Family vacation!!
Don’t you just love the word “vacation”? Doesn’t it conjure up images of you:
- sipping the most delicious umbrella drinks on a secluded oasis resort with a cabana boy fanning at your back,
- going snorkling in the clear, tropical blue water with the sun shining on your back,
- getting manicures, pedicures, and all kinds of spa treatments with names like “seaweed body mask”, or “herbal wraps”,
- eating the most exotic dishes with names you can’t pronounce…with the cabana boy fanning at your back,
- or…oh wait the minute, I’m daydreaming…or was it a commercial I just saw on TV.Â
Family vacation, that’s what this entry is about, sorry! We are heading to Legoland for our vacation in April, or should I say “for the kids’ vacations”!Â
Here’s a tip for you parents out there, if you haven’t figured this out already, NEVER tell your kids you’re going on vacation UNTIL you’re on the plane. You’ll be hearing these questions EVERY single day “so when are we going on vacation?” or “is it April yet?” and “what month is it?” or “what comes after February?”!
And you thought the questions end there, oh NOOOO…when you’re ON the plane, it will be “when are we going to get there?” or “are we there yet?” and “how come it’s taking so long?”Â
No wonder why you see parents on the plane looking tired already on the way there AND much more worn out ON the way home!
If you’ve travelled with children, you know that it takes a lot of prep work before hand, i.e. what to pack and what not to pack. And when there are three children under the age of five…it’s three time the work.
Travelling light with kids is an oxymoron! There’s no way around that but when you have a Mommy who loves to travel light (on our ten day honeymoon…my husband and I each had one carryon luggage on board *grin*), you are challenged to pack only the essential even when you’re five years old. Â
And I think I have a system to this madness that I like to share with you. If you’ve travelled with kids and have some great ideas to share with us, please send them in.Â
- Before you pack every article of clothing in your closet or your children’s closets…pick out what you’re going to wear and lay them out on the bed before packing.  It’s not necessary to pack 10 pants for 10 days, even with kids.  I think it’s ok to recycle a shirt or pants twice if it’s not soiled.  For kids, pack more of the undershirts, underpants and socks. If you’re going somewhere warm, pack at least one sweater for each person just in case the weather changes.
- Once you’ve picked out what you and your family will wear, roll all your clothes (as if you’re rolling a piece of paper) instead of folding them (including socks). That way, you will have more room to put things, trust me (mad scientist at work here)!! Put all the undershirts, underpants and socks in a separate compartment for easy access (if you don’t want to unpack at the hotel). Or you can purchase one of those see through mesh bags at the laundry section of any Walmart or Target stores.Â
- Shoes can take up space in your luggage depending on the bulkiness of it. For us, I would pack two pairs each person (wear the bulkier one and pack the lighter one).  For maximize packing, store any fragile items (like cologne or perfume bottles) inside the shoes. Â
- Pack some of your clothes in your children’s luggages and their clothes in your luggages, in case if one of the luggages get lost/stolen. At least then you’ll have some clothing for both. You’re out of luck if both luggages get stolen/lost (ugh!).
- Pack one outfit for each traveller in a carryon luggage, in an event of flight delays or children’s soiling, you know what that means!
- On our last trip to CA, our five and three years old sons both carried a packback of their own where they have all sorts of toys, books, or bedside buddies of their choosing (that’s very important!).
- Check to see if there will be inflight movies on the plane. If not and depending on how long your flight will be…I’d recommend a portable DVD player (you can rent one at some airports). Or if you have a laptop with a DVD player …bring it and don’t forget headphones! It was a *boredomsaver* for our two sons on our last trip to CA and it made the trip goes by much faster.
- Bring lots of snacks and water on board…you don’t want to be looking for a snack kiosk at the aiport with cranky kids in tow (and you know what a rip off those places can be)!Â
- Have some chewing gums on hand during take off and landing for your children (ages five and up please…we don’t want anyone swallowing the gum and cause inflight panic), in case of “ears popping”. As for babies, let them suck on a milk bottle or if you’re nursing…this would be a good time for a meal in order to ease their popping ears.
