well. We did have the good idea to put 2 days at Legoland (in Windsor, near Heathrow) at the end of the trip as something for 4yo DS to look forward to.

We kept everything simple, rode lots of double-decker buses and the Tube, spent time at playgrounds (good ones near the London Eye and the Princess Diana playground in Kensington) and watching street performers at Covent Garden and Trafalgar Square, and got DS hooked on knights and jousting with some castles (Tower of London, Edinburgh Castle).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I second the Hawaii suggestion. We went to Maui with kids aged 1 and 4 and again at 4 and 7. It was great both times!

Isn't the flight miserable?

We have been to the Caribbean and Mexico many times but not Hawaii because of the long flight. My kids are now 4 and 6yo and I still dread a 10+ hr flight with them. We try to stick under 5 hrs and nonstop only.

We went with a 4 and 1 year old on a nonstop, and it was fine. Those big planes usually have the personal entertainment systems, so my 4 year old pretty much did that the whole time. That plus a variety of snacks and he was set. The younger one slept most of the way, but we did have to walk him around a few times. At 4 and 6, you wouldn't have to do that. Once you get to HI, it's totally worth it. No schedule and rainbows everyday!

Do you live on the East coast? I didn't think there were any airlines that go nonstop DC- HI. I've looked into it (DH really wants to go to Hawaii) but the idea of that flight is so unappealing.

There's a direct from Dulles on United. 10 hours.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I second the Hawaii suggestion. We went to Maui with kids aged 1 and 4 and again at 4 and 7. It was great both times!

Isn't the flight miserable?

We have been to the Caribbean and Mexico many times but not Hawaii because of the long flight. My kids are now 4 and 6yo and I still dread a 10+ hr flight with them. We try to stick under 5 hrs and nonstop only.

We went with a 4 and 1 year old on a nonstop, and it was fine. Those big planes usually have the personal entertainment systems, so my 4 year old pretty much did that the whole time. That plus a variety of snacks and he was set. The younger one slept most of the way, but we did have to walk him around a few times. At 4 and 6, you wouldn't have to do that. Once you get to HI, it's totally worth it. No schedule and rainbows everyday!

Do you live on the East coast? I didn't think there were any airlines that go nonstop DC- HI. I've looked into it (DH really wants to go to Hawaii) but the idea of that flight is so unappealing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I second the Hawaii suggestion. We went to Maui with kids aged 1 and 4 and again at 4 and 7. It was great both times!

Isn't the flight miserable?

We have been to the Caribbean and Mexico many times but not Hawaii because of the long flight. My kids are now 4 and 6yo and I still dread a 10+ hr flight with them. We try to stick under 5 hrs and nonstop only.

We went with a 4 and 1 year old on a nonstop, and it was fine. Those big planes usually have the personal entertainment systems, so my 4 year old pretty much did that the whole time. That plus a variety of snacks and he was set. The younger one slept most of the way, but we did have to walk him around a few times. At 4 and 6, you wouldn't have to do that. Once you get to HI, it's totally worth it. No schedule and rainbows everyday!

Anonymous wrote:Literally any place with a pool or beach - and no schedule.

^ or camping. My kids LOVED camping at that age.

Literally any place with a pool or beach - and no schedule.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Deer Valley Family Camp in PA from toddlers on up.

Yosemite when the kids were a little bit older, 5&7.

Lancaster county - train museum, Dutch Wonderland, stay at a farm B&B (age 3&5)

+1

I am very interested in the farm b&b and family camp. Do kids do chores around farm?

I personally prefer luxury resorts with a nice spa but I think my boys, ages 4 and 6, would love to stay at a farm.

This is the B&B --http://www.airyhillfarmbedandbreakfast.com/

The kids got to help collect eggs and feed calves and alpacas. There's also a stream to explore and plenty of play equipment. Also excellent food and run by a very nice couple who are a retired teacher and farmer.

As PP noted, Deer Valley is wonderful but may not be your speed if you prefer luxury resorts. However, I have some friends who go for a weekend every year as a compromise between DW who likes casual/camping type trips vs DH who is more of a Four Seasons traveler.