AreWeThereYet?AreWeThereYet?

Hiatus

You've probably noticed that there haven't been any postings this entire week.  That's because we've been immersed in a less fun kind of trip-- the journey of selling one's home and buying a new one.  Let's just say we're halfway there, which is pretty good, except for that whole being homeless thing that results if we can't work the other half out.  On the bright side, it may leave us with several new first-hand hotel tips. 

New home or not, hopefully we'll be back posting regularly next week. 

Traveling with the Grandparents

Budget Travel's blog This Just In (a great site, by the way) reports this interesting news:  a Tripadvisor survey found that 44% of families traveled with the grandparents at least once in the past 12 months.  Unfortunately, our family is part of the other 56%.  I say unfortunately because I started dreaming about what it would be like to bring the grandparents along on your travels:

• No more listening to "CanIHaveThat?CanIHaveThat?CanIHaveThat?" because Grandma or Grandpa will have purchased whatever the must-have item is before the first "Can" leaves your child's mouth.
• Four more hands to help you navigate the airport security juggling act!
• At worst, somebody to make the occasional silly face or lend an extra hand to get through the flight easier.  At best, a full in-flight babysitter who entertains your child several rows away from you while you kick back in the exit row and reacquaint yourself with a drink requiring one of those tiny airplane liquor bottles.
• Speaking of babysitter, the possibility of getting to try the hot, new, and very kid-unfriendly restaurant in the city you're visiting.
• Two extra people to take shifts riding the always-enthralling hotel elevator. 
• Someone who will be happy to entertain your child when he wakes up two hours earlier than usual and is rarin' to go. 
• Last, but not least, you'll have an official photographer so your vacation photos will actually contain both parents at the same time!

Okay, unless your last name is Cleaver, you probably won't find grandparents willing to undertake all of those tasks on a trip.  But as 44% of people will tell you, having somebody help with any one of them makes for an awfully nice trip!

Take Them Out to the Ballgame

Since yesterday was baseball's full opening day, it's time to start thinking about a family trip to the ballpark, whether in your home town or as part of a vacation.  Although baseball seems less fan-friendly than ever with the multimillion dollar salaries and performance enhancing drugs (and the earning of multi-million dollar salaries by taking performance-enhancing drugs), rest assured that there's plenty for your kids to get excited about on a visit to the ballpark.  For example:

• Aramark offers kid-friendly food options at each of the 12 major league stadiums for which it runs the concessions.  Some ballparks even have their own kids' concession stand, like Bucaroo's at Pittsburgh's PNC Park, which offers kid-sized versions of traditional ballpark favorites.   
• Several ballparks will allow kids to run the bases after select games.  For example, New York's Shea Stadium offers 5 games after which kids 12 and under can participate in the "Mr. Met Dash"  while San Francisco Giant fans 14 and under can run the bases at AT&T Park after every home game.  One of the best things about these base-runnning extravaganzas is that the kids usually require a chaperone to escort them onto the field.  Even though you don't get to run the bases, you do get the thrill of at least walking the field.  That never gets old for this big kid.
• Several stadiums offer great kids activities for all 81 home games, like the Kids Zone at Baltimore's Oriole Park (what happened to Camden Yards?), which offers a moon bounce, speed pitch, coloring station, and more.  Same for the White Sox' U.S. Cellular Field, which, among many kid-friendly offerings, has the 15,000 square-foot Fundamentals Area, where kids can get instruction from White Sox Training Academy coaches and enjoy a youth-sized wiffle ball diamond.   
• Also, be sure to check a team's schedule for some kid-friendly giveaways.  You should see the lines outside Wrigley on the American Girl doll giveaway day!  Espn.com also has a funny article about the best and worst ballpark giveaways this year.  Florida Marlins car freshener day, anyone?

No matter which stadium you plan to visit, you're sure to find something for the kids in addition to the action on the field.  Just make sure to do a little advance research by visiting mlb.com and then visiting the home team's website.  From there, you can click on a link for the stadium, which should provide you with all of the home team's kid-friendly offerings.

Vegas with Kids?

I recently returned from my annual trip to Las Vegas with some old school friends for the opening round of March Madness.  While I never considered bringing TJ on this trip (he just doesn't have the stamina yet to sit and watch 32 college basketball games in two days), seeing some kids there reminded me of the take him/ don't take him debate Travelin' Mom and I went through when we had to go to Vegas for a family function.  We searched tons of websites that offered activities for children in Vegas (although TJ was 10 months old at the time, so the only fun for him would be staring at a spinning slot machine) and also visited several message boards discussing whether to bring your kids to Vegas.  The majority of people's answer:  Don't bring them. 

