Taking a vacation with your kids is not at all relaxing. It's a great deal of work, and while it can be fun, it most assuredly will not be fun the entire time and will absolutely cause you to question what drove you to subject yourself to the ordeal that is traveling with children in the first place.
It seems to me that vacationing with your kids is much like many sexual fantasies - somehow it's not as much fun as you thought it was going to be.(ie. In the movies when they have sex on the beach, how come the sand never seems to get into those places sand should never be? And how does one have sex in the shower without worrying either that it's not clean enough or you're getting bleach rubbed vigorously into your skin? Not to mention the concern of getting seriously hurt trying to balance on a slippery surface.) At the end of three hours in the car with my children, the only thing I'm ready for is to take a flying leap off a cliff. They had their Leapsters, coloring books and crayons, toys, but all they did was fight over everything and throw their toys at each other. I do have a traveling DVD player I bought for long trips, but the darn thing is finicky as all hell and never seems to work when I put it in the car. In the house it works fine, put in the car, it won't play. Just another thing about traveling that's a pain in the ass.
My kids did enjoy Storyland, but I don't think I'd go back, and Blackstone has already informed me that he WILL NOT go back, so there you go. The boys have been and they're done . . . period. I'm not shedding any tears. LT's still too short to go on most of the rides there by himself. Since Blackstone gets motion sickness, that leaves me standing in line with the kids and whirling around in circles all day. It doesn't make me sick, but damn have I had enough at the end of the day. I've also realized it's a good idea to go to ANY AND ALL theme parks in a bathing suit. I knew to go to Sesame Place in one, but I wish I'd done the same with Storyland. The rafting ride in particular will soak you. I let Blackstone handle that one while I tried to get my head to stop spinning. Also a good idea to stick to water shoes or sandals, and under no circumstances should you attempt to walk around barefoot. Blackstone singed the soles of his feet at Sesame Place.
I am not a good traveler. I know this about myself. I have sinus problems, allergies and back problems. I'm used to the temperature and humidity of RI, sleeping on a tempurpedic mattress and pillow, and in the winter, using a humidifier. I travel with my pillow, so does my husband. When we stayed at the Marriott in PA, that went very well. The air quality was good, for once my sinuses weren't killing me. The beds were comfortable. The room was clean. It's about all I ask from a hotel. The condo we stayed at in NH was nice. It did have the stale, musty smell of a place that spends too much time closed up. The bed was not up to my high standards. But the view was gorgeous, we opened all the windows and aired the place out real well, and we had ample space. The Best Western we stayed at in MA on the last night was horrendous. The carpets were filthy, there were water stains on the ceiling in the bathroom, the beds were uncomfortable and the air quality was terrible. There was also a dog show going on at the hotel. I've never seen pets in a hotel before. It hadn't occurred to me to ask. There were bugs in some of the pre-packaged muffins at breakfast. I didn't see them, but Blackstone told me about it, eewww! All that and the vile coffee found me leaving the hotel with a splitting headache, nausea and caused me to vomit on the car ride home. It is unlikely that I will ever book a room in a Best Western again. Somehow I thought I could manage one quick overnight just about anywhere, but that is definitely not the case. Go ahead and call me a diva. If I have to book at the Marriot or better in order to sleep, breathe and eat it in peace, then so be it.
The next trip we take will be without the little hellions. And as much as I may be a bad traveler, that doesn't stop me from wanting to travel. I can't wait for our next trip, which will be to the Dominican Republic in April, to stay in a nice adult resort, where I expect much of the food, beds and air quality. I just put down the deposit today. And I will spend almost every blessed minute of the travel experience saying prayers of thanks that my children are not with me, that I don't have to referee over who has what toy, or pull over the car because they're throwing crayons out the window.

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