The adventure of picking your trip.

Picking the destination for your current year's vacation is always fun but usually difficult in my household, and having added our son has made it more so. Now we not only have to make sure that it is somewhere we want to go, that it is wheelchair accessible, and has a climate that will accommodate warmth and not roasting my fair skinned wife. But now we have to make sure that it will have something to do for a rambunctious 2 and a half year old boy (Family friendly is key). I am not the person who wants to wreck everyone else's party time by bringing my son, and adversely he is on vacation too (doesn't he deserve to have a good time). This is a tricky age because he can get frightened easily, and can never bee more than an half an hour from a restroom (ah potty training). Kauai was nice because it marked off a ton from the above requirements, theme parks are also great if you listen to your little ones and heed what they are saying. "I'm tired" means my legs are shorter than yours and I need a snack and a nap. "I'm hot" means that they are getting overheated and over stimulated and if you want to avoid a scene you will take me to the pool.

I specifically like the idea of a cruise for my traveling family. We have booked a Disney Cruise to the Bahamas because both my wife and I very much enjoyed the Disney Cruise Line and we also had a great time in the Caribbean on our last cruise. We believe that our son will get a kick out of the kids programs (where they hide all the children from site) and going to the out of the country will expose him to other cultures and expand his view of the world. This will also be a graduation trip for my wife who will have graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a Master's degree (no small feat, I assure you). I wanted to make it a special trip that the whole family can enjoy. Yes we will spend a week before the cruise at Disney World ( which we are all looking forward to) but then we will also spend time as grown ups and a young family seeing the sites and eating the islands cuisine. It took a very long time deciding on this itinerary (3 weeks or so), and I believe it will be a great experience for all of us.

Now for all of you, some homework. Order a pizza and sit at the table to discuss where you will be going on vacation. It is all part of bringing the family together.