Hellobee Boards

We may be going to TX as mentioned in a previous post. @annem1990: We do the exact same thing for the exact same reasons! lol

That sounds amazing!

I just got the kids new luggage for Christmas, so I am itching to go somewhere. We have a 3 year old and 3 month old, so I am thinking a weekend trip to the beach which is 2 hours away.

We just got back from Aruba, and it was a fun and easy vacation for our young family (kids aged 6.5, 4.5, and 2). The weather was awesome (warm but not crazy hot with a nice breeze). There wasn't a ton to do for our age group other than pool and beach, but there were a few activities (butterfly farm, donkey sanctuary) that were easily accessible and age-appropriate, as well as birds, lizards, and daily kids's activities on-property. Restaurants were all literally right out the back door of the resort. We probably could have done a submarine or boat ride, but were enjoying just relaxing and didn't get around to it. Water sports were also plentiful, but really only our oldest would have qualified for most of them, age wise. The paddle board rental places were open to us taking the kids out on our boards.

It wasn't a mind-blowing, vacation of a lifetime kind of trip (I'm hard to please, because we've lived in and travelled all over SE Asia, which has some AMAZING beaches), but for our family needs right now, it was a great choice. I also understand that weather-wise, Aruba isn't impacted by a rainy season or hurricane threat like some of the other island destinations, which is a nice bonus!

On a totally different note, I love Charleston, SC! I've been with adults-only groups, but my friends have taken their children (to Kiawah Island) and had fun in that setting as well.

We're going on our first Disney Cruise!!! My kids will be 6 and 4, so I think it's going to be so much fun! Plus we're going with really good friends and their son and we got connecting staterooms. I'm sooooooo excited!!!

@lamariniere: Right off the bat, I'd say go to the Philippines. The Shangri-La resorts in Cebu and Boracay are my favorite places on earth! The one is Cebu is so, so easy with kids, has good dining options, two pools, and a gorgeous beach with snorkeling right there. Boracay is a bit harder to get to, but probably has more options of things to "do" if you don't want to just relax and play in the sun/sand/sea.

You probably have more knowledge about Thailand than I do....but that's another favorite country for me, mostly because it's so easy to get cheap and amazing food while we're there. I've been to a few places in Thailand to interact with elephants (a favorite was a luxury tent camp, but I didn't love how they kept the elephants when they weren't with guests), and we like the JW Marriott outside of Phuket with kids (they do nightly/weekly rentals of apartments on their adjoining timeshare property where you still get resort benefits, which is perfect for kids!), and we went with friends to stay at V Villas resort in Hua Hin - the beach isn't beautiful there, but the resort was nice for a quick getaway from the city.

As an adult I also liked Vietnam for the markets, food, and Ha Long Bay, but I personally don't feel the cities had a whole lot to offer for children. Hanoi is beautiful but really tourist focused - literally every home/shop had a massage place, tour office, or pirated DVD shop on the first floor. I didn't have kids during any of my trips to cities in Vietnam, so maybe there is more that I just wasn't aware of...

Feel free to wall me on specifics - it's been awhile though - I haven't been in Asia for almost 4 years now I miss it terribly!

We are going to the Bahamas the first week of February. We usually prefer to go winter rather then spring in part bc my husband prefers to let his staff use spring break for their breaks.