I can't say I completely disagree.  We didn't bring TJ with us on that trip.  Las Vegas, especially the Strip, is a very adult-oriented.  And I'm not referring to the little cards with pictures of girls and their phone numbers being handed to you as you walk from casino to casino.  I'm saying that the majority of the entertainment is for adults and not much thought is put into entertaining the kids.  For example, most hotels are okay with kids walking through the casino(according to their policy, the Bellagio only allows kids under 18 to enter the casino if they're registered guests), so long as they're just cutting through to reach a destination.  But, I've watched security guards admonish kids, even kids with their parents, to keep moving if they've stopped for even a second.  In fact, my under-18 niece and nephew got the treatment several times on that same family trip.  So, I'm of the mindset that there are several better places to take kids than Las Vegas. 

On the other hand, if you really want to, or even have to, bring your children to Vegas, it's not like there's nothing for them to do.  I saw several happy kids parading back from my hotel pool, many of which are resort-quality in Vegas.  So, if your juice is coming from a box rather than a sportsbook, here are some places to find kid-friendly activities in Vegas:

http://www.lasvegaskids.net/

http://www.kidsinvegas.com/

http://www.vegas.com/attractions/kids.html

http://govegas.about.com/od/familyfun/a/kidsinlv.html

Traveling With or Without Them

Two entries from this site, one offering tips on traveling with your kids (babies to be precise) and one offering tips when traveling without your kids, are featured in blog carnivals this week.  Travelin' Mom's article Ship Your Baby Gear Ahead, which offers some good resources for lightening your load when traveling with a baby, is featured in this month's Carnival of Travelers, hosted at Fly Away Cafe.  In addition, my Don't Leave Home Without (Signing) It entry, which discusses the pros of signing a Nondurable Power of Attorney for Physical and Health Care of Minor Child, is posted on this week's Carnival of Tips (always an interesting read) over at Tip Diva.  Check them out and I'm sure you'll find some other entries that pique your interest at the same time.

Giving Can Be A Trip

Okay, this post doesn't necessarily relate to family travel, but Pam from Nerd's Eye View has produced an excellent series of articles on her recent trip to Southeast Asia, including Cambodia, which makes this a good time to mention our personal interest in Cambodia.  Because Southeast Asia was the last major trip Travelin' Mom and I took before TJ came along, we got into a dialogue with Pam about the wonders of Cambodia and the amazing Cambodian people, especially the children.  We discussed several worthwhile charities that help the Cambodian kids, like the Cambodian Children's Fund, A New Day Cambodia, the Ponheary Ly Foundation, and the Shinta Mani community program.  Rather than rehash the discussion here, you can check our description of each of the charities as they appear in Nerd's Eye View. 

Although you may not have the time or ability to visit Cambodia in the near future, visiting one of these charities' sites can be an even more rewarding experience. 

Top Ten Signs You're Traveling Without Your Kids

We're back from a whirlwind, 3-night trip to Amsterdam and Brussels, sans TJ.  Although we missed him a lot, it was also interesting to note the differences when traveling without a child.  Like:

1. You pack just a carry-on bag for a trip to Europe.  And not a very full one either. 
2. You burn less than 500 calories getting through airport security.
3. You spend the 20 minutes before your plane boards in the airport bar rather than the airport toy store.
4. You receive several less "please don't sit near me" looks upon boarding the plane. 
5. You reacquaint yourself with two of the best words in air travel:  "exit row." 
6. You don't mind that your hotel room is kind of small and a little noisy, as long as you have a great canal view.
7. When out sightseeing, you trade nap time for a large cappuccino. 
8. You linger in museums.
9. You eat long, luxurious meals.  Like a 15-course Indonesian Rijsttafel.
10. You are never happier to end a great trip and return home.

Foreign Transaction Fee Settlement May Suffer From Vet Lag

A while back, I discussed the ongoing foreign transaction fee class action lawsuit and how you might stand to see some returns on your foreign travel.  In very short, if you used certain Visa, MasterCard or Diners Club cards for transactions in a foreign country between February 1, 1996 and November 8, 2006, the lawsuit says you were overcharged from one to three percent in foreign transaction fees and are entitled to a refund  (if you think you belong to the class but never received a claim form, download one here).

