Vacation in 2009 - Decherd,TN

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1. Gatlinberg is awesome for both scenery, hiking and family time, they have also opened an indoor water park and the aquarium is beautiful and great for the kids. REnt a cabin, cheaper and you can cook.

2. Hawaii- beautiful, beautiful, beautiful

3. Disney cruise
4. Disney world

First off, I would stay stateside. With all of the problems and issues in this world, I would not take a chance with my children anywhere else. Several awesome trips for all to enjoy... fly into Phoenix, rent a car and do the Sedona, Grand Canyon trip. Breathtaking mountains, and the Canyon is something no words can describe. There is a train trip you can take, a free shuttle around the rim, many hiking areas and history abounds. The drive can take you from Phoenix up thru Jerome (a historic ghost type town). Plan at least a week. 2nd choice, fly into Denver, take the train, or drive thru the mountains, visiting Aspen, Steamboat and other great towns, over to Salt Lake City. Many quaint fun towns to explore, BEAUTIFUL scenery...again, plan a week.. return from Salt Lake if you only have a week, or drive back making the full circle thru Wyoming, visiting Cheyenne and drop back thru Estes Park if you have 10 or more days. Another option, fly into Salt Lake City and head north thru cheese country on the way to Yellowstone National Park. You can stay at resorts, deluxe cabins, or rustic. Spend a day or two in Jackson. You can fly back from a different city, perhaps Boise or Sheridan WY in order to see the most. OR, fly into Nashville, see music city, drive south thru historic countryside, and beautiful..many free things to see along the way and end up in eith the Knoxville area, going to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg (think Dollywood), or head to Atlanta and perhaps take in Six Flags. Texas is always fun too. San Antonio is a great place to visit.. the Alamo, lots of history and another Six Flags property. There are so many places to visit in the states that are beautiful, in expensive and mostly speak English and our country needs the money!!! If you tell me more about your needs and likes, I could help you plan the perfect vacation to meet your budget!!!

We went to Sesame Place last year with our 3 year old and some friends with a 2 yo. We had a blast!!! Everything is geared toward younger children. There are 2 main sections, rides and a waterpark. It is just big enough that it makes paying the money worthwhile but not so big that you feel you are walking cross country to get somewhere. We did the 2 day pass and were going to do rides one day and the waterpark the next but it was hot and I recommend being prepared to mix rides with the waterpark to keep cool if you go during the summer. The lines were never super long either. I would recommend doing the character breakfast too. It gets you into the park before it opens so you don't have to stand in line with everyone else. Plus its just fun!
Here is the link to their website. www.sesameplace.com
Have a great vacation!

Niagara Falls is a great place to take your family. Both the U.S. side and the Canadian side are breathtaking. There is nothing else quite like it. Very family friendly. Much to do for all ages. Besides the falls, there are so many attractions around the area, especially on the Canadian side. We usually stay in the Quality Fallsway Inn on the Canadian side. It is right on the main strip, Clifton Hill. They have a huge dragon slide going into the big pool as well as a smaller dragon going into the kiddie pool. We liked to stay there because we always liked to be in the center of it all and to be able to push the kids in the stroller because almost everything is in walking distance and we didn't like to keep getting the kids in and out of carseats. However, they just built a huge indoor water park called Waves Indoor Water Park that is supposed to be great. It's attached to a hotel with kid themed rooms. Check out this website and click on all the links to get a better picture of what is available (cliftonhill.com)

I completely agree with Susie T. My husband and I haven't been many places but within the last 4 years have been everywhere that she mentioned---San Antonio (we where married there)--so much fun staying right on the riverwalk, Jackson Hole---great cowboy type town with good skiing, Phoenix/Scottsdale/Sedona/Jerome--breathtaking. I would also suggest Vancouver, BC (making a drive to Whistler as well). All of these places
are so worth a trip. I found that Southwest Airlines, which you can fly out of Nashville, has good prices. Anyway, kuddos to you Susie.

Hi C.!
I lived in San Diego, Ca for ten years. It's a great place to vacation! It has great places that your four year old would love!! All within about thirty minutes of driving you have the beach, the world famous San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld, the San Diego Wild Animal Park and Lego Land. Also Disneyland is only about a two hour drive away. And depending on what time of year you go, the mountains are only a couple hours away if you want to see snow.
Have fun whatever you choose! :-)
M.

cant go wrong with disney world

Hi C.,
The state of Arizona has a lot to offer. Phoenix has a park called Out of Africa, a Zoo, there is Sedona, the Grand Canyon.
ST.Louis Zoo is great, St. Louis also has Grants Farm, Science Center, Magic house, Arch, Six Flags, the Meramac Caverns...I could probably go on.
Jen

I would probably go to Florida because it's so warm!! I know i wish i could get a vacation! Good luck let me know where u decide!

Hi C.-
I haven't traveled much with my son who will be two this month. But I found this family travel blog that I thought was interested. Good info and some good ideas.
http://blog.wejustgotback.com/

Have a great year!

Hi C.. We lived in London for 6 years and did lots of traveling while we were there. Ireland and Italy were favorites when our kids were small. There are so many great things to do here in the US, too! We just try to give our kids a variety of experiences wherever we are!! Good luck with your travel plans--let me know if you need any specifics---we've travelled a lot with kids!!!

How inspiring for the new year!! You are getting me in the mood to travel too. :)

Just from the other posts, I have to agree Phoenix is so great! We went there around April (if your hubby likes Baseball they do spring training there then) it was breathtaking! I went horseback riding and just loved the no humidity!

We lived in St. Louis and it is sooo fun! They have tons of stuff always going on. The Magic House we took our daughter there just in Oct. It's great. The arch is just amazing! The cardinals are right downtown too. Tons of shopping too. :)

One that wasn't mentioned and perhaps you have been there before, but Charleston SC. It is so beautiful! Haven't been there with kids though.

Good luck and blessings to you!