Do you vacation without kids?

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by Tyler

There's nothing worse than being stuck sitting beside a bunch of snot-nosed little brats for 4 hours.

Agreed. Only thing worse is when they're someone elses kids.

[Cheese]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

^^
Yeah, but Cheese and Sample need us time because when your 100 years old (combined) those blue pills need to activate, and you need to be able to make use of that time when they're working.

har...you wish you could afford these pills!

[Thunderball]

Ideally, one would want both a family vacation, and a couple's vacation.

While its important to have family events, its essential to keep the core relationship between husband/wife strong... and that is more than likely better accomplished alone.

[8 Ball]

Me and the wife have had two trips without our kids. Once to Vegas for three days and the next year to Jamaica for a week. We leave the girls (ages 3 and 5) with my sister who also has kids, and they have a blast. Like others have said, me and the wife need breaks every other year away from our kids, and they probably need a break from us.

[prarieboy]

Grandma wouldn't dream of letting us takes the kids to Mexico, she thinks it unsafe. I'm not really sure if she actually believes it or just wants the kids to herself.

We have a good time but about three days into the week we regret listening to Grandma in the first place.

All in all I think it's good to have an occasional break.

[bigtmac19]

My parents were older too when my kids came along, they only babysat my older one a couple of times during the day when I was at work, but never once in their lives have either of my kids spent the night at Grandma & Grandpa's. We only went away once, when we had one kid who was 2 1/2 at the time, and my sister-in-law took him for the weekend.

Needless to say, child care not being an issue, I would recommend for any couple to get away with each other on a semi-regular basis, just to re-connect.

[Sample00]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

^^
Yeah, but Cheese and Sample need us time because when your 100 years old (combined) those blue pills need to activate, and you need to be able to make use of that time when they're working.

this is true, my young jedi, but at least we're not done like a hard boiled egg in 2 minutes!

[socktape]

The wife and I have gone to mexico twice without the kids for a week. You miss them for about the first day and then it gets easier to relax. It is nice to go so that you can relax and don't have to worry about them falling in the pool, running off to who knows where, can stay out for some drinks and not have to worry about bedtimes or eating schedules. We're lucky as well because we have grandparents close by that will take them for the week.

That being said.. it is amazing how many people go to places like Mexico with small kids. I don't mean 18 months - 5years old... I mean like 2-3 month old kids. There was one family at the last resort we went to that had twin 2 month olds.

I could see taking the kids on vacation and we plan on doing it, but that would be hard!

[Locke]

Grandparents? When I was young and parents went away, we were chained to the radiator, and we liked it that way!

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by fotze

That is funny. I really, really hate flying, alot. So with a kid and me worrying to excess about him potentially crying makes it funner. He has flown more times than I have in my life already and is good 95% of the time. But the morning we were leaving to cancun my nightmare was realized. He was great, we woke up early got there nice and early, the wife took him to go to the bathroom just prior to boarding. I heard some kid in the distance screaming a hellish shrill hellscream and I thought thank fata that's someone else's kid, until my wife came around the corner and mine was going ape for some odd reason.

I guess waking up 2.5 hours earlier than normal didn't sit well with him. We then proceeded with the walk of shame onto the aircraft with him screaming bloody murder. It felt like an eternity. He was fine withing 20 minutes and didn't but I have turned down free trips because I don't want to do that again.

My wife wants to take the kids to Disneyland for a week in February (I was smart enough to arrange to go when the Flames play there). I am really dreading taking our son who will be 23 months. He is pretty good most of the time, but he gets cranky when he is cooped up for too long. I just envision him wanting to run around and squirming like crazy followed by screaming. I really don't want to go.

[Ice]

Yeah, a two year old at Disneyland can be brutal. I suggest a two day pass so you don't feel pressured to take in the entire park in one day. Your little one can take a nap or at least go have some time being less stimulated back at your hotel. Also, the Flames are down here over Presidents Weekend, which means the park will be more crowded than a non holiday weekend. Having a two day pass you can take your time. California Adventure is less crowded so even if you don't want to go back to your hotel in the middle of the day, the parkhopper pass will allow you to go eat over there. Being less crowded, and the way its set up, you can actually let your toddler run around and burn off energy around the food places without much of a crowd to annoy.

The first time I took my son there he was two years old. His favorite thing all day was the birds coming to eat the french fries he dropped on the ground. Like he couldn't do THAT at home for free.