A recent Chicago Tribune article does a much more thorough job of spelling out the class action's specifics and the different refund options.  Unfortunately, the article also mentions some distressing news on timing:  Plaintiffs' counsel stated that the judge will not review the settlement until March 31st and that, even if the settlement is approved, it can take another eight months for refunds to be paid out.  And, that's assuming nobody objects, as a successful objection could tack another year or more onto the payout time frame.  Translation: we poor, aggrieved travelers may not see our money until December 2009 or later. 

If you'd rather look on the bright side, by the time the refunds are finally paid out, maybe the dollar will be worth something against the pound and the euro again.  Maybe.   

When Reserving Hotels With Kids, Be Direct

Kids not only change the way you travel (goodbye two-hour meal in nice restaurant, hello early bird special wolfed down before 7:30 bedtime), they change the way you book your travel.  Or, at least they should, if you want things to go as smoothly as possible. 

Pre-TJ, Travelin' Mom and I were not adverse to rolling the dice on a blind Priceline.com hotel bid.  We knew full well we may get the worst room in a hotel, or that our special requests may not get the same attention as those of customers who booked directly through the hotel.  But, we were low maintenance travelers and okay with the cost/benefit trade-off.  And, to be honest, we usually had perfectly fine experiences booking rooms through Priceline or non-bid third-party booking agents like Expedia or Travelocity.

But, as anyone who has ever booked through a third-party site knows, you are trading some things, like flexibility and easy recourse for problems, for the price discount.  At least for us, this price break is no longer worth it.  Here's why:

• Traveling with children is a lot more unpredictable.  Suddenly we're not nearly as confident booking a non-refundable rate, whether through Priceline or directly through the hotel.  You may know when you feel a nasty cold coming on, but your 2-year old may not tell you he's getting a cold until he's sneezed the evidence all over your shirt. 
• We're more picky travelers with a child.  We're less apt to put up with a noisy room or the eau-de-previous-guest's-pack-a-day-habit still wafting in the room. 
• We're more needy travelers.  We usually need to make sure a crib is on hand, or that we can reserve a suite, or that there's a working microwave or mini-fridge in the room. 

So, to sum up, we've become unpredictable, picky, needy guests.  Yikes.  If I were a hotel employee handling us, I'd certainly pass us off our requests and problems to a third-party booking agent every chance I got.  For that reason, we've decided we just won't give them that chance anymore.  My apologies to front desk employees everywhere.

Five Ambitious New Year's Travel Resolutions

I'm not really big on resolutions, but I figure if you're going to make them, might as well go all out.  So, here are some resolutions that will hopefully make my family's 2008 travel experiences even better than 2007's:

• Petition ABC to add Elmo to the "Lost" cast.  This way, TJ and I can both enjoy his DVD player on flights. 
• Buy Bose noise-canceling headphones for all passengers within a three-row radius of us on flights. 
• Of course, that just adds to our carry-on baggage.  Instead, maybe help Bose invent a noise-canceling pacifier.
• Grow third arm to better manage airport security line while juggling TJ, car seat, and more bags than the Howells took to Gilligan's Island.  Think about getting shoehorn hand for third arm, to speed along the TSA sock hop. 
• Look for lightweight titanium travel stroller that folds up into your pocket.  Satellite radio factory standard.  GPS optional. 

Of course, should my resolutions somehow not come through, I'll just hope for more of the same adventure and excitement our family experienced in our 2007 travels. 

Happy New Year.

On the Road Again, with Nickelodeon

Hertz recently announced that, in addition to renting your car from them, you can rent a media player pre-programmed with more than 40 hours of Nickelodeon shows like Sponge Bob Squarepants and Dora the Explorer.  The "Nick on the Go" system will cost $17 a day and can also be played outside the car like a regular portable DVD player.  The product is available for rentals at about two dozen of the country's busiest airports, with another 25 locations to be added in 2008.  I tried to learn more information on Hertz.com, but I didn't see any announcements regarding the program.  Instead, it looks like Nick on the Go will be offered as an add-on option once you've input your pick-up airport on the webite. 

My first thought?  What a cool feature.

My second thought?  Seventeen bucks a day?  Even assuming you're not one of those people who usually lugs a portable DVD player to entertain the kids, wouldn't it be worth buying a cheap one for a five-day trip, rather than shelling out $85 in rental fees? 

