Summer Family Travel Advice: Book an Early Flight Home

A couple of years ago, I got stuck in the Charlotte airport for hours because of weather delays in New York stemming from thunderstorms. I was with my two year old, and it was a miserable experience as Continental delayed the flight over and over again and there was the threat of cancellation if the pilot's work time expired. I don't know the industry lingo, but once a pilot or flight crew puts in a set amount of continuous hours, they must be relieved.

Last night I was flying back from Miami to New York without my family. Again, there were weather related cancellations and delays due to thunderstorms in New York. American Airlines did a better job of communicating to customers on the source of delays, and flights that were not canceled did take off roughly on the 'new time' schedule.

Vacationers often choose to take afternoon and evening flights back from their travel destinations. Why leave early in the morning when you can squeeze another half or full day of activities? Unfortunately, afternoon and evening thunderstorms make traveling by schedule more risky during the summer months. So if you're traveling with kids, you should think twice about booking these later flights during the summer. If you're on a lengthy vacation, it just might be worth booking the early morning flights home and avoid the summer weather delays.

New Challenges for Family Travelers Looking to Fly

Flying with young kids especially toddlers and babies has become more complex in recent months. Ticket prices have increased, some airlines are now charging for baggage, and many are charging for meals. All this adds to the cost and complexity of traveling  with young kids.

Lucky for me, the baggage pricing rules had not taken effect on my recent trip to San Francisco. But we (ok, confession here - my wife handled all of this) still had to think of food and snack options for the five hour flight. Of course we had to plan for eight hours in case there were in flight delays. And since we were a bit late arriving at the airport, we did not have the time to purchase beverages at the (expensive) kiosks in the terminal. My son was stuck with the limited beverage service.

These are just added complications for flying families. My kids were were really good on the flight out to San Francisco but the flight home was a whole different story. My daughter wanted Mommy to hold her the whole time and my son wouldn't sit still in his seat. Lucky for us, we had friendly and accepting people sitting around us but that's not always the case.

Will I fly again, of course! But it will be a harder decision...

Sonoma Wine Tasting With Toddler and Baby

Benziger Family Vineyard

I had to ask for advice on going wine tasting with kids. My wife and I used to do it a lot pre-family mostly in the finger lakes, but this was our first time bringing the young kids. Given one of us was going to be the designated driver (not it), and the kids would get very little out of it, was it worth spending a precious day on our short trip to San Francisco to visit wine country?

Out of all our days, I planned this one the most. I knew a full day of wine tasting wasn't going to work, so I had to do some planning. Here was my basic approach.

• Research some wineries that were 'family friendly'.
• Find one activity specifically for the kids
• Combine one winery visit with a picnic lunch

So for my trip to Sonoma, we made a visit to Train Town, ate a picnic lunch at B.R. Cohn, and then visited a couple of other wineries. The Benziger Family Winery, our last stop of the day definitely fit the bill of being family friendly. In addition to tours of the vineyard, kids can play in a small playground while Dad (in my case) can go to the tasting room. In one vineyard I had my son join me in the tasting room to help swirl and sniff. In another, my daughter joined me and just looked cute.

Most of this worked and we had a good day, but not without challenges. All in all, I think it was worth it but be prepared to adjust your itinerary based on your children's needs.

Toddlers Love Fisherman's Wharf

No San Francisco native would recommend staying at Fisherman's wharf and some probably would even avoid visiting it. It's similar to Times Square to us New York City natives. But we chose it anyway after several recommendations from friends. It would not be a top pick for us but with young kids in tow, this is probably the perfect spot.

I am staying at the Tuscan Inn, but all the chains are down here all on a single block. There's a Marriott, a Holiday Inn, a Sheraton, a Hyatt all here on North Point. We chose the Tuscan Inn by price alone and I would recommend following the same approach. Some other hotels might offer breakfast, but there is a Safeway and Trader Joes just down the block from us so we picked up some simple groceries and had breakfast in our room.

Outside, there's just plenty to do. My son just loves watching the street cars and bread making at Boudin's. There's the famous seals near Pier 39. There is the aquarium, ferries,  and the carousel. And then there is Ghiradelli's ice cream. I'll have my review up on TripConnect when I get back with all the details.

But for now, stay at the wharf is my first recommendation.

London With Toddlers

I recently came back from a quick trip to London. Ok, it was a business trip and I didn't have the kids with me. But my kids were definitely on my mind and as I used my very limited spare time, I was thinking about whether London was a good place to visit with toddlers.

First, the bad news. London is expensive and especially if you're traveling from the US and have to accept a less than favorable exchange rate. Simple meals in London can be very expensive. But like all big cities, there are ways to keep costs down and eat on the cheap. Think hotel breakfasts, pack your own lunch, and plan simple dinners.

Now the good news is that it's relatively easy to get around London. You can take the Heathrow Express or the tube to get from the airport to your hotel. Pack light and you just made it even easier for yourself.

Once you are in London, the hard part is picking what to do. I had a very short amount of time and relied on TripConnect users to tell me what to do with One Day in London. You can check out my guide on London to see what I ended up doing in detail. In short, the Tower of London was worth the half day, but I would keep young ones out of the audio tour which emphasizes aspects of the Tower's gruesome history. You can save a little bit of money and time if you buy your tickets online. I made a quick visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum which I found very interesting, but it may be too much for very young kids. My advice; give it a shot and if the kid(s) don't cooperate, you can always bail out for another activity. I visited Buckingham Palace, but did not have a chance to take a tour. I'm guessing young kids would enjoy seeing the Royal Mews or the changing the guard. I had my dinners at pubs, but many of them may not be suitable for young kids.