- From our experience, we’d pack enough diapers and formulas for the amount of time we’re travelling. This way you don’t have to be looking for a convenience store at 2:00 in the morning for diapers, when you get there. And you can use this empty box or bag on the way back to store souvenirs or dirty clothes.
- When travelling with kids, your bestfriend is baby wipes and lots of it. I’ve also used the “hand sanitizing lotion” when we traveled, it saved me the many trips to the bathrooms for kids’ handwashing.
- Pack some empty plastic bags in your carryon bag to store stained clothes. And don’t forget to pack the essential medicines, i.e. children’s Tylenol, children’s pepto bismo, infant Tylenol or Aspirin for yourself and some bandages for those unexpected boo-boos. Bring along some tissues in your carryon just in case of unexpected sniffles as well.
- If you have small babies who need to sleep in the crib. You can do two things, call ahead at the hotel and reserve one (if they have it), if not…you have to bring your own playpen. Don’t forget to bring crib sheets either way. As for me, I’m somewhat of a germ-phobic…so we pack the playpen with us. There’s enough room in the playpen bag to store other things like blankets, or crib sheets. Utilize every nooks and crannies to store things. This is the key to travelling light, or somewhat light with kids!!
- At the hotel, request a room that’s far from the elevator. You don’t want to be hearing those “dings” every time someone gets on and off. And stay far away from the adjoining rooms, they are not exactly soundproof. At one hotel, we heard every single moan and groan at 2 in the morning, if you know what I mean!!
- And if your babies are still on formulas, pack the bottle brush and some dishwashing detergents to wash the bottles. This way, you don’t need to pack 10 bottles for 10 day trip, hence a space saver!
And so, I think I’ve racked my brain for all the tips that we have encountered on our travel with our children. I wish you a safe and bon voyage!! 
Don’t you just love the word “vacation”? Doesn’t it conjure up images of you:
- sipping the most delicious umbrella drinks on a secluded oasis resort with a cabana boy fanning at your back,
- going snorkling in the clear, tropical blue water with the sun shining on your back,
- getting manicures, pedicures, and all kinds of spa treatments with names like “seaweed body mask”, or “herbal wraps”,
- eating the most exotic dishes with names you can’t pronounce…with the cabana boy fanning at your back,
- or…oh wait the minute, I’m daydreaming…or was it a commercial I just saw on TV.Â
Family vacation, that’s what this entry is about, sorry! We are heading to Legoland for our vacation in April, or should I say “for the kids’ vacations”!Â
Here’s a tip for you parents out there, if you haven’t figured this out already, NEVER tell your kids you’re going on vacation UNTIL you’re on the plane. You’ll be hearing these questions EVERY single day “so when are we going on vacation?” or “is it April yet?” and “what month is it?” or “what comes after February?”!
And you thought the questions end there, oh NOOOO…when you’re ON the plane, it will be “when are we going to get there?” or “are we there yet?” and “how come it’s taking so long?”Â
No wonder why you see parents on the plane looking tired already on the way there AND much more worn out ON the way home!
If you’ve travelled with children, you know that it takes a lot of prep work before hand, i.e. what to pack and what not to pack. And when there are three children under the age of five…it’s three time the work.
Travelling light with kids is an oxymoron! There’s no way around that but when you have a Mommy who loves to travel light (on our ten day honeymoon…my husband and I each had one carryon luggage on board *grin*), you are challenged to pack only the essential even when you’re five years old. Â
And I think I have a system to this madness that I like to share with you. If you’ve travelled with kids and have some great ideas to share with us, please send them in.Â
- Before you pack every article of clothing in your closet or your children’s closets…pick out what you’re going to wear and lay them out on the bed before packing.  It’s not necessary to pack 10 pants for 10 days, even with kids.  I think it’s ok to recycle a shirt or pants twice if it’s not soiled.  For kids, pack more of the undershirts, underpants and socks. If you’re going somewhere warm, pack at least one sweater for each person just in case the weather changes.