My third thought?  I guess this offer could still be valuable for some situation where you couldn't or didn't want to bring your own DVD player, or where your worst travel nightmare came true and your own player broke on the trip.  It may be difficult to put a price on peace and quiet, but in these scenarios, seventeen dollars a day sounds about right. 

Carny

I've joined the carnival and, surprisingly, it has nothing to do with my fantastic weight-guessing skills.  Instead, the latest Five Family Fun Features post (covering Milwaukee) appears in this week's Carnival of Cities blog carnival, hosted by Kango.  Click here to read it and several other interesting entries.  Sorry, no strongmen or bearded ladies to be found. 

The Trip That Keeps on Giving

You may think that European vacation you took a few years ago was worth every penny, but there are some plaintiffs' lawyers who beg to differ.  If you used certain Visa, MasterCard or Diners Club cards for transactions in a foreign country between February 1, 1996 and November 8, 2006, there's a class action lawsuit that says you were overcharged from one to three percent in foreign transaction fees.  

If you fall into this class, you likely received a claim form in the mail recently.  If you qualify for the class but disregarded the letter or somehow fell through the cracks and didn't get notified, you can request a claim form from the class action website.  You have until May 30, 2008 to submit your claim. 

There are three reimbursement options:

1. A flat $25 reimbursement for which you don't have to supply records;
2. A maximum of one percent of transactions if you can estimate your foreign spending and the number of days you spent outside the U.S.; or
3. A one-to-three percent refund if you can quantify your foreign spending by card and by year.

So, if you've spent $10,000 in foreign countries over the class period, you could be eligible for as much as a $300 refund. Consider this one of those rare times you're happy you spent so much on your vacation. 

Membership Has Its Privileges

Staring another long, cold, Chicago winter in the wind-chapped face, Travelin' Mom and I bought a family membership to a surefire freezing rain-y day place: the great Notebaert Nature Museum. I've sung this museum's kid-friendly virtues before, so I won't repeat myself (although, I will say TJ had another great time there this weekend).

Instead, I want to mention the reciprocal admission program the museum offers as a member of the Association of Science-Technology Centers Incorporated  (boring name, great perk).  When you purchase a membership to any ASTC museum, you not only get free admission to that museum, but you also get free admission to approximately 250 other museums around the U.S.  And, while science and technology museum-hopping may not sound like a kid-friendly activity, just check out the list.  It's loaded with children's museums and other types of hands-on activity centers that you'll inevitably struggle to drag your kids out of. 

So, if you're on the fence about purchasing membership to one of your local museums (FYI, memberships are usually not very expensive-- ours will basically pay for itself after three visits), this may make your decision easier.  Or, if you're already a member of an ASTC museum, be sure to print out a list of participating ASTC members before your next trip.  And, to bookend the credit-card company quote in the title, don't leave home without it.

Giving Travel-Related Thanks

In honor of the holiday, here are a few travel items I'm thankful for:

• Our 30 inch Samsonite Mobilite Spinner.  You know you've got a good suitcase when, on your twentieth trip with it, you still take the time to stop and say, "Damn I love this suitcase."  That's how I am with the Mobilite Spinner (although it really annoys the people walking behind me in the airport when I do that).  With free hands at a minimum and all our stuff jammed into one case, I can't tell you how nice it is to have a suitcase whose wheels rotate 360 degrees, so you don' t have to worry about maneuvering around obstacles or tipping over.  Oh wait, I did just tell you that. 
• Our car seat carrier bag, sort of.  For every time I stop to praise our Mobilite Spinner, I spend equal time stopping to either curse our car seat carrier bag or trip over it.  Unlike the spinner, it's got only two rigid wheels, meaning you have to drag your car seat at at the precise angle.  And because the strap you grab it with is too short, taller people have to lurch down just to hold the thing at a proper cruising angle.  So, while I hope to upgrade in the future to something like this, it still beats having no carrier at all.
• The portable DVD player.  Sure, the I-Pod has made video much more portable, but when TJ's calm, well-behaved face glows from the reflection of that 9 1/2 inch screen, I know it's worth lugging a few extra pounds. 
• The snack trap.  When I first saw this thing, I figured it was just another useless invention to make money off of parents who will buy any gadget invented.  I  certainly own enough items in that category to know or thing or two.  But, I must say, snack trap, I was wrong.  I misjudged you.  Thank you for keeping my son happy and quiet while also keeping the goldfish crackers from spilling everywhere.  I'll never take you for granted again. 