Bottom line, my advice is go for it if you can get a reasonable deal on airfare and hotel.

 

Kids Ski School Programs In Vermont

I'm not ready to take my four year old skiing out west even if it is worth every penny as reported in The Family Ski Challenge. Last year, I helped him onto a bunny slope at Belleayre and decided that doing it yourself is just not the way to go. He lost his ski half way down the slope and that pretty much ended our adventure. This year, I'm determined to make a weekend trip to Vermont and enroll my son in a ski program.

Here is a short list of programs that I'm considering:

• Okemo Mountain has 1.5 hour programs for Mini Stars (3-4), Snow Stars for kids aged 4-7, and Young Mountain Explorers for kids over seven years old. Let your kids play with Okemo Snow Monsters to get them interested.
• Mount Snow has full and half day snow camp for 4-6 year olds, but they are sold out for the holiday week of February 18-22. They also have Mountain Camp for the older kids and a cub camp for three year olds.
• Killington guarantees one instructor for every five children in their kids programs but their $180 Saturday and Sunday rate for 4-6 year olds (includes lift tickets and rentals) is more expensive compared to other programs.
• Stowe also has children's programs as does Stratton, Sugarbush, and Bromley.

Advice on Disney World with Four Kids

There's a great q&a going on here on going to Disney World with four kids. Also my most recent post on Zagat's Disney World guide.

I missed Disney in 2007 but plan to bring the family there again later this year.

Car Trip Tunes for Toddlers

Some of those kids cd's will drive you nuts. And for those of you with two or three year olds, you know you have to be careful with your choice of music because your child will want to listed to it over and over and over again. A couple of years ago, my son got a CD with Italian kids songs that we took with us on a trip from NYC to Montreal. Now it is really a good CD, but by the fourth hour, we were pulling our hair out!

Last year, my son received Folk Playground as a birthday gift. At first, we weren't all that excited, but it grew on us and it became a really good travel CD. This summer, we picked up New Orleans Playground, and it was an even bigger hit. If you're looking for some gift ideas for the holidays, that's my two cents.

Best Advice - Three Year Olds at the Beach

What is the difference between a two year old at the beach vs. a three year old?

Answer: The beach consumes the two year old and tires them out. The three year old at the beach consumes you, the parent. So I have a couple of tidbits of advice for when you bring your three year old to the beach.

1. Limit the toys. One large pail, one small one, a couple of shovels of different sizes. Maybe a small truck or two. Anything more is overkill.

2. Bring a swimming vest. Holding a three year old in the water is a lot harder than a light weight two year old.

3. Make sure they go to the bathroom before treking our on the sand. If your three year old frequents the bathroom, then think about staying near one.

4. Expect to spend more time with them teaching them the ins and outs of building sand castles, digging holes, and water pools. Cherish this time with them.

5. Be sure to educate them on beach safety and etiquette. No throwing sand or rocks. Avoid playing right on top of others. Stay clear of wildlife, dead or alive. Most important, do not  run into the water without help from Mom or Dad. Expect to repeat these instructions over and over again.

6. Give them some freedom to run around on their own. Chances are they will make a friend or two. Just make sure they play nice with their new friends' toys and share their own.

7. Getting a three year old to leave the beach can be a challenge. Bribery works. If we don't leave now, we won't be able to get ice cream after dinner. Watch them run!!

Keeping Babies Out Of The Sun At The Beach

For most of us, we're coming up to our last few weeks of the summer and last chances to visit the beach with the family and kids. If you have a newborn or a baby under six months in the family, you may quickly dismiss the idea of taking them to the beach. These young ones are not supposed to wear sunblock and the sun can be very dangerous to them, but does that mean the beach is out?

On our recent trip to Atlantic Beach, North Carolina we picked up a Kids Sun Dome from Kel Gar. There are several of these baby domes on the market, but this one seemed to fit our needs. It was relatively inexpensive and came in a small flat plastic package - easy to fit in the car. The dome's material acts just like sunblock and is rated at 50+ UPF.

At the beach, the best thing about this dome is it's ease of setup. Unzip the plastic case pull it out, and watch it unfold into its dome shape all on its own. This is a huge plus when you walk on to the beach and want to have Baby laying down quickly. The dome then has a front face that completely unzips making it easy to lie Baby down without waking her up.

We found the dome perfect on calm days with little wind and when it wasn't too hot. Our baby was generally comfortable and happy to sleep in the dome. The dome's bottom does not have a cushion, so you might provide Baby a little more comfort by laying down a blanket or towel before putting her inside.
On windy days, working with the dome was a challenge. It's just not structurally sound to stand up to even modest winds. First, you'll have to find something to weigh it down. Even after that, even modest winds will collapse the walls of the dome inward. You can try to rotate the tent to minimize this effect, but stronger gusts of wind can still push the tent walls all the way down. We ruled the dome ineffective and possibly  dangerous on these windy days.

Another issue is heat. While the dome does protect Baby from the sun's rays, the heat can make a beach experience highly unpleasant for Baby. The dome will provide some comfort, but when it's hot, our baby just wasn't happy at the beach.

One final issue with the dome is putting it away. They do there very best to illustrate the process of folding it back into shape and sliding into its case, but we never figured it out.

So yes, you can take Baby to the beach... But you'll have to watch the weather and avoid very windy or very hot days.