Trip Tested Tips for Fun Family Travel

Traveling with kids is a needlessly scary idea. For the average American family with kids, especially lots of kids the thought might even seem out of the question. The now nearly iconic chant of “Are we there yet?”www.youtube.com/watchstirs such a nervous sweat and chuckle in most parents that we have a series of movies built around that title.www.youtube.com/watch Nevertheless, breathe deeply, embrace hope and put down the panic button as I share The Quadfathers Trip Tested Tips for Fun Family Travel.


First, you need to have a purpose behind your choice of destination or destinations. Consider the ages and interests of your crew, including you and your mate. Two year olds will probably get little from a trip to Gettysburg National Park. Yet a tour of Hershey Park they might find most sweet. If you have, mixed ages say a fifth-grader that just finished studying the Civil War and some toddlers or even toddler triplets well, this little Pennsylvania get away might be just right for you.travelwithkids.about.com/b/2005/04/04/top-family-destination.htm


Taking off for the 33rd annual gathering at Grandma and Grandpa’s might be great for some folks. Yet, rote travel can be as sour as Grandma’s canned pickled cauliflower. Solicit ideas; look for central locations that afford day trips to meet different inclinations. Bundle your trip, think Multi do not be static and single-minded. Seeing the folks for a day or two and moving on has many advantages and appeals. Make sure your plan suits you and your family and not others expectations of you and your family.

Secondly, choose a season and book well in advance. Resort areas have busy seasons and not so busy seasons. If you are planning, your travel at high traffic times set up your dates as close to a year or more in advance if possible. If you want to save money, travel off-season but still book in advance. The trick is in matching your likes and time frame to their off times and amenities.

Last year we took a great trip by customized van to Maine in the summer. www.visitmaine.com/Now consider we start in Virginia and have seven kids and you will understand why our van is customized. We stayed at a top-flight resort near the New Hampshire boarder that you could not get close to when the ski-slopes are running. We enjoyed full amenities, a full staff and maybe a dozen families were there at this time of year.www.sundayriver.com/summer.html

We day tripped to Bar Harbor were we chased whales and ate lobsters.www.barharborinfo.com/ We went to a State Animal Refuge and saw elk, moose, mountain lions and several birds of prey not all of which grace our beloved Blue Ridge. No crowds anywhere and the folks were glad to see us there. Compare that to a two-hour line for the “Death Coaster” in 90-degree heat with wilting twins in tow and take note. Think out of the box and you will not be caught in one.
Check back soon fo more Trip Tested Tips for Fun Family Travel

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Don't Run in the House

As a boy in the days of black & white, my best friends were identical twins. Most kids got them mixed up but I could tell the difference. Matching clothes, hair cuts or not I knew Mike from Mark. At puberty and beyond many of us drifted apart but not this pair. To this day, decades later, they speak and see each other weekly where I have not seen them for a good decade now. I guess it’s no accident that some relationships have built in connection and staying power.parenting.ivillage.com/baby/bmultiples/0,,43wt-p,00.html


So, it was not much surprise when my Quad-son Matthew, after recently sitting in the waiting area of our local “Doc in the Box “ for a long, long time (by five-year-old standards) sighed and said “ I miss Jonathan, Franchesca and Nathaniel, when can we go home to them?” No mention of Mom, neither older nor toddler sisters and not much comfort from my presence. The other three were missing and this, not his impending medical procedure, was his growing concern.

Now a scant hour before, Matthew was in the car with a compress to his head demanding justice. Jonathan had knocked him down. “When we get home Jonathan’s gotta get a spanking daddy!?!” was his refrain. Of course there was no mention of the multiple times their mother had just asked them to not run in the house, pleaded for them to slow down and sagely predicted dire result should her warning not be heeded.

You see, I had just come in the front door with our oldest; the self-described “band-geek” when Franchesca met me with news that Matthew was bleeding “all over his face.” www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-cuts/FA00042Years of parenting with advanced Graduate work as a quad-father has left me with iron nerves. Though you might expect I’d have none left at all. Still this type of information gets rapid response, quick reaction and top priority but no panic.

While running in multiple orders, two or more, in this case four, when in the lead and you are the smallest do not make a sudden stop. Commuters know this. Camry’s and Kia’s do not lock em up in front of Suburban’s and Mack trucks. Matthew stopped, Jonathan did not. The resulting transfer of energy put Matthew on the floor soundly. www.lifespy.com/2007/how-to-prevent-accidents-indoors/The blow must have been evenly distributed like a square shot from a boxer’s glove. There was no growing bump or bruise just a clean split, 3 quarters inch long, 3 eighths inch wide just above the right ear. kidshealth.org/teen/safety/first_aid/falls_sheet.html

Mom had the situation in hand but...

(Check back soon to see how Mom & the crew handled the drama)