I'm also really hoping I'm thankful that our Thanksgiving flights weren't delayed by weather this weekend.  If not, I may need to be extra thankful for the snack trap and portable DVD player.

We Are Not Alone

It seems family travel is getting more popular.  According to a Chicago Tribune article, the Travel Industry Association reports that the number of vacations with children has risen nearly 14 percent since 2000, from 183 million trips to 208 million in 2006.  The main reasons given for the increase are: (1) the psychological impact of 9/11 causing families to value quality time over money and (2) parents' endless work schedules keep them away from their kids more, prompting them to take mini-vacations with family when they can string three or four days together.

As to where we're going, the number one family getaway involves visiting relatives or friends.  Probably not the most exciting vacation, but it can certainly make traveling with kids cheaper and logistically easier.  No matter where you are, getting family help with small kids certainly gives the parents a little vacation.

That being said, tour company statistics indicate that families are taking more adventurous vacations together as well:

• Austin-Lehman Adventures, an outdoors adventure-oriented tour operator said that the family travel end of its business is up 30 to 40 percent, and makes up about 55 percent of its total business;
• Family Travel tour company Tauck Bridges said the family market has been growing by 15 percent a year.  Beginning in 2008, it will offer 13 all-inclusive packages on four continents; and
• High-end travel company Abercrombie & Kent reports a 22 percent increase in families traveling with them over last year, with the biggest increases to the Galapagos and Egypt. 

Want to follow the crowd?  Check out the offerings from one of the tour operators linked above or just plan your own little trip.  Whether going to the Galapagos or Grandma's, it's always nice to get away. 

Save the World, Have a Ball

Travel is obviously a great learning tool.  We can't wait to show Travelin' Junior more of the world and watch him experience some of the same lessons we have, whether it be witnessing the Cambodians' ability to maintain a smiling, positive disposition in the face of extreme poverty or seeing South African township citizens exiting their tin shacks in suits and uniforms to begin the long walk to work or school.  But, TJ isn't even two yet.  Even if we were up to the logistics of taking him to South Africa or Southeast Asia, we know he won't remember being there.  So, those trips will likely wait.

But, it doesn't mean we can't start teaching him similar lessons even earlier at home.  For example, Right to Play, the fantastic charity working in more than 20 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, uses sports "to improve health, build life skills, and foster peace for children of communities affected by war, poverty, and disease."  Right to Play has teamed with adidas for the "Red Ball Campaign."  In short, if you donate $10 to Right to Play, you receive an adidas mini red ball with the Right to Play name and slogan.  So, TJ gets a fun little ball to play with now and hopefully a lesson about helping those less fortunate later.  And you can benefit from your good karma immediately, as adidas (whose site you ultimately order the ball through) currently has free ground shipping for the holiday season (note: it says something about orders of $99, but our order was under $99 and we still received free shipping).  So, your total cost for the ball is exactly $10. 

In full disclosure, we just placed our order, so I can't say how "mini" the Right to Play mini-ball actually is.  But, I'd like to think this is one of those rare occasions where size truly doesn't matter.

When Bad Things Happen to Good Dolls

By now you may have heard the story of poor nine-year old Abby Ann Telan from Orlando.  She and her family spent a nice weekend in Chicago.  She even brought her favorite doll for a hair styling at American Girl Place.  Unfortunately, the hairdo probably didn't last.  You see, the bag Abby's doll was traveling in was sucked out of the cargo hold of her Delta flight back home, sending her vacation memories from the family scrapbook to the scrap heap before ever reaching a comfortable cruising altitude.  While the chances of your prized possessions getting sucked out of an airplane door are pretty slim (I hope), this incident merely represents one of the more creative ways your child's favorite toy or lovey can be lost forever in your travels. 

