Vacation Planning - Lambert Style

Last night Bill and I took a trip -- via the world wide web - you know Internet style. You see we are excitedly(?) and anxiously(again ??) trying to plan our annual family summer vacation. Past years have taken us to Duluth (several times), the Wisconsin Dells and in 2006 to a "resort" (this term is used very loosely but that deserves another post of its own) in Chetek, WI. We usually travel with Bill's sister and her family but they have other plans this year so Bill and I thought it time to expand our horizons and travel a bit further -- maybe even fly somewhere. We learned quickly that our travels via the Internet where much more economical shall we say, than the real deal. :-)

Our first plan was Boston and Cape Cod. Many years ago I nannied there for two years and have remained in contact with both families. Both have extended invitations in the past to bring my family for a visit so we thought maybe this summer was the time to accept and travel East. I envisioned taking the kids to the New England Aquarium, walking the Freedom Trail taking in the history along the way, going for a ride in the infamous Swan Boats in Boston Common park and to see a ball game and the Green Monster at the ever-popular Fenway Park. We then thought we would rent a car for a few days and drive to the Cape and spend a night or two near the ocean. Can't you just close your eyes and imagine it? We can too so it is still at the top of our list.

Next we thought "hey we bet summer is the best time to take the kids to Disney World." Um wrong. It seems it is one of the busiest most costly times. For some reason we thought with it being in Florida that the winter months were "high time." It doesn't appear that way. However there are some weeks earlier in August said to be good visiting time (but I haven't yet checked the weather to see what the average temps are at that time of year -- surely they rival those of MN). They also seem to have some fairly reasonably priced packages on Disney property and they even have some with a meal plan. However we learned that the designer of the meal plans must also be a diet enthusiast as they include 2 meals and 1 snack. Obviously whoever came up with this plan does not have children who tend to eat not twice but about five times a day. Never the less we added it to our list as our second choice. Just don't tell the kids -- Anna's concept of time isn't so good yet and I am not sure how much of "when are we going to Disney World" I can take for the next seven months.

Our last choice (and this one the funniest for me) was Chicago. Bill is thinking "hey we can drive to Chicago and then we don't incur airfare" and I am thinking "yeah the kids will like this -- they can bring the DVD player for the car and other things to entertain them." We both conclude this is a great option and there is so much to do in Chicago with the kids -- we could easily spend five or six days there. The Cubs are in town so Bill already starts to plan a game for he and Ryan while Anna and I would while away the hours at the infamous American Girl Place store enjoying lunch, a show and a little girl's dream shopping excursion. Oh yes, this is going to be a great trip. Bill says since we are driving we will stay in the heart of downtown so we are in close proximity to everything. This is sounding better by the minute. So we start searching for hotels. We find a Chicago Hilton and type in our dates and room preferences, etc. -- we don't need anything too fancy -- just two beds and a bit of space. O.K. maybe a lake view would be fun to splurge on -- on second thought no we don't need it. We even deduce we can bring our Aero Bed for Ryan to sleep on so the kids each have their own sleeping space - no night time squabbles. Oh we are such smart parents. The computer chugs away and finally spits out some room option and pricing for us. The "disclaimer" reads that this price is only valid for the dates specified. I take that to mean it is the entire price and am a bit surprised at the bargain it is for $485. I look at Bill and quickly declare, "we can do this," to which he nods enthusiastically. So then I press the button that says "make a reservation." A little more chugging by the computer and voila -- there is the registration page saying our stay total will be nearly $2500 NOT including tax. That is when it hits us that the $485 is PER NIGHT. Good grief are we dumb!!!

Needless to say nothing was decided last night for our trip. I am starting to think the backyard with a tent and our pool are looking pretty good. Well not really because that would mean I would have to cook and do laundry and I sure don't want to do that on vacation. Surely we will go around (the Internet) on this a bit more before deciding where summer will take us. Stay tuned for future updates .....