When I was little (well, up until the end of high school), we took a family vacation every year. In the early days, it was just up north to a cabin in Wisconsin. A few times it was to Florida. Eventually we started visiting a new state every year… Colorado, Wyoming, Tennessee, California… and then we added in some other countries… Canada, Bahamas, Aruba, and Norway.
Norway — 2003
No matter where your destination, I think family vacations are really important. They offer quality time together, without stresses of work and home. They also expose you to other ways of life, new people and different cultures. As a kid, family vacations were SO exciting and fun – even if it was just up north to Wisconsin. It was “our” time. And I can’t wait to take Ryan places.
How long did you guys wait for a family vacation? I mean, I want Ryan to remember them so taking him to Disney World when he’s two might be a bit too early, yea? But I can hardly wait! 
I already have a list of places I want to go in my head… definitely “up north,” Disney, Colorado to visit his uncle, and someday to Norway because that’s where he’s from and my grandpa, before he passed away, told me I had to take Ryan there.
I am writing this post to participate in the Golden Inn Resort “What is the importance of a Vacation” sweepstakes for a chance to randomly win a full conference ticket to Blogher 2010. You can learn more about the Jersey Shore Resort and contest at their bloghttp://www.GoldenInnResort.com/vacationtips.
we took our girls to disneyland for the 1st time back in feb 2007 when they were almost 3 and 1 1/2. they really enjoyed it so much! watching the shows, seeing the characters, exploring, lots of laughs and smiles. we had the best time! they really cant remember much but we have lots of pics to look at together and we cant wait to go back with our baby boy!
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We took our oldest to Disney when she was exactly 2.5. That was about a year ago and she still remembers now, although I suppose she won’t remember much if anything when she is older. However, it was totally magical and worth it to do it at that age. She had an incredible sense of wonder and totally enjoyed it *in the moment*, which IMO is just as important as remembering it later. My husband and I also had a blast and we will never forget it. We will never forget how amazing everything looked to her at that age. We are looking to go back next year when she will be 4.5 and our youngest will be 1. I will add, I did not realize that we adults would enjoy Disney so much but we had so much fun. There was a lot we were able to do with the rideswap so we were able to avoid waiting in a lot of lines. Definitely a good time.
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