Many children have some object that soothes or comforts them, which means many parents have spent some un-soothing, uncomfortable moments thinking about what happens when that item goes missing.  Obviously, the more well-traveled the item, the more likely it is to get lost.  Which means, when it comes time to travel, you have three options:

1. Leave the lovey home.  This clearly solves the problem of losing the lovey.  On the other hand, you're now asking your child to endure schedule-scrambling travel to unfamiliar surroundings without his go-to comfort item.  Probably not a recipe for smooth sailing. 
2. Bring the bear, buy a spare.  This is the most stress-free option.  Your kid has his comfort item, and you're comforted in knowing the item's doppelganger is safely sitting at home.  Just don't let your kid see them both at the same time-- it could blow his mind.
3. Bring the doll, cross your digits.  Some items are one-of-a-kind.  Or maybe you just haven't gotten around to buying a spare yet, or maybe your child's lovely is so well-loved any replacement would be an obviously inferior impostor, or maybe. . .   You get the idea.  You can't always have a backup lovey.  Should you decide to travel with it anyway, your kid will have all the comforts of home, and you'll have an extra family member to closely monitor (i.e., not put in a cargo hold).  Only you can decide if the risks outweigh the benefits. 

On the bright side, American Girl place quickly stepped in and replaced Abby's doll.  So, if you're going to lose your child's favorite security item when traveling, try to do it in a creative enough way to attract media attention.  It makes finding a replacement so much easier. 

Rolling the Dice

No, this isn't a "Las Vegas with Kids" entry.  Travelin' Mom and I contemplated bringing Travelin' Junior on a trip we had to take to Vegas last January, but every time I looked up advice on bringing small children to Vegas, the message was essentially the same:  Just don't.  So, we didn't. 

I'm talking about a different kind of gamble that most parents take every time they travel, whether long distance or local:  the gamble that involves predicting how their children will behave.  Some parents assume the worst and venture out only when they have to.  Other parents ignore the possibility of things going awry, and travel whenever they wish.  Many parents, like TM and I, try to gauge how our child will respond to a particular outing, and then determine whether it's still worth going. 

Of course, the problem with predictions is that they're not always accurate.  On occasion, TM and I have wrongly gauged TJ's mood to comically disastrous results.  But, then there are also those great times when, even though you're not sure you should be making an outing, you do, and your kid rises to the occasion and you have a great time.  What's more fun than exceeding lowered expectations?

We had a small example of such a time this weekend.  TM and I had our minds set on visiting our favorite local Mexican restaurant.  Unfortunately, as the day wore on we realized that TJ was in "I need a change of scenery every 30 seconds to keep me entertained" mode.  And he was letting the world know about it when that scenery change didn't come quickly enough.  After some deliberation, TM and I decided to roll the dice and go out to eat anyway; the lure of the chimichanga was worth the risk.  Hopefully, TJ would find the Mexican restaurant entertaining enough.  If not, we'd resort to Plan B: ask for stronger margaritas and drink fast. 

Thankfully, TJ decided that the frantic comings-and-goings of the restaurant were much more entertaining than those two dolts, Mom and Dad, had been all day.  He was in a great mood and ate a bigger dinner than he had in days.  He must have felt the same way we had-- we couldn't remember a meal tasting so good lately.

The moral of the story?  Roll the dice once in a while.  Sure, you might crap out.  But, you also might hit the jackpot, or at least the Mexican food equivalent.   

Just What We Need: Another Blog

I know, I know.  But, bear with me.  The inspiration for this blog hit, like most great ideas, while in the bathroom.  You see, we were staying in a St. Louis Renaissance hotel last weekend when, about 5 a.m., I woke up and had to use the bathroom.  That's not a fun experience in your own home.  It's a less fun experience in a dark hotel room whose layout you can't quite remember.  It's a downright bad time when your pitch-black, wall-feeling shuffle is complicated by the fact that your 18-month old son, who recently medaled at the light-sleeping national championships (under 2 division), is quietly laying in a Pack N Play a few feet from that bathroom door.   

I arrived at my destination after about five minutes of breathless tiptoeing only to realize that I couldn't possibly do what we in Western civilization often take for granted:  flush the toilet.  Standing there in a dark bathroom (I made it that far-- no way I was turning on a light now), I shook my head (quietly) and wondered how many other people go through this sort of thing. Then, when I thought of all the people who travel with their kids, I realized the answer.  A lot of people go through this sort of thing.

So, as I lay awake in bed for the next two hours (no chance going back to sleep after the adrenaline rush of my bathroom cat burglar routine), I thought about creating a forum for parents like us.  Parents who like to (or have to) travel with kids and who want to do so as smoothly as possible.  This blog obviously isn't the only one out there discussing travel with children, but by mixing in discussions of: (1) current family travel issues; (2) information about products or services that may make our travel lives better; and (3) personal reports of travel trials and tribulations, hopefully it can add something to the discussion. 

Bon voyage.