We took our kids on vacation and lived to tell about it!

Yes, our oldest and only child at the time was about 6 months old when we decided to drive to stay with friends in Virginia (from Ohio where we live).
I really don't remember much of the trip...but I know I was nursing him so that means you got to stop the car. And somehow, I don't think he liked staying in his carseat for hours on end. It probably took us about 8-9 hours to arrive, I'm guessing...I think it took about that long to get home.

Now we have two youngin's and we are planning a trip to Myrtle Beach this year. I'll have to let you know how it goes!

My husband and I took our two toddlers to the Sea Mist Family Resort at Myrtle Beach this year. This was our first "big" family vacation...even about a day longer and much farther than he and I went on our honeymoon (to Niagara Falls). On our way down to Myrtle Beach we stayed overnight in Wytheville, VA...the Wytheville Travel Lodge which by the way had very comfy beds for being on the cheaper end of the rate scale and a nice view of the mountains. Even though that broke up our approximately 11 hour (if you don't stop) drive...after 2 days of about 8 hour driving...thats a long time to be "on your way" somewhere. But it can't be helped if you don't have other transportation..i.e. plane or train! On the way back we did the marathon drive straight home (with stops of course), but it took about 13 hours. It felt about the same either way...LONG. I'm not complaining...I'm just being real here.

Actually the kids did a very good job of holding their own with being strapped in car seats as they are 4 and under. Naps were uncomfortable at times I sensed as they would cry a bit during them. All in all we ...all...had a good time, it was hard work but we have alot of found memories and pictures of our 4 day vacation to the beach! See my list below with some advice I have for traveling with your young kids. Get a more personal view of our vacation by visiting my myspace page. I have vacation pictures in slideshow format on my profile at www.myspace.com/tzdelar

I'm sure I don't own a corner on the market for ideas...but here are some I came up with and some we used on our trip.

The best way for YOU, the parent, to stay sane is to keep the peace in the vehicle. If the kids are cranky- you are going to be cranky...and then your spouse will feed off the tension and all will be chaotic, right?

I had a bag of "things to do"...my kids are young so it was books and a couple toys. I have blankie boys so you absolutely have to pack those and keep them handy! I also had snacks packed in small lunch baggies...cheesies, Rice Krispie treats, Gold fish crackers...I had a travel size bag of cookies...make sure you have a variety of snacks for everyone. We also had a packed cooler as we were planning to make some of our own meals to save money.

When it came to the packing and unpacking I had a special bag with just about everything we needed just for our overnight stop in Wytheville. That way we didn't have to pull out the big suitcase. Our pjs, next days clothing, maybe diapers etc were in this bag.

Also to make things easier I had rolled up complete outfits for my boys and rubberbanded them...suit by suit so all we had to do was pull out a suit of clothes and there were the shorts/shirt/underwear...you get the point. Comes in handy when you don't always trust your husbands ability to coordinate matching outfits...wink, wink.

Take some "road stop" entertainment too...bubbles! If your kids are young like mine they will enjoy chasing and blowing bubbles! We also stopped at McDonalds and they played in the playland area, we stopped at a nice travel plaza and walked around, they collected sticks outside...you get the point. Make the whole trip fun when and where you can. Happy traveling!