Family vacations…overrated?!
Our ten-day family vacation has come and gone…but we need another vacation to recover from that, just Mommy and Daddy on some deserted island ALONE!! (Somebody hold up my eyelids!)
After a very long day trip (12 hours and 2 flights) from Boston to San Diego with 3 children under the age of five, I thought “why the *$&@!&!! did we pick San Diego to visit or going on vacation at all?!” And remembered that both our boys, Tyler (5) and Trent (3) love playing with Legos and we were heading to Legoland. Not to mention that our whole trip cost $40 for airfares and hotel.
Yup! That’s right, $40 (that’s the airline taxes) for a family of five for ten days! *satisfied grin* How did we do that you asked??! We had enough miles from our Visa with United Airlines for 4 airline tickets (our Sophia is one year old so she didn’t require her own seat) and my husband travels (that’s a bad thing but the points reward is good!) and stays at the Marriott alot so we had enough points for ten nights at the Courtyard Marriott in Carlsbad (which was 10 minutes from LegoLand).
Believe me, this is the only way that (this frugal Mommy of three) we would only go on vacation! Hey, college education won’t be that cheap for three kids you know!!
But three days before the trip, the original flight was changed. And as we were heading to the airport, that flight was also changed once again. So needless to say, we lost our seat assignments. Trust me, it wasn’t fun standing in line at 5AM for 1.5 hours with three sleepy kids to find out that we have to get seat assignments…at the gate!!
So all that booking in advance was a waste!! And if you rely on your compassionate fellow passengers to change seats with you so you can sit with your children, you can plead your case until the cow comes home. Adults do get cranky after a 3 hour layover, and could really careless if your children sit by themselves and you’re in another row!!
But this mother had a plan! *devilish grin* Hey, my two boys were by themselves, what was I to do and it was four more hours before we arrive in San Diego!!
I was asking my boys every few minutes if they needed something to drink, eat, or if they were ok, etc. So the man next to my husband (yup! My husband was holding Sophia in another row) said to the old man who wouldn’t change his seat with me (I was in a middle in another row) if the old man wanted to switch his seat with the nice stranger (aisle seat) and he can sit in my seat so that I can sit with my sons.
And the old man agreed!!! So thanks to that stranger for being so kind!! Or Maybe he didn’t want to hear me every few minutes. 
All these happenings and we haven’t even landed in San Diego yet!! 
Once we finally arrived in San Diego, guess what?!! We were stuck in rush-hour traffic for an hour to the hotel with three cranky, hungry kids and two very exhausted parents!! *d’oh!*
Thank goodness for a DVD player in the van! Keep this in mind when renting a van for your vacations!
So, to say that family vacation is overrated has its merit, but you know…after spending 10 days together, Trent started to talk more and more (he’s still learning to talk at 3 years old), Tyler really enjoyed being with us and playing with his siblings, and our little girl learned how to walk more than five steps. As for us, adults, we didn’t have to worry about the daily routine at home, going to work or paying the bills…just 5 of us together and before you know it, the kids won’t want to go on any family vacations because it’s probably not “cool!” 
I will write a review about San Diego in another entry since we loved it so much! So check back soon!
Our ten-day family vacation has come and gone…but we need another vacation to recover from that, just Mommy and Daddy on some deserted island ALONE!! (Somebody hold up my eyelids!)
After a very long day trip (12 hours and 2 flights) from Boston to San Diego with 3 children under the age of five, I thought “why the *$&@!&!! did we pick San Diego to visit or going on vacation at all?!” And remembered that both our boys, Tyler (5) and Trent (3) love playing with Legos and we were heading to Legoland. Not to mention that our whole trip cost $40 for airfares and hotel.
Yup! That’s right, $40 (that’s the airline taxes) for a family of five for ten days! *satisfied grin* How did we do that you asked??! We had enough miles from our Visa with United Airlines for 4 airline tickets (our Sophia is one year old so she didn’t require her own seat) and my husband travels (that’s a bad thing but the points reward is good!) and stays at the Marriott alot so we had enough points for ten nights at the Courtyard Marriott in Carlsbad (which was 10 minutes from LegoLand).
Believe me, this is the only way that (this frugal Mommy of three) we would only go on vacation! Hey, college education won’t be that cheap for three kids you know!!
But three days before the trip, the original flight was changed. And as we were heading to the airport, that flight was also changed once again. So needless to say, we lost our seat assignments. Trust me, it wasn’t fun standing in line at 5AM for 1.5 hours with three sleepy kids to find out that we have to get seat assignments…at the gate!!
So all that booking in advance was a waste!! And if you rely on your compassionate fellow passengers to change seats with you so you can sit with your children, you can plead your case until the cow comes home. Adults do get cranky after a 3 hour layover, and could really careless if your children sit by themselves and you’re in another row!!
But this mother had a plan! *devilish grin* Hey, my two boys were by themselves, what was I to do and it was four more hours before we arrive in San Diego!!
I was asking my boys every few minutes if they needed something to drink, eat, or if they were ok, etc. So the man next to my husband (yup! My husband was holding Sophia in another row) said to the old man who wouldn’t change his seat with me (I was in a middle in another row) if the old man wanted to switch his seat with the nice stranger (aisle seat) and he can sit in my seat so that I can sit with my sons.
And the old man agreed!!! So thanks to that stranger for being so kind!! Or Maybe he didn’t want to hear me every few minutes.
All these happenings and we haven’t even landed in San Diego yet!!
Once we finally arrived in San Diego, guess what?!! We were stuck in rush-hour traffic for an hour to the hotel with three cranky, hungry kids and two very exhausted parents!! *d’oh!*
Thank goodness for a DVD player in the van! Keep this in mind when renting a van for your vacations!
So, to say that family vacation is overrated has its merit, but you know…after spending 10 days together, Trent started to talk more and more (he’s still learning to talk at 3 years old), Tyler really enjoyed being with us and playing with his siblings, and our little girl learned how to walk more than five steps. As for us, adults, we didn’t have to worry about the daily routine at home, going to work or paying the bills…just 5 of us together and before you know it, the kids won’t want to go on any family vacations because it’s probably not “cool!”
I will write a review about San Diego in another entry since we loved it so much! So check back soon!
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