- Once you’ve picked out what you and your family will wear, roll all your clothes (as if you’re rolling a piece of paper) instead of folding them (including socks). That way, you will have more room to put things, trust me (mad scientist at work here)!! Put all the undershirts, underpants and socks in a separate compartment for easy access (if you don’t want to unpack at the hotel). Or you can purchase one of those see through mesh bags at the laundry section of any Walmart or Target stores.Â
- Shoes can take up space in your luggage depending on the bulkiness of it. For us, I would pack two pairs each person (wear the bulkier one and pack the lighter one).  For maximize packing, store any fragile items (like cologne or perfume bottles) inside the shoes. Â
- Pack some of your clothes in your children’s luggages and their clothes in your luggages, in case if one of the luggages get lost/stolen. At least then you’ll have some clothing for both. You’re out of luck if both luggages get stolen/lost (ugh!).
- Pack one outfit for each traveller in a carryon luggage, in an event of flight delays or children’s soiling, you know what that means!
- On our last trip to CA, our five and three years old sons both carried a packback of their own where they have all sorts of toys, books, or bedside buddies of their choosing (that’s very important!).
- Check to see if there will be inflight movies on the plane. If not and depending on how long your flight will be…I’d recommend a portable DVD player (you can rent one at some airports). Or if you have a laptop with a DVD player …bring it and don’t forget headphones! It was a *boredomsaver* for our two sons on our last trip to CA and it made the trip goes by much faster.
- Bring lots of snacks and water on board…you don’t want to be looking for a snack kiosk at the aiport with cranky kids in tow (and you know what a rip off those places can be)!Â
- Have some chewing gums on hand during take off and landing for your children (ages five and up please…we don’t want anyone swallowing the gum and cause inflight panic), in case of “ears popping”. As for babies, let them suck on a milk bottle or if you’re nursing…this would be a good time for a meal in order to ease their popping ears.
- From our experience, we’d pack enough diapers and formulas for the amount of time we’re travelling. This way you don’t have to be looking for a convenience store at 2:00 in the morning for diapers, when you get there. And you can use this empty box or bag on the way back to store souvenirs or dirty clothes.
- When travelling with kids, your bestfriend is baby wipes and lots of it. I’ve also used the “hand sanitizing lotion” when we traveled, it saved me the many trips to the bathrooms for kids’ handwashing.
- Pack some empty plastic bags in your carryon bag to store stained clothes. And don’t forget to pack the essential medicines, i.e. children’s Tylenol, children’s pepto bismo, infant Tylenol or Aspirin for yourself and some bandages for those unexpected boo-boos. Bring along some tissues in your carryon just in case of unexpected sniffles as well.
- If you have small babies who need to sleep in the crib. You can do two things, call ahead at the hotel and reserve one (if they have it), if not…you have to bring your own playpen. Don’t forget to bring crib sheets either way. As for me, I’m somewhat of a germ-phobic…so we pack the playpen with us. There’s enough room in the playpen bag to store other things like blankets, or crib sheets. Utilize every nooks and crannies to store things. This is the key to travelling light, or somewhat light with kids!!
- At the hotel, request a room that’s far from the elevator. You don’t want to be hearing those “dings” every time someone gets on and off. And stay far away from the adjoining rooms, they are not exactly soundproof. At one hotel, we heard every single moan and groan at 2 in the morning, if you know what I mean!!
- And if your babies are still on formulas, pack the bottle brush and some dishwashing detergents to wash the bottles. This way, you don’t need to pack 10 bottles for 10 day trip, hence a space saver!
And so, I think I’ve racked my brain for all the tips that we have encountered on our travel with our children. I wish you a safe and bon voyage!!
hey! it’s always a good idea to add benadryl to the list of first aid items. tm
thank you so much for forwarding me this link! your tips are great!